I filed a complaint against Amazon to the US Federal Trade Commission
Mods: I put this in Tech because Amazon is a tech company, if this is the wrong group I apologize.
For the last several purchases I have made through Amazon, not only has the advertised "expected delivery date" been wrong, Amazon hasn't even shipped the product by the delivery date. The day I expect an order to arrive, I get a notice from Amazon saying it's "running late" and the new expected delivery date is anywhere from 4 to 10 days away.
This is on top of the fact that I have Amazon Prime. Prime eligible meant "it would be delivered within two days" for the better part of a decade. They slowly transitioned away from that to "two days delivery after it ships," and now it seems like half of everything takes 5-8 days to deliver, even with Prime.
Anyway, the reason I reported them to the FTC because I believe they are advertising misleading or downright incorrect delivery times in hopes of winning your business over a competitor who is honest about their delivery times. If I want a monitor and Best Buy has it for $200 with 3-5 day shipping, and Amazon advertises it being delivered on day 3, I'm probably going to go with Amazon if I'm in urgent need of a monitor. But then the third day rolls around and Amazon indicates "oh, well, it's probably going to be 3-4 more days." If I had known that, I would have just gone with Best Buy, where I know it would have at least been delivered in 5 days; now I'm stuck waiting a week for Amazon.
I don't even know if this is something the FTC cares about. But it should. I encourage everyone to report this if they've encountered the same issue.
My wife and I have been experiencing the same issues with Amazon this year. Sometimes the shipping estimate changes right after we make a purchase. On a few occasions we’ve had to cancel a purchase because it was something time sensitive. Other times the estimated delivery seems fine, but it later gets pushed out like you said. I may consider reporting it myself.
I stopped shopping Amazon after getting the Keepa app thing and found out Amazon, rather than actually putting items on sale, would just change what the original price was and claim it was on sale.
Now I use Amazon to find the item I'm looking for then go to the manufacturer's website to find where else to buy it. Amazon is still pretty good for window shopping though.
I do the same thing. I used to use Amazon a lot but finally got too turned off by some of their scummy practices and how they treat their employees. The whole place just sounded like different kinds of dystopian hell at every level. Canceled my Prime a few years ago and never looked back.
I occasionally wait longer for shipping now, but in the grand scale of things 3-5 days is basically no different from 2 for most consumer purchases, and that's assuming 2-day shipping actually takes 2 days. I've noticed some big box retailers are even realizing they already have fully functional delivery chains right up to the last mile, and they can put someone in a car same as any pizza place. I ordered some furnace and water filters from Home Depot yesterday evening and they were already on my porch this morning with no box or packing material needed. Ultimately for online purchases I've found that I'm just not in that much of a rush anymore to get things, though, and I don't care if it takes a week because I've adjusted my expectations.
All Amazon gets used for anymore is looking up model numbers and ISBNs and stuff (with ad and tracker blockers running). At the local bookshop they can order anything, and it makes it handy for them to look it up if I just pull up the Amazon page for what I want.
I stopped shopping at Amazon long before the whole "commingled inventory" fiasco came to light. I would like to say that I'm surprised that they've never fundamentally addressed it (as far as I'm aware), but clearly they don't have a lot of strong incentives to do so.
But you look at this article from 2019 and then this article from 2020, and it's clear they don't give a shit and are not doing anything any better than they ever have.
Amazon Prime day was July 11-12 for taking in orders.
Working for the USPS, I can tell you that yesterday, July 21st was roughly the last of the influx of Amazon Prime Day packages. Today was the first day of seeing 'normal' volume from Amazon.
What does this anecdotal evidence mean, exactly? I have no clue, all I can say is there are a LOT of others who are noticing this and sharing in your frustration too, Post Office included.
Those bastards have always operated by over promising and under-delivering since time immemorial, knowing the PO will always be picking up their slack.
Thank you for helping to keep the Post Office running. It's an amazing service that keeps society functional.
I hope someday we get Post Office banking. https://www.investopedia.com/what-is-postal-banking-5217341
I bought a small item on prime day that was promised 2 day delivery… it took 8 days.
