Anyone here taking a dislike against Amazon?

Xtrail14

Amazon is amazing, beats buying from chyna.

KungPao

I wanted to buy a jacks a couple of months ago, found the perfect one in an Irish company, A bit more expensive than other alternatives, but grand! Went to check out, they wanted €50 to deliver it, 30 mins away by motorway. Emailed to say ‘by golly that’s steep, can I collect it?’ No reply. A “**** you buster” email would have been better than nothing.
I often find Irish companies terrible to deal with online. Fill in online contact form or email directly, and a 20% chance of a response.

Another one, a well known builders place, ads on Radio Nova about they are open to trade and the public, delivery guy moans and groans because he has to lift stuff from his truck...you expect me to just have a forklift here outside my house?

I’m not saying Amazon is the best place to buy a water closet or building equipment, more a general comment on how **** online shopping is here with Irish companies.

If you sell online, do it right.

km991148

Last year or so I've been trying to cut them out.

Bought a couple things I couldn't buy anywhere, but often I find UK or Irish retailers that are more than competitive (often it's just the delivery that makes it more expensive).

Alternatives:
Computer parts: CCL online
Books: Wordery
Kids games: Argos/Smyths/John Lewis
DIY: Screwfix
Fitness: lots of alternatives


The Kindle is a pain, but I'm buying more physical books at the moment anyway.

Got to watch as some companies were separate but have been bought out (Audible is obvious, book depository is another).

They are slick, but if they keep going this way, there will be no competition and the delivery and warehousing jobs will really go to sh!t.

Graces7

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

They are after changing their delivery provider from An Post (who were great) to Fastway (I think) who are not at all great. One parcel about ten days ago was just left on the door step. I don't even know if your man rang the door bell. You can't leave anything outside where I live and expect it go be there 2 minutes later, I don't know what they were thinking. Another day I was on a Zoom call for work and someone is ringing my mobile over and over. I eventually had to excuse myself from the work call and it is some lazy git in a van outside who again hadn't ring the doorbell. "Oh it's John with your Amazon delivery". I nearly decked him. And then another Amazon eejit trying to deliver something on a Sunday evening. No thanks, it's the only day now I get out of the poxy house. And it's really hard to complain because the help centre people don't understand anything that isn't in the UK.

Tell me! We only get An Post deliveries out here and I thus make sure anyone I buy from knows that. Especially amazon and ebay. NB the Irish firms eg Lenehans and a pharmacy I use are much better ….

So when I get an email telling me that Dorcas or whoever will be delivering at 10 am from DPD.... and, later, that Dorcas delivered my parcel at 10.23.... when we were stormbound and even the seagulls were hiding.... I have stopped worrying as sooner or later the item arrives at the gate here by whatever means there is. But I order rarely from Amazon etc. Individual "customer service" from sellers is non existent.

harr

On the point of Irish shops on Amazon, I ordered two books last Friday one from Amazon and from a Irish book shop selling on the Amazon platform.
The one from the U.K. arrived Tuesday morning free delivery. The one from the Irish book store still no sign and they have said it could be two weeks to deliver at a cost of €10 .. the book shop in question is about 70km from me.
Is it any wonder people stick with Amazon, some Irish retailers really need to up the game in delivery times and cost of delivery.

km991148

harr wrote: »

On the point of Irish shops on Amazon, I ordered two books last Friday one from Amazon and from a Irish book shop selling on the Amazon platform.
The one from the U.K. arrived Tuesday morning free delivery. The one from the Irish book store still no sign and they have said it could be two weeks to deliver at a cost of €10 .. the book shop in question is about 70km from me.
Is it any wonder people stick with Amazon, some Irish retailers really need to up the game in delivery times and cost of delivery.

Yes, but there are other non Irish, non Amazon alternatives.

Local Irish bookshops seem to have a problem with stock and therefore delivery. If I can't buy Irish I still try and seek out the Amazon alternative.

jmayo

Xtrail14 wrote: »

Amazon is amazing, beats buying from chyna.

