Amazon, really? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 02:02:19 am
content: Trying to buy some stuff, getting errors such as "You have already bought too much of this item." and apparently free shipping now requires $35 minimum purchase. Hmm...

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 02:12:45 am
content: Like what and do you have Prime?

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 02:26:37 am
content: No, I don't have Prime. I was just trying to buy some stuff. I went to pad my order to get the free shipping and got this. It was Chicken Noodle Soup I think.

author: Shonky
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 02:42:00 am
content: Quote from: rdl on August 22, 2023, 02:26:37 amWell there's your problem...

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 03:05:04 am
content: It was the new $35 minimum order that annoyed me most.

author: Kim Christensen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 03:08:09 am
content: Quote from: Shonky on August 22, 2023, 02:42:00 amI've never had that problem. I do that all the time without any problems.It's possible that other people bought the remaining stock before the OP completed his order.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 03:48:52 am
content: Our transportation system has been running rather sub-par in the last couple of years. Item shortage is rather usual these days. Thus, sellerlimits purchases to "stretch" the availability. Even my local grocery store does that. Just last weekend, I was looking at some ice-cream bars, goodness, they have a sign that limits purchase to 4 boxes (24 bars total) max! Since the price went up significantly in the last 12 month, I was not going to get any unless it is on sale, so no impact to me.Besides the multiple train racks in the mid-west last 12 months, ships ain't any better either. I don't know if you recalled from November 2021 News that cargo ships pileup waiting to dock to unload at Los Angeles and Long Beach... You can see the cargo-ships horizon to horizon. I imagine Normandy beach on June 6, 1944 would look something like that. Sea filled with awaiting ships must have been a rather unlikable sight, particularly coupled with empty shelves in the stores, so complaints were rumbling. Our brilliant public servant solved the problem quickly: mandating that ships must wait > 40 miles off shore. Problems solved, no more unsightly parking lot of cargo ship disturbing the joy of surfing... Almost every News reporter dropped "port delays" as a News to report, mean while empty shelves in stores remain empty.Here is a reminder of the disappearing ships and hence availability/purchase limitations:https://www.freightwaves.com/news/california-pileup-still-piling-up-but-out-of-sight-over-horizon

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 01:29:15 pm
content: This actually might have been what the problem was. However, the wording and tone of their message could certainly be improved. I was able to complete the order by switching half of the soup to Cream of Mushroom.That $10 increase to the minimum order though... Well, I guess I'll be eating a lot more soup.Quote from: Kim Christensen on August 22, 2023, 03:08:09 am

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 01:42:59 pm
content: Quote from: rdl on August 22, 2023, 03:05:04 amHow dare they expect to get enough margin out of your purchase to give you 'free' delivery.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 01:54:19 pm
content: Amazon, the new "Soup Nazi"

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 02:27:23 pm
content: QuoteDo you eat soup or do you drink it?

author: Kim Christensen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 03:32:16 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on August 22, 2023, 01:42:59 pmMaybe I'm a rare case, but it doesn't seem to be working out very well for them. 80% of the time that I've padded an order to get over the $35 threshold, the extra item ended up coming as a separate shipment a day or two later.

author: Veteran68
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 04:38:41 pm
content: As much as I order from Amazon (and have for many years), Amazon Prime is no-brainer for me, even at twice the cost. I've been a subscriber pretty much since it was first offered. Not even counting the extras perks like streaming video, music, 5% cash back on my Amazon Prime card (which btw more than pays for my Prime membership), etc., just the free shipping on almost any order makes it totally worth it for me.I have a bad habit of going shopping and forgetting one or two items. This is true with the supermarket, big box stores, or online. With Amazon, I try to buy what I need in one go, but always forget something. Having Prime, I don't think twice about ordering that small item I forgot, as soon as I realize I forgot it, rather than waiting until I have a bigger order to get free shipping. Prime is a good investment for someone like me.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 06:11:37 pm
content: Yeah, "eating soup" sounded a bit odd to me when writing it. Probably should have been buying/consuming/having/ordering more soup. Or something.Usually when I place an order with Amazon they tell me if I need something else in the next 24 hours, shipping is free. I'm not sure that was the case this time.Split shipments, yeah it's a bit funny when you add something to get the "free shipping" and it comes as a separate shipment. And I always make an effort to be sure everything comes at once, from the same place.

