Big Orange Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 ...are they going down the same slow downward route as Tesco's did in the 2000s already? Four deliveries in a row have been grossly shambolic and inconvenient (with one non-tracked delivery inexplicably vanishing altogether). Although Royal Mail is prone to slowness and inepitude at times. Ebay may be cramming my email account with inane spam and got a reputation that sellers should beware, but their recent deliveries in odds and ends have been far more timely and efficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Amazon's own delivery service seems to subcontract individuals wth their own car for home deliveries. They're generally unreliable I find. I've got some interesting stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nome Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I've not bought anything online for almost 2 years but had to get a few things off ebay in the last couple of weeks... amazed at how prompt dispatch and delivery was from the various sellers, all using Royal Mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Orange Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 I've been mostly OK with Amazon but lately I get the impression Amazon's corporate overstretch fostering arrogance (ala Tesco's or G4S in the past decade) and Royal Mail restructuring had a grave impact on quality of service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canbuywontbuy Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I got snagged into inadvertently signing up to Amazon Prime because they offered me a one-time use of it for free, not realising I was signing up to the real thing at the same time and was charged £79 a month later. It can be argued that I was an idiot for not reading the small print, but it just seems so underhand, and that really puts me off a company for life. When I called Amazon, the guy I spoke to actually guessed my query as soon as I said "I've inadvertently signed up to Amazon Prime" - at least I got refunded, but I bet loads of people don't check their statements and are unwittingly subscribers to Amazon Prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spunko2010 Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 The problem isn't Royal Mail, it's that Amazon delay deliveries if you aren't a Prime customer. I honestly don't know why people use them, they aren't always the cheapest, pay no corporation tax, drive competitors out, and treat their employees like modern day slaves. Plus, Amazon Prime is a load of total *****. What sort of person enjoys watching US boxsets? Only the braindead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errol Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 When I called Amazon, the guy I spoke to actually guessed my query as soon as I said "I've inadvertently signed up to Amazon Prime" - at least I got refunded The slightly sneeky signup process aside, this is actually good customer service. They refunded you no questions asked! That's very good really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkujsbap Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I order a few things a month, from books to headphones to shoes. I am not a prime customer and the free delivery always turns up early. Ordered the headphones (large, not the earbud style) at 1am Friday morning. Told it would be over 5 working days. Arrived first thing Saturday morning. Had a USB WiFi dongle turn up, claimed 150mb/s and got 3mb/s. Sent a refund request and got it within 24 hours and allowed to keep the product if I wanted. I don't agree with their tax payments but don't hate the player, hate the game. In terms of customer experience I find them second to none and always exceeding expectations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC1 Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I've not bought anything online for almost 2 years but had to get a few things off ebay in the last couple of weeks... amazed at how prompt dispatch and delivery was from the various sellers, all using Royal Mail. Wow. I've almost not bought anything from a bricks n mortar shop for longer than 2 years - I wonder if I'd be amazed at how courteous the staff are and how good value everything is? I find ebay purchases to be generally reliable and Amazon always so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC1 Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 The slightly sneeky signup process aside, this is actually good customer service. They refunded you no questions asked! That's very good really. Amazon are peerless in their customer support - I have had no problem returning things many months after the supposed returns window has passed by using their instant 'chat' facility. It's a painless no questions asked kind of thing. They email you a return label and the refund is practically instant as soon as you post it. Who else offers that level of consumer service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Orange Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 To be fair Amazon promptly refunded me on the delivery that fell into a bottomless chasm in Royal Mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sf-02 Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Lots of online companies offer exactly that level of returns service. Much agree with the Tesco analogy. Amazon are now only selling some products to people willing to pay £79 a year. They have just stopped refunding the difference if the price drops just after you buy. This has been a long-standing winner for them in terms of good PR and a clear sign they have changed. They are also making deliveries slower if you don't pay £79 a year. And you also have to pay delivery for things below £20 now unless you again pay £79 a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meerkat Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Prime subscriber and not because I need any of the TV though with Clarkson et al. returning I might make use of it as well. Never had anyissues with deliveries; on a couple of occasions can remember them postponing to the next day, but