Amazon.com is getting worse and worse... - Blu-ray Forum

EQ3282 · 10-03-2008, 05:12 PM

I am quite annoyed. I'll preface by saying that I am an Amazon Prime customer, but I am truly considering ending my Amazon patronage due to their recent policy changes (price change credits, "too many returns" policy, etc), as well as this issue I arrived at:

I ordered two sets of these: http://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-77305...3052176&sr=8-1 (Atlantic Speaker Stands)

They were ordered together, and fulfilled by Amazon.com, so they qualified for two day shipping through Amazon Prime. I ordered at 9am on October 1 (Wed.). All "delivery" estimates (including the "Order by this time and receive by...." note) were for October 3rd, which is why I ordered them at that point.

One set was shipped from Indianapolis via UPS, and will arrive today. The other set was shipped from Reno, NV (why?) via FedEx (FedEx is AWFUL...I have used them before, and each time I did I had issues with mishandled packages or shipping estimates/procedure), and as of 2am this morning, was still in Reno, NV. As of noon today...its now in California!?!? So, 48 hours from when I ordered, the product was FURTHER away than when I ordered it. FedEx's tracking has the delivery estimate as October 6th by (get this) 7pm!

This is ridiculous. Here are my main arguments:

1 - Its the same F-ing product! Why not just ship two from the same damn location!?!?!?! It makes NO sense to ship from NV when I am in GA, knowing the product is available in Indiana.
2 - Even though FedEx has the delivery listed from October 6th, Amazon still shows October 3rd on my order page.
3 - I chose 2 day shipping EARLY on October 1st. To get it LATE on October 6th, in my eyes, is 4 business days. Unacceptable.
4 - According to the FedEx site, they did receive instruction for the order on October 1st (at 6pm). Yet, it was not scanned for arrival until 11am Oct. 2nd, and then not scanned for departure until 2am last night (which means it sat there for 15 hours, most likely missing multiple earlier departures). Again, FedEx sucks.

I did email Amazon, and basically got what I expected (them apologizing, but telling me that "that's why our predictions are estimates, as we can't assure that outside factors won't hinder your package from arriving when stated"). Then, off all things, they offered, get this, a $2.00 account credit and told me "If you refuse delivery, you can still keep the credit." That was it.
What annoys me about the email is that outside factors were not the cause, IMO. The cause was, for some reason, Amazon decided to split an order for the same product between two locations and two shippers. Not to mention still showing the WRONG delivery date on my account page, as well as not following through on their Amazon Prime offering. I could care less if they offered any credit, but just a $2 credit is a slap in the face, saying, "Yeah, we're kinda sorry, but your inconvenience is only worth a couple bucks to us." What I would have liked: contact FedEx and set up a Saturday delivery. THAT would have been, in my eyes, excellent and VERY customer-oriented!

Just little things like this show me that Amazon is moving away from being a customer-oriented, great-deal place to shop and moving toward more of a 'bottom-line' business approach.

silversnake · 10-03-2008, 05:25 PM

mail is mail man . It sucks that it happened that way but sometimes you get your package super early or late. I know that you probably pay more to have your prime membership but i'm pretty sure you have usually received your packages in a timely fashion. Granted you only got a 2$ credit but it's 2$ you didn't have and it's still SOMETHING. They could have easily told you to piss off and told you to wait. I've shopped a lot from Amazon and i've had maybe 2-3 packages that took a lot longer than expected but overall, the good transactions outweigh the bad ones. My two cents

katharsis · 10-03-2008, 05:33 PM

I do understand your frustration as I have had my fair share about shipping times being much longer than promised or expected.

In this case I can understand why it is taking an extra few days...

Amazon shipping from different locations is definitely because they did not have enough of that item in stock at the nearest warehouse.
I think they should have shipped them both from one location though, both from NV.
All the FedEx issues are out of Amazons hands. If they say 2 business days it should take 2 business days (business days being monday through friday with them). However them scanning the item on Oct 1 should make it a delivery on Oct 3 - today.
Usually you can ask FedEx for some credit in shipping cost, but since you get free Prime shipping this has to be up to Amazon to do so.

I am sure it will be there on monday by 7pm (late delivery times are actually not unusual with them, especially since it is mostlikely to a residential address- they take into account that most people will be at work and are unavailable between the hours of 8-4 at the least, which does not mean they will not try and deliver around those times though) You should be able to call them and change the delivery address though, say to your office / work place if needed.

