Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

301–310 of 328 posts

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

#301

Post by joquarky »

techjamie wrote: post #253
qurashee wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently had a similar experience with Amazon. I bought a pair of AirPods but didn’t like them, so I returned them the next day. Amazon confirmed they’d received the package, but when the estimated refund date passed, I got a message saying they needed more information. When I contacted customer service, they told me I had to send them a copy of my ID to process the refund. I was really frustrated; I’ve had this ac…

AirPods are very commonly swapped with fakes and returned. It wouldn't surprise me if they added a blanket policy requiring ID for all AirPod refunds no matter what. Source: I work in LP, but not for Amazon.

That's Amazon's problem, not mine.

They should inspect their returns more carefully before refunding.

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

#302

Post by ryandrake »

iamwil wrote: post #46

Despite trying to instill a customer-centric culture, as soon as Bezos let his foot off the gas, his company just isn't as customer obsessed. Or, they changed their definition of customer from the buyer to the seller. I dramatically lowered my buying from Amazon about 8 years ago, when I noticed that listings had reviews on items that were completely different than what was being listed. Apparently, sellers sell a kn…

I slowed down my Amazon purchases drastically when everything I shopped for seemed to be flooded with these thousands of identical products have seemingly randomly generated all-caps brand names like BHHSRE, VHYXZY, XIOU, DAUGHE, JXMOX, LANMU, IBERLS, GMJYC… (yes, these are all actual brands I’ve seen on Amazon).

Jeez, the least they can do is make it look like they are trying to curb abuse.

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

#303

Post by ethbr1 »

krackers wrote: post #299
blagie wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon broke in 2020, when most shopping went online. It never recovered. I doubt it ever will. Trust takes a long time to earn, and a little bit of time to break. I had four or five incidents on Amazon, cancelled Prime, and I doubt it will ever make business sense for Amazon to get me back. I do think there's a place for a competitor to Amazon right now which looks more like the old Amazon. Starting one would be sup…

>I do think there's a place for a competitor to Amazon right now which looks more like the old Amazon. If walmart plays their cards right, they can do it (I mean they did acquire Jet). Unfortunately they also seem to be OK with becoming a dropship frontend for aliexpress

I think modern Walmart understands the problem better than modern Amazon.

Walmart just needs the volume to be able to compete with Amazon's logistics, so is getting volume where it can.

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

#304

Post by rasz »

qcnguy wrote: post #288
rasz wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is ID going to help with this in any way? They charge you (bank account/CC) and send you stuff (address), they inspect the return (or rather Should inspect it). What more would they need?

They don't inspect every return - that would make the already ropey economics of allowing returns very unviable - and it's often hard to detect return fraud because the fraudsters are returning an object that's nearly the same as the real thing, just used in ways that maybe aren't obvious given a casual inspection. Or they've raided it for parts and the object looks the same but the internals are gone. It's not only…

So how is buyers ID going to help with Amazon not inspecting returns? Amazon doesnt even mark returns in any way so they dont know where it came from and where it ended up. Hell, they dont even mark/track source of co-mingled inventory!

And crucially - Amazon doesnt do this tracking on purpose so they can have plausible deniability while screwing merchants.

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

#305

Post by radley »

rasz wrote: post #304
qcnguy wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't inspect every return - that would make the already ropey economics of allowing returns very unviable - and it's often hard to detect return fraud because the fraudsters are returning an object that's nearly the same as the real thing, just used in ways that maybe aren't obvious given a casual inspection. Or they've raided it for parts and the object looks the same but the internals are gone. It's not only…

So how is buyers ID going to help with Amazon not inspecting returns? Amazon doesnt even mark returns in any way so they dont know where it came from and where it ended up. Hell, they dont even mark/track source of co-mingled inventory! And crucially - Amazon doesnt do this tracking on purpose so they can have plausible deniability while screwing merchants.

It doesn't help with inspecting returns. It simply adds another hurdle that has resulted in a slightly smaller percent of fewer returns, saving them a significant amount of $$ at scale.

Btw, if Amazon is a fault, where they can't shift the loss onto a seller or third-party, the delays will go on for weeks, if not forever. You have to do a chargeback.

