Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#71

Post by amitport » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:22 PM UTC

michaelt wrote: post #54

amitport wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"more than five customer complaints" Five out of _? We should care about the proportion, and should consider some time decay (maybe the issues were a decade ago).

I work for a company that (among other things) sells food. The acceptable number of customers to send expired food is zero percent. It's not a complex or unusual requirement to make sure your goods are in-date - any properly designed warehouse management system will take care of this. This is absolutely table stakes if you're going to deliver food. Unopened baby formula has a shelf life of 6 months+ when properly sto…

I didn't mean to say that it's OK. Just that I would like to have a good quantitative grasp of the actual situation.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#72

Post by criddell » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:23 PM UTC

dspillett wrote: post #34

A key problem with the complaints is that customer reviews don't† take into account the effect of commingling. The expired food might have come from a different seller initially, but you were sent it because of Amazon's supply line optimisations. Amazon will know but when you write your review or read someone else's, you won't. Same problem as counterfeit goods and commingling though iirc there are more control in pl…

I think the complaints are perfectly valid. If you sell something on Amazon I believe you can choose to not have your product commingled [1]. If you don't do this, then you are accepting the risk that comes with commingling.

[1]: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/how-to-prevent-com...

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#73

Post by arbitrage » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:24 PM UTC

rietta wrote: post #22

This happened to us. My wife orders a lot of dog treats and human snacks on subscribe and save. They sent a package of nearly expired nut snack bars. Wife contacted customer service and they just sent another of the same. My wife is meticulous about checking sale by and it is a fight to keep her from throwing out recently expired foods. But I hadn't known a store to ship an expired product before this.

> They sent a package of nearly expired nut snack bars.

So, they sent you an unexpired product, that you ordered? Outrageous.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#74

Post by awinder » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:25 PM UTC

danesparza wrote: post #52

sdfsafsaf wrote: post #36

After so many stories and experiences with fakes, why would anyone still buy items in Amazon that are otherwise typically found in pharmacies or grocery stores? In my experience Amazon ships: Food that is expired or fake Drugs that are expired or fake Batteries that are expired or fake I've even received fake diapers! Very well done fakes too: we only noticed because of a very small logo that are included in the real…

Amazon just has a bigger target on their back. Why wouldn't these issues affect any business with a sizable logistics chain? There are no guarantees of authenticity of goods at your local brick and mortar stores either.

This is just patently untrue. Your brick and mortar store has a clear hierarchy of responsibility -- it's the workers job to prune expired items from shelves. It's the manager's job to make sure the employees are doing their job. It's the parent company's or owners job to make sure the manager is doing his job.

Amazon flips this on it's head by having a super-loose affiliation with people selling on it's platform. Turns out, when you break chains of responsibility, people act irresponsibly. This tale is as old as time.

If Amazon wants to fix this problem they should just get out of the independent seller game and let it go back to eBay. Amazon is tarnishing its brand image for low-margin shenanigans and it's just not worth it.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#75

Post by bencollier49 » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:25 PM UTC

dspillett wrote: post #34

A key problem with the complaints is that customer reviews don't† take into account the effect of commingling. The expired food might have come from a different seller initially, but you were sent it because of Amazon's supply line optimisations. Amazon will know but when you write your review or read someone else's, you won't. Same problem as counterfeit goods and commingling though iirc there are more control in pl…

Are Amazon comingling foods?

Wouldn't that make them responsible for the expiry dates? And a whole lot of other things to boot?

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#76

Post by hop » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:27 PM UTC

dspillett wrote: post #34

A key problem with the complaints is that customer reviews don't† take into account the effect of commingling. The expired food might have come from a different seller initially, but you were sent it because of Amazon's supply line optimisations. Amazon will know but when you write your review or read someone else's, you won't. Same problem as counterfeit goods and commingling though iirc there are more control in pl…

Inventory isn’t commingled between sellers for the same SKU.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#77

Post by rwmurrayVT » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:28 PM UTC

ilamont wrote: post #13

A data analytics firm that specializes in the Amazon Marketplace recently analyzed the site’s 100 best-selling food products for CNBC and found that at least 40% of sellers had more than five customer complaints about expired goods. In other words, Amazon knows about the sellers who ship expired goods yet lets them continue to operate. It has the data and it still fails to take one of the easiest steps to address the…

Book selling is an insane market on Amazon. I ran a used bookstore on Amazon with 380 positive reviews and 1 negative review over the last 12 months. The sellers are cut-throat. They're all trying to sell something they got from a thrift store for $0.50 on Amazon to make $3. Amazon intentionally allows "acceptable" books to take the buy box over "very good" just based on price and seller feedback. If you end up selling the acceptable book then you get bad feedback for having a terrible quality book. The whole thing is a damn mess. Many sellers will list as "new" either intentionally or unintentionally. I'd be lying if I didn't say I sold several books I found in pristine condition or even shrink-wrapped as "new". The difference between $15 and $9 for an FBA book sale is the difference between $1.75 and $8. Book selling on Amazon is insane.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#78

Post by lotsofpulp » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:35 PM UTC

Merrill wrote: post #63

lotsofpulp wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people can more easily reduce risk by shopping somewhere else. Amazon shareholders should be asking management why they think the cost savings of commingling are worth the loss of brand value and trust. Higher income people don’t care about spending more money if it saves them time, so why waste that good will?

I've bought online from probably two dozen major retailers. Where to go depends on selection, price, availability and risk. On the other hand, I don't buy from small unknown vendors, either on their own site or via third-party aggregation. I don't buy from small sketchy local stores either.

I try to buy directly from manufacturers, or Target or Costco. But Amazon lost the business my family used to give them. I’d go with Walmart before Amazon too.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#79

Post by todipa » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:37 PM UTC

I don't purchase baby food by Amazon. You can't trust the resellers. I don't understand how there aren't regulations on policing your marketplace for unlawful products, especially those covered by strict liability.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#80

Post by brudgers » Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 2:42 PM UTC

dspillett wrote: post #34

A key problem with the complaints is that customer reviews don't† take into account the effect of commingling. The expired food might have come from a different seller initially, but you were sent it because of Amazon's supply line optimisations. Amazon will know but when you write your review or read someone else's, you won't. Same problem as counterfeit goods and commingling though iirc there are more control in pl…

Commingling isn't a problem with the complaints. Commingling reflects a deliberate profit motivated decision at the highest level of Amazon's management. Amazon executives have evaluated the health risks of commingling food. The safety risks of commingling electronics. They've calculated it more profitable to lawyer up when bad things happen.