Amazon Finally Pissed Me Off! (1 Viewer)

[BobO'Link]

My first experience with Amazon was a couple of months ago.

I started eating some canned foods during the lockdown, and because of it, I couldn't find any stores/chains that had the Green Giant Low Sodium Asparagus Spears on the shelves.

I called GG ot inquire where I could find some, and they could only refer me to Walmart or Amazon.

I ordered five cases (sixty cans), but luckily, they only shipped one case.

I didn't inspect the cans on arrival, but rather just stored the case on the shelve.
When I opened it a few weeks later, more than half the cans suffered some sort of denting (some were rather large), which I avoid at all costs when shopping @ B&M stores.

I was pizz-ist, but didn't want to try and return them due to the time frame.
My bad on their bad.

I, too, avoid dented cans but don't worry about it too much if the can doesn't have signs of swelling. Still - with Amazon and the majority of food items you can do a return but they don't want it back. They simply do a refund and tell you to keep/dispose of the product. Worst case is they'll only offer a replacement but you still don't return the original. If the option isn't on the order a quick chat with CS will typically take care of the issue. Just make sure to file the claim before the typical 30 day return period is up.

 

[BobO'Link]

Well... 2 of my lost orders look to be truly lost - no movement at all and I requested refunds. One they did an automatic refund with a generic excuse of "Package damaged/unable to deliver/can't find address." At least I can still reorder all 3 at the prices they were originally.

BUT - I have a couple of others that are now "lost" - it's getting ridiculous... And their tracking now usually only shows "carrier picked up" type generic stuff so you don't know if it's Amazon, a 3rd party contractor, USPS, or something else causing the issue.

 

[Malcolm R]

I, too, avoid dented cans but don't worry about it too much if the can doesn't have signs of swelling.

Agreed. I wouldn't worry too much about dents as long as there's no leakage or swelling. I will buy dented cans in the store if they're in a discount bin, are not leaking, and as long as the dents are not going to preclude me from getting the can opened.

Not sure how one would avoid all dents if cans are being shipped through the postal service. I did order a case of low sodium soup for my father a while back, and was surprised that they actually put it inside another box. I figured they'd just slap a mailing label on the outside of the case and send it as-is. It arrived in good shape.

I order gallon jugs of popcorn popping oil/topping from them occasionally, and these are usually put inside a large box with little or no padding so the jug just bangs around. I always wonder if I'll open that sometime and find a huge mess, but mostly it's been pretty good. They usually put the jug inside a plastic bag so if it happens to leak a bit, it's not a disaster.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Ordered a CD with promo credits issued to make up for a previous damaged item. That CD arrived damaged... Ugh!

 

[BobO'Link]

Amazon needs to ditch their, what looks to be, 3rd party "carriers." I've had at least 6 shipments over the past couple of weeks be delayed by 3-9 days because these "carriers" have no idea about how to get packages from one town to another in a timely and efficient manner. At least half of those *started* in the city containing the USPS Distribution Center that services my town, yet instead of being transferred to that facility have gone twice the distance from that center to me in the *opposite* direction, sitting on a dock for a few days, and finally going back to the Distribution Center location to be transferred to the USPS (which should, and could, have been done on day 1). Add the 3 shipments I've had completely lost and those "carriers" are showing how pathetically incompetent they are with their "logistics" and ability to properly deliver packages.

 

[bmasters9]

Amazon needs to ditch their, what looks to be, 3rd party "carriers." I've had at least 6 shipments over the past couple of weeks be delayed by 3-9 days because these "carriers" have no idea about how to get packages from one town to another in a timely and efficient manner. At least half of those *started* in the city containing the USPS Distribution Center that services my town, yet instead of being transferred to that facility have gone twice the distance from that center to me in the *opposite* direction, sitting on a dock for a few days, and finally going back to the Distribution Center location to be transferred to the USPS (which should, and could, have been done on day 1). Add the 3 shipments I've had completely lost and those "carriers" are showing how pathetically incompetent they are with their "logistics" and ability to properly deliver packages.

Why didn't they just send it directly to you and cut out all the middleman bull?

 

[BobO'Link]

Why didn't they just send it directly to you and cut out all the middleman bull?

That's a good question as they also have some warehouses in that same city and the USPS *could* just pick it up directly *or* Amazon could shuttle it across town to the USPS depot. Pure incompetence... and just *one* reason the cost of Prime is going up.

 

[Todd Erwin]

One thing I still cannot understand is why, when I place an order, it takes several days for Amazon to even pick and pack the order, yet someone living in a more metro area can get that same item in a matter of days. I have lost count on how many orders that took nearly a week just to make it out the door of Amazon's fulfilment facility. and this was even before COVID.

 

[bmasters9]

One thing I still cannot understand is why, when I place an order, it takes several days for Amazon to even pick and pack the order, yet someone living in a more metro area can get that same item in a matter of days. I have lost count on how many orders that took nearly a week just to make it out the door of Amazon's fulfilment facility. and this was even before COVID.

Indeed-- I always thought that once you made a selection and purchase, Amazon's workers would be johnny-on-the-spot finding it, packing it and sending it.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yes, that seems to be the delay in Prime shipping lately. Once it's out the door, it takes just a day or two to arrive. But it sometimes takes nearly a week for Amazon to pick and pack the order.

They try and blame the USPS, but it's Amazon causing the delays.

I placed an order with Amazon Japan this past week. I received an "out for delivery" notice from them yesterday, which I thought was odd and far too fast. Apparently it's being "delivered" to LAX. Hopefully it makes it the rest of the way to my actual house after this midpoint "delivery".

