Amazon rant - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: JacquesBBB
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2015, 02:05:16 pm
content: I love books, and as it is very convenient uses Amazonand was satisfied until now, where it seems that the ultimate inefficiency of theirsystem was hit !I have preordered "The Art of Electronics " since 27 january, and was eager to receive my copylast April, 4th.Unfortunately, the book was packed in the most flimsy package you can imagine for this big 2.5 kg book. It was completely loose in a large box of very weak cardboard, with a small piece of paper as only inner protection, which obviously was totally inefficient and the book could move in its box.As a result, the box was broken in some parts, the corners and the edges were torn, which I cannot stand for a new book.I complained to Amazon.co.uk, who immediately proposed to send a new copy. I was impressed by the rapidity of their answers, but warn them that if they send the new copy with the same package, it will have the same results.they assure me that it would be different :QuoteI have now received the new copy. The package is indeed different, but even worse than the previous one and the book had several bad hits.Obviously, there is one guy that interact with the customers, and another one who send the parcels, but without any connection between them.I again complained after Amazon, and in a similar way as previously, had a guy whoensured me that they will take care that the package is done properly.QuoteI wonder how many times we will need to iterate until they understand that these big books need to be packed with stronger case than a paperback 300g book.As it was packed, it seems impossible to me that the parcel arrives in proper condition, and I wonder also if this problem happened to other users of this forum.

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2015, 02:53:50 pm
content: Mine was backed in same large box with no extra padding. It arrived safely from Amazon UK to Ireland without too much damage. The sinewave pages are more anoying.

author: Tallie
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2015, 04:09:15 pm
content: Mine was packed in the same manner. No damage, though, thankfully. Mistakes happen... Amazon customer service has never treated me badly. They are best in class IMO.

author: Neganur
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 25, 2015, 04:15:16 pm
content: They did that to my Pozar, I was furious. Fucking way to send a $180 book.

author: Tinkerer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2015, 08:04:21 pm
content: I once got a mechanical hard drive like that. The box was about 20-40x larger than the box the hard drive was in. You can imagine what I was thinking when I opened the box.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 25, 2015, 09:28:31 pm
content: I've gotten multiple orders like that, and I definitely get your point of the disconnect between customer service and the packaging methods & materials used at the fulfillment sites (most is contracted as I understand it).If I absolutely must use Amazon (try to avoid them over moral concerns), I try to order things that wouldn't be damaged in their packaging (well packed by the manufacturer or isn't going to be damaged; loss of item when it punches a hole in the box & exits said box is another issue). Also a good idea to separate light items from heavy ones if at all possible IME.

author: Rog520
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 05:03:28 am
content: More often than not I get product from Amazon packaged that way. I figure that they the shoulder the burden of replacement on the manufacturer or vendor that makes/supplies the product, so Amazon has no incentive to spend money on proper packing. I've often felt eBay is a bad deal for sellers; I can't imagine being a seller on Amazon.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 08:43:08 am
content: Mine Arrived in the same packaging, but unhurt, there was however a page that was folded over and torn in the printing or binding operation. The paper is a lot flimsier and the printing is poorer than the 2nd edition that I also have, I found that disappointing.

author: donotdespisethesnake
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 09:11:16 am
content: I think the problem with Amazon is their business model doesn't really work. They slashed prices compared to retail to gain market share. Now they have sales volume but with a very thin margin so in order to make any profit, they need to reduce overhead to absolute minimum. That means hiring temp staff at minimum wage and working them as fast as possible. They probably have 10 seconds to "pack" a parcel.I can see why they have been moving away from direct sales, and making money through hiring out their web servers, for example.

author: all_repair
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 09:13:46 am
content: Quote from: nanofrog on April 25, 2015, 09:28:31 pmWhat are the moral concerns?Since Amazon started to ship free to my country, I have been buying from them once or twice a week for almost a year. Overbox is my biggest rant, especially for those that they do not ship outside USA and I have to use a forwarder. As a whole, no other online retailer come close to them in attending to the customer to me. It still amazes me they can run a business that can absorb a 100-200 shipping fee on a 100-200 of item order.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 09:18:04 am
content: Quote from: all_repair on April 26, 2015, 09:13:46 amI assume it's either to do with their highly creative tax avoidance schemes or their employment practices, neither of which put Amazon in a particularly good light. I just wish I could take the taxman to a slap up dinner and negotiate my tax away like these outfits do.

author: gore
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 09:19:50 am
content: I ordered mine from amazon as well. The same package: a thin cardboard - book shaped, but not really a box. A book that heavy is very likely to get damaged without any bubble wrap. Fortunately, only a few corner bumps on my copy - no tears. I had the option of paying more for shipping. I can't recall how much more it was, but I wonder whether it would make a difference, other than the time.

author: daneck
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 10:23:37 am
content: I have bought from Amazon almost since their beginning. Initially it was books but I quickly moved to electronics and computer equipment for my business. My buying from distributors (mainly Tech Data) dropped down to almost nothing because of Amazon's pricing and service.BUT, their obsession with getting out the product fast finally snapped my loyalty. They talked about getting product to me in the afternoon that I ordered in the morning. Then they started experimenting with the silly drone delivery. My God, who cares! If I receive product in a week, that is fine if I don't have to bear the tax burden.In my case, Amazon put two new distribution centers in Florida (USA), which meant they had to start charging Florida sales tax. That now makes them non-competitive since I can usually beat their price and not have to pay any tax from other vendors such as Egghead. I just bought a $750 scanner which would have been about $50 more in sales tax from Amazon.I refuse to pay sales tax on Internet purchases except for really low cost items, which is about all I now buy from Amazon. I know galloping taxation greed of states and countries will overtake us all eventually, but I will continue the fight. I gave up on Amazon when they didn't fight hard enough for me and their priorities diverged from mine.

author: JacquesBBB
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 10:33:33 am
content: Quote from: gore on April 26, 2015, 09:19:50 amFor me it is not acceptable to receive a new book with "corner bumps". A bookseller needs to use proper packaging to ensure that the books arrive to the customer in pristine condition.

