Amazon service getting worse?

Allyall

Has anyone noticed amazon service is getting worse?
They seem to allow more sellers, so maybe they're not as strict at checking them anymore?
My last couple of orders have had problem after problem, add to that something I only realised recently, amazon, like ebay/paypal have their own exchange rate
How hard could it be to implement a live exchange rate app into their checkout?

I ordered some items last Friday and grouped them together, and ordered another item on Sunday.
None have arrived yet (Today being Friday), and aren't due to, until next week.
I could have given them the benefit of the doubt with the Friday order, as one item may have delayed the rest, but the other Item should have been here. The expected arrival date has moved from Yesterday to next Wednesday.
Of my previous orders, one arrived broken, and another was lost. It took nearly 3 weeks for me to sort that out. The online operators were of no help.
I could've ordered from China and would've got here faster/cheaper and including VAT..

I'm wondering if anyone else is finding the service getting worse, or is it just me? Is it time to start using alternatives..?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Far from it. I find their service, and that of their sellers, as good as ever.

You will not get delivery from China in a week! My last two orders from China took over 5 weeks and 7 weeks.

Ordered last Sunday and not here today? Is this from the UK? If so, nothing unusual there, be it from amazon or any other UK supplier.

Allyall

Ronin Wide Self-righteousness wrote: »

Far from it. I find their service, and that of their sellers, as good as ever.

You will not get delivery from China in a week! My last two orders from China took over 5 weeks and 7 weeks.

Ordered last Sunday and not here today? Is this from the UK? If so, nothing unusual there, be it from amazon or any other UK supplier.

I could've ordered from China and it would've been here sooner than the 3 weeks and without the hassle.
I wouldn't order from China unless it was worth the difference including fast delivery.

Delivery from the UK has always taken less than a week for me. So the Friday order and the folowing Sunday order should have arrived by now. Any later it doesn't make it worthwhile. I'm only saving a bit, but with the delay, it's annoying.
I don't know who you're ordering from that takes a week+... But it wouldn't entice me to buy from them..

Beano

when you placed the order what expected delivery date did they give? They tell you this before you place the order and it is usually quite accurate.

My last couple of orders have had problem after problem, add to that something I only realised recently, amazon, like ebay/paypal have their own exchange rate
How hard could it be to implement a live exchange rate app into their checkout?

Their default is to charge you in sterling and your credit card company sets the rate. Have you changed this setting so that they are charging you in euros? If so just change it back.

Allyall

Beano wrote: »

when you placed the order what expected delivery date did they give? They tell you this before you place the order and it is usually quite accurate.

The first package (Bundled items) said Wednesday - Monday.
The 2nd item said Thursday, and has since changed to Monday - Wednesday.

Beano wrote: »

Their default is to charge you in sterling and your credit card company sets the rate. Have you changed this setting so that they are charging you in euros? If so just change it back.

Yeah I may have changed it early on, but now it's very noticeable. I have changed back to GBP a while back.

I'm not referring just to those two orders, they're just an example. I am referring to my experiences with Amazon, which as a whole seem to be getting worse. I was just wondering if anybody else was experiencing the same.

It may be a few coincidences, and when amazon works, it works very well.
But if they are going to continue to decline I'd like to know so I don't have to keep experiencing these type of problems. When they have problems they're terrible.

keithclancy

I guess its possible its a little bit more prone to problems in Ireland since there is no fulfillment center there.

Beano

so the first order isnt overdue yet? And the second order has slipped but they have updated the delivery date to keep you informed? Doesnt sound totally terrible to me.

The currency exchange thing is something you brought on yourself so you cant really complain about it. and their rates tend not to be that terrible. Not great mind but not terrible. The problem is usually that people look at the rates on xe.com and expect to get the same rates from amazon. Totally unrealistic.

As for standards in general i certainly havent noticed any deterioration. I placed my 15th order this year with them during the week (not including kindle orders) and havent had a problem with any of them. Amazon consistently provide better service than any other site i use. Comparing them to chinese sites is a nonsense. With amazon you have a pretty good idea of when the order will arrive. I couldnt say the same thing about orders from china. They are very much order and forget, and be suprised when they arrive.

Allyall

The first order isn't technically overdue, but it is in the latter part of the expected dates. Although i had said I was giving them the benefit of the doubt anyway, as it was a bundled order.
The 2nd is past it's expected date, so they changed it.
I probably shouldn't have given an example, as that is the part you are looking at, and not at the bigger picture.
Also I didn't compare Chinese sites to Amazon, I said one delivery from Amazon took 3 weeks after they lost it, and in that length of time I would have had a delivery arrived from China. I tend not to use the Chinese free postal service, as I don't like it, so I would be including fast/decent delivery in the price. Which takes less than 2 weeks. You always know when to expect them to arrive.

