Amazon

[Sean Troy]

What's up with Amazon? Seems I have to apply for their credit card to place an order now? I was just trying to order a couple of quick connects for my dust collection system and the connects are considered add on items?

[Brian Elfert]

No, you don't have to use their credit card to buy something from them. They heavily promote their credit card, but you can still use any credit card. They did start making certain items add-ons. You can't just buy those items by themselves for some reason. They should just charge for shipping if those items are not ordered with something else.

[Eric DeSilva]

I just checked and seem to have my standard (AMEX credit card) payment option available...

[Stephen Tashiro]

I wonder how many Amazon users find themselves unexpectedly enrolled in "Amazon Prime"? Their web pages make it easy to join accidentally. At least the "Amazon Prime" tape on their packages makes you aware..

[Kev Williams]

I'm about fed up with driving to Target or Home Depot or Lowes or Office Max or Best Buy or Radio Shack or Shopko or Walmart or Costco or AutoZone or pretty much any B&M store only to find they don't have what I went in for. I've pretty much decided to buy everything I can from Amazon or Ebay. I don't waste gas or time, usually get it quick, almost always cheaper. If the local stores want my business, they better start stocking the shelves...

As for Amazon's over-zealous 'check out' sections, I agree they're a pain, but I've had enough practice to avoid the BS.

[Sean Troy]

No, you don't have to use their credit card to buy something from them. They heavily promote their credit card, but you can still use any credit card. They did start making certain items add-ons. You can't just buy those items by themselves for some reason. They should just charge for shipping if those items are not ordered with something else.
I couldn't buy just the quick connects because they are "Add On's" but I could have if I applied for the Amazon CC. Or I could have purchased a bigger ticket item and added the quick connects to that order. Doesn't seem like good business practice.

[Mike Henderson]

I wonder how many Amazon users find themselves unexpectedly enrolled in "Amazon Prime"? Their web pages make it easy to join accidentally. At least the "Amazon Prime" tape on their packages makes you aware..
I believe that if you enroll in Amazon Prime and then change your mind, they will allow you to unenroll and will give your money back, although it may be prorated.

Mike

[Matt Day]

You can have Prime for free for a year, just cancel it at 364 days and you're not charged.
It's up to $100 per year now I think, but I know a lot of people who have it and think it's well worth it.

[Eric DeSilva]

Amazon explains the add-ons, and it makes perfect sense to me: "The Add-on program allows Amazon to offer thousands of low-priced items that would be cost-prohibitive to ship on their own." It isn't just the shipping, it is the handling/packaging as well...

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've read tales of folks getting around this by pre-ordering a movie, game, or other item offered for sale at the same time as the "add-on" items. The add-on items then get shipped immediately, and then they cancel the pre-ordered item. No idea if it actually still works, and what happens if you do it enough.

I've found at times that I can often find the same item listed on Amazon, once as an add-on item, and once not as an add-on item, from a different seller on Amazon, sometimes at the same price.

[Jason Kowell]

You can have Prime for free for a year, just cancel it at 364 days and you're not charged.
It's up to $100 per year now I think, but I know a lot of people who have it and think it's well worth it.

If you watch Amazon's streaming videos a lot, it can be worth it just for that. $100 is still a lot cheaper than a year's worth of cable TV.

[Bryan Rocker]

We have had Amazon prime for over a year now it has paid for itself on the shipping alone and we use the movie and music stuff too.....

[Brian Elfert]

I couldn't buy just the quick connects because they are "Add On's" but I could have if I applied for the Amazon CC. Or I could have purchased a bigger ticket item and added the quick connects to that order. Doesn't seem like good business practice.

I placed one add-on item in my cart with Amazon. I don't see any way that signing up for the Amazon credit card would allow me to buy that item when I could not otherwise. I was not offered a checkout button because I didn't have enough items in my cart. They will allow you to buy only add-on items if you buy at least $35 worth.

I don't use Amazon all that much because most of the time their shipping is slow without Prime, or the prices are too high. I mostly use them when I get Amazon gift cards through my credit card rewards.

