Amazon discriminating Irish customers?

L1011 · 11-06-2020 2:45pm

whiterebel wrote: »

It's not one week, it's rolling, the same as Amazon are rolling 10 days every day. They can't put in a long term solution, due to the lack of capacity in the market. An Post can't magic up hundreds of extra workers and warehouses, and nobody else such as DPD, Nightline etc can do it.

That it's rolling makes it even less likely its anything done to reduce load on An Post as it shows they are delivering the daily load daily without issue.

Think which of these scenarios is realistically more likely:

1: Postal service who are coping fine, actually, with the demand changes (heavily helped by being able to switch an old depot back on) ask/tell a major customer to delay a large volume of products by a fixed amount, giving them no real advantage; but putting the entire contract at major risk in to the future

2: Large firm that has never really cared about Ireland as a sales destination (no Euro pricing, delaying Prime for years, not offering many services) doesn't want to pay for more than their contracted capacity to get stuff in to Ireland. Its Amazon who get the product to An Post.

If 1: was the case they would be doing weekend deliveries to clear the backlog. They are only doing the basic Saturday morning service they've done for years.

whiterebel · 11-06-2020 3:02pm

I certainly wouldn't agree that An Post are handling the load without issue. Seeing first postal deliveries in the afternoon after some years of early morning deliveries, postal workers using their own cars, and hire vans. Telling me the they are flat out all day every day. It seems to be the experience for a lot of people looking at the An Post delays threads in the other forum. I had an import from the US recently and it took 5 days for the customs letter from Dublin to me. Do an Post not practice rolling delays already with the post from China? They give themselves up to 4 weeks to deliver parcels from outside the EU. I know cheap postage is the cause there.

Anyway, I've got to do some proper work, so I'll leave this for a while.

pleasant Co. · 11-06-2020 3:24pm

whiterebel wrote: »

It's not one week, it's rolling, the same as Amazon are rolling 10 days every day. They can't put in a long term solution, due to the lack of capacity in the market. An Post can't magic up hundreds of extra workers and warehouses, and nobody else such as DPD, Nightline etc can do it.

My apologies if I hadn't made it clear enough, I took that that 1 week breathing room theory being rolling was a given - otherwise we'd be back to the regular dispatch rota - as this has been going on for months now.

I'm quite unsure how, from reading your very own posts, you believe that 'breathing room' could have been a viable theory - or the only one that makes sense - as just about every new post you make seems to point to it being incredibly unlikely to be what's happened/happening.

Anyway, like you, I've work to do. Later.

L1011 · 11-06-2020 3:53pm

An Post delay Chinese post cause it doesn't pay.

Amazon pay enough to get the superior service - Saturday deliveries etc.

richardw001 · 11-06-2020 11:25pm

VG31 wrote: »

The delivery times to Ireland are exactly the same for me on Amazon.de. It seems to be an Amazon thing not just an Amazon.co.uk thing.

That doesn't make sense considering Amazon.de has the same dispatch delays to Ireland.

Amazon.de do not have the same dispatch delays as Amazon.co.uk in my experience:

Heres a concrete example:

Item A:

I ordered this not Prime(and its huge!) https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00EAMEF78/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ordered on 16 May 2020

It was shipped 2 days later (took a while to get here but thats a separate thing)

Monday, 18 May
1:51 PM
Parcel left the carrier facility
Rüdersdorf, DE

Item B

I ordered something with Prime from Amazon.co.uk On the 19th of May

It shipped on the 29th of May (10 days later), Was delivered on the 2nd of June

If I look at that same Item B Amazon.co.uk Prime item with a UK address - it will be delivered by Saturday. Before with Prime things used to ship out within a day sometimes to Irish addresses now it never happens.

I'm not going to theorise here on why this is happening - however what I see is An Post and all the courier companies working harder and harder - whether its with Amazon orders or other things - and then we have Amazon.co.uk who don't even dispatch to us for 10 days. Whether its something that people would deem essential or otherwise.