My only point and question, (And your answer is obviously no, you haven't thought so.) was, does anybody else find amazons service is getting worse.
I must be on my own.
Amazon two years ago, even a year ago, I believe was their peak.
Since they upped fees for sellers and merchants, and again this year on low priced items, they probably will again next March, I think sellers have less interest in selling on Amazon, and I can't say I blame them, unless they're selling loads. Service for me has gone down.

Beano wrote: »

so the first order isnt overdue yet? And the second order has slipped but they have updated the delivery date to keep you informed? Doesnt sound totally terrible to me.

The currency exchange thing is something you brought on yourself so you cant really complain about it. and their rates tend not to be that terrible. Not great mind but not terrible. The problem is usually that people look at the rates on xe.com and expect to get the same rates from amazon. Totally unrealistic.

As for standards in general i certainly havent noticed any deterioration. I placed my 15th order this year with them during the week (not including kindle orders) and havent had a problem with any of them. Amazon consistently provide better service than any other site i use. Comparing them to chinese sites is a nonsense. With amazon you have a pretty good idea of when the order will arrive. I couldnt say the same thing about orders from china. They are very much order and forget, and be suprised when they arrive.

CH3OH

Hi Allyall,

Have to agree with you initial post
I recently had quite a long exchange of emails with Amazon on this subject.
I had started to notice long delays in the despatch time for my orders.
I went back through orders placed in previous years and in most cases if the item was in stock it was despatched next day.

One recent order I made had not been despatched 6 days after the order was placed.
After 6 days , one item went out of stock.
When I queried this and why some items had not been despatched, the initial response was that The first way is to change your Delivery Preference to "Dispatch my items as they become available (at extra postage cost)".

I also asked the following:
What is an acceptable time frame for an order to be despatched using free super delivery?
Is the slow despatch of Super Saver Delivery being implemented as a means to encourage customers to select a paid delivery option?

The response I got was:
"We strive to dispatch all orders placed with us as soon as possible however we have no set timeframe for an order placed on Free Super Saver delivery to dispatch and thus can vary from order to order"
We neither encourage or discourage any of our customers from selecting any of the delivery methods we provide. This is a customers choice based on their own needs.

I really feel that Amazon are pushing the paid delivery option and heavily promoting Prime in the UK

If you order using the free Super Saver delivery, you are bottom of the pile and will only move up the pile if there is a slack period when Super saver delivery orders are picked.

(EDIT: In fairness, my last 2 orders were despatched quickly)

kerry4sam

Allyall wrote: »

Has anyone noticed amazon service is getting worse?
They seem to allow more sellers, so maybe they're not as strict at checking them anymore?
My last couple of orders have had problem after problem, add to that something I only realised recently, amazon, like ebay/paypal have their own exchange rate
How hard could it be to implement a live exchange rate app into their checkout?

I ordered some items last Friday and grouped them together, and ordered another item on Sunday.
None have arrived yet (Today being Friday), and aren't due to, until next week.
I could have given them the benefit of the doubt with the Friday order, as one item may have delayed the rest, but the other Item should have been here. The expected arrival date has moved from Yesterday to next Wednesday.
Of my previous orders, one arrived broken, and another was lost. It took nearly 3 weeks for me to sort that out. The online operators were of no help.
I could've ordered from China and would've got here faster/cheaper and including VAT..

I'm wondering if anyone else is finding the service getting worse, or is it just me? Is it time to start using alternatives..?

I find their service wonderful tbh. Just recently on multiple orders of books, all arrived well in advance of their due date.
On top of that, it was only when I was tidying up my library of books that I found I already had a book that I'd just ordered. Once it arrived I contacted seller and informed them of MY error.

The reply I received: No problem. Just send it back. That book arrived with another but they refunded the cost paid for posting both books; and refunded the cost I paid to return said book back to them, after MY own error.

Liking Amazon for years now, and long may that continue.
Customer Service very Good I must say, from my own experience anywhoo.
kerry4sam

OU812

I've spent close to €700 on a large amount of items in the last 18 days.

Several orders, spaced different times apart (office stuff) as the need arrived.

Each one had a delivery time of about a week & each arrived within four days.

They even suggested using a trial of prime to avoid a €100 delivery charge for a very large multifunction machine from one of their vendors.

Couldn't fault them. Gonna start the Xmas shopping with them this week

Mister Vain

I've been using Amazon for years and apart from one item arriving a bit late, I've never had any problems with them.

zbluebirdz

For the past couple of years, 90% of my orders have taken around 2-3 weeks to arrive (items always available). Most items arrive on the last expected delivery date (sometimes a day or two after).

