Amazon Finally Pissed Me Off! (2 Viewers)

[Josh Steinberg]

I have to say I’ve been impressed by the two Amazon Fresh deliveries I’ve had in the past few weeks. The delivery slots are hard to come by so I don’t plan on it as my sole supplier, but I keep my cart filled for when a delivery window does show up. The delivery people have been on time, courteous, hygienic and very careful and respectful about avoiding contact and maintaining distance. One item came broken (nothing I couldn’t do without) and the website gave me a refund on that item instantly with no fuss. The delivery team has a not fun job in a scary time and I commend them for how they’ve conducted themselves.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I do question whether Amazon should be charging full Prime Membership rates when orders rightfully cannot be filled in ample time.

A couple years ago now, Amazon had a policy where if they missed a promised delivery for a Prime member, they would give you a free month of Prime as a make-good. You had to go into chat and ask for it, but they did it upon request. I took advantage of this benefit a few times. They don't do that anymore, but they did, once.

I think this would be a good way for them to make good with Prime customers during this time when they are offering one-month delivery on lots of items. I'm not saying they shouldn't be prioritizing essentials, and I don't expect them to make adjustments to Prime memberships during the middle of the pandemic. However, once the pandemic subsides, if they wanted to extend everyone's Prime membership by a month or two, that might be a nice gesture. It would cost them nothing and would acknowledge that they had to reduce the signature feature of Prime (fast shipping) due to unusual circumstances, so in exchange we get a couple months more to use the service before we have to pay again.

My local arthouse has a membership program where for a yearly fee, you get ticket discounts and other perks. Because they are closed, they will extend all memberships by the number of months that they are closed, so that we still get the full value of 12 useful months before having to renew again. Amazon could do the same thing with the Prime memberships for the duration of the slower-than-usual shipping period.

I won't be surprised or annoyed if they don't do this. But it's an easy way for them to acknowledge the situation and do something about it for loyal customers.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I have to say I’ve been impressed by the two Amazon Fresh deliveries I’ve had in the past few weeks. The delivery slots are hard to come by so I don’t plan on it as my sole supplier, but I keep my cart filled for when a delivery window does show up. The delivery people have been on time, courteous, hygienic and very careful and respectful about avoiding contact and maintaining distance. One item came broken (nothing I couldn’t do without) and the website gave me a refund on that item instantly with no fuss. The delivery team has a not fun job in a scary time and I commend them for how they’ve conducted themselves.

Josh,

I forgot about Amazon Fresh.

I think it's part of Amazon Prime now. Not sure.

Do they meat? Are the food costs pretty reasonable? I am thinking with the way Supermarkets are, this may be a good alternative.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Josh,

I forgot about Amazon Fresh.

I think it's part of Amazon Prime now. Not sure.

Do they meat? Are the food costs pretty reasonable? I am thinking with the way Supermarkets are, this may be a good alternative.

It’s part of Prime - free delivery for orders over $50. It’s been hard to come by delivery slots in NYC but you may have better luck in NJ. They normally have a fuller supply than what shows now (same problems supermarkets have) but it’s basically the same produce and meats that Whole Foods carries, so you’re getting good quality stuff. Pricing runs the gamut, there’s stuff that’s less than I see at my local supermarket, stuff that’s about the same and stuff that’s more.

It’s been really great for my family during this time. Normally I would just go to the market every couple of days and only think a meal or two in advance. But now I don’t want to be out that much, but we have the extra difficulty of having the twin infants with no help during this lockdown. We don’t want to bring them to the store, which means only my wife or I can go at once, and since we don’t have a car as city dwellers, we can only buy what we can carry. Having Amazon Fresh hasn’t completely eliminated my need to go to a store but it means maybe only once a week or every other week instead of more frequently. So id say maybe don’t depend on it to eliminate all of your trips out but it might be able to help you cut back by a lot.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

It’s part of Prime - free delivery for orders over $50. It’s been hard to come by delivery slots in NYC but you may have better luck in NJ. They normally have a fuller supply than what shows now (same problems supermarkets have) but it’s basically the same produce and meats that Whole Foods carries, so you’re getting good quality stuff. Pricing runs the gamut, there’s stuff that’s less than I see at my local supermarket, stuff that’s about the same and stuff that’s more.

It’s been really great for my family during this time. Normally I would just go to the market every couple of days and only think a meal or two in advance. But now I don’t want to be out that much, but we have the extra difficulty of having the twin infants with no help during this lockdown. We don’t want to bring them to the store, which means only my wife or I can go at once, and since we don’t have a car as city dwellers, we can only buy what we can carry. Having Amazon Fresh hasn’t completely eliminated my need to go to a store but it means maybe only once a week or every other week instead of more frequently. So id say maybe don’t depend on it to eliminate all of your trips out but it might be able to help you cut back by a lot.

Thanks, Josh. I just checked and I am not in their delivery area.

So, I have to brave the food stores.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Thanks, Josh. I just checked and I am not in their delivery area.

So, I have to brave the food stores.