And where do you think most of the stuff sold on Amazon is actually made ?

Fuascailteoir wrote: »

For some items amazon are miles ahead. 100 discs of high quality sandpaper for an orbital sander = £15. Five discs of comparable quality although well known brand in woodies = €9

Jaysus will you stop using Woodies as a price comparison, they are a rip off.
Go to proper builders merchants, someone like Chadwicks or the likes.

km991148 wrote: »

Last year or so I've been trying to cut them out.

Bought a couple things I couldn't buy anywhere, but often I find UK or Irish retailers that are more than competitive (often it's just the delivery that makes it more expensive).

Alternatives:
Computer parts: CCL online
Books: Wordery
Kids games: Argos/Smyths/John Lewis
DIY: Screwfix

Screwfix are often as dear as Woodies for stuff I have found.
And that is dear.

BTW for anyone buying camera gear I found www.technikdirekt.de in the past to be quite good.
Ok delivery cost is higher, but if buying an expensive camera or lens you are paying more anyway.

technikdirekt have really upped the range they are now selling.

I spend so much on Amazon I ought to buy shares in them. However, I recently needed a computer peripheral urgently, thought I'd browse some Irish distributors found https://ie.rs-online.com/ who offer next day delivery. Sure enough 9am the next day my package arrived. 23 euros total. I'll definitely be looking at them in future for electronics.

kowloon

completedit wrote: »

Competitors are not Bezo's and Amazon's enemy, time is. Look at the old behemoths such as Nokia or Polaroid. Every dog has its day. Amazon force other companies to adapt and do things better. Time is not fixed. Amazon is better as it forces better innovation and practices and in the long run, benefits us as citizens.

If smaller businesses were able to compete and challenge the big dogs and if large companies fell apart all the time we wouldn't be in a situation where fewer and fewer large corporations are acquiring everything. Example below:



Capitalism favours those with capital, we wouldn't love a good underdog tale if they were a common occurrence. If a company gets to a point of virtual monopoly they'll milk the customer, not improve their game.

jmayo

kowloon wrote: »

If smaller businesses were able to compete and challenge the big dogs and if large companies fell apart all the time we wouldn't be in a situation where fewer and fewer large corporations are acquiring everything. Example below:



Capitalism favours those with capital, we wouldn't love a good underdog tale if they were a common occurrence. If a company gets to a point of virtual monopoly they'll milk the customer, not improve their game.

I agree with your point, but that interesting graphic is kinda misleading as well.

Some of these are just brand logos, brands that were always part of the parent organisation and not a separate distinct company.
Case in point is Coca Cola, Sprite, Fanta.
Sprite and Fanta were just products and brands the parent company developed.
They were never separate independent companies.

BTW if you like Fanta you have Mr Hitler to thank for that.

Mars is another one where half of those logos belong to brands that were always part of the Mars confectionary company.

Another very interesting graphic is the one that involves motor manufacturers where now you are down to about 5 major players worldwide and they indeed take over or merge with other distinct companies.

pgj2015

coca cola bought innocent smoothies for millions.a company set up by a few friends.

kowloon

jmayo wrote: »

I agree with your point, but that interesting graphic is kinda misleading as well.

Some of these are just brand logos, brands that were always part of the parent organisation and not a separate distinct company.
Case in point is Coca Cola, Sprite, Fanta.
Sprite and Fanta were just products and brands the parent company developed.
They were never separate independent companies.

Yeah, it was the prettiest picture I found on Google images, but you're right about the brands. There are probably clearer examples with the likes of Disney, GE and GM buying up the competition.

imme

I steer clear.

They are good for no one other than their billionaire owner.

jetsonx

jetsonx wrote: »

So do you think in 5 years time if Amazon is the only game in town, do you think that's going to work out well?

