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Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

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Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#211

Post by ChuckMcM »

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #209
ChuckMcM wrote: post #69

I wrote an email to Jeff suggesting that Day 2 might be started by losing control over what is sold in his shop. I really respect the way he thinks about the company and I have bought stock in it as a reflection of that respect. My hope is that he will be able to match 'focus on the customer' with 'don't sell the customer counterfeit or shoddy crap'. With their investment in Machine Learning one would hope they could…

There's a lot of talk about counterfeit goods in this discussion, but my problem is the amount of sellers selling the same thing, and using bad search terms to get their listing to the top, and generally making everything harder to find. Have you ever tried to search on something that doesn't have, like 3 or 4 really, really obvious market-leading options? And then sort by anything other than the default? It's imposs…

I agree completely and in my opinion this is not a 'customer focused' way of doing business because the customer's are getting tired of fighting these fights. That was why in my email I called him out on this, and specifically said, "If you believe your highest priority is to focus on the customer, and losing sight of the customer is a precursor to Day 2, then you must address the quality of the shopping experience."

I too have been a Prime customer for years, but 2 day shipping doesn't mean as much if its 2 days to delivery, then a trip to the post office to return it, and another 2 days to get the replacement, and then another week before your account is credited with the returned one. As an egregious example I bought a replacement cable modem and the one I got had a 'property of time-warner cable' sticker on it! And yet advertised as new. They replaced it quickly but really? Why should I have to be the person to sort the crap? And if that responsibility does fall to me, the customer, then Amazon is not sticking to their policy of putting the customer first.

And I agree with Jeff in his letter, if he gets into Day 2, the company can ride it for a very long time into the sunset (just look at Sears!).

Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#212

Post by elevensies »

lutorm wrote: post #202
elevensies wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that refusing to leave someone else's private property makes the use of force inevitable. I would expect him to be treated essentially the same if he refused after being asked to leave a bar, a movie theater, someone's home, etc. I'm not aware of any situation where you can legally be involuntarily strip-searched without being arrested. Maybe by customs but I'm not sure. Personally, if the flight crew instruc…

I think that refusing to leave someone else's private property makes the use of force inevitable. I know Americans are a bit high-strung when it comes to "property rights", but here's one example: It may be your property all you want but you can't call the police to kick your tenants out because you decided you don't want them there any longer. IF there has been a contract violation, you can go to court and eventuall…

Tenancy has strong and unique protections. If you are a tenant you can call the police to kick out your landlord if they are not within their access rights. Someone has the exclusive right to use the space, but it is not the landlord.

I think both of us have a very strong sense of property rights, only we disagree who to ascribe them to. I think it belongs to the airline, so if the man wants to create a dispute with the airline, he should be the one to take it to court (and he probably will.) From my POV, you are saying the man has property rights over the seat because he had a ticket for it and had his arse is in it.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#213

Post by [deleted] »

noahm wrote: post #190
devopsproject wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These tech workers seem to say otherwise about both working conditions and turnover: https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/4fg44p/1... Glassdoor is filed with them too I'm glad you are happy at your job. Many people disagree.

Sure, but just as with customers, the dissatisfied (ex-)employees are going to be most vocal. Do you really think Amazon could build things like AWS, Alexa, the Go Store, etc, if it was a sweatshop where everybody but Jeff was in hell? I don't.

[deleted]

Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#214

Post by gutnor »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #137
dmode wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once tried to purchase a pair of sunglasses from Amazon. That space is littered with counterfeits. The product page proudly proclaimed "Sold by Prada", but if you look carefully it is fulfilled by some shady company. Then you read the comments and realize that this item is not a original Prada item.

> Then you read the comments and realize that this item is not a original Prada item. There is a very interesting discussion in Roberto Saviano's Gomorrah of how major fashion brands produce clothing: First, the brand (e.g. "Calvin Klein") decides what they want - color, cut, material. They go to a bunch of shady Italian clothing manufacturers (the book is about the Italian mafia) and hold an auction to determine the…

> Have I been cheated? Of what?

First of all, let's get things straight. A copy that matches the exact original specification with the same material is the mythological unicorn of the knock off business. Finding something genuine in an underground world that thrive on selling counterfeit goods is probably an adventure on its own.

You don't get cheated buying a stolen car if you were looking to buy a stolen car. Same thing here, you bought what you were looking for, no cheating.

More generally, you are going to pay more for a "perfect copy fake" than a basic fake, so you are in the same boat than the guy thinking he was buying the real stuff: if the vendor is lying, you were cheated out of your money.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#215

Post by nebabyte »

fbonetti wrote: post #92
nebabyte wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would Amazon have an interest in dealing with counterfeits? It just primes the market for them moving in with their brand of the thing.

Because it erodes trust in the platform, obviously. Would you buy something from a website if you were concerned it might be counterfeit? That being said, I've been a prime customer for years and I've never encountered this issue. I'm actually surprised to hear that's even a thing.

> Because it erodes trust in the platform, obviously. Would you buy something from a website if you were concerned it might be counterfeit?

