The Gall of Amazon

[Brian Elfert]

What items are listed as Prime and fulfilled by Amazon that are shipped from overseas? I have never heard of Prime deliveries coming for overseas, but I sure don't know everything. There are certainly sellers on Amazon who ship from overseas.

I only have an Amazon Prime account because my parents added me to their account. I placed 49 orders with Amazon in 2021, but I would likely never pay for Prime myself. I use Amazon for stuff I can't get at local stores. Sometimes I will pay a bit more to get something from Amazon versus another website. I bought a specialized wall plate from Amazon that cost twice as much as elsewhere because I could get it quick. I almost never order anything from Amazon I can get at a local store. No groceries, TP, paper towels, etc. Yes, I will do a Google search instead of just blindly buying from Amazon. I don't like buying from EBay unless I don't need something on a definite timeframe.

[Derek Meyer]

I have an Amazon Prime account, and have for many years. I ordered an expresso machine for my wife on Saturday evening (January 1st). The confirmation email said that the estimated delivery date was January 6th-8th. I got an email on Sunday that it had been shipped and that the ETA was January 6th. Then, yesterday I got an email stating that it was out for delivery and would be delivered between 3:45 and 7:45. When I got home at 4:45 it was sitting on my doorstep, in pristene condition.

That seems to be typical of Amazon deliveries for me. I order something and it arrives in 1 to 2 days. I try to make sure I order Prime items when possible, but am not always able to. I think that Amazon must stage items its algorithms predict I might buy in its Seattle warehouse, which is usually only a day away on shipping from us. I've had many great experiences like this. Once, I ordered something on Sunday evening at 6 PM and it was delivered the next day, less than 24 hours later, with no extra shipping fee.

Not everything has gone great, though. I ordered a bowling ball rack a couple of years ago. They gave me an ETA of about 3 weeks for delivery, but then kept pushing the date. After 2 months, they refunded my money and shipped another one, as they said the original had been lost. It took a month but I got the second one. Then, a month later, I got the first one. So now I have two racks. Good thing, too, as the rack holds 12 balls and I have 15 I need to store now, with two more on the way. Yes, my wife and I are bowlers and we go overboard. It's fun though.

[Doug Garson]

I think Derek's experience is typical of most Amazon customers, I too have had items arrive in less than 24 hours and one or two hiccups in delivery over a decade. The vast majority of items arrive within the delivery window stated at the time of purchase. As far as the gaul of sending a request for a review, pretty sure that's an automated system, I've received a few requests before items arrive, I just ignore them.

[Frank Pratt]

About the only complaint I have with Amazon is the advanced state of moral & ethical decay that the company founder is wallowing in. You'd think with the billions he's raking in there would be some to spread around to the folks who work for him.

Funny thing is though, we've had equipment maintenance contracts with several of their warehouses & they pay very well and very promptly, so there's that.

[Myk Rian]

however Ive been waiting for years because I knew they were doing the typical bait and switch with Prime/2day and once they got enough people on the hook they would change their policy. Covid was a perfectly timed excuse for them to abandon 2day, .

Not here. I get same/next day delivery all the time. Bait and switch? Nope, never. Are you sure you're dealing with Amazon?

[Alex Zeller]

A good friend live just outside Charlotte a few miles away from an Amazon Warehouse. He basically gets same day service. I'm not close to one of their warehouses so once they stopped 2 day service it would take a week or more for Prime (which the wife has) and 2 weeks or more for me, without a prime account. Walmart has stepped up and competes well with most of what Amazon has so when possible I'll go with them.

[Frank Pratt]

A good friend live just outside Charlotte a few miles away from an Amazon Warehouse. He basically gets same day service. I'm not close to one of their warehouses so once they stopped 2 day service it would take a week or more for Prime (which the wife has) and 2 weeks or more for me, without a prime account. Walmart has stepped up and competes well with most of what Amazon has so when possible I'll go with them.

Why not use your wife's Prime account? I have only 1 Prime account, which my wife uses & I even use it for occasional company purchases.