VG31 · 11-06-2020 11:48pm

richardw001 wrote: »

Amazon.de do not have the same dispatch delays as Amazon.co.uk in my experience:

Heres a concrete example:

Item A:

I ordered this not Prime(and its huge!) https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00EAMEF78/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ordered on 16 May 2020

It was shipped 2 days later (took a while to get here but thats a separate thing)

Monday, 18 May
1:51 PM
Parcel left the carrier facility
Rüdersdorf, DE

That's not sold or fulfilled by Amazon though. Private sellers on Amazon UK don't tend to have dispatch delays either.

richardw001 · 11-06-2020 11:57pm

VG31 wrote: »

That's not sold or fulfilled by Amazon though. Private sellers on Amazon UK don't tend to have dispatch delays either.

Fair point - I'll check some of the other orders I made

Flickerfusion · 12-06-2020 8:35am

I’ve done a fair bit of shopping from retailers other than amazon and I haven’t had any issues with An Post. Once things hit one of their parcel hubs in tracking, they deliver the next business day.

Items on Amazon have gone into limbo after the label has been generated but before they hit any An Post depot.

I’ve found the same with a few recent Amazon items that have gone via other couriers and one where they generated a label in March and it just never shipped. They eventually refunded it, but then managed to process it as a return rather than a refund, so I keep getting alerts that I haven’t returned an item that they never sent.

I think the issue is at Amazon, not the post office or couriers.

On Chinese incoming small packages topic:

Incoming small packet mail from China Post is an issue globally because of how it is being billed.

The international setup is ridiculous. Effectively the national postal services were carrying it at no charge once it arrives into their systems and because the volumes of mail are hugely asymmetric, they were making no money out of it. That’s why the delays are happening. It’s just not being prioritised.

https://www.cargoforwarder.eu/2019/10/20/upu-decision-means-china-s-postal-fees-to-triple-through-2025/

The USPS had a big argument over it.

Wheety · 12-06-2020 10:30am

I ordered from Amazon yesterday. Ihave Prime.

23rd June was the delivery date to my home address. Next day delivery to Parcel Motel in the North.

TimHorton · 12-06-2020 10:31am

Wheety wrote: »

I ordered from Amazon yesterday. Ihave Prime.

23rd June was the delivery date to my home address. Next day delivery to Parcel Motel in the North.

Same here , 12 day lead time , Only plausible reason is AnPost are taking 8 to 10 days to pick up Irish Shipments , It been getting gradually worse since Covid started.

L1011 · 12-06-2020 10:38am

TimHorton wrote: »

Same here , 12 day lead time , Only plausible reason is AnPost are taking 8 to 10 days to pick up Irish Shipments , It been getting gradually worse since Covid started.

Amazon drop the shipments to Dublin themselves. Have done so for a decade or more.

A more plausible reason is Amazon don't want to pay for more capacity to Dublin. An Post are not having problems of that scale.

Amazon CS would also be publicly blaming them rather than making up stuff about priority products.

TimHorton · 12-06-2020 10:55am

L1011 wrote: »

Amazon drop the shipments to Dublin themselves. Have done so for a decade or more.

A more plausible reason is Amazon don't want to pay for more capacity to Dublin. An Post are not having problems of that scale.

Amazon CS would also be publicly blaming them rather than making up stuff about priority products.

Amazon a decade ago compared to now is not comparable, Why would cost come into it , They are cash rich , Why would they piss Irish Customers off for the sake of a short term cost increase.

Panrich · 12-06-2020 11:07am

TimHorton wrote: »

Amazon a decade ago compared to now is not comparable, Why would cost come into it , They are cash rich , Why would they piss Irish Customers off for the sake of a short term cost increase.

I reckon they don’t really value Irish customers as we are small fry in international terms.

The fact that we still have to buy stuff from Amazon.co.uk in Sterling is testament to that. More of us need to vote with our euros on this before they will change.

L1011 · 12-06-2020 11:09am

TimHorton wrote: »

Amazon a decade ago compared to now is not comparable, Why would cost come into it , They are cash rich , Why would they piss Irish Customers off for the sake of a short term cost increase.