They won't be though. There's still plenty of other large fish in the sea

iamstop

I'm knee deep in a war with a Best Buy market place seller. Sold me two micro SD cards supposed to be 512GB but both are 32 GB cards painted and formatted to look like 512GB. We'll see how this plays out.

kowloon

iamstop wrote: »

I'm knee deep in a war with a Best Buy market place seller. Sold me two micro SD cards supposed to be 512GB but both are 32 GB cards painted and formatted to look like 512GB. We'll see how this plays out.

My Father bought himself a 1TB USB key for something like 20 bucks a good while back on Wish. Spoofed (obviously). I don't trust Wish or AliExpress or any of the other junk merchants.

Capt'n Midnight

kowloon wrote: »

If smaller businesses were able to compete and challenge the big dogs and if large companies fell apart all the time we wouldn't be in a situation where fewer and fewer large corporations are acquiring everything

Competition would be a lot easier if the small guys paid as little tax as the big guys or could claim the same grants and other subsidies. It's hard to fight corporate welfare. The amount of tax Amazon pays in the UK is an insult to bricks and mortar.

Amazon will get $1.2 billion in tax credits over 10 years plus a cash grant of $325 million from New York state if it hits its targets

GarIT

DilD wrote: »

If people prefer to support local then great go ahead it is nice to see brick and mortar still surviving somewhat. But to call corps. such as Amazon 'Evil' doesn't make sense to me, they saw a gap in the market and went for it, props to them.

The last 5+ people who tried to start a union were all fired for various reasons, most claim they were false.

6 people were fired for calling for safer working conditions during the pandemic.

Amazon employs staff to spy on the regular staff and report back on any whisperings of union so they can find other reasons to fire those staff.

https://time.com/956/how-amazon-crushed-the-union-movement/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/05/amazon-protests-union-organizing-cracking-down-workers

It's understandable that a company wouldn't like unions but the correct thing to do is put up with it not hire a team of specialists in suppressing unions or closing a facility and making everyone redundant because the staff there agreed to unionise.

Personally I do buy from Amazon if they have the best price but I make sure to check Irish retailers websites first. I'd never go to buy something in person that I could buy online. I see that as adding to the cost when I factor in my time.

Many Irish companies have lost my business by not replying to emails. I think we have an anti email culture, only one person a month emails so the email address isn't checked so most people don't bother emailing. If you don't check your business email address at least daily, but ideally hourly or more frequently then you should get rid of the option to email. I'd rather somewhere only had a phone number and I know that's the option to take than have an email address that gets ignored.

GarIT

kowloon wrote: »

My Father bought himself a 1TB USB key for something like 20 bucks a good while back on Wish. Spoofed (obviously). I don't trust Wish or AliExpress or any of the other junk merchants.

AliExpress is a marketplace rather than a retailer. You get good and bad sellers within AliExpress.

Rubberchikken

Online retailers who can't so it right have no one bit themselves to blame.

I really like amazon. They do what they do well.
So they don't pay as much tax as others want them to. Who's fault is that? If governments allow businesses to avail of loopholes in taxes then a company would be a fool not to avail of any breaks available.

piplip87

Ordered a few bits a few weeks ago amounting to about 200 euro. They got lost. Got into customer service money was refunded after two days. Items arrive this week and gkr back onto them to tell them to charge the cards again..... They wouldn't re-charge for the items as an apology for the delay. I know a massive company like Amazon can afford it but they are going to make other retailers reduce prices, offer faster delivery and improve customer service.

KungPao

imme wrote: »

I steer clear.

They are good for no one other than their billionaire owner.

I feel “billionaire” understates it. The bastard is just off the charts rich. A basic billionaire is just a schmo to Jeff.

Ubbquittious

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I spend so much on Amazon I ought to buy shares in them. However, I recently needed a computer peripheral urgently, thought I'd browse some Irish distributors found https://ie.rs-online.com/ who offer next day delivery. Sure enough 9am the next day my package arrived. 23 euros total. I'll definitely be looking at them in future for electronics.