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 01:00:27 pm
content: Quote from: JacquesBBB on April 26, 2015, 10:33:33 amSame here, but try and get Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, or even any of the publishers to agree and you've an uphill struggle on your hands. At least Amazon will replace them, bricks and mortar stores just won't get the stock in until the damaged goods are sold for full price.

author: 1xrtt
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 03:12:17 pm
content: I always, YMMV. I never had a problem with Amazon delivering to Brazil, and even the usual 30 days shipping time is acceptable, comparing to Ebay, Aliexpress and others.Once however, the courier they worked with, did not deliver my books, and marked the package as "refused". As it happens, at that day, there was a street fair very close to my aparment building and the traffic was pretty bad, so they found easier just not do their work.I complained to Amazon Customer Service, who acknowledge the problem and I got a full refund next day. I believe they kept my complaint in record, because when I re-ordered those same books, about two months later, they arrive in by Fedex in just a couple of days, no extra shipping cost was charged.

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 04:06:29 pm
content: I hate it when they do this. I ordered a Rotring Rapid Pro mechnical pencil a couple of days ago and I wasn't in when it turned up. The peon who delivered it (amazon logistics who we have here in the UK) bent the fucking package in half and wedged it through the letter box. Bend the gift box totally. Pen is fine but I can't give it to my father as a gift now.Need to then go and find another damn gift this week as it'll take 5 days for a replacement.

author: Tinkerer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 06:26:07 pm
content: Quote from: donotdespisethesnake on April 26, 2015, 09:11:16 amExcept that it doesnt take but a second to shove in some packaging material to stop whatever it is inside from rattling around. Even better is that they could have the darned computer figure out the size of the contents to be shipped and have it tell the person the proper box size to use.

author: PsychoMaster
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2015, 06:33:48 pm
content: Sacrilegious Disrespect!

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 27, 2015, 02:56:17 am
content: Quote from: all_repair on April 26, 2015, 09:13:46 amHere's a few articles that might be of help.My week as an Amazon insiderWorse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workersIs Amazon a new bad Apple?Germany Investigates Treatment of Amazon WorkersEven if there's some embellishment towards political ideology, there's still a consistent recurring theme in multiple countries for it to be fiction.

author: all_repair
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 27, 2015, 04:49:04 am
content: Quote from: nanofrog on April 27, 2015, 02:56:17 amWoo..They are quite a bit. I have to reduce my purchases from Amazon. It is difficult to support brick-n-mortal shops here because the shop-owners are just slaves to the landlords, and most shall close sooner or later after gambling away their savings, even they are selling at 3 or more times that of Amazon price.

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 27, 2015, 06:14:39 am
content: From a book sales perspective it's a horrible market. I know a guy who has written three books and not made a penny between the retailers and the publishers. In fact he said that that it's better to just steal or copy his books than buy them.Everything else, straight from the source: China. Every middle man adds cost and low margin slavery to the process. In fact that's pretty much what most businesses do that shift tangibles these days.Profit always comes before ethics.One reason I folded my company - I could only compete in the market by screwing people.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 27, 2015, 09:10:13 pm
content: Quote from: smjcuk on April 27, 2015, 06:14:39 amThis is where the "one man band" operations have an advantage (no employees to have to screw over to get by), assuming they've enough work to stay in business.

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 27, 2015, 09:34:54 pm
content: Quote from: nanofrog on April 27, 2015, 09:10:13 pmI was a one man band (limited company). I had to screw over clients.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 27, 2015, 09:42:12 pm
content: Quote from: smjcuk on April 27, 2015, 09:34:54 pmOuch. Wasn't thinking of clients as those in the line of fire.

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 27, 2015, 09:57:42 pm
content: Yeah it took me about 5 years to work out that was how you grow a business.Look at someone like HP, a bastion of engineering back in the 1970s. Now they're a junk pusher that marks up and upsells everything they can to you and never delivers (primarily their server products I'm talking about there).

author: marshallh
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 28, 2015, 07:08:39 am
content: Had similar problems with Amazon before.Just returned a $500 camera after they shipped it in a same-sized box with padding on 1 side. Inside, the camera smashed into the internal dividers and the zoom lens doesn't work 100%.I wonder if they weighed the costs of handling exchanges as cheaper than simply packing all items properly.

author: TheNewLab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2015, 10:58:08 am
content: This happens. and yes CS guy and the shipping person are different people.In my experience regarding shipping. I purchased an Apple monitor. defective..simply I went through 5 monitors each time sent by the manufacturer..and finally the last worked plu Apple gave me a lifetime warranty. Just stay determined with Amazon. be polite. be specific with the damage. IF it takes them, three, four of more times. THen the company learns from it!IIt does not matter who the shipper is. Stuff gets damaged. The Company does not pack it properly. The company does not know how to pack properly. It is a new guy. It is an angry guy that hates working for Amazon. etc, etc, etc.If they begin to hesitate. Let them know you would be delighted to send all the damaged books back all at once, provided they pay the return shipping. Who knows it may actually be a guy that wants to get fired and they will fire him. Then you will finally get the 3rd edition in pristine condition as is expected for any new item!And, if you want to sell one of the damaged copies. I would love to have one. $100 is more than I want to spend. shipping might be expenxive from UK to USA. however it would still be less than buying "new" Just PM me