Avoid Amazon

[Rhys]

I saw a charger for my Nikon 995 on Amazon priced at a reasonable $25 (including postage). I ordered on April 7th and was promised delivery by 21st of May. That seemed a ludicrous delay but I waited. Today they sent an email stating that I should now wait until 22nd July. This means that they did not have the item in stock, would not have the item in stock and never intended to have the item in stock. Basically, it's false advertising. I've had this with Amazon before - a book that I ordered took 6 weeks to arrive despite numerous complaints and reminders and broken promised delivery dates. That time, they billed my card as soon as they received my order. This time I'm not sure. I'll have to check. To anybody considering Amazon I would say avoid this rogue e-tailer at all costs. It's not worth saving $5 or $10 ordering something that never comes.

[Bluedog]

Did you call them to complain. They have one of if not the best customer service in the business, that I've dealt with. Not to mention I made over $3000 on their stock two years ago ... :D

[Rhys]

Did you call them to complain. They have one of if not the best customer service in the business, that I've dealt with. Not to mention I made over $3000 on their stock two years ago ... :D

Once a rotten egg, always a rotten egg. I should've remembered my last experience with them before this one.

[Rex914]

I'm sorry to hear about your problems, but Amazon has always been an excellent retailer. It's just that when you get big, things can slip through the cracks. Usually, when something gets delayed or out of stock, they will replace it immediately, within a few days. I've even heard many cases where an out of stock item shipped within 2-3 days.

[Rhys]

I'm sorry to hear about your problems, but Amazon has always been an excellent retailer. It's just that when you get big, things can slip through the cracks. Usually, when something gets delayed or out of stock, they will replace it immediately, within a few days. I've even heard many cases where an out of stock item shipped within 2-3 days.

I've had 3 experiences with Amazon. The first was a book that I was billed for but which only arrived after 6 weeks and after I'd complained 3 times to Amazon and once to my credit card company. The second was a scruffy secondhand book that was misdescribed as a new book. The third was this nonsensical affair of my MH53 being given mythical delivery dates because they plainly did not posess one and further (extended) delivery dates were so lacking in credibility that they appeared as though they never would order one let alone send me one.

Amazon might be good occasionally but based on all 3 of my experiences with them and based on the experiences of others who'd rather pay full-price for the goods and actually receive them, Amazon seems to be a consistant rogue e-tailer.

Interestingly, Amazon's rating on resellerratings is (currently) 6.12 out of 10. They're looking shoddy.

[Norm in Fujino]

I've had 3 experiences with Amazon. . . .
Amazon might be good occasionally but based on all 3 of my experiences with them


I've used Amazon literally countless times over the past many years (I teach, and I buy almost all my books through them), and I've had very few problems. Perhaps the longest wait was last year when I ordered a metal detector around Christmas and it got rescheduled several times--'tis the season.

But that's once out of literally dozens of orders if not hundreds of orders. I've been very pleased. Obviously, if it's a time-critical order, then you're safest to look elsewhere--that's true with all online shopping--but 98% of the time for me they've been very good. Now tomorrow, they could burn me bad, but they haven't yet (knock on wood).

[digitalshoujo]

Amazon has become a huge company over the years, and as such, their performance is bound to decline, at least a little. I've never had any serious problems with Amazon, and I use them all the time. Books, CDs, DVDs, and even a few big things like a digital camera. I find they have decent prices - as long as you aren't getting charged tax - and pretty good shipping (except around the holidays). The only major complaint I've ever heard about them was this past Christmas dealing with trying to meet the iPod demand (things were backordered forever...)
Resellerratings is a gamble too, anyone can post ratings there. Read what people have written, don't just skim the numbers. Decide for yourself who was really at fault, and whether those experiences really apply to you. I've seen horrible ratings for places that came from ordering things like huge home theater systems. Personally, I'd never order something that huge through an internet company - there's just too much risk involved and it's too expensive. Does that apply to your book order? Probably not.
But really, it's up to you to make the decision of whether or not you buy from them again. It seems like you've had bad luck and that's unfortunate, but I'd hardly call them a rogue internet business.