Have you contacted amazon for this? I'm sure there's some weasely "fullfilled by amazon" vs "fullfilled by seller" stuff that can happen, but you could get a few months of prime out of them if it's on their side.
I can't think of it happening to me - I had one case where a stovetop (originally ~7 days delivery) took 10 days because as it got to the last depot before it would get to me it got damaged and it went back and I got another one... it's been a while, but I think I didn't get the exact information - just a delay notice from amazon. I think the damage was either in a post communication or seller contact, I know I asked about it.
I've actually had better shipping service from Amazon than other places, especially Home Depot (absolute worst online retailer I've dealt with). I live in the boonies and I know Prime wouldn't actually get me deliveries in 2 days, so I don't bother with a Prime membership. I mostly opt for free shipping or the cheapest shipping if free isn't available. I've had plenty of estimated deliveries for 1-2 weeks out show up in 3-4 days or just a couple days earlier than expected. I've occasionally had next day or 2 day deliveries using free shipping as well and I suspect that is due to having a warehouse about an hour away and products fulfilled by amazon.
Where I have had recent issues with amazon is the Chinese retailers that offer the best deals. They often aren't even real companies and they use a fake Chinese delivery service that gives a certain amount of updates for about a month then randomly say delivered. Of course you have to submit a ticket and get a refund or gift card, but you might have been waiting for a product for over a month and in some cases even forget you purchased it, which is what happened to me with a shop vacuum filter that I tried to use 4 months later only to find my filters never came for it. Now I make sure to look into the actual seller and at least look for a legitimate business backing the product.
It’s interesting people have these issues. My experience with Amazon is almost always “arrives by date given or sooner”. Those dates aren’t always my favorite but I haven’t run into gross miscalculations very often.
I live on the coast, I’ve always assumed that meant distribution issues affect us less out here. When I had Prime and went on a shopping spree a few weeks ago (I do it sporadically) everything arrived like next day of ordering. Hell I ordered some stuff at midnight and it arrived at 7am that morning. Crazy.
What I will complain about with Amazon is the product listing/reviews problem where everything is some random Chinese distributor selling the same things under various fake brands and storefronts with widely different pricing with reviews seemingly clustered under groups of similar products where you have to try and use context to see if the review is for the product you’re actually buying.
I've been seeing this same issue with things I've bought on Amazon lately. The truly maddening thing is when I buy specific items because of the claim they can be here today or tomorrow and they're still haven't shipped 2 days later, I attempt to cancel the items so I can get something else and Amazon tells me they can't cancel the items because they're already shipped (which is not what the order status page says) and then they still take several days to deliver. Shipped by Amazon, but it feels like they're relying on some third party drop shipping setup behind the scenes.
I have also encountered some wonky shipping times with orders from other companies. I had a small package delivered from CA that should've only taken 5 to 7 days to arrive but ended up taking 3 weeks through some smaller regional shipping company. On the flip side, most anything I order from Amazon usually gets delivered by an Amazon van or some random person in their personal car.
I wonder how much of the upcoming UPS strike has to do with this. I haven't seen a ups truck driving around where I live in weeks.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ups-strike-2023-teamsters-what-to-know/
Anyone wanna talk about getting kicked off of their affiliate (Amazon Associates) program? Have heard a few other mumbling about getting booted for unclear reasons (your deals are from your business associates) and other such.
Was thinking to take them to arbitration - but that's $900 to file and another $900 or something for the next step.
Typically you can contact Amazon to reimburse you in some way or fashion for the late delivery times- or at least, that's how it used to be years back. Support used to be amazing at doing reimbursements and refunds or just giving stuff away, but I moved away from Amazon more on principle than anything else about a year ago. Prime just hasn't been as good of a value as it once was (the video streaming has slowly gone lackluster when they pulled Star Trek off it), and you can buy local at close- or cheaper- than the prices on Amazon now.
I live near a rural, out-of-the-way tourist destination in Australia, so shops catering to tourists have pushed out shops catering to the more basic needs of locals. As a consequence, I am heavily reliant on online shopping.