 

[BobO'Link]

Why didn't they just send it directly to you and cut out all the middleman bull?

Oh... I forgot to mention that the misdirected order is a "Prime Day Delivery" order and my "Prime Day" is Monday. So that's two strikes against them as I'll not receive it until at least Wednesday if I'm lucky. I did that as an experiment (I normally don't bother as stuff still trickles in) and for a change everything in that shipment is in a single box... The *rest* of the day's stuff was *supposed* to arrive today - nope, USPS has come and gone with no Amazon packages.

 

[BobO'Link]

And... Yesterday's shipments arrived to find:

A board game (you know, hobby type - kind of collectable) in a plastic shipper (those non bubble wrap paper thin things). There's minor damage on one corner (not much and not enough to return but I'm considering complaining to see if they'll do a courtesy credit simply because I'm getting tired of this kind of packaging for board games just because they're already in a box, though not one intended to protect it during shipping).

A 5lb. bag of Jolly Rancher candies in a *box*. It could have shipped in that crappy plastic bag thing just fine but *it* comes in a box!

And yet another shipment from an Amazon carrier that overshot the closest USPS distribution center by 150 miles or so and is now sitting in a different USPS hub waiting to go back in the direction it came to the one that services my area.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Waiting for Amazon to ship my box set of The Godfather. At Best Buy they release their discs around the release date but Amazon does not.

 

[Bryan^H]

And... Yesterday's shipments arrived to find:

A board game (you know, hobby type - kind of collectable) in a plastic shipper (those non bubble wrap paper thin things). There's minor damage on one corner (not much and not enough to return but I'm considering complaining to see if they'll do a courtesy credit simply because I'm getting tired of this kind of packaging for board games just because they're already in a box, though not one intended to protect it during shipping).

A 5lb. bag of Jolly Rancher candies in a *box*. It could have shipped in that crappy plastic bag thing just fine but *it* comes in a box!

And yet another shipment from an Amazon carrier that overshot the closest USPS distribution center by 150 miles or so and is now sitting in a different USPS hub waiting to go back in the direction it came to the one that services my area.

I have had so many items dinged, damaged, and destroyed because of poor packaging. At this point being an Amazon Prime customer, I'd pay $20 (or more) annually for an option to have every one of my items boxed with correct packing materiel. I really think this should be an option. Their returns would suddenly become much, much less.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I have had so many items dinged, damaged, and destroyed because of poor packaging. At this point being an Amazon Prime customer, I'd pay $20 (or more) annually for an option to have every one of my items boxed with correct packing materiel. I really think this should be an option. Their returns would suddenly become much, much less.

If given the option when checking out, I always try to select “Use Amazon packaging.” At the very least, that stops them from slapping a shipping label to the item and handing it to UPS.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I probably sound like a broken record, but I just received an order yesterday, and the items were simply tossed in a large bubble-pack lined bag and barely sealed (half of the flap was open when UPS handed me the order).

Thankfully, only minor damage. The box of paper sleeves was crushed (by the spindle of CD-R's) but the sleeves are fine, but the spindle sustained more damage and is cracked. Fortunately, the CD-R's appear fine. Contacting Amazon was a joke at first, the first US-based rep I spoke with was bothered that I requested a transfer ("May I ask the reason you requested a call transfer?"). After telling her what had happened, her response was "this call has been recorded and the team is listening in," and then "is there anyone else you would like to speak to?" I requested a supervisor, who seemed like a nice guy, but my call kept getting dropped, as if it was timing out (it would occur about every 2-3 minutes), and the first time it dropped, he actually called me back. But after the second dropped call, I had to call in again.

My second call was eventually transferred to Kim here in the US, who actually seemed to care about why I was calling in. She offered me three options due to the minor damage sustained: return/replacement, return for credit, or a discount on the items (approx 30% refund). I took the discount option, as I really needed the items and they appeared to be in working order. We all know how a return/replacement would have likely turned out, with the items shipped in the same manner with possibly further damage.

 

[TJPC]

I wonder if the policies are different depending on the country? I have had endless problems with US Amazon, which ships to my US PO Box, but virtually no problems with British Amazon, German Amazon, or Canadian Amazon which ship to my home in Canada.

 

[Malcolm R]

I've had shipments from Amazon UK that I've been amazed arrived intact. A few times they've used these sort of cardboard wraps that have untaped flaps on the ends that are just tucked in and could be easily opened by anyone, or could seemingly pop open themselves if the box was dropped in the right way causing the discs to fall out.

I'm not sure if these are supposed to make it easier for customs to inspect the contents, if necessary, but anyone could simply pull out the flap and take what they want. Fortunately this has never happened and the contents have arrived as I'd ordered.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Makes one wonder how Amazon would ship a dozen eggs to a customer...

 

[David_B_K]

I've had shipments from Amazon UK that I've been amazed arrived intact. A few times they've used these sort of cardboard wraps that have untaped flaps on the ends that are just tucked in and could be easily opened by anyone, or could seemingly pop open themselves if the box was dropped in the right way causing the discs to fall out.

I'm not sure if these are supposed to make it easier for customs to inspect the contents, if necessary, but anyone could simply pull out the flap and take what they want. Fortunately this has never happened and the contents have arrived as I'd ordered.

It's been awhile since I ordered from Amazon UK. The last time I did, I received a package like the one you describe. I had ordered three Blu-rays, and one was missing. I wondered if one had simply fallen out or had been pulled out. But the package was so full with the two I did receive, I am not sure how the third one could ever have fit in the first place. I did receive credit and re-ordered the disc during a Kino sale (it was a Fritz Lang silent film) rather than through Amazon UK.