Amazon Finally Pissed Me Off! (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

Unfortunately, that is just how those carriers route their shipments. Fed Ex air shipments, regardless of where they are shipped from, must go thru their hub in Memphis, even if it is only going from Los Angeles to San Diego. All UPS Ground and Fed Ex Ground coming out of California or Arizona going to my home in Northern Nevada are routed thru Sacramento, even if it is closer to route thru Las Vegas. Oh, and anything coming from Las Vegas quite literally goes past my house on a freight truck so it can be sorted in Reno.

Seems like these kinds of issues may be becoming more common lately. Wonder if it's just lower quality hires and/or some process or policy change yielding more of such.

My particular issue from circa mid-Feb has kept resurfacing over the last couple months, and I've had to contact them 6x total so far, including 3x after they already promised and seemed to resolve it for me. They apparently kept resolving it some wrong way, but hopefully, this last, most recent time takes... although they ended up giving me a significantly greater refund (on all the extra charges) than I was asking/expecting, so who knows?

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

I have an Amazon order that was shipped from Las Vegas via UPS and is taking the long way around to get to me by traveling to Salt Lake City, then to Reno/Sparks before being placed on a delivery truck. Hawthorne is just under the patch of blue under Walker River Reservation.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I received two Amazon packages today.

Let me rephrase that: I collected two Amazon packaged from a hub locker today.

Package #1 was the X-Men UHD disc set, packaged in a sturdy cardboard box. It’s perfect and I can’t wait to watch Famke Janssen in all her 4K glory.

Package #2 was a padded envelope which contained UHD discs of Days of Thunder, Pet Sematary, and the remnants of what was once a UHD disc and case for Smokey and the Bandit. The included Blu-ray disc of S&tB was a floater but somehow still in pristine condition, but the 4K UHD disc had multiple scratches on the play surface, presumably from all the little pieces of shattered case that were floating around between the cover and what was left of the spindle. The only thing holding the actual case together was the cover, the badly abraded and worn slipcase, and what was left of the shrink wrap. This thing looked like it had been used as a door stop before being slid across a gravel driveway and hit with a hammer while being simultaneously belt sanded and run over by a forklift. The funny thing is the other two discs in the mailer were undamaged and the mailer itself was without blemish, both inside and out. That tells me that some asshole purposely placed a highly damaged and defective copy of the movie in the envelope before sealing it and putting it out for shipment. I immediately requested a replacement which should be delivered to my house tomorrow and I had to drop off what was left of the defective copy at UPS this afternoon for return to Amazon.

 

[Todd Erwin]

So, apparently, UPS Ground from Florida to Nevada is now considered an acceptable method to ship Prime orders. I guess 5-7 days delivery time is now the norm. When I asked why my order shipping from Florida was shipped via UPS Ground, I was told that it was because my item was not readily available from a nearby fulfillment center. Told them that that may explain why it was shipped from Florida, but still did not explain why it was shipped UPS Ground rather than UPS 2nd Day or Next Day. The agents kept repeating the same thing: "because my item was not readily available from a nearby fulfillment center."

Have bots taken over Amazon chat?

 

[BobO'Link]

Normally Amazon will just ship such an item from a fulfillment center with the item in stock to one closer to you and *then* do the actual shipping to you so that it looks like it's arriving faster after shipment.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Normally Amazon will just ship such an item from a fulfillment center with the item in stock to one closer to you and *then* do the actual shipping to you so that it looks like it's arriving faster after shipment.

Good point. This way is probably actually faster and more efficient/cost-saving (than their normal MO) even though it may not appear as good. Of course, since a Prime subscriber is actually paying for 2-day-or-faster shipping service, neither way seems all that satisfactory me thinks...

_Man_

 

[Malcolm R]

a Prime subscriber is actually paying for 2-day-or-faster shipping service

I don't think they've bothered with this since the start of the pandemic, at least for me. I don't remember the last time I received anything in 2 days. Normal for me now is at least a week even though I'm a Prime subscriber. I think the only shipping benefit of Prime now is that it's "free", not necessarily fast.

I had an order I made on May 31, and it was just delivered yesterday, June 7. I placed another order on Tuesday, June 6, which is currently scheduled to arrive next week, June 13.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I don't think they've bothered with this since the start of the pandemic, at least for me. I don't remember the last time I received anything in 2 days. Normal for me now is at least a week even though I'm a Prime subscriber. I think the only shipping benefit of Prime now is that it's "free", not necessarily fast.

I had an order I made on May 31, and it was just delivered yesterday, June 7. I placed another order on Tuesday, June 6, which is currently scheduled to arrive next week, June 13.

I figured they'd go back to faster service as the pandemic wanes -- and at this point, it might no longer be officially considered a pandemic -- but guess they still haven't (quite?) gotten back to that so far...