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

#306

Post by b112 »

madaxe_again wrote: post #289
Tadpole9181 wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Julgados de Paz is available to non-citizens, what are you talking about? So is contacting the livro de réclamations and making a chargeback with your card provider. How strange to try to claim the legal system has no reconciliation process for tourists or EU passer-bys. You're allowed to say you just couldn't be bothered to go through the trouble.

Go look at the website - you have to use authenticao.gov, which requires a digital mobile key, which requires a citizen card, which I cannot have unless I am a citizen. The offline process requires me to travel 200km each way to spend a day queuing. Amazon Spain are Spanish, and are not subject to the Portuguese livro de reclamações. As to making a chargeback - I like having a bank account, and being able to pay for…

Saying "It's not available to not citizens" is wildly and massively different than "It's more work for non-citizens". It's literally a lie and dishonest.

And given you've already said things that are not true, I'm highly skeptical that there are not other means to handle this. I bet there are ways to access authenticao.gov without being a citizen. I bet there are ways that you don't have to go 200km. You can probably send the forms by snail-mail, by post or courier. I bet you're just leaving things out again, or haven't researched properly, as you've shown this to be the case with prior comments.

In terms of what Amazon is subject to, you can get a court judgement in one jurisdiction, and have it enforced in another. You're in the EU too, and I would be astonished to discover this isn't super-easy there. And legislation likely enhances cross-border cases like this. And if companies ship into another country, they can be blocked until recourse happens.

Point is, you're just (again) saying "Oh well!" without really knowing. You're just saying that's the case, because you're presuming that's the case. You don't know. you just say it is so.

Chargebacks are a part of online life. They are common. I've never, ever heard of a bank ever being hostile over them. The very premise is weird and absurd. It's just a part of banking, nothing unusual, nothing surprising, and a process we all have to go through from time to time.

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

#307

Post by mlrtime »

whateveracct wrote: post #50
tjwebbnorfolk wrote: post #17

A few weeks ago I bought a "new" coffee maker which arrived physically broken and with used coffee grounds in the hopper. I don't understand how this is even possible. That's the last thing I'm buying on Amazon. Amazon pre-COVID was amazing. But 2-day shipping is now 5+ day shipping. It's chock full of cheap/fraudulent junk. It's been interesting to watch it go downhill so fast.

Maybe it's because I'm in WA, but my average Amazon deliver is And I still haven't gotten a single fraudulent item despite a steady stream of Amazon boxes to my house (I requested an extra recycle bin I get so many.)

Same, I'm amazed how I can get things same day even though I don't need it for a few days. I've had 1 item that came wrong , I just returned it.

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

#308

Post by mlrtime »

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…

>They told me the previous CSR had lied to improve ratings

This was over chat? You have the transcript? I find it hard to believe they would say this. Amazon CSR have a very strict script they have to go by. But they do lie, get everything in writing.

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

#309

Post by mlrtime »

joquarky wrote: post #301
techjamie wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirPods are very commonly swapped with fakes and returned. It wouldn't surprise me if they added a blanket policy requiring ID for all AirPod refunds no matter what. Source: I work in LP, but not for Amazon.

That's Amazon's problem, not mine. They should inspect their returns more carefully before refunding.

Apple products and a few other brands go through a different process for returns at Amazon.

Amazon can't verify everything, but for it's own Fire devices it does check S/Ns. Also Apple has it's own system, they do not mess around. I suggest not buying Apple products from Amazon.

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

#310

Post by mlrtime »

spwa4 wrote: post #260
bschwarz wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon.de customer service has consistently been much better than anything else in Germany, so it's probably not the law.

It's "loss leader", selling under the price to make your competitors go bankrupt, then use monopoly power. It's illegal under German law, EU law, and I'm sure it's also explicitly called out as illegal in at least 5 trade treaties Germany signed. Needless to say, like everything in the EU, it's only enforced against local companies, in this case German ones.

Or, it's easier for Amazon to have a consistent customer experience everywhere in the world. But that would make too much sense?
Post reply on HN