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View Full Version : What has happened to Amazon.com



Chris Rosenberger
06-20-2013, 10:33 PM
Because the large shopping areas are at least 45 miles away, for the last several years, Amazon.com has been our go to retailer. I have bought everything from machines to gluten free food. I have been a prime member since 2009. Always got great service, got quick deliveries, things were packed well & any problems were always resolved quickly. I only had to call one time to resolve a problem.

I started noticing things changing earlier this year. Deliveries started getting slower, items were not packed as well. Fragile items were packed packed in the same box as heave items.
About a month ago an item was packed so bad that it was damaged beyond use. I notified them online & a replacement item was sent. It arrived packaged the same way. It was slightly damaged, but was useable.

Last week I ordered 2 boxes of Arrow Staples. Each box contained 5000 staples. When the order arrived the 2 boxes of staples were put in a larger box with out any extra packing. Both boxes of staples came open, with all of the staples coming completely out of one of the boxes. The sticks of staples were broken into smaller pieces. I ordered a replacement box. The replacement arrived in a large envelope & all of the staples were again out of the box & broken into small pieces.

I decided to call to let them know that they needed to change how they shipped the staples. To talk to someone at Amazon, you first send them your phone number online & they call you back. I got a call back quickly, but the person that called had such a thick accent that I could only understand a few words they were saying. I hung up & called again. I could understand this person better, but they had no clue on what I was trying to tell them.
I gave up & decided to try email.

Email did not go any better. Replies were just general out of the book answers that had nothing to do with the question being asked.
The names signed on the bottom of the emails, were names I could not begin to pronounce.

I do not know what country Amazon has outsourced their customer service to, but the lack of training lost me as a customer.
I just decide to write it off as a costly lesson & move on.

Jim Matthews
06-20-2013, 10:54 PM
Most call centers are outsourced - regardless of the retailer.

I find the best, comprehensible responses come through online "chat" interactions.
The fulfillment centers (http://www.amazon.com/Locations-Careers/b?ie=UTF8&node=239366011) for Amazon are mostly domestic, for the items that are handled by Amazon warehouse staff.

If you have ordered something on the Amazon website, and have a choice that provides a better service level.
If you have tried to save a little money by using Amazon as a clearing house that merely books an order for a small seller,
you may not get the care and attention to detail you seek.

I've never had a problem with either type of order, but heavy stuff hasn't been packed with more fragile things.

When placing an order, seek out items that are "Fulfilled by Amazon" for the highest attention level in packaging.

Frank Trinkle
06-20-2013, 11:30 PM
I have talked to Customer Service a number of times. Always from the Philippines (Manila). They are not supposed to tell you where they are, but having spent a lot of time in the Philippines, I recognized the accent, and always say Good Morning or Good Day in Tagalog which ALWAYS freaks them out!:D

Despite the fact that they are overseas, I have always had my issues resolved, though I agree that there has been a slow decline in packaging quality, and a number of missed shipping date guarantees.

Like the OP, Amazon is usually my go-to online retailer first, and I recently did a audit of my account and realized that over the years I have purchased 1934 items since my first order. That was a shocker! Prime membership has saved me, my wife, and my in-laws literally thousands of dollars in shipping costs, and the free videos on-demand have been a great addition.

Cheers.

Rollie Meyers
06-21-2013, 1:04 AM
I have been asked to take a survey about Amazon's packaging but I don't like surveys so deleted it, but in my cases the shipments have been packaged well.

Matt Meiser
06-21-2013, 8:58 AM
It's been going on for longer than that. A couple years ago I ordered 5 cases of 8' fluorescent bulbs and they shipped them in only the retail packaging. I think they shipped a total of 9 in the end. Of that UPS only attempted delivery of I think 2 and I rejected one of those. Then last year I ordered a magnetic whiteboard for inside our pantry and it took 4 tries to get one that wasn't dented. Between damaged items and things just not working as advertised (not an Amazon problem) I'm probably averaging close to a 50% return rate lately.

Brian Elfert
06-21-2013, 9:14 AM
Amazon has always packaged things poorly in my opinion. A few pieces of packing paper loosely packed in a box is not the right way to pack an item. In my opinion if the item can move around inside the box you didn't use enough packing material. Amazon also like to place the item in the bottom of an empty shipping box and then place the packing material on top of the item. Packing material needs to be on all sides of the item being shipped.

Amazon ships enough items that I am sure they have done the cost analysis that says that using less packing material is cheaper than paying for damaged items. If Amazon saves 25 cents on packing material for each item and they ship 1 million items each business day they save $250,000 each day. (1 million items a day is just a guess that may be way off.)

Eric DeSilva
06-21-2013, 9:45 AM
It must have to do with which fulfillment center serves your orders, because all of my packages have arrived safely--I've never had a problem (although twice I've had to return things because they were not correctly identified on the product page). I'm probably in the several thousands of items as well--god only knows what the total is when my wife's account is included. Looking back at my account, however, I don't think I've ordered a lot of breakable items--mostly CD, books, DVDs, and kitchen (odd spices, kitchen gadgets & electrics) and shop stuff (free shipping helps). I have occasionally had to laugh at their packing practices--a router bit in a 18 x 9 x 9 box--but mostly because of the inefficiency, not because it was prone to breakage.

Phil Thien
06-21-2013, 9:46 AM
Agree w/ everyone else, packing is their Achilles' heel.