I don't want to defend FedEx because they are just plain crap. But this is what I learned from using them for many years...

Enjoy your speaker stands

EQ3282 · 10-03-2008, 06:30 PM

Thanks for the support. I just needed to vent about this issue.

I do understand all of that. Shipping from two different warehouses is, usually, not problematic. And I agree that really the ones who dropped the ball here are FedEx. However, Amazon has to realize that little things like this is what kills them. What if I was away next week and I was depending on getting the order today so that it wouldn't sit on my doorstep for a week, possibly getting stolen in the process? What if I was moving and needed the item by today? Its one thing if this is a Wed. to Thurs. wait, but this is a weekend split. Plus, I ordered it so early on Wed. that they honestly had 3 full days to fulfill the order on time. FedEx works in the background. I didn't buy from FedEx...I bought from Amazon. If I order 'in stock' items that are projected to arrive on a certain date, I don't think its too much to ask that they arrive on or before that date.

Most of the time, Amazon has been fine. But, with online ordering, the name of the game in convenience, so any inconvenience is going to be magnified x10. I know that CrapEx and UPS aren't under Amazon's control, but this type of issue needs to be brought to their attention so that they can pass that along.

As I said, would it be impossible for Amazon to call CrapEx and set up a Saturday delivery with them? No. IMO, that's the resolution that should have been offered. Yes, I should be happy with $2 as they could have offered nothing, but $2 seems to be almost a 'keep 'em quiet' offering. Not really a considerable amount, but enough to elicit guilt if customer complains further (I worked in sales/CS, and we actually had these 'offerings' to use at will just to shut a complainer up).

Anyway, I guess I'm done venting. Thanks again for listening.

aramis109 · 10-03-2008, 07:51 PM

Uhm... heh. Hope this doesn't add to your frustration....

I have the Polk RM6750 set. Currently I'm only using the sub and surrounds. However, I ordered that set of speaker stands as well. I ended up returning them. I didn't find the build quality to be very good, and furthermore couldn't get them to properly fit the Polks due to the rear bass port extension (their "power port"). I even tried bending the brackets.

It's possible you'll find a way to do it, or maybe there were some other generic brackets my set was missing, but I simply couldn't get it to fit the way I wanted to. I was concerned with damaging/scratching the speaker or the damn thing just falling off. I wasn't about to secure it with double-sided sticky tape.

Hope it works out for you, but I just kind of cringed when I saw what you ordered and what you have in your sig.

EQ3282 · 10-03-2008, 08:22 PM

Well that would suck, wouldn't it? haha

I just did a quick 'test' fit (I received the one set that was expected today), and I can see what you're saying. It looks like the holding screw won't be tight in or flush but it looks like they'll sit better if they are raised on the platform a little bit. I think I should be able to jimmy them to work...worst case scenario, get a wood block cut to size and sit the speakers on top of that.

I appreciate the warning though. Amazon will not like me if I need to return them though, as they were a recommendation to go along with the speakers.

EQ3282 · 10-03-2008, 08:45 PM

Just set one up and it seems to work fine. I just set the bracket back a little further so its more 'centered' on the plate. The screw isn't flush, and the bracket pushes up against the "power" whatever it is, but it survived the bump and sideways test.

blackhawktraffic · 10-04-2008, 12:32 AM

Yeah I am having issues with them as well with not shipping stuff on time and then UPS not delivering my stuff on time ( I didn't pay for Prime for nothing).

EQ3282 · 10-05-2008, 03:50 AM

To further my point about the 'best' resolution by Amazon to have the product delivered today:

As of 6:30am this morning, the other set of stands is sitting in the local FedEx center.