It just seems like it'd lead to exactly this kind of effect (quoting another user from above):

> I frequently purchase from Amazon, and haven't(to my knowledge) received counterfeit goods. Generally I stick to "fufilled by Amazon" or otherwise first-party sellers, so that may have something to do with it.

Trust in the platform entails "the buttons worked as expected (i.e. didn't glitch me out of my money)". Trust in the product and sellers can be eroded, but that just makes it more likely that users would next time look for more trustworthy sellers.

I suppose you meant a trust in the ecosystem, but that wouldn't necessarily be eroded either as people would tend to assume that as long as you're smart about it you're fine. (e.g. people get mugged in shady alleys, but this doesn't erode trust in city living - people just learn not to go down those alleys.)

Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#216

Post by glial »

drostie wrote: post #122
smokeyj wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment seems to be well received based on the points. I think about this often and it drives me nuts that the two party system is the best we have. It's like we're trying to optimize an operating system at every level EXCEPT THE KERNEL. Suggesting that you don't buy into the two party system is met with skepticism, as if you're a closet supporter of one party. Or worse, that by not supporting a party you're imp…

It should not drive you nuts that the two-party system is the best we have. The two-party system is the natural mathematical consequence of our electoral system, "divide the land into districts and each district holds a first-past-the-post vote." Fixed-point theorems are sufficiently robust and human intellectual attitudes sufficiently squishy that we will always be coerced into this. Abstract mathematics literally c…

I agree 100%. Eliminating gerrymandering is only going to lessen the two-party polarization problem, not solve it.

From what I understand the party proportional system is what's used by Germany, Japan, and many other nations with modern constitutions.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#217

Post by nebabyte »

Androider wrote: post #91
nebabyte wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would Amazon have an interest in dealing with counterfeits? It just primes the market for them moving in with their brand of the thing.

Because it used to be a no-brainer to buy things on Amazon, one click and done. Now I have to very carefully vet the listing before buying, inspect the product once received etc. Certain categories of items I would now never buy from Amazon in its current state (vitamins, fish oil etc.) Amazon has built a great reputation and trust with their customers, and they're going to lose it the way they're going.

What you're essentially describing is the blind trust people think they can put in a brand name, applied to a store.

I like and use Safeway, but I would hardly fault them if they carried something I didn't thoroughly check out if it turned out to be a shitty brand.

> Now I have to very carefully vet the listing before buying, inspect the product once received etc.

Did you not research products before you bought them traditionally? That just sounds like you were happy you used to be able to 'get away with' irresponsible buying because a store 'was limited' to niche (thus generally quality) sellers, but not now now that it's open to everyone.

It's not a platform's job to do your research for you. They enable buyers, sellers, reviews and so on to do that amongst each other, as would any other storefront.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#218

Post by gpawl »

ethbro wrote: post #192
jerdfelt wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, Amazon does not appear to keep different sellers products separate in the warehouse. All it takes is one seller sending counterfeit products to the warehouse for their inventory to be contaminated by counterfeits. This makes "fulfilled by Amazon" more risky in some respects.

If this is true (and I suppose Amazon's the only one who really knows, absent a supplier orchestrating a test), then I can't believe there wouldn't be grounds for a class action lawsuit. Because, crucial, Amazon also comingles reviews for the same product. I'd assume they have boilerplate in their legal agreements that waive rights to do so. But it seems blatantly obvious that if I put a novel item on Amazon, attract…

Amazon comingles _reviews_ for _different_ similar products.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#219

Post by donw »

x2f10 wrote: post #66

I might be shunned for beating the dead horse, but while he talks about 'True Customer Obsession', he allows counterfeit goods erode his customer's trust in Amazon. I'd argue Amazon's 'process as proxy' in dealing with counterfeits is the careless return process. 'Oh, it's counterfeit? We're sorry! Here's your money back!' does not solve the issue. Sure, thanks for the $10 back, but now I must think twice (or thrice!…

This is an especially big problem for people buying precision tools.

I've been looking at picking up some Mitsutoyo calipers, and the overall consensus is that if you buy from Amazon, you'll likely end up with a well-executed counterfeit that has all the right markings, but for obvious reasons won't be as precise, nor will it be warrantied or serviced by Mitsutoyo.

This is a very real problem. Imagine that you wanted to buy, say, an Omega Seamaster as a special gift. For most people, myself included, three thousand dollars is a ludicrous amount to spend on a wristwatch.

Imagine how pissed off you would be to order said watch, have it delivered, give it to your significant other, and then learn a year or two down the road that what you really got was a well-executed fake that could be bought for 1/10 the price.

Re: Jeff Bezos’ Annual Letter

#220

Post by gpawl »

nebabyte wrote: post #74
x2f10 wrote: post #66

I might be shunned for beating the dead horse, but while he talks about 'True Customer Obsession', he allows counterfeit goods erode his customer's trust in Amazon. I'd argue Amazon's 'process as proxy' in dealing with counterfeits is the careless return process. 'Oh, it's counterfeit? We're sorry! Here's your money back!' does not solve the issue. Sure, thanks for the $10 back, but now I must think twice (or thrice!…

Why would Amazon have an interest in dealing with counterfeits? It just primes the market for them moving in with their brand of the thing.

it Primes the market?
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