Because we're a tiny market they have never properly served.

rock22 · 12-06-2020 11:12am

Panrich wrote: »

I reckon they don’t really value Irish customers as we are small fry in international terms.

The fact that we still have to buy stuff from Amazon.co.uk in Sterling is testament to that. More of us need to vote with our euros on this before they will change.

Agree.
Even when we enter Amazon.ie we are redirected to the UK site.
I wonder is there a regulatory issue here? I am in EU, attempt to purchase in EU (an .ie website) but am been taken outside the EU for the purchase therefore losing out on the consumer protection I usually have. Many customers may not notice the change in the web address,

djsim101 · 12-06-2020 11:16am

Just off a chat with an Amazon rep - really frustrating experience. Its not the reps fault to be fair. Ordered a PC case which was in stock (7 units) on the 29th of May. ETA was June 11th. Its now showing out of stock with no ETA. I received an apology and 5 quid credit. :rolleyes: If that is a 2 finger salute to the Irish market I don't know what is. Obviously fulfilled the English orders before my own. This is only one example of the many issues I had with them. I know the C19 is impacting orders etc, but no way can an item be delivered to N.IRE in 2 days and I switch to Ireland and it goes up 7 - 12 working days.

TimHorton · 12-06-2020 11:21am

djsim101 wrote: »

Just off a chat with an Amazon rep - really frustrating experience. Its not the reps fault to be fair. Ordered a PC case which was in stock (7 units) on the 29th of May. ETA was June 11th. Its now showing out of stock with no ETA. I received an apology and 5 quid credit. :rolleyes: If that is a 2 finger salute to the Irish market I don't know what is. Obviously fulfilled the English orders before my own. This is only one example of the many issues I had with them. I know the C19 is impacting orders etc, but no way can an item be delivered to N.IRE in 2 days and I switch to Ireland and it goes up 7 - 12 working days.

They don't care , I was onto CS via chat yesterday , I am a customer since 1998 and had 198 orders last year via prime, When I complained about the slow dispatch the agent told me I was free to cancel Prime if I wanted.

donnyvegas · 12-06-2020 11:46am

Just received an item, originally due for delivery on 29th May, however it went out of stock when my dispatch came (it was in stock in mid-May when I ordered). Finally dispatched by Amazon late on Wednesday night, received by An Post last night (8:59pm). Delivered at 10:30am this morning. I seriously doubt An Post are having backlog issues.

Wheety · 12-06-2020 11:48am

So the item I ordered yesterday evening is already in the North and will be delivered to Parcel motel soon. If I had used my own address in Dublin it wouldn't even be dispatched.

I ordered a few other things yesterday, with no rush, and it still says arriving 23rd June.

donnyvegas · 12-06-2020 11:58am

Wheety wrote: »

So the item I ordered yesterday evening is already in the North and will be delivered to Parcel motel soon. If I had used my own address in Dublin it wouldn't even be dispatched.

I ordered a few other things yesterday, with no rush, and it still says arriving 23rd June.

Yup. The orders for June 23rd won't be dispatched until a day or two before. Hopefully they will still be in stock at that time. It is possible that someone in the UK will order it first and will be given priority.

SPDUB · 12-06-2020 12:33pm

L1011 wrote: »

Amazon drop the shipments to Dublin themselves. Have done so for a decade or more.

.

An Post extended the time for Amazon to drop items at the Mail Centre in Dublin from 10pm to 1am IIRC from last October

RasTa · 12-06-2020 12:36pm

Ireland not big enough to have a FC, hence the delay.

Hurrache · 12-06-2020 2:05pm

RasTa wrote: »

Ireland not big enough to have a FC, hence the delay.

The delay is not because Ireland is too small for a fulfilment centre, and Amazon are/were looking for a location to build such a centre in Ireland anyway as an arm of their UK warehouses. Actually, they opened a delivery centre near Clondalkin to fullfill goods shipped from the UK, and are looking for more space.

corsav6 · 12-06-2020 3:04pm

Mav11 wrote: »

Use Parcel Motel or Address Pal.

