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

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#261

Post by sneak » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:39 PM UTC

boomboomsubban wrote: post #230

bradlys wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it? They rung me up with it - it's up to them to decide what to charge me. I'd put as "bank error in my favor." I only noticed later when I was making sure they didn't overcharge me when looking at my bank account. (They had to charge and refund about 3x)

It's still stealing, the correct move would be to go back and pay the correct amount as you likely would have done if they overcharged you. That said, I doubt you could legally be held responsible and I see no problems with what you did morally either. If you noticed at the time I'd find it morally questionable, but you can't fix every mistake.

Stealing requires intent, generally.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#262

Post by Ozzie_osman » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

gwittel wrote: post #113

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 am in MV. Unfortunately most online things are overwhelmed. They don't have enough shoppers. You can keep checking for a slot opening up, but its a challenge and hard to plan for. Are you specifically looking for fresh items, or are there particular things you need? Staples are usually available, and you can sometimes get them from smaller vendors online. At least those you can plan ahead for a future delivery. For…

Rose Market on El Camino across from Castro Street also has good groceries, just don't carry paper towels, toilet paper, etc. But if you just want food they're usually well-stocked.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#263

Post by prox » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

awaythrower wrote: post #259

Also beware of phony Magento sites that don't have actual products, but are just trying to get CCs, PayPal or crypto payments.

How does that work? I’ve seen a lot of copy paste webshops of formerly retired domains. They obviously look quickly hacked together (allthough looking professional enough to the untrained eye)

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#264

Post by impendia » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:42 PM UTC

alleyshack wrote: post #85

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…

You don't specify why Instacart "became less usable", though if your experience is like mine I'd guess it's a combination of delivery windows being a full week out and the results being somewhat unreliable between replacements/out of stock. What's been working for my household is to make the Instacart order knowing it won't be delivered for at least a week, and use that time to fill out the order as needed. We're not…

> a small grocer may be willing to prepick your order and have it ready for you in the parking lot without an intermediary.

This is what I did. A small, upscale grocery near me started offering curbside pickup: you send in an order in the morning, get called to arrange payment in the afternoon, drive there the same day, and they drop off your groceries at your car. Worked perfectly. Yum.

Indeed, prominently advertised on their website: https://www.rosewoodmarket.com/grocery-curbside-pickup/

Unfortunately this is in a different state. But maybe Mountain View/Palo Alto/Sunnyvale/etc. has something similar? Where do all the vegans and serious foodies shop? I'd try there.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#265

Post by benboughton1 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:42 PM UTC

dan_quixote wrote: post #211

mauvehaus wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I beg to differ. Rock Auto is where it's at for auto parts. The website is ugly as hammered shit, but it's fast, shows you the options grouped by rough quality level (economy/you cheapskate, daily driver, performance, etc), shows you what part to select so it ships from the same warehouse as the parts already in your cart and saves you shipping, and returns are painless (disclaimer: I've only ever done returns for co…

My nomination is McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com) - They have a huge catalog of parts/tools yet somehow it's so intuitive to browse. I was a mechanical engineer in a previous life and McMaster's website was my bible. Step one for any new prototype design was to browse this site. Best case scenario, you could cobble together your prototype from various COTS (commercial off the shelf) McMaster parts. And if that wasn't an…

Can anyone nominate an Australian equivalent to mcmaster.com ? I am prototyping something and would love to have a lost of available parts to troll through with prices.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#266

Post by sneak » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:43 PM UTC

A lot of the things I used to buy on Amazon I buy on eBay instead using “buy it now”. Even free shipping items are frequently less than Amazon.

I’ve already phased out AWS, I hope to stop using amazon.com by the end of the year. I don’t like doing business with military contractors.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#267

Post by smichel17 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:43 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've been pretty happy with newegg, and my recent electronics purchases have been split between it, Amazon, and direct from manufacturer (preferring direct unless there is a significant price difference, due to counterfeit-wariness).

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#268

Post by ckosidows » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:44 PM UTC

monadic2 wrote: post #254

monksy wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's face it Home Depot is garbage. From my experience they fail completely when at the store (employees running away from you, ignoring you, trying to avoid being asked for help, etc). The store, the way it's setup, tries to agressively cut corners. (The default for checking out is self checkout) I went to menards and I found the experience really rewarding. It's great. They're not a great company ecologically, lab…

FWIW I just ordered a bunch of shit from home depot, it arrived faster than amazon could deliver it and everything I was looking for was in stock. I've also never had any major complaints in person with unhelpful staff—just the opposite. My only gripe with them is the self checkout you mentioned (why am I doing the store's work for them?), which certainly is not going to improve if Amazon moves into the retail space.…

Perhaps it's different with a store like Home Depot where products are much bigger and perhaps harder to scan, but do people actually dislike self checkouts?

"Doing the work for the store" seems like such a non-argument to me. I would much prefer to scan things myself as I feel I can often do it faster, and I don't have to wait in a line if the store only has two cashiers staffed at a certain time.

You pump your own gas. Why is checking yourself out so much more controversial?

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#269

Post by JoeAltmaier » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:46 PM UTC

larrik wrote: post #47

Right when this all was starting, I had finally chosen a bass guitar I wanted. I decided to try and support a non-Amazon business in GuitarCenter (the local music shops focus a lot more on school band instruments). So, I order online, and pick the "pick up at store" option, since it says they are in stock. I show up, and an hour later they figure out that they don't have it in stock, they only have the floor model (w…

Yeah. I phoned an implement dealer, to buy a mower I saw advertised in their online store. Wanted to make sure he had set actually eyes on recently, because we've all had online listing be wrong. "Yeah we have that. I saw it … yesterday?"

So I rent a trailer and drive 4 hours, and guess what? Just a square of yellow grass on the lot where the mower used to sit.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#270

Post by rfeather » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 9:47 PM UTC

rkagerer wrote: post #178

caymanjim wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

newegg.com is great. They primarily sell computers and office equipment, but if I'm buying that stuff, it's my go-to. Fast delivery, fantastic customer service. If something is defective, they'll send you a replacement with a return shipping label, no questions asked. Been using them for nearly 20 years without a single complaint.

10 years ago I used Newegg a ton, but with third party items now mixed into their store, I find shopping there a bit more of a dice roll.

I have decent luck with Microcenter as a Newegg substitution. + if you live in some cities, they have brick and mortar