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

Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

gma.yahoo.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 61 posts

Re: Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

#51

Post by smackfu »

aroch wrote: post #50
smackfu wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you complain to Amazon? They are pretty good at making it up to you, given that it is guaranteed 2-day shipping, and them not delivering on that is essentially fraud.

Well, no...It's "2-day" shipping not "guaranteed 2-day" shipping -- the theoretically maximum time in transit, assuming no issues, is 2days.

OTOH, if they are choosing to use services that are regularly not meeting the 2-day shipping goal, then it's false advertising to call that "2-day" shipping.

Re: Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

#52

Post by aroch »

smackfu wrote: post #51
aroch wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, no...It's "2-day" shipping not "guaranteed 2-day" shipping -- the theoretically maximum time in transit, assuming no issues, is 2days.

OTOH, if they are choosing to use services that are regularly not meeting the 2-day shipping goal, then it's false advertising to call that "2-day" shipping.

No it isn't. They're buying 2-day shipping from UPS or FedEx, both these companies make a "best effort" to deliver the package within 2 business days. That's not always possible without greater expenditure than the companies consider 'reasonable' (and their terms speak to), that's why there are guaranteed next-day and 2-day air freight options from both.

Re: Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

#53

Post by hga »

cc439 wrote: post #7
alphakappa wrote: post #5

Anecdotal, but lately, I've noticed that items I purchase do not ship immediately from Amazon, so while the shipping time itself may be 2 days, I get the product several days later which kinda defeats the purpose of Prime. Not to mention that several of the items that I purchase are 'add-on' items, which means that I need to accumulate $25 worth of items to ship them (which is pretty much what every non-prime member…

I have a friend who works as an area manager in one of the bigger fulfillment centers and he offered a good reason for the processing slowdown after Christmas (although it doesn't explain how the issue is still alive). Staffing a warehouse requires a lot of foresight. Overhead has to be kept lean and demand is very seasonal. Amazon forecasted their largest holiday season ever and staffed accordingly but the informati…

Ah ha! I was wondering why one item I ordered Prime 2 day was shipped 1 day UPS. A warehouse bottleneck would explain it.

As for permanently bulking up, I can think of at least several factors:

First Amazon has to realize there's been a permanent change in behavior, vs. e.g. more people doing late holiday shopping.

Then they have to figure out how to address this.

And there are no doubt classes of temp employees who wouldn't be interested in permanent jobs; I'm particularly thinking of the ones who travel around in RVs and stop by an Amazon warehouse for the Christmas season for that sort of work. Many if not most are probably gone by now.

Re: Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

#54

Post by tbyehl »

xacaxulu wrote: post #29

I'm cancelling my Prime membership when it's up but not because of the price. Over the last six months I've received exactly ZERO orders within 2 days. Start calling it 'free 5-14 day shipping'.

I got a full refund on a $100-ish purchase last year that took too long to show up (I think they issued it on the 7th day and the package showed up the next day).

Re: Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

#56

Post by fmorel »

jrs235 wrote: post #47
munger wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much, except for the whole $79 additional cost of prime membership. =)

Yes. I forgot the upfront premium you pay for the opportunity to buy things and get 2 day over standard shipping at no additional cost (at the time of purchase). The other thing we all are forgetting is that prime membership is more than just "free" 2 day shipping, it includes Instant Prime Video streaming. something many people don't seem to care about. Perhaps Amazon needs to break the two offerings out? Prime Ship…

There's also the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, which even less people remember. I borrow a book every month.

Re: Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

#57

Post by TheCoelacanth »

aroch wrote: post #52
smackfu wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OTOH, if they are choosing to use services that are regularly not meeting the 2-day shipping goal, then it's false advertising to call that "2-day" shipping.

No it isn't. They're buying 2-day shipping from UPS or FedEx, both these companies make a "best effort" to deliver the package within 2 business days. That's not always possible without greater expenditure than the companies consider 'reasonable' (and their terms speak to), that's why there are guaranteed next-day and 2-day air freight options from both.

If their "2-day shipping" service doesn't result in the package being delivered within 2 business days a vast majority of the time, they shouldn't be advertising it as "2-day shipping".

Re: Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

#58

Post by tzs »

solson wrote: post #16

I think the obvious answer is that this isn't FREE shipping. Nothing is FREE. "Free" shipping is nothing but marketing speak, and if this is illegal so is "Buy one get one Free" or "Buy one get one half price" since the discount is built into the business model. My wife is an Amazon seller and yes when she ships prime she must pay for shipping which would force her to lose money on each shipment so she builds the cos…

> The only thing you get with FREE shipping is a receipt that doesn't include shipping as a line item

In practice, though, it does appear to be more than that. The vast majority of the time, the difference between the total cost if I buy from someplace without free shipping, and the total cost if I buy from Amazon with free shipping, is very close to the amount on the "shipping" line item at the first place.

It is just an illusion, as you say, but they made the illusion so good that I cannot usually tell the difference from reality when I'm comparison shopping for something.

Re: Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

#59

Post by smackfu »

aroch wrote: post #52
smackfu wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OTOH, if they are choosing to use services that are regularly not meeting the 2-day shipping goal, then it's false advertising to call that "2-day" shipping.

No it isn't. They're buying 2-day shipping from UPS or FedEx, both these companies make a "best effort" to deliver the package within 2 business days. That's not always possible without greater expenditure than the companies consider 'reasonable' (and their terms speak to), that's why there are guaranteed next-day and 2-day air freight options from both.

The complaints are generally not about UPS or FedEx. They are about when Amazon thinks the shipping distance is close enough that they can use any service at all to meet the 2-day goal, but the services end up being terrible and unprofessional. Like LazerShip which is just a dude with a car.

Re: Amazon Accused of Cheating Customers Through Shipping Costs

#60

Post by donavanm »

xacaxulu wrote: post #29

I'm cancelling my Prime membership when it's up but not because of the price. Over the last six months I've received exactly ZERO orders within 2 days. Start calling it 'free 5-14 day shipping'.

File a case with customer service when a package is late. Youre right that youve paid for two day shipping. And customer supports SOP is to extend your prime term for one month when an item is late.

Besides that do you live in a rural area far from an airport or something? Im wuite surprised that fedex/ups regularly cant reach you in two days.

Post reply on HN