10-03-2008, 05:12 PM	#1
EQ3282 Senior Member Member since:May 2008 Blu-ray collection:32 Blu-ray reviews:1	Amazon.com is getting worse and worse... I am quite annoyed. I'll preface by saying that I am an Amazon Prime customer, but I am truly considering ending my Amazon patronage due to their recent policy changes (price change credits, "too many returns" policy, etc), as well as this issue I arrived at: I ordered two sets of these: http://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-77305...3052176&sr=8-1 (Atlantic Speaker Stands) They were ordered together, and fulfilled by Amazon.com, so they qualified for two day shipping through Amazon Prime. I ordered at 9am on October 1 (Wed.). All "delivery" estimates (including the "Order by this time and receive by...." note) were for October 3rd, which is why I ordered them at that point. One set was shipped from Indianapolis via UPS, and will arrive today. The other set was shipped from Reno, NV (why?) via FedEx (FedEx is AWFUL...I have used them before, and each time I did I had issues with mishandled packages or shipping estimates/procedure), and as of 2am this morning, was still in Reno, NV. As of noon today...its now in California!?!? So, 48 hours from when I ordered, the product was FURTHER away than when I ordered it. FedEx's tracking has the delivery estimate as October 6th by (get this) 7pm! This is ridiculous. Here are my main arguments: 1 - Its the same F-ing product! Why not just ship two from the same damn location!?!?!?! It makes NO sense to ship from NV when I am in GA, knowing the product is available in Indiana. 2 - Even though FedEx has the delivery listed from October 6th, Amazon still shows October 3rd on my order page. 3 - I chose 2 day shipping EARLY on October 1st. To get it LATE on October 6th, in my eyes, is 4 business days. Unacceptable. 4 - According to the FedEx site, they did receive instruction for the order on October 1st (at 6pm). Yet, it was not scanned for arrival until 11am Oct. 2nd, and then not scanned for departure until 2am last night (which means it sat there for 15 hours, most likely missing multiple earlier departures). Again, FedEx sucks. I did email Amazon, and basically got what I expected (them apologizing, but telling me that "that's why our predictions are estimates, as we can't assure that outside factors won't hinder your package from arriving when stated"). Then, off all things, they offered, get this, a $2.00 account credit and told me "If you refuse delivery, you can still keep the credit." That was it. What annoys me about the email is that outside factors were not the cause, IMO. The cause was, for some reason, Amazon decided to split an order for the same product between two locations and two shippers. Not to mention still showing the WRONG delivery date on my account page, as well as not following through on their Amazon Prime offering. I could care less if they offered any credit, but just a $2 credit is a slap in the face, saying, "Yeah, we're kinda sorry, but your inconvenience is only worth a couple bucks to us." What I would have liked: contact FedEx and set up a Saturday delivery. THAT would have been, in my eyes, excellent and VERY customer-oriented! Just little things like this show me that Amazon is moving away from being a customer-oriented, great-deal place to shop and moving toward more of a 'bottom-line' business approach.

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10-03-2008, 05:25 PM	#2
silversnake Blu-ray Champion Member since:Feb 2008 Location:Montreal Home Theater Gallery:22 4K collection:7 Blu-ray collection:498 Blu-ray reviews:6 Trading Score:32	mail is mail man . It sucks that it happened that way but sometimes you get your package super early or late. I know that you probably pay more to have your prime membership but i'm pretty sure you have usually received your packages in a timely fashion. Granted you only got a 2$ credit but it's 2$ you didn't have and it's still SOMETHING. They could have easily told you to piss off and told you to wait. I've shopped a lot from Amazon and i've had maybe 2-3 packages that took a lot longer than expected but overall, the good transactions outweigh the bad ones. My two cents

10-03-2008, 05:33 PM	#3
katharsis Power Member Member since:Aug 2007 Location:SoCal Home Theater Gallery:16 Blu-ray collection:379 Blu-ray reviews:3 Trading Score:8	I do understand your frustration as I have had my fair share about shipping times being much longer than promised or expected. In this case I can understand why it is taking an extra few days... Amazon shipping from different locations is definitely because they did not have enough of that item in stock at the nearest warehouse. I think they should have shipped them both from one location though, both from NV. All the FedEx issues are out of Amazons hands. If they say 2 business days it should take 2 business days (business days being monday through friday with them). However them scanning the item on Oct 1 should make it a delivery on Oct 3 - today. Usually you can ask FedEx for some credit in shipping cost, but since you get free Prime shipping this has to be up to Amazon to do so. I am sure it will be there on monday by 7pm (late delivery times are actually not unusual with them, especially since it is mostlikely to a residential address- they take into account that most people will be at work and are unavailable between the hours of 8-4 at the least, which does not mean they will not try and deliver around those times though) You should be able to call them and change the delivery address though, say to your office / work place if needed. I don't want to defend FedEx because they are just plain crap. But this is what I learned from using them for many years... Enjoy your speaker stands