U really have to be careful with the prices on rs-online

Some stuff iis very overpriced especially the more consumerish stuff. If you are buying chips and discrete components there they're not the cheapest either but at least you know you're getting genuine stuff not Chinese knock offs

Montage of Feck

Having no an post delivery option makes the likes of rs very cost prohibitive if you just want something small and don't need the hassle of dealing with couriers.

kowloon

Montage of Feck wrote: »

Having no an post delivery option makes the likes of rs very cost prohibitive if you just want something small and don't need the hassle of dealing with couriers.

When all you want is a strip of resistors that cost pennies the postage costs are stupid.

I've tried selling books I needed rid on eBay and with the rates an individual can get from An Post if I was to sell some of the books for a cent Amazon could still undercut me and make a profit from a warehouse in the UK. I still have the books and the majority will be going to a charity shop when Covid allows.

Ubbquittious

kowloon wrote: »

When all you want is a strip of resistors that cost pennies the postage costs are stupid.

I've tried selling books I needed rid on eBay and with the rates an individual can get from An Post if I was to sell some of the books for a cent Amazon could still undercut me and make a profit from a warehouse in the UK. I still have the books and the majority will be going to a charity shop when Covid allows.

Postage costs over here are fecking crazy. Back in the day (before covid) I used to go on the odd trip to UK on the ferry so I used to throw up a pile of auctions on ebay with stuff I wanted rid of to end a day or two before I left. Then I'd take most of them with me to some MyHermes drop off point in a corner shop in Fishguard for about £3 a piece.



Used to sell a good bit of stuff at car boot sales. Can't wait to go again they're a bit of craic with fellas trying to get stuff off you for half nothing and eventually giving in. Getting resistors remains a problem though, I'll have to start buying rolls of 5,000 and invest in an auld pick and place machine. Better to bite the bullet and invest in a proper setup instead of starting with some project and tossing to the side because you don't have resistors and it's not worth ordering just them

Historybluff

I've grown to dislike Amazon.

When I was a student and short of money, I used to buy books, CDs and DVDs on the site. You could get recently published hardback books for around half the price you would be charged in bookshops on the high street here in Ireland. And I never had any problem with their delivery service.

However, over the years, I became uncomfortable about being a customers of theirs. I read a few articles about how they treated their warehouse employees quite badly, with toilet breaks being timed etc. Also, I saw bookshops closing because of competition from Amazon. I love visiting bookshops. Browsing in them is much more enjoyable than browsing on Amazon. I would hate to see any more close down. So, I stopped using Amazon about three years ago. Although I don't buy a huge number of books, I have a bit more money to spend than when I was a student and so can afford the higher prices of books in bookshops here. Also, I'm keeping my money in Ireland rather than sending it to the UK.

MissShihTzu

I use Amazon all the time. They have a lot of stuff I can't get here but is readily available in the UK, where I'm from. When I first came here, the choice and prices of goods here was truly awful. I didn't do much online shopping when I lived in London - didn't need to. But I live on Amazon and eBay and any other retailer who will sell me what I want for a price I want to pay.

I don't buy into the 'Buy Irish' or 'Buy British' stuff. All about quality, price and service for me. I don't care where...

Kermit.de.frog

This twitter thread is some craic...

https://twitter.com/AmazonHelp/status/1327654526963376128

Yamanoto

ednwireland wrote: »

other companies could learn from their returns. had an issue with a av sender unit . return label emailed (freepost) . sent back money returned within a few days.

A lot of their CS support appears to have shifted from Ireland and the UK to the Philippines.

They used be proactive problem solvers who'd look after you really well. Now if there's an issue, responses seem generic and in many cases frustrating and downright shoddy.

I purchased a brand new LG TV from them last year & the screen was broken on arrival. They sent a replacement, but I was really disappointed to find it was a customer return.

Their CS response was p1ss poor.