Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#161

Post by Diederich » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:33 PM UTC

tehlike wrote: post #146

Diederich wrote: post #41

Help requested. My wife, who is in her 50s, is immunocompromised, and she also has a history of fast escalating and difficult to treat respiratory problems. We are and have been (for the past 32 days) treating this bug very carefully. If she catches it, she has a very good chance of not surviving it. Our son and I are at less risk, but we can easily bring this bug home. We've been having more and more trouble getting…

I live in MTV, and I have helped a neighbor who was going through chemo once last week (so roughly in similar situation from immunity pov, her family does not leave home for same reason), and would be happy to help you. Email in profile. I stop by costco once every two weeks, and would not mind picking up some stuff for you. Like another commenter mentioned, nextdoor is fairly decent for getting help, you can find hi…

That's very kind of you, we'll keep it in mind! Many thanks.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#162

Post by AmVess » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:33 PM UTC

jakearmitage wrote: post #72

ebg13 wrote: post #23

I tried ordering some things from Home Depot the other day, and they silently cancelled half of my order while still charging me the same amount for delivery from the store and while saying that some things can only be delivered from a warehouse and that some things can only be delivered from a specific store and that delivery from each store has a $45 minimum purchase before they'll even consider delivery despite th…

HomeDepot's ecommerce is a joke. Not only the shopping experience is poor, they treat logistics as if they were doing you a favor. And, on top of all that, you get damaged items. I made 7 purchases and all 7, in different periods of time, had to be returned or replaced. Same for Lowe's. There's a reason people shop on Amazon. Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce.

Nordstrom does it well. I buy shirts and things and they arrive reasonably packaged, and include a return print out ready to go. Returning an item is as simple as putting the print out on the outside of a box and leaving it for the mail collector.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#163

Post by rsync » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:33 PM UTC

Mcmaster-carr is fantastic:

https://www.mcmaster.com/

Very simple UI with access to technical diagrams. Good pricing. If I order before noon or 2pm or something, here in the bay area I receive the items next day.

I wish all web stores could be like this.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#164

Post by Someone1234 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:33 PM UTC

kbash9 wrote: post #110

jakearmitage wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HomeDepot's ecommerce is a joke. Not only the shopping experience is poor, they treat logistics as if they were doing you a favor. And, on top of all that, you get damaged items. I made 7 purchases and all 7, in different periods of time, had to be returned or replaced. Same for Lowe's. There's a reason people shop on Amazon. Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce.

Never had an issue with costco.com where I've made some of my big purchases.

Just this week I had an issue with Costco.com.

Ordered an item, their delivery estimate was 3-5 days. 7 days passed and the item hasn't shipped. No updated ETA or any information/communication on how long it might take.

Decided to cancel and order from an alternative vendor (who would communicate better, frankly). Was unable to even cancel it online (cancel button was missing, in contradiction to their help docs).

Tried to use Online Chat to cancel, which was seemingly offline/broken for multiple days. Finally called their customer service number, and it was cancelled within the hour (which credit where credit is due was one of the best telephone customer service experiences I've had).

Took all of 10 days to NOT receive a 3-5 day item from Costco.com, the replacement item ordered elsewhere arrived in 48 hours. Still don't know how long the Costco.com item would have taken because they never communicated that.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#165

Post by nkkollaw » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:34 PM UTC

Sure, Amazon might not be the only one, but every time I tried to buy somewhere else, something happened.

They charged me twice, charged me to never sent me the product and forcing me to waste 2 weeks, sent to the wrong address, etc.

Amazon seems to be the only one that can actually do their job properly without hassles.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#166

Post by bluGill » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:35 PM UTC

ebg13 wrote: post #23

I tried ordering some things from Home Depot the other day, and they silently cancelled half of my order while still charging me the same amount for delivery from the store and while saying that some things can only be delivered from a warehouse and that some things can only be delivered from a specific store and that delivery from each store has a $45 minimum purchase before they'll even consider delivery despite th…

Depending on what you want you will probably have better luck calling (not online, a voice call) your local lumber yard. They deal with contractors all the time who call their orders in for delivery so this is business as usual. They wouldn't know how to help you if you walked in the door.

Make sure you setup an account with a salesman. They work on commission, but if you know what you want they know exactly how to enter your order so your small order is easy to handle. (contractors often give them a blueprint and tell them to deliver materials which is work for them although it is more money)

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#167

Post by monkpit » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:36 PM UTC

StillBored wrote: post #48

jshevek wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Amazon was overwhelmed by people panic buying or preparing for shelter in place. The problem was not primarily the shipping industry, it was within Amazon. They've since hired large numbers of people and deprioritized [items deemed] non-essential so that people can get their essential needs in a timely manner.

How does amazon know what is essential?

A guess: it’s probably just heuristics based on things being panic-bought, high demand, suddenly high number of searches, etc. Obviously they don’t “know” some subset of essential items, that would be difficult, error-prone, and they would inevitably miss certain things which would lead to complaints and bad press.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#168

Post by ghaff » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:36 PM UTC

gnulinux wrote: post #69

thebean11 wrote: post #3

The estimates on Amazon right now seem way longer than the reality. I'm getting all my packages in 2-3 days despite Amazon estimating a week or more.

I live in Boston. I seem to be getting most things in around 5 days, even though Amazon estimates 2 weeks. Almost everything was delivered before their estimates. But everything is still slower than usual (normally, I'd get things delivered in 1 to 3 days)

Probably depends on the item. I'm outside of Boston and I don't think any order has taken longer than 2 days--other than a couple I picked delayed shipping in exchange for a digital credit. (And even those arrived on the early side of their estimate.)

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#169

Post by Someone1234 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:37 PM UTC

jakearmitage wrote: post #72

ebg13 wrote: post #23

I tried ordering some things from Home Depot the other day, and they silently cancelled half of my order while still charging me the same amount for delivery from the store and while saying that some things can only be delivered from a warehouse and that some things can only be delivered from a specific store and that delivery from each store has a $45 minimum purchase before they'll even consider delivery despite th…

HomeDepot's ecommerce is a joke. Not only the shopping experience is poor, they treat logistics as if they were doing you a favor. And, on top of all that, you get damaged items. I made 7 purchases and all 7, in different periods of time, had to be returned or replaced. Same for Lowe's. There's a reason people shop on Amazon. Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce.

I had a Home Depot order delivered recently, zero padding. It was just a cardboard box surrounding the product, and the product itself had little internal packaging (inc. Lithium Ion batteries). I'm surprised Home Depot hasn't started fires before.

Luckily the product I ordered worked fine, but I wasn't best pleased when I opened it. It was pretty obvious the manufacturer designed the product packaging for retail shelves only, and Home Depot just assumed it was shipping-grade protection.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#170

Post by cglace » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 6:37 PM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #153

cpascal wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Other than BestBuy, no other retailer "gets" ecommerce Target.com is a pretty solid experience. Walmart.com is also surprisingly good. Although I'm sure people can provide horror stories for both retailers.

We have been trying to use Walmart for groceries, it is okay, but too often they substitute what we don't want. There is a reason we ordered mild not spicy: the kids won't eat spicy hot foods.

We have had great experiences with Krogers substitutions. Usually, the substitute with a greater quantity for the same price or better quality.