author: Kim Christensen
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 07:23:01 pm
content: I still get the free shipping with the split shipment, so I'm not complaining.It's usually because the two items are coming from two different warehouses or something.

author: Infraviolet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 07:52:27 pm
content: "...Amazon Prime is no-brainer for me..."I don't see how, for anyone. If they did a subscription service which gave you free deliveries, particularly on marketplace things fulfilled by the seller, it could be worthwhile. But as it is, Prime doesn't make deliveries cheaper. At one point it might have lowered the threshold for free deliveries, but that didn't make them cheaper, it just meant you could place two say £10 orders and get free delivery on each and pay the prime subscription, against waiting to need £20 of stuff and get free delivery anyway without paying Prime.

author: Veteran68
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 10:43:24 pm
content: Quote from: Infraviolet on August 22, 2023, 07:52:27 pmOn the contrary it makes my deliveries much cheaper given my order volume and frequency. Maybe you missed the part where I mentioned how much I order from Amazon? As in, sometimes several times a week, for years now. Many are very small orders that I order when I want instead of waiting to bundle for free shipping. Sometimes < $10. Not to mention all the other perks I get and the cash back that more than pays for my membership. So yeah, easy no-brainer for me.Just checked my order history. Right now I’m up to 8 orders this month, 32 for the past 3 months, 73 year to date, 128 in 2022. So average about 10/month over years. Never paid a dime in shipping thanks to Prime.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 11:26:56 pm
content: Quote from: rdl on August 22, 2023, 02:02:19 amIn that particular case, maybe they were right.

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2023, 11:51:35 pm
content: Careful when comparing things from different countries. The plans, even with the same name, are not necessarily the same plan in both places. Especially in the details.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2024, 05:30:55 pm
content: Well this thread is as good a place as any other Amazon thread.Amazon Really?Ordered a new garden spade. This is the box it came in. The spade had a simple wrapping of paper around it.But the box ...really?

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2024, 05:58:38 pm
content: Quote from: xrunner on February 02, 2024, 05:30:55 pmI would be more concerned if I ordered a garden spade and received instead a garden fork. That would be far more of an issue than the box it came in.

author: soldar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2024, 07:22:27 pm
content: Quote from: xrunner on February 02, 2024, 05:30:55 pmI see you are the kind of person who calls a spade a spade.And you call a fork a spade. Do you call everything a spade?I hope you do not intend to shovel that birdseed with that "spade".

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2024, 07:42:12 pm
content: Quote from: IanB on February 02, 2024, 05:58:38 pmWTF do you think I was concerned about when I saw that box on my porch? Whether it had a garden spade or a garden fork in it? I thought I had received somebody's big screen TV.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2024, 08:07:30 pm
content: QuoteApart from it being a fork, they no doubt have standard-sized boxes and the one you got just happened to be the next size up from the 'just too small' one. Cheaper to stock, faster to pack, what's not to like?

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2024, 01:19:21 am
content: Quote from: rdl on August 22, 2023, 03:05:04 amYou must be new to mail ordering. Minimum orders are nothing new and most companies have had them for decades. I just pay the $100 for a Prime membership and get the free shipping. It's well worth it IMO.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2024, 02:54:32 am
content: Ever since Amazon raised the minimum order for free shipping, I found that I have been ordering a lot more from Ebay instead.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 04, 2024, 11:16:31 am
content: Quote from: Infraviolet on August 22, 2023, 07:52:27 pmThe Prime benefits vary wildly by country. So you really can’t say “I don’t see how it makes sense for anyone” without carefully investigating Prime’s benefits for each country, one by one.