A little Rant but mostly a Caution!

[Rob Holcomb]

As many of you know, I recently completed a router table build and the router I chose is the Porter Cable 7518. Well, it only comes with a 1/2" Collett so I needed to get a 1/4" Collett so I can use all of my 1/4" shank bits. My first stop was Amazon to make the purchase since I am a Prime member ($79 a year gets you 2 day free shipping on most items). I ws in luck. They had the Porter-Cable 42999 1/4-Inch Self Releasing Collet at a reasonable price and it qualified for Prime shipping. So I ordered it on April 4th. The same day, I received an email stating it had shipped and UPS was the carrier. They provided me with a tracking number and said the estimated delivery date was April 6th. Being Good Friday and the then the Holiday weekend, I assumed it wouldn't be delivered until today. When I checked the UPS site this morning with my tracking number it said "A shipping label has been created and when the item reaches our facility, more detailed delivery tracking would be available. Being concerned, I contacted Amazon and asked if they had indeed shipped my purchase. I got answers that were more like that of a politician, skirting around the answer than any straight forward responses. I asked the woman I was speaking to, what exactly did I pay $79 for a Prime account for? Her answer in a matter of fact response was "I guarantee you will have the item you purchased on April 10th and there will be no additional charge" Are you kidding me? No Additional charge? I couldn't believe that she made it sound like she was doing me a favor by not charging me more money! I have purchased things through Amazon many times and I don't always get things delivered when they say they will be delivered but that's not a big deal. Stuff happens and if things show up a day or two later than they anticipate, I'm not going to complain, but to accept $79 for a Prime account and boast about two day free shipping and then debit my account for the cost of a purchase and then never ship it out and then boast about there being no additional charge to me for them to make things right is a little over the top in my book. So all I'm saying is be careful about spending $79 for a Prime membership. You may not get what you pay for.

[Bruce Page]

I have been a satisfied Prime member for a few years. As you said, stuff happens but it is the exception, not the rule. Overall I have been very pleased with Amazon’s service and the free shipping on most items more than pays for the membership fee.

[Bill White]

Can ya say that you've bought an extended warrenty? Prime shipping is kinda like sayin' that you'll get it SOON.
I've had stuff shipped from the left coast with regular rates that arrived in 2 days. I'm not payin' a premium for anything. Nothing pending in my shop is worth that.
Don't think that I'm slammin' you. Just my opin.
Bill

[Chris Tsutsui]

I can sort of see how the item should arrive on the 10th if they don't count the weekends and they don't count friday, though the customer service rep didn't handle your question in the right manner.

You know mothers of newborns get free amazon prime for a year to help pay shipping fees for baby supplies. My wife got this a while ago and I used her prime account all the time and it was decent.

Also there's a deal for students getting prime, I wonder if I take a single class at a community college, I could then get free prime??

Finally, there's nothing to prevent people from sharing a prime account. My brother in law pays for a prime account, then shares his username and PW with family. Whoever buys the item enters their own CC and "ship to" address. Just something else to consider if you want to share the prime fees.

[Rob Holcomb]

I guess what made me so P.O'd about it was not admitting they made the shipping label and then didn't ship it and saying I wouldn't have to pay extra to have it delivered tomorrow April 10th. If all the woman said was, "we're sorry for the mistake. We'll get that right out to you", I would have just said ok, thank you and hung up. I didn't purchase the Prime account for the free two day shipping in the first place. It was bought after buying my wife a Kindle at Christmas. She gets a free book to read each month as a Prime member. I just don't like excuses or dancing around the question being asked. I learned from my parents that when you make a mistake, admit it, own it and make it right. Simple really. The whole thing just set wrong with me.

[Victor Robinson]

I think something went wrong last week, possibly due to Good Friday? I was scheduled to receive an order on Friday, but it apparently did not ship until Friday and didn't show up until Monday.

I've been a Prime member since 2002. I've placed well over 350 orders with them during this time (I counted), and almost every single one (up 'til this last order) has been on time. I can only remember one or two orders that were one day late. About a third of my orders get to me one day early (overnight) probably because I live in a major city.

For me the Prime service has been worth it in spades. Now I might feel differently if this happened on one of my first Prime orders...

[Dale Coons]

+1 had it for years and never a problem--if I order early enough in the day I often get it the next day, but never had a late one. My wife and I do christmas shopping from the comfort of the king size bed--beats the heck out of driving around plus the married kids are also on the account for free. one of the best $80 a year I ever spend.

[John Nesmith]

Can ya say that you've bought an extended warrenty?

Not really. They are entirely different.


Prime shipping is kinda like sayin' that you'll get it SOON.

Actually, Prime is exactly like saying, if you purchase an item that qualifies for Prime shipping, you will get it in 2 days, or 1 day if you pay a small upcharge.



I've had stuff shipped from the left coast with regular rates that arrived in 2 days. I'm not payin' a premium for anything. Nothing pending in my shop is worth that.

I think you might be missing part of the point of Prime. It's not just 2-day shipping; it's FREE 2-day shipping. I, and the people I share my Prime account with, buy hundreds of items a year from Amazon. We save far, far more than $79 on the items we purchase that would otherwise incur a shipping charge.