[Glenn Kramer]

I too have had Prime for quite a while. The benefits of 2 day shipping, movies, less time spent driving, parking and shopping make it the best $100 I spend every year. I'd rather work in the shop than spend my time going to the store. It sure makes my life far less hectic. The prices aren't too shabby either. I am tired of driving to the stores they do not have what I need.

[David Weaver]

Wife and I have prime, but with the last increase in price to $100, we're letting it expire this year. My daughter loves to watch cartoons in prime, but there is a lot of full-length cartoon stuff posted on youtube these days. We thought when we got prime that we'd get baby supplies, but those turn out to be cheaper in store brand stuff like target, or in bulk at sams if name brand. Same with formula, baby food, etc, it's cheaper local.

Otherwise, to wait a few extra days to get things shipped, or to bundle things until we get $35 is not a big deal for us because we never buy staples from amazon. We also have buyers clubs and department stores out the wazoo in my township, and things that are small are often cheaper in person than they are at amazon - especially if they're bulky. That, and amazon's prices in general have gone up since they saturated the market - there's only two ways to increase revenue once you've saturated the market - higher prices or lower expenses.

[Larry Browning]

You can have Prime for free for a year, just cancel it at 364 days and you're not charged.
It's up to $100 per year now I think, but I know a lot of people who have it and think it's well worth it.

I think the free period is only 30 days. I recently had a need for a 2 day shipping option from them but didn't want to spend the extra $ over the standard free shipping, so I signed up for the 30 day trial, I will probably cancel before the 30 days are up, but in the mean time I am enjoying the streaming video option. They seem to offer a little different set of content, like quite a few HBO shows and also original content. I think some kindle books are also included as well. If I see we use it more than I think I may just keep it though. I must say that 2 day shipping is pretty nice.

[Moses Yoder]

You can probably find the quick connects as a buy it now option on ebay. We do a lot of the "Subscribe & Save" on Amazon but never considered Prime. My wife refuses to stream video, says we would quit watching our collection.

[Dan Hintz]

I (try to) keep a long Wish List on Amazon... inexpensive items that help round out orders that don't quite make the price mark for free shipping. It was really useful before SWMBO purchased Prime, but I still throw items in the list from time to time... I pick through it and add a fun item or two when I purchase something larger. Drill bits, books, CDs, etc.

[Wayne Lovell]

I love their greatest new idea we live about 80 miles south of Dallas and UPS delivery goes form Dallas to Palestine and then on the delivery truck. A lot of the stuff we order comes from their Dallas distribution center. Their newest and greatest idea for Prime 2 day shipping is to ship the package on UPS which goes to Palestine and then have UPS give it to the Post Office who then ships the package back to Dallas and then to our local Post Office for delivery. If they just actually had UPS deliver the package it would actually get here in one day. For those of you who are into the green thing they have also managed to add an extra 100 miles of travel for the package.

[Sean Troy]

Easy solution to the problem. I needed a couple of saw blades anyway so I just added the quick connect to that order. ;)

[Scott Shepherd]

A few months ago, I posted about getting stuff from Amazon that came directly from China. Since then, I have been a lot more careful when I look at items because when shopping on Amazon, I tend to believe in my mind that it will be a fairly quick transaction.

A month ago (to the day), I ordered 4 jeweler's loupes, 60X with an LED in them. It said "Free Shipping" and it said it came from some Amazon partner. By the name, it looked normal to me.

A day later, I get a "your order has shipped notice" and the estimated delivery day was 3-7 weeks. Crud. Had I known that, I wouldn't have ordered them. No need to cancel them, they're on the way, I guess.

So a month goes by, the order shows up today and it's something completely different than I ordered. Instead of 60x LED jewelers loupes, they sent 4 pair of 3x LED glasses.

Freakin' wonderful.

Now, to dispute it, I have to package it back up, go to the post office, and mail it back to China, at my expense, which I can promise you is more than they paid to send it to me.