Check Fresh Direct (an independent online store comparable to a Whole Foods type and also Peapod (which is owned by Stop and Shop). One or both might service your area.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Check Fresh Direct (an independent online store comparable to a Whole Foods type and also Peapod (which is owned by Stop and Shop). One or both might service your area.

Josh,

Thank You.

Good News: Delivery exists in my area
Bad news: Every delivery time slot is taken for the foreseeable future.


Does not look like this will be an option

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’d recommend checking daily, stuff seems to open up. All of these services are hiring like crazy, having people work overtime, and adding extra capacity all the time. The Amazon Fresh slot I just got for later this week wasn’t available six hours earlier. There’s probably a little bit of luck involved but if you check once or twice a day you might get surprised.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Josh,

I just briefly looked at Fresh Direct. Do you use them often? How are their prices?

I take it you tip the delivery guy 20%?

Thanks for all your help

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I haven’t used Fresh Direct but enough people I know use it for me to feel comfortable saying it’s worth a try.

Tipping I’m still figuring my way out on, I’m not sure what the standard is for delivery, maybe someone else can chime in on that? I’m going above what I’d normally give without hesitation and when the tip calculator at Amazon gives me one number I replace it with a higher one because they are doing difficult work at a time when most everyone else gets to stay home.

 

[BobO'Link]

Josh,

I just briefly looked at Fresh Direct. Do you use them often? How are their prices?

I take it you tip the delivery guy 20%?

Thanks for all your help

You may want to try WM Grocery pickup. It's a separate site from the main WM site: grocery.walmart.com and offers pick up slots or delivery (for my area it's ~$8 and up - didn't check fully). Lately the pickup slots are pretty much gone for the current day but early there are lots to choose from for the next day ("tomorrow"). They offer anything the grocery section carries as long as it's in stock.

No "Fresh Foods" here so Amazon is out of the question for anything but the usual pantry items that they'll ship.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Thank You, Bob!

 

[Todd Erwin]

No Amazon Fresh or anything similar out where I live. In fact, both the Sheriff deputies and high school students have been pitching in to pick up and deliver groceries for those who cannot leave their homes for that very reason, although most of the time our Safeway has empty shelves.

 

[BobO'Link]

Thank You, Bob!

You're welcome!

My wife just told me Aldi is offering your first 3 deliveries free as long as it's a $35 or more order. My son told her about it (he's on the other side of the state from us). Go here to check it out and see if your zip code is included:

https://www.aldi.us/en/shop-now/grocery-delivery/

The "Shop Now" link on that page takes you to the zip code check and a sign up page.

 

[John*Wells]

I think Amazon Despite their public claims to the contrary is allowing price gouging. Yesterday, I was online looking for sugar. Well, Here in South Carolina at a store like Publix or Kroger, a Canister of sugar like this is about $6.00

https://www.amazon.com/Domino-Pure-...sr_1_41?keywords=sugar&qid=1585400719&sr=8-41


https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01M1I080U/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

 

[bmasters9]

I think Amazon Despite their public claims to the contrary is allowing price gouging. Yesterday, I was online looking for sugar. Well, Here in South Carolina at a store like Publix or Kroger, a Canister of sugar like this is about $6.00

https://www.amazon.com/Domino-Pure-...sr_1_41?keywords=sugar&qid=1585400719&sr=8-41


https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01M1I080U/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

$6 for sugar?! Outrageous!

 

[John*Wells]

$6 for sugar?! Outrageous!

When I was living in Florida, Before this Corona virus outbreak, The Same Canister cost about that much. I figured it had to do with the higher COL and the fact that Florida does not tax Food staples or Prescription meds. But I think the amazon price for a 4lb bag or even those canisters is crazy

 

[BobO'Link]

I think Amazon Despite their public claims to the contrary is allowing price gouging. Yesterday, I was online looking for sugar. Well, Here in South Carolina at a store like Publix or Kroger, a Canister of sugar like this is about $6.00

https://www.amazon.com/Domino-Pure-...sr_1_41?keywords=sugar&qid=1585400719&sr=8-41


https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01M1I080U/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Those particular listings are historically that high from both Amazon and MP vendors:

https://camelcamelcamel.com/Domino-Pure-Cane-Sugar-Pack/product/B01FG5W2KE

https://camelcamelcamel.com/Imperial-Sugar-Dixie-Crystals-Pure/product/B01M1I080U

You see that type of extreme overpricing on lots of grocery items on Amazon with exorbitant shipping costs attached as well. It looks like gouging, and truly is, but not due to any recent causes. I've seen hundreds of similar listings over the years and often wonder just who purchases these "common" items at stupid high prices.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yeah, I've noticed vendors on Amazon skirting the "price gouging" criteria by charging a normal unit price, but sky high shipping. I don't know if Amazon is policing shipping costs, or just the list prices.

 

[BobO'Link]

I see sky high shipping prices on many "pantry" type items from MP sellers on Amazon all the time. There've been several instances in the past year I've found a niche product from a MP vendor only for them to be charging more than the item price to ship it. Sometimes double the item price (a small package of chocolate covered marzipan being sold at $8 and charging $18 shipping!).