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

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#281

Post by tmaly » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:02 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…

I ordered a chest freezer from Home Depot. When I ordered it, I double checked that it was not listed as out of stock. I got a notice they were delivering on April 4. It was never delivered. The delivery company told me they were never shipped the freezer to deliver. When I called Home Depot, they said freezers are on back order to June. They told me I could call the manufacturer. This is a bit crazy. I have never had a place tell me to call the manufacturer.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#282

Post by malandrew » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:03 PM UTC

monksy wrote: post #252

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…

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…

They used to be good, but now it's worse than useless. The staff has become less knowledgeable over time and the quality of the products sold have gone way downhill.

I usually now seek out specialty places that deal with just one part of the problems Home Depot and Lowes addresses like looking for a plumbing supply place that actual professional plumbers would use.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#283

Post by bradenb » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:04 PM UTC

sneak wrote: post #266

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.

While I respect your right to not give "military contractors" your business, I just don't see how you can use it as justification. The military is a resource and isn't inherently good or bad.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#284

Post by sjg007 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:05 PM UTC

cpascal wrote: post #114

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.

> 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.

Walmart has been quite reliable for grocery pickup. I’ve tried Hy-Vee and the experience wasn’t very good. Lots of stuff sold out or not picked. Target has given up on grocery curbside as well. But for household goods it works well. I’m trying our local supermarket curbside next so hopefully that will work out. I know we are in crazy times but I’d be really cool to get a dedicated grocery curbside / delivery operation with only warehouses and no stores. I think the UK has something like that.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#285

Post by malandrew » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:06 PM UTC

sneak wrote: post #266

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.

FWIW it's the military that is now building all the field hospitals and sending hospital ships to help with COVID-19

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#286

Post by Spooky23 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:08 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.

That’s crazy. Target smokes Amazon for most things these days, especially with pickup. Ditto for NewEgg and Walmart.

Amazon is increasingly overrated, they peaked a decade ago and have declined to a warehouse club/flea market.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#287

Post by tehjoker » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:09 PM UTC

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'm on the east coast, but I'm participating in a mutual aid network that does exactly this kind of thing. Try googling your local branch of the Democratic Socialists of America (I think you're in Silicon Valley DSA's territory). Each chapter is independent and not great at communication with each other, but I found a web page that said SV DSA is doing grocery delivery mutual aid for elevated risk people. I don't want to post it here because I don't want them to get trolled, but it's easily to google.

I only mentioned DSA because I'm member of the national org, but there are probably many other organizations doing similar work. Please be safe and stay healthy! Good luck!

Edit: Just want to emphasize to people in a similar situation, that the key words to search for are "Mutual Aid" on google, facebook, and twitter if you don't know someone already connected to an organization. Many of these orgs are also looking for volunteers.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#288

Post by jupp0r » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:10 PM UTC

To any other non-amazon stores out there: have toilet paper in stock and I'll give it a try!

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#289

Post by rchaud » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:10 PM UTC

Best Buy's ecommerce site is great; they don't have the absurd levels of info overload and upselling of a typical Amazon page.

In Canada, Amazon's electronics offerings are rife with awful Chinese brands sold by dropshippers. Amazon seemingly doesn't carry any of the inventory themselves unless it's a Fire tablet or Echo.

It's actually a big relief to shop online via at a proper outlet (even Walmart.ca is more reliable) than through the Bezos flea market.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#290

Post by Spooky23 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 10:13 PM UTC

passthejoe wrote: post #192

Someone1234 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 she…

My favorite from Target was eight Contigo travel mugs (bought for holiday gifts) that came in a very large box with no padding. Even though they could have clanked around and gotten very scratched, they were all OK. Sort of a miracle, but it didn't give me much confidence in Target.com. And you can't state quantities on the Target.com site when you select an item. You have to go into the cart and change the quantity.…

One thing that’s weird about target is that they fulfill from stores. Usually when we get a shady packaging experience it’s shipping from a Target store from some unusual place.