Thanks, I do use addresspal for certain items but I'm just trying to point out the difference for Irish customers.

rock22 · 13-06-2020 10:04am

Hurrache wrote: »

The delay is not because Ireland is too small for a fulfilment centre, and Amazon are/were looking for a location to build such a centre in Ireland anyway as an arm of their UK warehouses. Actually, they opened a delivery centre near Clondalkin to fullfill goods shipped from the UK, and are looking for more space.

Why would they consider Ireland an arm of their UK warehouses?

At the end of the year, it seems UK will definitely be completely out of EU transition period and tariffs will probably apply.
You would also lose EU costumer protection

richardw001 · 13-06-2020 12:08pm

rock22 wrote: »

Why would they consider Ireland an arm of their UK warehouses?

At the end of the year, it seems UK will definitely be completely out of EU transition period and tariffs will probably apply.
You would also lose EU costumer protection

Not sure about all the theories on the thread - all I know is I'm not getting orders in a timely manner to a Republic of Ireland delivery address. But that the equivalent service is being provided to UK Addresses. I have asked them three times and I have got the vaguest of replies each time.

Throwing a couple of pounds credit to the people who notice and not giving an explanation seems to be their approach to dealing with this. Very fustrating for people who just want a pretty standard Amazon service they paid for or some indication of when this will be resolved.

There's probably lots of people that have put this down to Cornavirus or don't realise that Amazon offers 2 day delivery to the Republic of Ireland as part of their Prime Member ship.

From their website: Unlimited, fast Two-Day Delivery on millions of items to the Republic of Ireland

But the wording in the Delivery page is interesting

Priority (Two-Day) Delivery
Selected items sold or Fulfilled by Amazon.co.uk.

Items which are not in stock at a Fulfilment Centre in the UK but which are available from another Fulfilment Centre.

Republic of Ireland addresses.

Makes me wonder whether they will ever fix this unless there is enough noise made about it.

Car99 · 13-06-2020 12:10pm

rock22 wrote: »

Why would they consider Ireland an arm of their UK warehouses?

At the end of the year, it seems UK will definitely be completely out of EU transition period and tariffs will probably apply.
You would also lose EU costumer protection

Then we'll have to use Amazon.de or .es or .fr.

Panrich · 14-06-2020 9:27am

Car99 wrote: »

Then we'll have to use Amazon.de or .es or .fr.

And your uk prime account does not work on those. I had to pay for shipping from .de recently and they were offering me a trial for prime.

I’m not sure how it would work if you had a .de prime account for shopping on .Fr or .es or what sort of prime video you’d get.

Mav11 · 14-06-2020 10:59am

Ok for info, order placed on 5th June for delivery on the 16th June. Item dispatched yesterday, text from An Post this morning to say it will be delivered within the next 2 days.

Happy enough with that, I am a Prime member.

GinSoaked · 14-06-2020 11:04am

Mav11 wrote: »

Ok for info, order placed on 5th June for delivery on the 16th June. Item dispatched yesterday, text from An Post this morning to say it will be delivered within the next 2 days.

Happy enough with that, I am a Prime member.

Why? Thats five times slower than a Prime member should be getting in Ireland and probably ten times slower than to a UK address? Its also the same you'd get if you weren't a Prime member.

RasTa · 14-06-2020 11:19am

Hurrache wrote: »

The delay is not because Ireland is too small for a fulfilment centre, and Amazon are/were looking for a location to build such a centre in Ireland anyway as an arm of their UK warehouses. Actually, they opened a delivery centre near Clondalkin to fullfill goods shipped from the UK, and are looking for more space.

That's because anpost can't handle it. Be easier to open one in Belfast then Dublin as an arm of their UK stuff.

Caranica · 14-06-2020 11:36am

Mav11 wrote: »

Ok for info, order placed on 5th June for delivery on the 16th June. Item dispatched yesterday, text from An Post this morning to say it will be delivered within the next 2 days.

Happy enough with that, I am a Prime member.

I got similar dispatch and An Post notifications this weekend. Except my Prime order was placed on 26 May!!

