"I usually am very pleased with Amazon.com IF I am dealing directly with them. However, I am finding more and more that if I place an order that involves one of their partners, I'm taking a big risk. If problems develop, Amazon will forward on the complain but will not actively participate in resolving the problem. The first time I encountered a problem (which involved credit card fraud on the part of partner), I wrote the CEO of Amazon. Their response essentially stated that they had had good experience with the company and would not pursue my complaint.
This time I ordered 13 boxes of Power Bars from Amazon's partner, bikesomewhere.com for over $150. Whereas the package arrived in a reasonable period of time, the 13 boxes inside were damaged to different degrees - enough so that I questioned the safety of the products. In fact, I checked the expiration dates on each box, suspecting they were way past their shelf life. Most of the boxes were not appropriately sealed, and you could see the bars in some of the boxes. The most damaged box had a bar missing, and end of the wrapper on the rest had been cut off - exposing the bars themselves! Clearly there is no quality control at this store, and I'm sure they are in violation of FDA rules.
Amazon accepts no responsibility for these partner stores....You can only complete a complaint form online, and they forward the complaint to the offending store.
From now on, I will only shop via Amazon itself. If the product goes through a partner store, I will not proceed.
One of the questions in this survey was to rate my experience with Amazon's return policy. I gave it a "poor" rating because they are deferring to the partner store, and that store has yet to respond. I'd return the products if I could, but Amazon refuses to get involved, and bikesomewhere.com won't respond."
"I thought they had very good customer service and helped me with a problem item i had."
"I ordered an Edward Gorey calendar for my son; I wasn't able to find it anywhere else. The calendar was shipped promptly and received in perfect condition in plenty of time for Christmas. Amazon did their usual great job."
"Ordered Call of Duty: Black Ops for $15 less than it could be found anywhere else on the web + free shipping!"
"Amazon is the first place I look for items. They are pretty much impossible to beat on price and return policy."
"I have been ordering from amazon.com for years. They are a great company and their customer services is very good. On Black Friday I ordered 2 kindles at the $89 price, but when I checked out, they had bumped up to their $189 price. I am sure it had to do with my slow phone doing the order and they had sold out of all of them at the lower price. Amazon cheerfully adjusted the price to the $89 amount since I had them in my cart and was able to check out. "
"I have performed a number of transactions with Amazon over the last few years. Their prices are competitive and their shipping prompt and on-time. I have bought books, electronics, and supplements from them. Amazon is worth checking for many types of purchases. This purchase had to do with supplements. Their prices saved me $$$ over Whole Foods, and I didn't have any driving expenses to boot!"
"Great Prices especially on books. Amazon.com is reliable and fast."
"amazon is great! i usually check here first before i buy anything. Price is usually better here than in retail stores. "
"I love this site, I shop all the time with no problems. Subscibe and save is a great feature I order my Tide, Charmin and Cereal that way. Great prices and fast service. No need to go to the Grocery store and carry stuff yourself. Amazon is door to door service via UPS. "
"I purchase items from Amazon with a medium to low frequency and I always take the "ship for Free with the Super Saver Shipping" for items sold directly by Amazon.
I am very satisfied with them, but there have been a few hiccups, primarily with the packaging split. Also, the Amazon's packing have improved somewhat over time but occasionally the order arrives with questionable "Frustation-Free" packaging, for example. Last but not lest: for the first time my last shipping was made using a carrier (LaserShip) that, by reading their Customer Reviews, has being in big troubles with many of them. Fortunately, not with me.
For now, they are a good online site to place a purchase order."
"This was originally a negative review, but Amazon has made things right finally, so I have edited it to reflect that."
"I have ordered from Amazon many times and never been let down (as I have with Barnes and Noble's online site!!!)...wonderful online merchant. Highly recommend to everyone."
"I frequently order from Amazon. I am a PRIME member (free 2-day shipping for items sold directly by Amazon). For the most part I am very satisfied with Amazon. There have been a few hiccups - mostly with their 3rd party vendors. Amazon's packing skills have improved somewhat over time but occasionally the order arrives with questionable packaging. For the most part I am satisfied with Amazon and they seem more reliable than many other online places I have ordered from."
"Great place to buy video games for low prices. Bought Red Dead Redemption for the low price of $40 (compared to Gamestop, who sells it for $59.99). They also have reasonable prices for SD card readers."