I'm not normally a subscriber, but service did seem fairly close to pre-pandemic times over here in NYC metro the last couple times I reactivated last year -- BF holiday shopping season being the last time -- although I mostly (but not always) ended up just deferring to their "no rush" service for the promo rewards instead. The fact they even offer "no rush" rewards would seem to indicate they at least normally intend to provide faster service, no?

Maybe it varies a good deal in practice depending on your location.

_Man_

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I don't think they've bothered with this since the start of the pandemic, at least for me. I don't remember the last time I received anything in 2 days. Normal for me now is at least a week even though I'm a Prime subscriber. I think the only shipping benefit of Prime now is that it's "free", not necessarily fast.

I had an order I made on May 31, and it was just delivered yesterday, June 7. I placed another order on Tuesday, June 6, which is currently scheduled to arrive next week, June 13.

I think it partly has to do with where you are located. Here in southeastern Michigan, we have two Amazon distribution / fulfillment centers within a few miles of our house. We get most orders the next day -- delivered by Amazon trucks. However, when we are in South Carolina, orders usually take several days to arrive, and almost always are delivered by the USPS or UPS. The closest distribution center is over 2.5 hours away.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think it partly has to do with where you are located. Here in southeastern Michigan, we have two Amazon distribution / fulfillment centers within a few miles of our house. We get most orders the next day -- delivered by Amazon trucks. However, when we are in South Carolina, orders usually take several days to arrive, and almost always are delivered by the USPS or UPS. The closest distribution center is over 2.5 hours away.

The same here in mid-Michigan. Just this week, I had several new Blu-rays ordered that were delivered the next day.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Have bots taken over Amazon chat?

Wouldn’t be surprised if that was at least partially true.

 

[BobO'Link]

Offers of "slow shipping digital credits" are few and far between these days. It *seems* to be tied to order amount but not necessarily. I often opt for slower shipping anyway (the so called "Amazon Day" which promises fewer boxes - but rarely is in fewer boxes) with many orders arriving overnight via USPS after they've shipped (there's a fulfillment center in Memphis, along with the regional PO that services my "city," so they likely "walk it across the street" for injection and it arrives the next day). I've not seen one of those Amazon delivery trucks since before the pandemic started.

When I get home today I'll have at least 2 separate packages in the mailbox that shipped yesterday.

 

[BobO'Link]

Have bots taken over Amazon chat?

I know for sure they have for the initial "chat" about an issue... It's sometimes difficult to get past them and get an actual person for more complicated issues. I think calls are still 100% people but really don't know as I hate talking on the phone so will use chat (or preferably email, which Amazon seems to have abandoned) over a call every time.

 

[Robert Crawford]

By the way, most of my Amazon deliveries are done by Amazon vans.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

By the way, most of my Amazon deliveries are done by Amazon vans.

Same here in SE Michigan. The Amazon trucks appeared here when the new distribution center opened a few miles from our house maybe 4-5 years ago. I cannot ever remember seeing an Amazon truck at our place in SC, though.

 

[Chip_HT]

Offers of "slow shipping digital credits" are few and far between these days. It *seems* to be tied to order amount but not necessarily.

I've noticed that I usually get the option if I order at least two items together. But it can't be too close to my next "Amazon day". Although funny story about that....on my last order that I got an option, I didn't read the description too closely and after I got the reward, I realized that they gave me a $1 credit for anything except digital.

Another funny story -- I placed an order for 2 items over the weekend and selected "Amazon Day delivery" which was Tuesday. Then I ordered two more items in separate transactions late on Sunday night, so it was too late to get the slow shipping credit.

But lo and behold, all four items arrived on Tuesday in the same box! It's been a while since I've had that many items in a single package.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Normally Amazon will just ship such an item from a fulfillment center with the item in stock to one closer to you and *then* do the actual shipping to you so that it looks like it's arriving faster after shipment.

Since we do not have Amazon Delivery vans out where I live, everything comes UPS or Post Office, so they just ship direct from whatever fulfillment center has the item in stock (unless I have selected Amazon Delivery Day, but even then I have received multiple boxes that same day from various parts of the country).

 

[Clinton McClure]

Free Prime delivery in central Arkansas (as well as Memphis and Olive Branch, MS) is still 1-2 days. I don’t think I’ve had a package take longer than 2 days since sometime in 2020 or 2021.

 

[Robert Crawford]

By the way, I just ordered a Blu-ray yesterday morning and it arrived this morning via Amazon driver.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

I've not seen one of those Amazon delivery trucks since before the pandemic started.

I've seen far too many of them. They have a tendency to block traffic on the street in front of our place even though we have a wide driveway. UPS and FedEx tend to pull into the driveway.