If I ran Amazon, I'd add fields to each of their product records with special packaging instructions. These instructions could be updated by the customers and Amazon staff, like "tape the ends of the boxes to prevent contents from escaping during shipping," or "this item's packaging is not UPS-safe, please double-box."

The best way to do this is to have a drop-down list from which people could select choices. You don't want customers to be able to write complex packing instructions, too many bozos out there would come up with stupid stuff.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. If an item has special packing notes, a customer that receives a package would receive a follow-up E-Mail from Amazon, and it would ask them to take a quick survey to note whether the special packing instructions were followed. Because Amazon keeps track of which employee packs each order, they could tell which employees were disregarding the instructions. Employees that follow the instructions could be rewarded with prizes, employees that blow them off could get retrained.

And customers that take the surveys could get prizes, too.

Scott Shepherd
06-21-2013, 10:25 AM
Part of the problem could be that Amazon doesn't ship and sell all the items listed on their sites. Any individual in business can list your own items on Amazon and they just process the order and you ship it yourself. It takes Amazon out of the shipping totally.

Brian Elfert
06-21-2013, 10:55 AM
If you allow customers to add packing instructions they'll want special handling for every shipment. How would customers even know if an item requires special handling unless they have ordered that item before? Amazon is all about speed in shipping. If the packer has to spend 30 seconds on every shipment reading special instructions then Amazon just added 1000+ man hours every day to their shipping dept.

What Amazon should do is have their buyers add special notes internally to items that need special handling.

Phil Thien
06-21-2013, 12:36 PM
If you allow customers to add packing instructions they'll want special handling for every shipment. How would customers even know if an item requires special handling unless they have ordered that item before?

The special shipping instructions would have limited choices (tape the box shut, double-box this item, there was no cushioning please add cushioning, etc.). Nobody would be allowed to go bonkers on weird handling requests.

And these choices would only be given to customers that received a damaged shipment, they'd appear when you are arranging (online) for a replacement shipment. But they'd be recorded and then the follow-up survey would allow you to tell Amazon whether the instructions helped. If they did, then they could be added to the permanent handling instructions.

It is actually pure genius. Just one more instance of me thinking inside the box.

Phil Thien
06-21-2013, 12:37 PM
Part of the problem could be that Amazon doesn't ship and sell all the items listed on their sites. Any individual in business can list your own items on Amazon and they just process the order and you ship it yourself. It takes Amazon out of the shipping totally.

I only order stuff that ships BY Amazon, and I still have issues from time to time.

Repeated shipments of the same item as a replacement tend to endure the same type of shipping damage.

Chris Rosenberger
06-21-2013, 12:58 PM
I only order stuff that ships BY Amazon, and I still have issues from time to time.

Repeated shipments of the same item as a replacement tend to endure the same type of shipping damage.

That is what I normally do. If an item is not shipped by Amazon, I will not order it unless I know whom the seller is.

When I got to the job site this morning, my clients were opening up a package from Amazon. They had ordered a porcelain fixture for their bathroom. They knew it was broken before they opened the package. The box it was in was in perfect condition. The fixture was put in a box larger than what was needed, without any type of padding. The large box allowed the fixture to move around in the box & it was broken into several pieces.

Harry Hagan
06-21-2013, 8:46 PM
I've also noticed a dramatic increase in shipping time compared to what it was last year. I opt for free shipping most of the time and it's not unusual for ten days to pass before a shipment leaves a warehouse.

Two months ago I took delivery of an EMPTY box that was supposed to contain a $300+ item. The ends weren't even taped up! After being put on hold for about ten minutes the CSR (English was obviously not his first language) told me the item had received so many complaints that Amazon would refund my money rather than send a replacement because it was being discontinued. It's still listed on the website, however.

Brian Elfert
06-22-2013, 12:40 AM
I've also noticed a dramatic increase in shipping time compared to what it was last year. I opt for free shipping most of the time and it's not unusual for ten days to pass before a shipment leaves a warehouse.


I'm almost certain that Amazon is intentionally delaying free shipping orders to encourage folks to buy Prime. I've not seen ten day delays, but I have two business day delays in shipping several times. I have had several Prime trials including one that ended in May. It is not uncommon for Amazon to ship a Prime item on Saturday and for some reason they upgrade it to overnight which means it shows up on Monday! By rights they have until Wednesday to get it delivered.

Ole Anderson
06-22-2013, 8:23 AM
My wife and I use Amazon Prime often and have not noticed any delays or bad packaging although plumbing fittings, tools and yarn are not susceptible to bad packaging.

Brian Elfert
06-22-2013, 9:35 AM
Prime orders are still getting shipped at lightning speed. It appears that Free Supersaver Shipping orders are being intentionally delayed.

Chris Rosenberger
06-22-2013, 11:16 AM
I went back & checked where my orders have been shipped from. A couple of years ago, most orders were shipped out of Indiana and Illinois. The last couple of years not a single order has been shipped form those locations. Most orders now coming from the east coast or out west.
The reason my have to do with Indiana going after Amazon about not collecting sales tax.

Larry Frank
06-22-2013, 8:11 PM
I must just be lucky as I have had very few problems with Amazon. I also have a Prime membership which provides two day shipping with most items.

Overall, my experience with Amazon is very good.

I have gotten a couple of damaged items over the years and an email to them resolved the problem. I would rather do it thru email than stay on the line holding forever.