[thebac]

I've had 3 experiences with Amazon. The first was a book that I was billed for but which only arrived after 6 weeks and after I'd complained 3 times to Amazon and once to my credit card company. The second was a scruffy secondhand book that was misdescribed as a new book. The third was this nonsensical affair of my MH53 being given mythical delivery dates because they plainly did not posess one and further (extended) delivery dates were so lacking in credibility that they appeared as though they never would order one let alone send me one.

Amazon might be good occasionally but based on all 3 of my experiences with them and based on the experiences of others who'd rather pay full-price for the goods and actually receive them, Amazon seems to be a consistant rogue e-tailer.

Interestingly, Amazon's rating on resellerratings is (currently) 6.12 out of 10. They're looking shoddy.

Rhys,

out of curiosity, how many of your purchases were from Amazon.com proper and how many were from third-party sellers selling through Amazon?

[d48]

I have regularly bought from Amazon.com for many years. Rarely a week goes by that I don't place an order. I've had nothing but wonderful service.

I'm curious like the last poster - were your poor experiences from Amazon.com or a 3rd party retailer or someone selling used merchandise on their site? If it was from Amazon, did the item say when it would be ready to ship? On some books, it says they'll try to locate a copy but it may take a few weeks.

[Rhys]

I have regularly bought from Amazon.com for many years. Rarely a week goes by that I don't place an order. I've had nothing but wonderful service.

I'm curious like the last poster - were your poor experiences from Amazon.com or a 3rd party retailer or someone selling used merchandise on their site? If it was from Amazon, did the item say when it would be ready to ship? On some books, it says they'll try to locate a copy but it may take a few weeks.

Yes. It was an Amazon item. I check their site occasionally but they still advertose it but never have any in stock. It's an item they'll never posess. I'm surprised they don't advertise hen's dentures!

[beta]

Hello,

I'm new here (just found this site).
And I would like to share my experiences on Amazon.

I have made hundreds of purchases with Amazon and almost never had a bad experience before. First, they never charge a credit card before they actually ship. Second, Amazon is one of the safest places to buy from simply because their return process is so easy.. in fact its an automatated process. No need to request for RMAs or talk with a rep. Just go on their website, find the return link, and it will provide you with a printable prepaid UPS (or USPS) barcode. It can't get any easier than this. And yes, you can return even if you don't like the color of the item! They will refund the full amount of your money minus the shipping fees. If the item was damaged, they will even send you a new one via two day shipping BEFORE you return the old one!

Bottom line, Amazon is THE online retailer others only dream to become.
Word of warning though.. stick with Amazon merchandise. Don't but from their "marketplace".. (third party merchants) this is a totaly different story. Just avoid this one.

[d48]

I already posted here with my excellent Amazon experiences, but I'll add my latest purchase. On Friday I ordered a digital camera from them. It was supposed to be delivered Tuesday, but it came early Monday morning which was great!

By the way, I could have got the same camera cheaper at a couple other sites, but I chose to pay $45 more and get it from Amazon because I have confidence in them. The extra money was worth it to me.

[D Thompson]

I thought I would add my 2 c's worth. I too have used Amazon many times and have never had the first problem. Everything has been delivered very timely. Latest example - Wed June 1 ordered Sandisk 1g card and a Canon EF 50mm f1.8 lens. 1g card delivered on Sat June 4 and lens on Mon June 6. Both items ordered with the free shipping, not 2 day or anything like that. Will I use Amazon again - you betcha!!!!!!!!!

Dennis

[Ruffian29]

I got my dad a fujifilm F450 for Fathers day, and since we ordered it so late I had to get next day shipping in order to have it on time. I placed the order late Wednesday night, it shipped Thursday and I got it early (before 1pm) on Friday morning.
Great service. I definitely found this camera cheaper other places, but I order from Amazon a ton (i love to go to barns and noble retail store, make a list of the books that look good, go home and order them off Amazon, i hardly never buy them from actual book stores anymore). I've never ever had a bad experience with shipping with them, and even have used some of their third party customers and didn't have a problem then either.
Amazon is reliable, fast, and relatively cheep