Mav11 · 14-06-2020 11:46am

GinSoaked wrote: »

Why? Thats five times slower than a Prime member should be getting in Ireland and probably ten times slower than to a UK address? Its also the same you'd get if you weren't a Prime member.

Because I have a choice to use Amazon or not. To me, it represents good value, at a level that I cannot find elsewhere. Simples.

Exclamation Marc · 14-06-2020 11:55am

Mav11 wrote: »

Because I have a choice to use Amazon or not. To me, it represents good value, at a level that I cannot find elsewhere. Simples.

Whilst I agree with you on the value side as I use it a lot myself, consumers shouldn't just roll over and accept a significant degradation of service with no explanation or no lowering of costs. I've seen theories here as to capacity to Ireland which if true are somewhat out of their hands.

The equivalent is buying a 500ml coffee every day at €5 and then after a while the seller changes it to 300ml for you but keeps it at 500ml for its other customers without acknowledging that you're getting less. You wouldn't take it. If they explained why, you might accept it. We're paying for relatively the same thing as the UK are but getting shafted.

By all means keep using it but don't just roll over and accept crappier service without question.

Mav11 · 14-06-2020 12:02pm

By all means keep using it but don't just roll over and accept crappier service without question.[/QUOTE]

Not a matter of rolling over, far from it. I will do what any consumer should do if they are unhappy with a service, walk!! Take your business elsewhere.

mixed up · 14-06-2020 12:19pm

I have just cancelled my prime account. I was just on to the live chat about delivery being so bad to Ireland.I was told i could cancel but i wasn't going to be refunded, it's a joke, i wasn't looking for a refund or never mentioned it, i was simply looking for the service i was paying for.

Mav11 · 14-06-2020 12:47pm

mixed up wrote: »

I have just cancelled my prime account. I was just on to the live chat about delivery being so bad to Ireland.I was told i could cancel but i wasn't going to be refunded, it's a joke, i wasn't looking for a refund or never mentioned it, i was simply looking for the service i was paying for.

I agree, that's the way to do it. Amazon UK will pay very little attention to Irish customers, as it is after all, a core UK not an Irish setup. If however Irish customers begin to drop their prime accounts, then this is far more likely to get the poor service issue addressed than complaints to Customer service.

I'm holding onto prime for the moment, as I like the video and movies, but if it wasn't for that I would also be cancelling!!

ED E · 14-06-2020 7:42pm

Car99 wrote: »

Then we'll have to use Amazon.de or .es or .fr.

We won't.

They'll open a DS here (see headlines) and handle the import internally en masse. Probably have some sort of virtual bonded warehousing for the goods, who knows.

Flickerfusion · 15-06-2020 11:10am

rock22 wrote: »

Why would they consider Ireland an arm of their UK warehouses?

At the end of the year, it seems UK will definitely be completely out of EU transition period and tariffs will probably apply.
You would also lose EU costumer protection

I would suspect Brexit could be holding this up. They’re unlikely to want to build out infrastructure if it’s going to need to be reoriented towards the continent in 2021.

I would say they’re just sitting on the fence until Brexit is more certain.

You could well end up with the whole island being run from a future Amazon.ie, with linkage to the continent, rather than the U.K. or mixing both to avoid tariffs.

Bear in mind that U.K. sellers will have to complete customs declarations to export to the EU, so it will potentially be as complicated as shopping to and from the USA for them and nothing is clear yet due to the British Government being utterly unrealistic. So anyone telling you what will happen with Brexit is just speculating.

sgarvan · 16-06-2020 9:43am

Was onto Amazon chat again to day over this as an item I have in basket has 10 day difference between UK & ROI.

Ireland Delivery Date - FREE delivery: Friday, June 26 Details
Northern Ireland Delivery Date - FREE delivery: Thursday, June 18
UK Delivery Date - FREE delivery: Tomorrow

These are some of the comments from the customer service agent.

I just confirmed from one of the concerned teams and this is definitely due to the pandemic itself. We have to arrange the AnPost carrier for which we require an approval from UK and the Ireland which takes time.

However, it is for all the items getting shipped outside. The approvals are coming into picture which takes time. It is the pandemic which is affecting the delivery speed.

