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*** Aug 30 Update *** : Product was delivered today, but it was the PC CD version rather than the DVD version, it installed, so I'm not going to bother returning it, if they shipped it just to get me one, they made the right decision.
That was three years ago and Amazon hasn't repeated that shipping shenanigan since so I feel a review was in order.
Ironically, in the past year shipping has been almost too efficient as I have come to expect 2 day delivery from ground service.
Also, most Amazon items do qualify for free shipping once you reach $25, which makes an extra day not an issue at all, considering the average price of shipping a parcel.
Over the years I have come to use Amazon more smartly and with he money I save I am able to make more purchases, including those I would not normally make at Amazon, such as bed and bath. The Amazon Pinzon label (Made in Turkey) is quite excellent for cotton products."
"Purchased an Antec SLK3000B from them with the Free super saving. Got the item in about 7 days which was to be expected since it was free. No real complaints, the case arrived with a minor bent USB in the front door which I was able to fix easily."
"I have been a purchaser at Amazon.com since 1998. I have mainly purchased books, CD's and DVD's but lately have purchased housewares, clothing, etc. Amazon is a wonderful online store.
In order to get FREE Shipping, you have to purchase at least $25.00 in merchandise, not including Amazon Marketplace items. Most other stores I have purchased from do not give free shipping on items that are pre-orders, out of stock or special orders -- but Amazon.com does. They keep your orders easy to check on at the website and send an email if anything needs to be changed--they actually ask for your approval for keeping delayed items on your order.
You know the old adage, "You get what you pay for" -- well, if you want Free Shipping, you don't get Expedited Shipping. However, I have purchased items that shipped the same day I ordered them. Even though I had to order at least $25.00 in total purchases, if an item is ready to ship and the others are not, Amazon goes ahead and ships it by itself. They prefer to ship 2 or more items but they don't wait if something else is going to take too long.
As for Marketplace Sellers -- most of them (and I started selling some of my unwanted DVD's through them in July), are honest people but there are scam artists everywhere. Amazon DOES want to know about the those dishonest sellers.
If you click on an item's New and Used link you will see the following:
"Always pay through Amazon.com's Shopping Cart or 1-Click. Learn more about Safe Online Shopping" which brings up a popup box giving security tips and procedures - some of which I have put here.
"Amazon.com takes a number of steps to help ensure that our third-party seller platforms are safe and that our sellers are of the highest quality. However, keep in mind that customer protection is a two-way street. When buying or selling on any online venue, caution must always be practiced."
"Regardless of circumstances, buyers should never pay for a Marketplace item using an alternative form of payment such as wire transfer, credit card, money orders, check, cash, etc." AND "Marketplace transactions paid for using alternative forms of payment are not eligible for protection under the Amazon.com A-to-Z Guarantee; therefore, it is extremely important that buyers only use Amazon.com Payments to complete Marketplace transactions. Click here to learn more about the Amazon.com A-to-Z Guarantee."
ALSO: Buyer Tip: Research your seller.
"Buyers should always research a seller's feedback history prior to initiating a transaction. *Feedback is the leading indicator of a seller's overall quality. Look for clues within a seller's feedback that indicate the following: The ability to fulfill and ship orders in a timely fashion, a seller's willingness to resolve transaction disputes, and an indication that the quality of the products shipped matches the description supplied by the seller."
*Note: don't just look at the number of stars the buyer or seller gives, read the comments -- you will learn a lot. I saw a seller on eBay who had a high amount of + (positive) feedback but if you read the comments, you would have seen how much trouble everyone had with this particular seller. Also, for some reason, many buyers give glowing comments about their seller but only give 4 or even 3 stars."
"I purchased a Leatherman New Wave bundled with a Leatherman Micra for $49. There was a promotion to get $30 off if you signed up and paid for your order with an Amazon.com Visa. I did this as well. They refused to honor the $30 discount even though I have screenshots of the page that shows visible both products in the cart and the discount taken from the total order price. That screenshot is here:
http://athensspringer.com/images/gallery/amazon_leatherman.jpg
I am still working on this but they are not being very responsive."
"Up until recently I really liked Amazon.com. Prices weren't the cheapest, but they usually shipped when they said they would and they have very good return policy. I always used free shipping because if it said in item description that it usually ships in 24 hours then it actually was shipped within a day.
Now some marketing genius at Amazon apparently has decided that Amazon should penalize customers choosing free shipping by pushing ship date 5 days further from the advertised 24 hours. The logic behind this is completely beyond me, unless Amazon wants to force everybody to sign up to that Amazon Prime shipping program, and this is really wrong way to do this.
I recently ordered Canon Rebel XT kit ($900 with "free" shipping) that was advertised as being shipped within 24 hours, and it was shipped 6 days after the order was placed.
I ordered Canon lens 2 days ago ($590 with "free" shipping) and was given ship date 7 days from the date of order. This item is also advertised as being shipped in 24 hours. I waited for two days, item hasn't been shipped. Yet if I add it to the shopping basket again and choose 1 day shipping then miraculously shipping date becomes next day! Switch to free shipping - and the shipping date is pushed forward 5-7 days.
