I was supposed to receive two shipments from Amazon yesterday, and I did - only one of them looks like it has been through a war zone and is addressed to someone in Wisconsin; neither the name, street address, city, state, or zip code match my address, so I can only guess that my package is in Wisconsin, or somewhere else. Meanwhile, the thing I ordered is no longer available, and Amazon has made it far more difficult to contact them. I used to be able to simply report that my package had not arrived and they'd send me another one or refund my money, whichever I preferred. Now, there seems to be no way to contact an actual person there. They have a chat thing, but it's not really a chat because I can only choose from a menu that they have predetermined, none of which is what I want to say, and then they want me to wait 48 hours before reporting it as missing. There is an option on the chat thing to have someone from Amazon call me but they never do. UPS is not going to deliver it to me within 48 hours because they think they have already delivered it, and I won't get my stuff because it's in Wisconsin or somewhere. This was a screwup made by UPS, I know, but the seller is responsible for it and they have made it impossible to contact them. Amazon has gotten increasingly worse over the past few years. I pay for Prime, but I rarely receive anything within the two shipping days they promise, although I used to. When I check the status now, it's usually not even shipped within two days. Stuff from Amazon still comes more quickly than anything I order from anywhere else. It seems that when I order something from any other retailer, by the time it arrives, a couple of weeks later, I have forgotten that I had ordered it. With its service getting worse every year, Amazon would be open to competition, except that everyone else is even worse.
That is worrying indeed - Amazon were/are very good for contact, haven't had to do that lately so hoping it will stay good.
Did you contact UPS, Ken? Was your order direct from Amazon or a 3rd party seller? Seems that lately, more and more stuff on the Amazon website is NOT sold by Amazon, which I find annoying. I had an expensive "lesson" with a 3rd party seller recently. Here's some Amazon contact info... Contact details amazon-csc@amazon.com (Customer service email) Phone 888-280-4331
I'm sure Amazon will make it good for you, but it's annoying nonetheless. This time of year, the courier services are hiring part-time "help," which can be a disaster in itself. The sheer volume of online orders is mind-boggling. I notice more and more frequently, my Amazon orders are being delivered by Amazon vans, and when the delivery is made they take a picture of the package on my front porch that is posted on my Amazon order history. Very cool. It does concern me a bit that UPS/Fedex/USPS might be made obsolete by the Amazon machine at some point. My son lives in the boondocks outside of Austin, and his Amazon orders are usually delivered by random individuals in private vehicles. He says that about half the time now, they mark his stuff "unable to locate address" since it is rural, even though any GPS will find his place easily.
I have never had stress with Amazon and use them several times weekly. They have always done a great job of correcting any mistakes. I have always been impressed at how smooth running their operation is.
Worrying again - Amazon have such a foothold now and they seem to be getting lax in customer service I also notice their prices are less competitive now too, an item I wanted today, I managed to find much cheaper Beware Amazon - a lax attitude 'can' backfire on you
That's good - the DVD recorder was expensive and it was their loss Mainly, I have been happy with them but they need to keep up with the good work or people 'will' go elsewhere
Agree; I always price-check Amazon. Usually Walmart can beat their price and also has 2-day shipping, free if the purchase is over $35. It definitely pays to shop around before ordering.
Service may vary depending on where a person lives. We actually have a large Amazon warehouse in Jacksonville and usually have the option of 1 day....rather than waiting 2. Walmart is a great option though if a person is ordering the $35. As @Beth Gallagher stated, their prices are usually better than Amazon.
While I can usually find what I'm looking for on Amazon, Walmart has very little that I want. I just wish that Amazon would get back on the ball again. As they are building more facilities, it seems that they're cutting corners where it counts.
Found the same in pricing. Benefit for us is we have a Walmart Neighborhood Market about a mile so we get free delivery to the market & P/U what ever is ordered.
If I wanted anything from Walmart, I'd pick it up at Walmart, as we do have a Walmart about fifteen miles from us. But I hate Walmart.
Amazon is stressing me with a $649 price on a Macbook. ARGH. I want the Black Friday sales to go away.