Also, despite the fact that you have received a regularly-shipped item in 2 days, MOST regularly shipped items take longer than that; sometime substantially longer. Personally, I often do want or need an item in 2 days. Particularly something purchased on a Wednesday that I absolutely need for the weekend.

For me, Prime is a no-brainer.

[Dave Zellers]

For me, Prime is a no-brainer.

Me too. Hugely beneficial to my business.

[scott vroom]

I'm a prime member and my busines has benefitted greatly from routine 2 day Amazon Prime delivery. If I amortize the $79 annual fee, I end up paying only pennies per shipment for 2 day delivery. If they're a day late occaisionally (and it has happened on rare occaision), you suck it up and chalk it up to stuff happens.

[Bill Trouard]

I have been a happy prime customer for many years. if there is an issue amazon is fast to resolve it.

when I ordered my Rikon band-saw from amazon, the freight company damaged 2 of them. luckily the 3rd was a charm. Amazon was fast to deal with the issues and gave me $250 off for my trouble. ended up paying less than $500 for the saw. The $250 refund was unexpected. I did not ask for it or told they were going to do so.

Some times things happen, its out of our control. but at least amazon does work hard to resolve issues that are not necessarily caused by them.

I have purchesed 100's of items with out issue everything from ink, mailing lables, TV's, electronics, home items and most of the tools in my shop. sometims my order might be $5 other times it might be thoushands of dollars, amazon always gets it shipped the same day. and the $3.99 overnight is hard to beat.

Also as a bounus you can stream shows and movies now to your tv as no extra charge for prime members

[Nathan Callender]

I don't think amazon has ever missed a ship date for me when it was truly a prime item. That includes Christmas items placed way too close for comfort. Honestly I don't know how they manage to do it.

[John Nesmith]

Also as a bounus you can stream shows and movies now to your tv as no extra charge for prime members

Exactly. I forgot to mention that. My wife and kids in particular take advantage of this feature. We watch movies and TV shows that, if provided through another service like netflix, would cost around $8 per month.

[Bill Huber]

The one thing that can happen is an item can be shipped and the tracking number was created in the UPS system but when it was picked up by UPS the driver did not scan the item therefor there will be no updates to it.

I have ordered things and there was not tracking update and they were delivered, just a problem with the scanning of the package.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I buy most of the consumable supplies for my business through Amazon Prime. Free 2-day shipping on many, if not most items, plus prices are generally lower than anywhere in the country. Also, Amazon has a very generous return policy to ensure satisfaction.

[Bill Trouard]

I have had that happen a few time over the years with amazon.

[Dave Lehnert]

I have never been a "need it now" kinda person. I keep a wish list of things of small items I need, then, when I order something big or have a group of items over $25 I place the order for free shipping. I almost always get my stuff in less than a week.

[David Kumm]

So you can buy into a prime account and share it with others? And no one thinks that is wrong? Dave

[Victor Robinson]

So you can buy into a prime account and share it with others? And no one thinks that is wrong? Dave

You're allowed to share it with a certain number of people/addresses.

[Peter Quinn]

I've had nothing but good experiences with Amazon prime. I've had a few things go over 2 days, usually when a holiday was involved, but generally I'm amazed with their speed and efficiency. I wouldn't let the ineloquence of one CS rep dissuade you from enjoying the benefits of prime membership. I actually like having a few things go long from them just so I'm certain they have have humans working there! I've never had occasion to speak to one.

[Mike Henderson]

I recently converted to Prime but have had nothing but good experiences.

Mike

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have never had any problems with Amazon Prime. Another benefit of Amazon Prime is free movie downloads to our internet connected TVs or computers. I do not watch them much, but my wife & grandkids love it.

[Paul Wunder]

I have used Amazon Prime for years and I have nothing but good experiences with shipments and arrivals being on time. On the rare occasion that I needed to talk to Amazon C/S (not about Prime) they have been helpful in solving my problem in a practical and professional way. I consider that Prime is an excellent value. There have been many times that I needed to make a very small purchase (one that would not qualify for free shipping elsewhere) and Amazon most often will have that item eligible for two day free shipping. Can't beat that deal!

[John Nesmith]

Yep. The example I often give people when I am discussing Prime is, a $5 pack of #2 pencils at my front door in less than 48 hours, and I save time, taxes, gas, wear and tear on my vehicle, and shipping.

[Rob Holcomb]

Just an update. My shipment never did arrive. I requested a refund from Amazon which they did and bought the collett through Rockler. Had it in 2 days. Standard Shipping.

[Paul Gatti]

The $79 prime membership is one of the best investments I make all year. It covers me and my immediate family.

[Eric DeSilva]

You're allowed to share it with a certain number of people/addresses.

Not that way that was originally stated.

Under the Amazon T&Cs, you can share a prime (non-corporate) account with up to four FAMILY members living at the SAME location. So, yes, I do think that sharing it and gaming the system using the "ship to" address is wrong. It drives up costs for people like me who are playing by the rules.