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Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

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211–220 of 231 posts

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#211

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…

> A key problem with the complaints is that customer reviews don't† take into account the effect of commingling. There is no problem with the complaints. Consumers ordered something, paid for it and got a bad product. They have every right to complain and shouldn't be required to "take into account" operational failures of the company they did business with. > The expired food might have come from a different seller…

I think the parent's thought is "How do you rate an otherwise great product that is sullied by Amazon's poor inventory management?"

In a situation like this, it seems like the best approach is to put pressure on Similac and others to remove their offerings from Amazon.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#212

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…

> why would anyone still buy items in Amazon that are otherwise typically found in pharmacies or grocery stores? Presumably with the following logic: * I went to Big Box Computer Store and they tried to charge me $$$ for a gold-plated Monster USB cable when I could get a perfectly good one for much less online. * Therefore, there's precedent for me finding things online for a fraction of the price at big box retailer…

Watch those batteries. The batteries at a wholesale club are dated 9-11 years out.

I’m looking at a box of batteries I received last week. They expire in 2020.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#213
post #157

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…

Fulfilled by Amazon is a complete mess and they should be tried for mail fraud. Co-mingling? Sellers should be furious, and customer should boycott. Why isn't this just called fraud? I can't trust Amazon to deliver what I ordered, period. Lesson learned.

I'm confused as to what you think is mail fraud? Amazon is just fulfillment in these cases. It's clearly marked in the same place on every page, and as such, avoidable. It's purely a profit motive for Amazon, but I don't see how it's mail fraud.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#214
post #43

The more I think about it, the differences between Amazon and Walmart are much smaller than I once thought. They're both platforms upon which sellers can sell goods. One of the bigger differences seems to be quality assurance. More specifically, to what degree is each company burdened with that important responsibility? If some manufacturer put something unsafe into a food product, I would blame the manufacturer. See…

Amazon's sold and fulfilled by third-party is basically like buying on Ebay.

Buying on ebay is a significantly better experience, because you are buying from a specific vendor so you can see the reviews for that specific vendor. You can usually also tell if the vendor is selling fake counterfeit crap based on looking at the rest of their listings and make your decision appropriately.

I canceled my prime membership about 18 months ago and do my online shopping mostly through ebay or occasionally direct from the manufacture or approved reseller if it is an obscure item or something that is likely to be counterfeit (flash storage, batteries, etc). It has come out significantly cheaper (although there is no more 2 day shipping, so value that at what you will) and generally been a much more pleasant experience.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#215

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.

Sure there are guarantees. Stores usually use actual distributors or order direct from OEMs.

When I worked with a big box store long ago, some manufacturers even audited our inventory when they bought end-caps, etc. Stuff like ink cartridges would be checked by vendor reps.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#216
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Tu…

It’s not low-margin, it aids their financial engineering by eliminating inventory.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#217
post #45

I don't get it: I've been buying Amazon prime for about 8 years now, and I don't encounter nearly the amount of problems that everyone else reports. Yes, I've gotten a few bad items from Amazon. I've also gotten bad items from brick and mortar stores as well. (I recently had a bunch of items go bad from Trader Joe's long before their sell-by date.)

Same. In close to ten years, I've gotten one mixed-up delivery, where they evidently mislabeled my package with somebody else's when it went out for shipping. And one item that was lost in shipping and was never delivered, which they immediately refunded. Otherwise, I can't complain at all. Sometimes, the stuff is crap, but you kind of expect that when you are buying cheap generic stuff - if you really want to see ch…

Ocean State Job Lot is specifically a jobber — it’s in the name. You can find junk and amazing stuff.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#218
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After you stopped having problems with the bread did you ever try to log in with another account and buy it with another credit card and send it to another address - I just wonder if the seller retooled and put in an array of accounts that must not be screwed over because they complain too hard. I guess I'm overly paranoid.

I absolutely did not do that. Who would? It’s possible that what you’re describing happened, but I’m not investing the time and energy to try to “trap them” like this. I also don’t think it’s terribly likely. I believe it was also FBA so they don’t have control over what item gets sent to which customer.

I might, but that it the overly paranoid part I was talking about. But then since I don't trust or like Amazon and I'm in Europe I wouldn't have been in the position to do it.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#219
post #92

If you know anything about Amazon, if you know what commingling means, or if you spend 5 minutes reading about this company you will steer well clear for baby formula, food, electronics, or anything else safety related. Stick to using Amazon for books, DVDs, and knickknacks. Target.com or Walmart.com will give you the same price as Amazon, with slightly slower shipping, and no Russian Roulette with counterfeiters.

Walmart uses resellers and I’ve had problems with them recently.

Check out Target — they are ridiculously awesome. You can order stuff online and pull into a parking lot in a few minutes, with the guy waiting.

Re: Amazon is shipping expired food, customers say

#220
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Expired food is generally perfectly safe. The dates are quality indicators, not safety indicators. It’s just being wasteful. https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/how-to-tell-whet...

>Expired food is generally perfectly safe. The dates are quality indicators, not safety indicators. It’s just being wasteful. It's my hard earned money...whether Amazon is selling me expired food that is a safety concern or just a quality concern issue (which FYI is not accurate for all foods), I don't want to be sold shit quality expired food. I certainly don't care to be told I'm being wasteful for not accepting an…

Exactly this. I would be OK with buying expired food iff it's sold at a discounted price and it's labelled as such. Otherwise it's fraud.
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