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

theguardian.com

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

#121

Post by bornfreddy »

tacker2000 wrote: post #110
dwedge wrote: 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…

The moment amazon.de turns into this, im gone. The only thing keeping me there is the no-nonsense, helpful, customer support. Any issues i have are always resolved, so it still seems to be working over here.

Being subject to german laws sure helps there.

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

#123

Post by mykowebhn »

dwedge wrote: 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…

How did you even tell them that they sent the wrong book?

When an item I ordered is delivered as the wrong item or when it never arrives, I can only select from a list of items in order to inform them about the bad delivery and none of the items lists "item never arrived" or "wrong item arrived".

And there is no other way to complain about the delivery/item--no help chat, no email I can contact.

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

#124

Post by squigz »

Foorack wrote: post #77

I haven't read the article, but as a Swede I am stunned by the title. I shop from Amazon a couple of times per month, with Prime subscription. Delivery is always insanely fast (within 1-2 days), I always get exactly what I ordered, prices are always lowest compared to all competition, returns are convenient and human-free, and the additional Prime Videos is a nice bonus. I am honeslty worried of local Swedish busines…

This is pretty much how it was in NA before they started going to crap.

One of my biggest annoyances is the exact same (crappy) product listed 300 times with different brands/names.

But hey, at least we still have extravagantly fast delivery times!

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

#125

Post by haunter »

The root of the problem is that they mixed the Amazon retail storefront (aka The Amazon people know) with the Amazon Marketplace used by the third party sellers. So when you buy something the whole thing works automatic and invisible to get the “best price”

Unless you make your own choice and going deep into the purchasing options you will end up in one of the 3 scenarios

- Product sold and shipped by Amazon

- Product sold by third party but shipped by Amazon

- Product sold and shipped by third party

I have never had a problem with the first category but the other two are always problematic, especially the third. You are on Amazon.de > you can end up buying from the US, UK, or China (so outside of the EU). Not just you will get hit by customs but good luck enforcing the mandatory 14 day return law.

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

#126

Post by bell-cot »

rafinha wrote: post #101

The genious leadership at prime video thought it would be a good idea to introduce adds not only on the beginning of movies but also in the middle of it, with an extra paid option (on top of prime) to remove it. When an add appeared I got so frustrated I cancelled my prime subscription at that very moment. I wonder if they even considered/cared about brand reputation impact.

Sadly, brand reputation is a means to an end. If they lose the most demanding 5% of customers, while getting 10% more profit from the other 95%, that's a huge net win.

At least in the short term. But manager bonuses and promotions and the stock price are all based on the short term, aren't they?

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

#127

Post by OskarS »

sandebert wrote: post #93
Foorack wrote: post #77

I haven't read the article, but as a Swede I am stunned by the title. I shop from Amazon a couple of times per month, with Prime subscription. Delivery is always insanely fast (within 1-2 days), I always get exactly what I ordered, prices are always lowest compared to all competition, returns are convenient and human-free, and the additional Prime Videos is a nice bonus. I am honeslty worried of local Swedish busines…

Don't forget that Amazon is somewhat new in Sweden. I think we just haven't entered their enshittification phase here. (Swede too)

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.

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

#128

Post by b112 »

madaxe_again wrote: post #114
thaumasiotes wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But this is Amazon - they don’t need to follow consumer protection laws No one needs to follow consumer protection laws if you don't sue to make them.

Yeah, I’m not spending hundreds of thousands of euro on legal fees to fight a trillion dollar company over a €300 piece of crud. That’s part of their calculus, too.

You don't have small claims court? Here in Canada, it's $150 to register, you fill out the form yourself, no lawyers are allowed, and you argue your case in front of a judge.

(A company can have someone represent them, but if it's a lawyer, they must also have a rep. from the company there. and there can be no legalise, and the judge must explain anything to you if you ask)

There is no forced discoverability. EG, the other side cannot ask for all sorts of documents. You just include your evidence in the filing.

There is no ability for the company you sue, to compel costs if you lose.

For $150 you get a lot of joy out of hassling a company behaving like this. And amusingly, they still consult lawyers, and spend on a lot on lawyers. They can't be used in court, but they of course as a company consult legal experts.

I napkin mathed it, the one time I sued a company. I figured it cost them $25,000 to defend when I spent $150. If even a small percentage of people take them to task for breaking the law, they'll turn around quick.

Always use your enemies strengths as a weakness against them.

You should look at the process, but view if from the perspective of a hobby.

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

#129

Post by necovek »

madaxe_again wrote: post #114
thaumasiotes wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But this is Amazon - they don’t need to follow consumer protection laws No one needs to follow consumer protection laws if you don't sue to make them.

Yeah, I’m not spending hundreds of thousands of euro on legal fees to fight a trillion dollar company over a €300 piece of crud. That’s part of their calculus, too.

I would hope that consumer protection organizations can help you with that without having to engage lawyers: similarly, Amazon is not interested in long running legal battles if they see you are serious.
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