The intensity of the slow down cannot be controlled by Amazon.

GinSoaked · 16-06-2020 9:54am

sgarvan wrote: »

Was onto Amazon chat again to day over this as an item I have in basket has 10 day difference between UK & ROI.

Ireland Delivery Date - FREE delivery: Friday, June 26 Details
Northern Ireland Delivery Date - FREE delivery: Thursday, June 18
UK Delivery Date - FREE delivery: Tomorrow

These are some of the comments from the customer service agent.

They are new excuses you have to give them that.

I had one lad tell me it was my fault that I hadn't chosen express delivery at the checkout, when I pointed out there is no option for express delivery at the checkout he vanished and a new guy started the chat.

Another one they like to tell you is that they can't do anything once the order is placed then they again vanish if you tell them that you've just cancelled the order and can they expedite the order before you make it :rolleyes: (yes I know thats impossible but that was the point after a long fruitless chat session with multiple reps).

timetogo1 · 16-06-2020 9:55am

So basically, if you've signed up to Prime for quick shipping, might as well cancel it if you're an Irish customer (or want to spend an extra €4 a parcel using Parcel Motel).

Rodney Bathgate · 16-06-2020 9:57am

timetogo1 wrote: »

So basically, if you've signed up to Prime for quick shipping, might as well cancel it if you're an Irish customer (or want to spend an extra €4 a parcel using Parcel Motel).

And risk an order of 5 items costing EUR 20 in Parcel Motel fees.

Thingymebob · 19-06-2020 7:01pm

Wonder if one of the consumer journalists would be interested?

It’s really getting on my wick, and the CS Reps aren’t helpful or sympathetic - told I should shop elsewhere. As I commented on another Amazon thread, the CEOs executive office staff are just as bad blaming air freight from the U.K. to Dublin for the difference between using Parcel Motel and using Prime

TimHorton · 20-06-2020 8:51am

Thingymebob wrote: »

Wonder if one of the consumer journalists would be interested?

It’s really getting on my wick, and the CS Reps aren’t helpful or sympathetic - told I should shop elsewhere. As I commented on another Amazon thread, the CEOs executive office staff are just as bad blaming air freight from the U.K. to Dublin for the difference between using Parcel Motel and using Prime

Actually ordered something Wed and it was shipped Fri via AnPost !

RasTa · 20-06-2020 9:48am

Thingymebob wrote: »

Wonder if one of the consumer journalists would be interested?

It’s really getting on my wick, and the CS Reps aren’t helpful or sympathetic - told I should shop elsewhere. As I commented on another Amazon thread, the CEOs executive office staff are just as bad blaming air freight from the U.K. to Dublin for the difference between using Parcel Motel and using Prime

What if Amazon where suddenly able to send An Post 50-100k parcels a day from Irish orders, every single day for 30 days.

What do you think would happen?

GinSoaked · 20-06-2020 9:58am

RasTa wrote: »

What if Amazon where suddenly able to send An Post 50-100k parcels a day from Irish orders, every single day for 30 days.

What do you think would happen?

What if Amazon where suddenly able to send An Post 50-100k parcels a day from Irish orders, every single day for 30 days after keeping the orders on hold for a week.

What do you think would happen?

Answer: exactly the same.

TimHorton · 20-06-2020 11:35am

I live in a semi rural area , Just had my 1st scheduled Saturday Delivery by AnPost , i.e Got the Out for Delivery alert from Amazon earlier today , This fact along with an order I placed on Wednesday that was shipped yesterday leads me to believe changes for the good are happening.

donnyvegas · 20-06-2020 11:55am

Yes, definitely seeing improvements in dispatching times. Some items are now delivering in 5 days or so.

RasTa · 20-06-2020 12:20pm

GinSoaked wrote: »

What if Amazon where suddenly able to send An Post 50-100k parcels a day from Irish orders, every single day for 30 days after keeping the orders on hold for a week.

What do you think would happen?

Answer: exactly the same.

Where exactly would An Post be able to store these pallets of orders? They are in amazon warehouses for a reason.

Amazon discriminating Irish customers?

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