Amazon, What happened to you?

Melancholy

Has anyone else noticed that Amazon isn't as "good" as it used to be? I placed orders for 18 decks, a plethora of books, incense, and other odds and ends on the 12th and 15th of this month. I order from Amazon a few times a year and have always been very pleased in the past.

However, this time is different. Every time I've placed an order before it's never taken more than 3 days (usually only one or two) for it to leave their warehouse. This time I have numerous packages that have yet to ship. Of the packages that have shipped only one has been sent UPS. The others so far have been through FedEx SmartPost. This is the first time I've seen this and I can say already that SmartPost sucks! There are a couple packages that have been sitting in a SmartPost facility only 2 hours away from me for 3 days and counting. I could have walked there and back by now. I also noticed this time that Amazon split up my orders into many different shipments which is unusual. Have they shut down some warehouses?

This isn't enough to make me stop ordering from Amazon, but it was certainly a surprise to me how much customer service has plummeted in the couple months since I last ordered from them.

ps. I should be getting the first of my 18 packages from Amazon today that contains 8 decks. :) That should keep me content while I wait for the other 17 to show up eventually. LOL
 

gregory

Is this amazon.com ? If so - United States residents - welcome to the standard state of affairs in amazon.co.uk.

I use Bookdepository whenever I possibly can for books - and almost ANYWHERE but amazon for tarot. :(
 

cardlady22

I noticed a jump in 3rd Party Seller quoted shipping prices when I was browsing yesterday. Not sure how long that has been . . .
 

Chiska

Melancholy said:
Has anyone else noticed that Amazon isn't as "good" as it used to be? I placed orders for 18 decks, a plethora of books, incense, and other odds and ends on the 12th and 15th of this month. I order from Amazon a few times a year and have always been very pleased in the past.

However, this time is different. Every time I've placed an order before it's never taken more than 3 days (usually only one or two) for it to leave their warehouse. This time I have numerous packages that have yet to ship. Of the packages that have shipped only one has been sent UPS. The others so far have been through FedEx SmartPost. This is the first time I've seen this and I can say already that SmartPost sucks! There are a couple packages that have been sitting in a SmartPost facility only 2 hours away from me for 3 days and counting. I could have walked there and back by now. I also noticed this time that Amazon split up my orders into many different shipments which is unusual. Have they shut down some warehouses?

This isn't enough to make me stop ordering from Amazon, but it was certainly a surprise to me how much customer service has plummeted in the couple months since I last ordered from them.

ps. I should be getting the first of my 18 packages from Amazon today that contains 8 decks. :) That should keep me content while I wait for the other 17 to show up eventually. LOL
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Back when I was in university, I had the PRIME (Free 2nd day shipping thing), and I found that I got everything VERY quickly. I ordered all my texts from amazon and the savings in shipping was sweet.

Now, that I am paying for shipping - or doing the "Free Shipping" thing, I find that it takes up to 2 weeks to get stuff.
 

Healing Spirit

gregory said:
Is this amazon.com ? If so - United States residents - welcome to the standard state of affairs in amazon.co.uk.

I use Bookdepository whenever I possibly can for books - and almost ANYWHERE but amazon for tarot. :(
Click to expand...

Thumbs up for the Dook Depository.

The only thing that annoys me ab0out them is that if I buy 2 or three books at once from them, they never consolidate the order into one parcel.

I don't have a problem with amazon.co.uk as I pay the annual fee for Prime which gives me free next day delivery.
 

Cat*

Yes, I've also noticed a decrease in delivery speed, a change to a different (=worse) shipping company, and flimsier packaging with Amazon.de over the last year or so. Seems to be a worldwide phenomenon! :(

I've also taken some of my business buying English-language books and tarot decks to Book Depository (especially since they're sometimes even cheaper than Amazon.de). I hardly ever read German-language books anymore, and try to buy these at the local gay book shop (which is highly support-worthy), so that's not what I need Amazon for anyway.
 

Aeon418

gregory said:
I use Bookdepository whenever I possibly can for books
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I used to like the Bookdepository, but not anymore. Sometimes they falsely claim to have items "in stock and ready for dispatch". What this really means is that they think they can obtain an item from their supplier while the customer is kept waiting. Enquiries are met with a B.S. email that says something like "it's in dispatch now, sorry for the wait." This is followed a week later by an order cancellation email.

This has happened to me three times now. Not impressed at all!
 

HearthCricket

My stuff seems to still come at a very decent amount of time, though I do get frustrated when they split an order, pack them in different things, but it all comes the same day. That is wasteful in my eyes. I've been buying more local lately, anyhow, to help support the smaller businesses.
 

Melancholy

Amazon.com

Chiska said:
Back when I was in university, I had the PRIME (Free 2nd day shipping thing), and I found that I got everything VERY quickly. I ordered all my texts from amazon and the savings in shipping was sweet.

Now, that I am paying for shipping - or doing the "Free Shipping" thing, I find that it takes up to 2 weeks to get stuff.
Click to expand...


I was reading through some posts about FedEx SmartPost on Amazon's message board and it appears that some Prime customers are getting their packages sent FedEx SmartPost which is a "non-guarantee time" or some such thing delivery service. Even Prime customers are now getting their items delivered by sub-standard shipping methods.
 

Le Fanu

This is gonna get moved.. it isn't exactly tarot decks...

I have never had a problem with amazon (am I the only one? I have used them all; amazon UK, French, Germany, U.S) Never had a problem.

I also like the Book Depository but, as others have said, you can order 5 things on the same day and they arrive as 5 different packages. Not very environmentally friendly.

The BD has been taking a little longer than usual as of late. But then again, I'm greedy and want everything NOW.

But overall, very happy...
 
I got a gig :) Irked by deck bashing? All in a lighthearted vein...