that's out of 100 observations and then some. If you need fast delivery, shop frequently enough and don't want to spend hours physically shopping around, can't go wrong. That said, they are not always the cheapest venue and I obviously skip them if substantial savings can be made elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sellotape Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I've bought loads of stuff from China via wish.com recently and the service has been excellent. Fast (for the distance) deliveries, cheap prices and good quality. Well worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meerkat Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 They are also making deliveries slower if you don't pay £79 a year. And you also have to pay delivery for things below £20 now unless you again pay £79 a year. This actually what made me subscribe to prime. I noticed substiantial slow-down in non-prime deliveries... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattydread Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Amazon will be fine - Just wait till they get there drone operation going.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spunko2010 Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 This actually what made me subscribe to prime. I noticed substiantial slow-down in non-prime deliveries... I must be mad - my reaction was to never use them again, not pay them £80 a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Increasingly use them for nic-nacs and bits of hardware. Generally find the service pretty good and no major issues with delivery. Returned 1-pair of walking boots that didn't fit.. Easy, no questions asked. Had one delivery of button cells that didn't arrive on time.. emailed the vendor and they immediately dispatched a second set (first set never did turn up). Over all I'd say that's pretty good service. To be honest, for things like button cells at £1.80 for a (10-off?) set including free shipping.. I don't know how they make any money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashmonitor Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 The only problem I tend to find with Amazon is the parcel coming too early, which therefore involves a trip to the Post Office for signed stuff. Delivery slots very pessimistic on timing, ebay too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sour Mash Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 No issues with Amazon deliveries - the Prime stuff often arrives via a taxi as the one of the courier services subcontracts to a taxi service. Not a problem as far as I am concerned. If I don't want the next-day Prime delivery I can opt for them to take their time and then I get a £1 credit to spend against Kindle books, Android downloads or mp3 or digital video purchase/rental. Typically that takes about 5 working days though often if I order something else with Prime before that, they ship the 'slow delivery' stuff along with it. Plus, you can now often opt for delivery to collection points including most post offices. Very handy. eBay are also pretty good. I've never had an issue with private sellers being slow to post and increasingly you can choose to have items delivered to your nearest Argos for collection if it suits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Amazon's own delivery service seems to subcontract individuals wth their own car for home deliveries. They're generally unreliable I find. I've got some interesting stories. We've had deliveries at strange times - well outside normal hours. Nothing not turned up but we are not huge amazon orderers. Banggood.com has tons of lovely crap and isn't bad delivery wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheBlueCat Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I used to have lots of hassle with Amazon - mainly down to UPS - but since they started doing deliveries to my local post office everything has been fine. Do they offer this in the UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooch Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I used to have lots of hassle with Amazon - mainly down to UPS - but since they started doing deliveries to my local post office everything has been fine. Do they offer this in the UK? I have had varying opinions of Amazon over the years. Amazon themselves are excellent, but their use of different couriers really made me hate them at some points in time. HDNL were awful, such as constantly trying to deliver to my work premises at 7pm when it was always closed. It got to the point where I was trying to guess order sizes/values in the hope they wouldn't send it via particular couriers. I wish they had the option for the customer to choose which courier to use. Royal Mail are the best, although I do like their own Logistics service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I used to have lots of hassle with Amazon - mainly down to UPS - but since they started doing deliveries to my local post office everything has been fine. Do they offer this in the UK? Yes they do for some of their suppliers. If I order one film it will go through the letterbox. If I order a boxed set I can collect it from the post office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Untoward Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 On the contrary, I find Amazon prime membership bloody brilliant. I used the new Amazon Prime Now a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday Afternoon. I needed a strimmer to finish the Gardening and not only was the item I wanted 33% off, it arrived within an hour. Incredible. I can no longer watch mainstream TV on account of my blood pressure. I find Amazon Prime Movies better than Netflix (Costs more over 12 months) and as a big music fan, the added bonus of Prime Music makes the £70 annual membership a bargain. Although there are some holes in the catalogue. As said above, their tax avoidance is ridiculous but they don't set the rules. I think the Customer sees the benefit of the Tax breaks in the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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