I missed out on what seems to be the deterioration over the last few years; I stopped using Amazon, some years ago, because I'd seen too many and consistent stories of the work lives of warehouse staff.
Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
171–180 of 328 posts
Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
#172To add my voice here: I have never had problems with Amazon. And I'm ordering tons of very niche electronics stuff from them. Right now I have two PZEM-016 meters in front of me, connected to an RP2040-based FeatherWing board. All of that was delivered within 2-3 days, as expected, and at a price point that is the same or nearly the same as in other online retailers.
I got a fake product only once, a box with packing peanuts instead of a ZigBee relay. They refunded the cost right away.
Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my experience in the UK, Amazon is better than consumer protection laws, and miles better than other vendors. They won't question or require lots of information etc. to support things in however many years of warranty, or even outside of it. Not to mention the standard is 30 day returns, more than double the legally mandated 14 for distance selling. I don't understand why you were even talking to support - if it w…
Because it’s Amazon Spain and I live in Portugal - they only do return labels etc. for a collection point 200km from where I live, otherwise, you have to ship stuff back at your own expense. No option to automatically open a return. It’s basically the Amazon uk returns process from 20 years ago.
They should repair it under warranty, period. If they cannot make a return label, you can send it back. IIRC they are also responsible for the shipping cost, but they can refund it afterwards when they are not able to create a return label.
I think your mistake might be that they are sticking to the letter of the law. Don't ask for your 14-day cool-off period, because strictly I think the product needs to be sealed (though many sellers are more lenient):
https://business.gov.nl/regulation/cancellation-period-sale/
Instead ask for a repair under warranty, which they are required to do as a seller. They cannot point you to the manufacturer, the seller is responsible for handling warranty for the first two years:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/product-g...
Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
#174Amazon in India is truly a miracle service. Affordable, has the largest range of products with quick and easy returns. I think it’s basically impossible to compete with it.
Still in step 1 there?
Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
#175Earlier 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.
https://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_nkw=network+coupler
eBay might have some similar problems as Amazon (fly-by-night retailers from China etc), but at least it doesn't pretend otherwise.
Or from Denmark, but delivery is probably expensive. (Within-EU delivery costs is something I'd like to see the EU improve, to allow smaller businesses to compete internationally with Amazon etc.)
https://www.computersalg.dk/i/2335209/startech-com-cat5e-rj4...
Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
#176I 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…
CSRs lying has been a serious problem at Amazon and it's astonishing that Amazon hasn't duly addressed it.
In any high-churn job environment like customer support it's easier to assume people will leave rather than fire them. Most of the time you'll be right. That means there's no incentive to manage bad workers.
Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Well, germany has customer protection laws, but before amazon, customer service was always worse than in the US i would say.
Just think about Media markt customer service for example…
Amazon changed that by introducing US-style no-questions-asked 30 day returns etc… but nowadays they are slowly chipping away at that, 14 days is the the norm now, (which is the hard limit anyway, since being set into law a couple years ago)
But yes the customer friendliness is slowly being cut down, due to growing costs. Zalando (an online fashion retailer) has also reduced their return policy recently.
Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
#178Amazon is my last resort nowadays, because some things are only sold there and on alibaba. If I only find a thing I want on amazon, I'll search again for the vendor name to see if they have a site of their own and if so buy it there instead It does help me buy less stuff because the process is so annoying nowadays
Exactly. Some companies only sell through Amazon now. In those cases, I often just go without and the company loses the sale.
> Some companies only sell through Amazon now.
Which is probably because they don't have a choice.
> I often just go without and the company loses the sale.
Which is not helping the company in any way. Not that it is your fault, but confirming the point of the article.
Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
#179Amazon kindle books search is designed to show you authors other than the name you search on, to increase sales of "in the style of" which could have been a tickbox item, but no: they know it irritates, but it makes them more money. If type "Charles dickens" in search, there should be a way to get works by Dickens exclusively. Even if you select the Web link author name, you get "in the style of"
> If type "Charles dickens" in search, there should be a way to get works by Dickens exclusively. I tried it: - on the website from the home page - in the Kindle category - on my Kindle directly All I got was books by Dickens. There was the usual "sponsored" items but they are explicitly displayed as it. I don't know if it's a country issue, but I don't have the same experience as you. Furthermore, I read regularly o…
If shitty Amazon experiences went from 0.1% of customers to 1% of customers, then almost everyone still has a good experience - but now people are much more likely to be at least within anecdote range of someone who has a bad experience.
Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
#180Amazon is a data & server company disguised as an online store.