It took me twice, but I've learned my lesson now. If it comes from ANYONE other than Amazon, I need to dig into that companies Amazon store and see the shipping policies. If it says "USA 3-8 weeks", then I'll just delete it from my cart.

VERY FRUSTRATING.

[Brian Elfert]

I would complain to Amazon about the issue with wrong item. Amazon will probably just refund your money without requiring a return to the seller. Amazon will just deduct the cost from the seller's next sale. The items are probably so cheap the seller would probably just refund your money without requiring a return.

[Sean Troy]

A few months ago, I posted about getting stuff from Amazon that came directly from China. Since then, I have been a lot more careful when I look at items because when shopping on Amazon, I tend to believe in my mind that it will be a fairly quick transaction.

A month ago (to the day), I ordered 4 jeweler's loupes, 60X with an LED in them. It said "Free Shipping" and it said it came from some Amazon partner. By the name, it looked normal to me.

A day later, I get a "your order has shipped notice" and the estimated delivery day was 3-7 weeks. Crud. Had I known that, I wouldn't have ordered them. No need to cancel them, they're on the way, I guess.

So a month goes by, the order shows up today and it's something completely different than I ordered. Instead of 60x LED jewelers loupes, they sent 4 pair of 3x LED glasses.

Freakin' wonderful.

Now, to dispute it, I have to package it back up, go to the post office, and mail it back to China, at my expense, which I can promise you is more than they paid to send it to me.

It took me twice, but I've learned my lesson now. If it comes from ANYONE other than Amazon, I need to dig into that companies Amazon store and see the shipping policies. If it says "USA 3-8 weeks", then I'll just delete it from my cart.

VERY FRUSTRATING.

I only order items that are sold and shipped by amazon.

[Steve Peterson]

A few months ago, I posted about getting stuff from Amazon that came directly from China. Since then, I have been a lot more careful when I look at items because when shopping on Amazon, I tend to believe in my mind that it will be a fairly quick transaction.

A month ago (to the day), I ordered 4 jeweler's loupes, 60X with an LED in them. It said "Free Shipping" and it said it came from some Amazon partner. By the name, it looked normal to me.

A day later, I get a "your order has shipped notice" and the estimated delivery day was 3-7 weeks. Crud. Had I known that, I wouldn't have ordered them. No need to cancel them, they're on the way, I guess.

So a month goes by, the order shows up today and it's something completely different than I ordered. Instead of 60x LED jewelers loupes, they sent 4 pair of 3x LED glasses.

Freakin' wonderful.

Now, to dispute it, I have to package it back up, go to the post office, and mail it back to China, at my expense, which I can promise you is more than they paid to send it to me.

It took me twice, but I've learned my lesson now. If it comes from ANYONE other than Amazon, I need to dig into that companies Amazon store and see the shipping policies. If it says "USA 3-8 weeks", then I'll just delete it from my cart.

VERY FRUSTRATING.

I have had reasonably good luck with cheap items shipped from China through Amazon. If you just want a spare mini-usb cable and don't mind the wait, they are often available for $1-2 with free shipping. Small items usually show up in about 10 days. The quality is as expected for the price.

Steve

Steve

[Kev Williams]

echo what Brian said--

A month or so ago my BIL ordered a tape dispenser like mine, when it arrived we found the bottom was warped, to the point it wouldn't sit flat on a table. Otherwise it was fine. He got on amazon and complained, the seller emailed him within an hour and told him is CC had been credited, and to just keep the dispenser. We taped some scrap pieces of Rowmark in the corners and it works fine--

And I ordered a set of Chums, got the wrong ones, same thing happened, got a refund and kept the wrong ones.

Still, it is frustrating to get the wrong stuff, but Amazon and their sellers usually try to ease the pain...

[Matt Meiser]

I ordered a complete brake set for my truck and it showed up with shredded packing, cosmetic damage, and some small missing parts. I chatted with someone and told them it was their problem, come with boxes to get them. They wanted me to go buy packaging and they'd reimburse me for the materials and $20 for my time. I said no thanks, better things to do for $20. Guy came back and said he put a credit though and just keep, donate, or discard the rest.