The only exception is when an item had to be replaced - within 3 days ...

jester77

I find it super, never a single problem. Ordered a part that broke on me yesterday evening from a 3rd party seller and it was at my door at 8:45 this morning. Super service.

timetogo

My orders used to default to Eur.

For a few orders i made a note what they were going to charge in Eur and then changed it to Gbp. Once the price appeared on my cc bill it seems like they were adding about 2%.

So dont pay in Euros on Amazon.

Other than that i find them great.

Mister Vain

My details were compromised at one stage though. I had to change my credit card and password. I'm dubious about their security with regards to the kindle.

Beano

CH3OH wrote: »

...

If you order using the free Super Saver delivery, you are bottom of the pile and will only move up the pile if there is a slack period when Super saver delivery orders are picked.
...

This has always been the case

Drewgt

They appear to have lost my order for various bits. Chats and emails are unable to get them to tell me who they sent it with. They say An Post but revert to a prompt from a cheat card to respond when I point out that An Post are not in the UK so they would have had to send it to An Post using another carrier.

Beano

Drewgt wrote: »

They appear to have lost my order for various bits. Chats and emails are unable to get them to tell me who they sent it with. They say An Post but revert to a prompt from a cheat card to respond when I point out that An Post are not in the UK so they would have had to send it to An Post using another carrier.

Not necessarily. For irish parcels they sometimes ship a container load of parcels to ireland and then give them to An Post.

Drewgt

Yep, That's what I meant. Somebody else is the real carrier to Ireland. They usually hand it to An Post along with thousands of others.

Their customer service is dreadful and can't answer the question or won't answer the question as to how they ship. Frustrating trying to find out anything from them.

Padraig Mor

They've really gone downhill over the last year. Super Saver Delivery orders were normally with me within a week, but that's moved out a few days now. Once it gets to An Post it's fine, the delay is actually despatching it. However, my last order took the biscuit. I ordered a bunch of stuff for our 3 year old's birthday party 2.5 weeks in advance - but it didn't get here in time, after taking a bizarre tour via Scotland, Belgium and Germany. Cue one very disappointed little boy! Just the other day I ordered an item from another seller, but Fulfilled By Amazon. Despite being listed as in stock, I eventually got a mail saying they didn't have it.

galwayjohn89

I had a few deliveries delayed by a day or two. When I got on to them, they upgraded my next few orders to 2 day delivery. Still find them brilliant, especially their customer service.

morgana

I just ordered an item last week and it arrived in 4 days - 2 days before the advised delivery date. But I did notice that the advised delivery period is now longer than it used to be.

OU812

Had my first issue with them last week. A printer due to be delivered last wednesday wasn't. Logged on Thursday evening, spoke to a girl called Jai in Atlanta, got a callback, they sent one out priority on Friday morning & it just arrived yesterday from the UK.

usernamegoes

I have find the whole issue of putting something in the basket and then being told at checkout that it's UK only, very annoying. Also I wish there was a way to filter only item sold by or fulfilled by Amazon, I have gotten to the checkout a few times to be told that it will come in 5 or 6 shipments from various places, which would be fine if I was sending them to my house but I use Parcel Motel a lot.

A real Irish site would be great, it really is a shame we don't have one.

ED E

keithclancy wrote: »

I guess its possible its a little bit more prone to problems in Ireland since there is no fulfillment center there.

Return address on packets is Amazon, po box 10361, D17 so they have some sort of a presence.

MagicMarker

So long as the item is sold by Amazon and/or fulfilled by Amazon, then I couldn't praise them enough. They are simply fantastic.

If the item is sold/fulfilled by someone else though, I wouldn't expect the same level of service.

Dozen Wicked Words

I wish they wouldn't use couriers for small items. Only time I ever get things late is with them.

Padraig Mor

Padraig Mor wrote: »

They've really gone downhill over the last year. Super Saver Delivery orders were normally with me within a week, but that's moved out a few days now. Once it gets to An Post it's fine, the delay is actually despatching it. However, my last order took the biscuit. I ordered a bunch of stuff for our 3 year old's birthday party 2.5 weeks in advance - but it didn't get here in time, after taking a bizarre tour via Scotland, Belgium and Germany. Cue one very disappointed little boy! Just the other day I ordered an item from another seller, but Fulfilled By Amazon. Despite being listed as in stock, I eventually got a mail saying they didn't have it.

And, having returned the items, I got notification of my refund today - and they've reduced it by the postage cost, despite agreeing not to do so previously!