[Jim Becker]

Professor Dr SWMBO and I share a Prime Membership and have for years. It still allows separate Amazon accounts. We also have separate Amazon CC which both get the 5% points rebate benefit. Daughters also benefited from our Prime status when they still lived with us.

[Brian Elfert]

Professor Dr SWMBO and I share a Prime Membership and have for years. It still allows separate Amazon accounts. We also have separate Amazon CC which both get the 5% points rebate benefit. Daughters also benefited from our Prime status when they still lived with us.

I don't live with my parents yet they are able to have me as a user of their Prime membership. We most definitely have separate Amazon accounts with separate shipping addresses. I believe in the distant past one Prime membership could have four Amazon accounts attached. The intention was really for those to be household members, but groups of friends were going in on one Prime membership to save money.

Amazon eventually got tired of friends sharing Prime memberships so they limited Prime memberships to two adults and they made it so that everyone on the same Prime membership can see and use the other account's payment methods. The payments thing seems to be to discourage friends from going in on a Prime membership. My parents and I have enough trust that we won't use each other's payment methods. In fact, I don't know how to see my parent's payment methods. Nothing extra shows up when I pay for an Amazon purchase.

[Alex Zeller]

Why not use your wife's Prime account? I have only 1 Prime account, which my wife uses & I even use it for occasional company purchases.

When she got the account it could only have one credit card attached to it. Since we each have our own accounts (from days before we were married) I wasn't going to pay to have my own account. TBH I have never found Amazon easy. It's hard to search for stuff without getting tons of useless things that have nothing to do with what I'm looking for. In fact I usually use Google since it's faster and more accurate to search Amazon. For the things I want I usually can find them elsewhere for about the same price. I know some people love them but not me.

[Frank Pratt]

When she got the account it could only have one credit card attached to it. Since we each have our own accounts (from days before we were married) I wasn't going to pay to have my own account. TBH I have never found Amazon easy. It's hard to search for stuff without getting tons of useless things that have nothing to do with what I'm looking for. In fact I usually use Google since it's faster and more accurate to search Amazon. For the things I want I usually can find them elsewhere for about the same price. I know some people love them but not me.

I have 2 credit cards, 2 shipping addresses & 2 users attached to my Prime account. I don't know what the limits are.

Amazon has possibly the worst search functionality of any e-commerce site I've used. If I can't find what I'm looking for in just a few minute, I'll abandon Amazon & buy from another site. Item descriptions & specs are usually poor and only a small step above Banggood & Aliexpress.

[Doug Garson]

Amazon has possibly the worst search functionality of any e-commerce site I've used. If I can't find what I'm looking for in just a few minute, I'll abandon Amazon & buy from another site. Item descriptions & specs are usually poor and only a small step above Banggood & Aliexpress.

Just wondering which e-commerce site have good search functionality? Given the huge number of items, I think Amazon's search function is pretty good compared to sites like Lee Valley, R&D Bandsaws and Lowes all of which have a fraction of the number of items.

[roger wiegand]

Each time this thread title pops up I get this image of Jeff Bezos in a beret.

I thought that the Gauls were conquered by the Romans a while ago and had been subdued since then, but I may have been misinformed.

[Frank Pratt]

Just wondering which e-commerce site have good search functionality? Given the huge number of items, I think Amazon's search function is pretty good compared to sites like Lee Valley, R&D Bandsaws and Lowes all of which have a fraction of the number of items.

Hmm, not my experience at all. Lee Valley's site search started of very rough, but I have no problem with it now. HD (& Lowes to a lesser extent) search is heads & shoulders above Amazon. The big issue with Amazon is that you can enter an exact manufacture & model number & get 1000's of results, none of which are what you entered. I can use Google to search Amazon for that same item & it pops up right at the top of the page. Ever try to use filters to refine an Amazon search? Good luck.

[Jim Becker]

I don't live with my parents yet they are able to have me as a user of their Prime membership. We most definitely have separate Amazon accounts with separate shipping addresses.
.

Yes, but there are limits on what those additional family members can benefit from. (don't ask me to cite them...I don't remember now as it's been a few years)