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Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

theguardian.com

211–220 of 328 posts

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#211

Has anyone else ordered a pair of shoes only to open the box and find... one shoe? Best I can guess someone's ordered two pairs, split one of the pairs across the two boxes, and sent both boxes back for two refunds and they've gone straight back on the shelf.

how would that help? either they check the returned boxes or they don't. sending back 1 shoe does not fools the inspection

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#212
post #64

I bought a $120 book from Amazon a couple of months ago, internationally, and they sent the wrong book. I told them, and they said they'd refund it, don't need to send it back, and they'd even add $15 credit. The refund never arrived so a few weeks later I got in touch again and they said I need to send it back if I want a refund. They told me the previous CSR had lied to improve ratings. I asked who I can complain t…

I stopped buying anything significant from Amazon three years ago when I realised I was spending more time trying to understand where my packets allegedly delivered to a neighbour actually were than it would have taken me to just go buy the damn thing in a store. And that’s in Europe.

The research is also completely useless nowadays. 90% of what you find is just people reselling stuff they bought on AliExpress and reviews are all fake.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#213
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My take is that it's because there is still competition in Sweden to keep them on their toes. Once they have decimated the Swedish high street, like they have in the UK, they will start cutting costs.

I've had crappy service on UK high streets long before Amazon. A keyboard I got from Tottenham Court Road stopped working within a week so I took it back in person. The shop manager tried to tell me I had to send it to the manufacturer. He backed down when I put the phrase "contractual relationship" into a sentence.

yeah, the UK high street was definitely ripe for the taking. And Amazon with its cheap prices, no-nonsense customer service and return policy was miles better. The point is that it's no longer really the case.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#214
post #80

in Japan I experience none of the problems that people in HN seem to have with Amazon in other countries. Never encountered fake products, return has always worked, and stuff that never arrived was also reimbursed. Maybe I'm an exception.

True, but it is worth mentioning that since Amazon Japan dropped using established delivery services and went with their own gig-based one their service has taken a drastic turn for the worse: Claims of having ringed the bell, despite not having done so; packages left outside, without having allowed them to leave them outside in the settings; big envelopes rammed into mail boxes and hanging ~1/4 outside, because they could not be bothered to use the delivery lockers; absolutely mad parking and driving with their "delivery cars"; impolite behaviour when delivering at your door; etc. With Japan Post and the regular delivery services I have never seen any of these things. Sure, Amazon fairs better than elsewhere, but even Japan is not immune.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#215
Easy: Amazon missed the mark and started piling on all the useless bullshit on top of what they used to do, veered far out of their lane, and started becoming a media and software production company instead of just selling books.

Now I can't get anything delivered to my house within 2 days or less because I'm punished as a rural customer, but they can sure as hell send me letters every 2 months complaining I haven't touched my Prime Video.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#217
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And because they’re new, we have plenty of homegrown internet retailers for competition. Personally, I avoid Amazon in favor of the others if at all possible, seems like there’s a really significant risk Amazon is going to wipe them out.

For me it's problematic though. Sometimes I want some small gadget, and I just can't find it elsewhere. The other day I wanted a female-female connector for network cables and I couldn't find it on my Swedish go-to place for tech stuff, Kjell&Co. Instantly found lots of alternatives on Amazon.

Yeah, I do this on occassion as well, but I aleays try the Swedish retailers first, and only go to Amazon when I can’t find whatever I’m looking for. It’s pretty rare I have to go to Amazon.

It’s rough, because you know that it will probably be cheaper and delivered faster from Amazon, at the moment it is probably the most consumer friendly place to buy. But you know once the honeymoom is over and all the Swedish retailers are gone, it’s just going to devolve to garbage. Support your non-Amazon retailers!

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#218
My reason for using Amazon has changed over the years it used to be for the good returns but now my situation is such that I’ve no interest in taking the time to use the return service. And I use the service for the quick delivery of small items that I can write off if I don’t like and it works for that fine on the occasion I have returned stuff. It’s never been an issue. I suspect that some of the posters on here have passed some kind of returns threshold which impacts their experience.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#219
post #2

Maybe I'm prudish, but I really dislike the term 'enshittification'. It sounds ugly, and it makes what would otherwise be polite discussions vulgar. 'Degradation' seems to carry most (all?) of the same meaning and doesn't have those downsides.

your handle is "nullhole", sorry champ enshittification is no more vulgar than that.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#220

What on earth is he talking about? Firstly, I find Amazon fine for goods that are hard to be faked (washing powder, books, etc...). But the real shocker to me is: > That means shopping anywhere other than Amazon has become substantially more inconvenient. and > We’re all still stuck to the platform, but we get less and less value out of it. I've simply started buying all of my electronics, and other expensive goods f…

Washing powder and books are classic cases of items that are easily counterfeit and often appear on amazon.

https://thecounterfeitreport.com/product/138/Laundry-Deterge...

https://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/fake-laundry-detergent-how-...

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