That is you don't find out that "usually ships in 24 hours" actually means "usually ships in 24 hours ONLY IF YOU SELECT ONE DAY SHIPPING" until the very last step of checkout process.
Now, this is just wrong. No other store is so heavy handed in trying to make some money on shipping. I will most likely never ship at Amazon again until this policy is removed."
"I have used amazon for buying books and CD's and everything works fine. BUT if you order from marketplace sellers many of them are scamers. They post a digital camera or a plasma tv for ridiculously low prices, and then refund immediately and ask for money orders or wire transfers via wester union, typically to Romania. Amazon does absolutely NO monitoring of this to my knowledge, because they are up doing the same thing again, plus mostly have positive ratings on Amazon. DONT TRUST THE RATINGS ON THESE GUYS! IT is probably a small group of scammers who do many fake names and store fronts as this is not monitored by Amazon, one person can have 10 diff. seller names. Too much fraud, DONT BUY: Canon digital Rebel XT $500, S2 IS $300, Samsung Plasma TV $130-$350 (im not kidding). "
"What a joke! I ordered an item and have questions about their shipping policies, and can not get a hold of ANYONE for help. Their 'help/customer support' section of the site probably has 20MB of information, none of which answers any of my questions or provides me a phone number or email address.
When replying to the confirmation mails of coarse all I get is the auto-response saying that I need to go online for help?!?!
All I have is a simple question/concern after my estimated shipping arrival is longer than expected.
Typical corporate type attitude: cheap prices with 0% concern for end customers. Next time I'll spend the extra few bucks and go with a vendor that appreciates my business!
EDIT (08/24/05): so the parts are finaly in route for delivery (on time), but in 2 days I am still unable to contact ANYONE!! I'm happy that all will be here before the weekend, but I will probably not purchase from them again. "
"Amazon does not verify its third party vendors. Camera EOS 20d $800 is a scam by third party vendors. They will try other means to get you to pay, avoiding Amazon online pay. Reporting them only generates canned responses. During the past month I have ordered this camera from 6 different vendors with the same response. They say that they cannot receive money from Amazon and the want a Western Union money order. Decline and your order is cancelled. Report them and you get a canned reply and they are back online working the same scam with someone else. These scammers have a high rating"
"I have been making purchases at Amazon.com since 2002, and I must say that I have never had a problem with them. Everything from placing an order to changing credit card information is pain free at Amazon.
Items are usually shipped out the next business day. In the past 3 years there has been only one item on backorder that I tried to purchase, and Amazon would send me an e-mail every several weeks to tell me it was still on backorder and to ask if I wished to cancel the order. Quite a difference from some sites that just leave you wondering what's going on.
I've bought everything from videogames to books to alarm clocks from Amazon, and I will continue to do so."
"Can't understand the poor ratings for Amazon. I have purchsed dozens of items over 3 years from a camcorder to a swiss army knife (most recent order) and have been plesed with their service and their communication. No problems. Have ordered through them and their "resellers" who list used items. The reseller vary somewhat in quality of shipping material, but the prices are great and shipments have been prompt."
"I ordered some books from Amazon, and they arrived exactly as described. The free super saver shipping sometimes takes a bit longer, but it has never failed to arrive for me - and hey, it's free. I have done business with them for all sorts of things the past few years, and will continue to do so!"
"I have had nothing but problems with Amazon during my (attempted) purchacing of this camera. My orders have been canceled three times without my notification (was I supposed to guess?? or read thier minds perhaps) I have attempted to contact them to straigten things out numerous times and have only been met with genaric bulk responses. Tried having my parents use their cards for the purchace (under their own email address) and was met with the same response. I honestly have no idea what the problem is because they wont inform me. I really wanted to purchace this camera and have everything I can to facilitate them and they in tern have treated me (and my family!) like crap. I will NEVER do buisness with Amazon again. Period."
"Bought two books from them because I wanted to save some money. They said it qualified for free saver shipping. Sound's good, I like free and it said 3-5 days to ship. That sounded good at the time because I thought I would have it in 3 - 5 days. That meant they can take UP TO 5 days to actually ship it! Then, they ship it USPS which will take another 5 days at least! Every, and I mean EVERY other store on the internet that has free shipping menas they will have it to you in 3 to 5 days. They use deluded wording to get you roped in. I can tell you right now that I will never order a thing from Amazon.com AND I will never use A9 as a search engine. They also will not refund my money because it entered into shipping status which took another 2 days to actually ship! It's a farce."
"i purchase an item that was supposely be delievered by july 18-22. I received a notice on 19 that the item was out of stock. This is ok but less than 3 days later amazon had it in stock.
They could do nothing to reinstate the order. They wouldn't even replace the order. Amazon has gotten worst and worst as time gone by..."
"ordered digital camera through them was good price was an affiliate target comgot an email today said order was canceled was posted wrong price so as to policy they have this rightmy thought s are they should have caught it a week ago as i could have gotten a good deal on a camera else where ps was nt even through them there policy states they only have the right if its there merchandise was through target com go figure well they ended up giving us the run around last time i buy anything from them"