Amazon, What happened to you?

[Wendywu]

I use Amazon for all sorts of stuff, and all of us in the house use the one account and split the cost for a Prime membership with free next day delivery. It really works - all four adults buying all their music and books, (and decks), together with other stuff - we more than recoup the cost of Prime membership . Everything comes Special Delivery, the very next day. (Unless it's Marketplace - third party - but I try and avoid those anyway).

It's much cheaper (for me) than buying decks from abroad and paying for shipping (and maybe customs duty).

 

[Astraea]

I'm a Prime member, and I've noticed that in the past year, while Amazon touts second-day delivery, they have started to ship a later than they used to...so technically, it's still second-day delivery, but actual shipment takes longer than before. There are also differences among carriers, and in the US Amazon has started to use the USPS in addition to UPS and FedEx; these carriers have all been experiencing their own financial woes, and it shows in their service. Many of my Amazon purchases (and others) have arrived in dinged-to-seriously damaged boxes. I think that all of this might reflect global economic straits, reflected in - but not limited to - Amazon's service. Overall, I remain very pleased with Amazon. But I have detected a downward curve.

 

[misfitknits]

i also order a lot from amazon, and i used to get my orders within 3 days, whether or not i ordered it direct from amazon or "used" from a third-party seller. for a while now, maybe as long or more than a year, i have noticed that the items are taking longer to get here. but that is also reflected in their "estimated delivery date" that you can see on your account page, recent orders on amazon.com. even though it takes longer, i am still happy.

the reason i shop on amazon is because i can things so much cheaper than most places BECAUSE i always order used, and almost always the cheapest that they have, because we are broke! IF you buy let's say 5 items. 2 are from AMAZON, 3 are from a third party seller. your order will be broken down into 2 different batch shipments. let's say you order 5 items ALL from different third-party sellers, then your order will ship from 5 different people in 5 different places.

BECAUSE anyone can sell on amazon. if you have lots of books, you can sell. when some buys from you, you will obviously ship their item from YOUR TOWN.

so, depending on what you ordered from whom, this COULD be an explanation. but i don't know specifically what y'all ordered.

ETA: and ALL my orders in my buying history have been delivered USPS, BUT i have a package from amazon that will be here any day, so we'll see how that one comes in!

 

[Laura Borealis]

I imagine the holiday consumerism glut has already begun to affect postal delivery; one might want to bear that in mind especially in the coming weeks.

 

[greatdane]

Ditto

I just placed an order for a few items that were noted as "in stock" and shipped from Amazon. But before it seemed like if it was in stock, it shipped within a day or two, max. I usually got in within a week. Now it's hit or miss. It also said the items that were shipped today shouldn't arrive til a week from this coming Monday. They're shipping from a few states away. Is someone walking it over?

 

[Faolainn Storm]

I am personally boycotting Amazon - their shipping charges are outrageous.

I just bought a deck from someone here and the shipping was approx US$14, and took 9 days to arrive. The last thing I ordered from Amazon was about the same size but weighed probably half as much. I paid over US$20 in shipping and it took more than three weeks to get here.

At that point I decided that the shipping costs were beyond ridiculous. It doubles the price of a deck or book, and takes forever. It costs me only slightly more to buy the same item here, so I figured that I ended up not saving enough money to cover the inconvenience.

I do use Book Depository. I don't like the multiple packages, and they are no faster than Amazon. but no shipping costs means I actually do save money.

FS

 

[Lela]

I order a lot from amazon and have had pretty good service, nothing to complain about. I don't have a prime membership, so I just stick with super saver shipping to avoid shipping fees. Because I use super saver shipping, I don't expect my items to arrive too quickly, but I've been surprised where items have arrived within 2-3 days after placing my order. I have had shipments broken into several packages, which is a bit annoying, but it keeps the items coming without having to wait for everything to be in stock. Overall, I'm happy with their service.

 

[Noelle]

Well I've never had a problem with Amazon .... UNTIL NOW .... with the last 2 orders.

Shipping for one order was delayed by a week and half, while they waited to tell me that one item that was in stock was in fact not available. Oh and estimated time of arrival for this order is 51 days after shipping date, even though they claim standard shipping averages 18 - 32 days.

Looks like this order doesn't fall within the "averages". ... and given this was an order I placed in October it isn't what I would call good service.

 

[LadyDeborah]

I just got several orders from Amazon in the past few weeks. They were as good as they have been. I didn't notice any difference. I know I wanted to order several decks, then realized the holidays were approaching and if I wanted to avoid that mess, I better hurry up. I got everything very quickly. I love Amazon and always get free shipping by ordering at least $25.00.

 

[zan_chan]

I always use Amazon Japan (naturally) and the service has never been anything but impeccable. 99% of the time, I receive my order next-day, totally free. Can't beat that!