10-03-2008, 06:30 PM	#4
EQ3282 Senior Member Member since:May 2008 Blu-ray collection:32 Blu-ray reviews:1	Thanks for the support. I just needed to vent about this issue. I do understand all of that. Shipping from two different warehouses is, usually, not problematic. And I agree that really the ones who dropped the ball here are FedEx. However, Amazon has to realize that little things like this is what kills them. What if I was away next week and I was depending on getting the order today so that it wouldn't sit on my doorstep for a week, possibly getting stolen in the process? What if I was moving and needed the item by today? Its one thing if this is a Wed. to Thurs. wait, but this is a weekend split. Plus, I ordered it so early on Wed. that they honestly had 3 full days to fulfill the order on time. FedEx works in the background. I didn't buy from FedEx...I bought from Amazon. If I order 'in stock' items that are projected to arrive on a certain date, I don't think its too much to ask that they arrive on or before that date. Most of the time, Amazon has been fine. But, with online ordering, the name of the game in convenience, so any inconvenience is going to be magnified x10. I know that CrapEx and UPS aren't under Amazon's control, but this type of issue needs to be brought to their attention so that they can pass that along. As I said, would it be impossible for Amazon to call CrapEx and set up a Saturday delivery with them? No. IMO, that's the resolution that should have been offered. Yes, I should be happy with $2 as they could have offered nothing, but $2 seems to be almost a 'keep 'em quiet' offering. Not really a considerable amount, but enough to elicit guilt if customer complains further (I worked in sales/CS, and we actually had these 'offerings' to use at will just to shut a complainer up). Anyway, I guess I'm done venting. Thanks again for listening.

10-03-2008, 07:51 PM	#5
aramis109 Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2008 Location:Milwaukee, WI Home Theater Gallery:10 4K collection:4 Blu-ray collection:360 Trading Score:18	Uhm... heh. Hope this doesn't add to your frustration.... I have the Polk RM6750 set. Currently I'm only using the sub and surrounds. However, I ordered that set of speaker stands as well. I ended up returning them. I didn't find the build quality to be very good, and furthermore couldn't get them to properly fit the Polks due to the rear bass port extension (their "power port"). I even tried bending the brackets. It's possible you'll find a way to do it, or maybe there were some other generic brackets my set was missing, but I simply couldn't get it to fit the way I wanted to. I was concerned with damaging/scratching the speaker or the damn thing just falling off. I wasn't about to secure it with double-sided sticky tape. Hope it works out for you, but I just kind of cringed when I saw what you ordered and what you have in your sig.

10-03-2008, 08:22 PM	#6
EQ3282 Senior Member Member since:May 2008 Blu-ray collection:32 Blu-ray reviews:1	Well that would suck, wouldn't it? haha I just did a quick 'test' fit (I received the one set that was expected today), and I can see what you're saying. It looks like the holding screw won't be tight in or flush but it looks like they'll sit better if they are raised on the platform a little bit. I think I should be able to jimmy them to work...worst case scenario, get a wood block cut to size and sit the speakers on top of that. I appreciate the warning though. Amazon will not like me if I need to return them though, as they were a recommendation to go along with the speakers.

10-03-2008, 08:45 PM	#7
EQ3282 Senior Member Member since:May 2008 Blu-ray collection:32 Blu-ray reviews:1	Just set one up and it seems to work fine. I just set the bracket back a little further so its more 'centered' on the plate. The screw isn't flush, and the bracket pushes up against the "power" whatever it is, but it survived the bump and sideways test.

10-04-2008, 12:32 AM	#8
blackhawktraffic Blu-ray Guru Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Upland, CA 4K collection:17 Blu-ray collection:18 Blu-ray reviews: 4 Trading Score:228	Yeah I am having issues with them as well with not shipping stuff on time and then UPS not delivering my stuff on time ( I didn't pay for Prime for nothing).

10-05-2008, 03:50 AM	#9
EQ3282 Senior Member Member since:May 2008 Blu-ray collection:32 Blu-ray reviews:1	To further my point about the 'best' resolution by Amazon to have the product delivered today: As of 6:30am this morning, the other set of stands is sitting in the local FedEx center.

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