Here, shipping is much quicker if you don't use Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime shipping means they use an independent contractor to deliver packages, and they don't seem to be very reliable (I'm guessing because they are under a lot of pressure, leading to mistakes and staffing issues), whereas regular Amazon shipping means they use the national postal service. The national postal service typically delivers packages to me in 3-5 days (in 1-2 days if it's express shipping), whereas Amazon Prime usually takes a week or more—assuming Amazon doesn't just cancel the order.
Unfortunately, Amazon aggressively tries to sell Amazon Prime to me. I've accidentally signed up for it three times. Amazon has become so frustrating to use that I've basically cut down my Amazon usage to about 2-3 orders per year for physical products. (All of my other orders are digital books, which I've had no issues with.)
Nearly all of my physical orders now come from small, specialized businesses using Shopify. I also buy from eBay and Etsy more than I used to. The shopping experience has been universally smooth, with two exceptions (an Etsy seller accidentally sent me the wrong item and had to rectify it, and an eBay seller canceled my order once because they didn't actually have the item in stock and had to refund me), and both the selection and the prices are better. The main thing I miss are the extensive customer reviews, but I have a pretty high skepticism of Amazon's reviews these days, so I'm not sure I'm actually missing much.
These replies are making me sad for you guys experiencing this. Amazon seems to be just about the only reliable delivery service in the UK. That and a few of my awesome Etsy store owners that I frequent.
For years everything has come on time or early, even around prime day and holidays! And the drivers are professional and nice.
If an FBA package gets delayed, that means that it was lost or damaged somewhere in the process of getting it to you. The package could have been mislabeled, missorted, or late for any number of reasons.
If the package doesn’t get out by its critical pull time they’ll automatically send out an email telling you that it’s taking longer than expected and will go from an expected delivery date to “On its way.”
It could not make its CPT because of any of the previously mentioned reasons, or because they’re running behind (typically due to high volume). It’s assumed that they’re running behind, and they’ll wait another day if there’s been no activity before they assume that the package has just disappeared and restart the whole process with a new product.
If your packages are being sent through the post office, that comes with another vector of potential problems. The post office can have delays of their own, but they also run on more limited hours which means that a driver delay can have you waiting another day or two for it to arrive.
If your package is not FBA, then the delivery estimate is just that, an estimate, and not necessarily a very good one. The seller is responsible for getting that package to you, so it’s possible that this is what’s happening when it doesn’t even show up as shipped.
Realistically though, most packages make it out on time and most packages get delivered by its estimated arrival time. I doubt that all of your packages are getting lost or damaged along the way (unless you’re frequently purchasing liquids), so if I had to guess, your area isn’t covered by a delivery station and all of your packages are going through the post office (or are FBM).
Every time this has happened it has been sold by Amazon.com but delivered by a third party (relatively speaking)- usually UPS, sometimes USPS. So it may be on the shippers, however, I would expect some sort of tracking ID as soon as it is handed over. Even on the day of expected delivery, there is no tracking ID and no indication that it has even left any facility, which makes me suspect this issue is on Amazon's side.
I live in Louisville, which is not only a major Amazon hub but home to UPS Worldport, so the logistics capability here is quite substantial.
Interesting. I also noticed degradation, but I thought it was because I'm not prime member so they are doing it purposefully.
Looks like their delivery system degraded and is struggling.
BTW, from my experience (and I know it goes against usual assumptions) USPS is fast and while they don't provide guarantees related to time, it is very quick whenever I used it.
Most frustrating to me is UPS, while they do keep the promises delivery time most of the time. I had a situation where the item was close, and arrived to my distribution center in a day, they still held the package there for 2 more days, because it supposed to be 3 day delivery.
Sometime in the middle of the pandemic Amazon quit sending me Prime deliveries in two days. First they just did it quietly, then they quit promising. It's a bit deal because two-day delivery competes with driving to town but two-week delivery doesn't.
The thing is, every other retailer is trying to impress me with quick delivery. I get packages from Japan faster than Amazon gets them to me from a warehouse in the next state. I just couldn't live with myself if I was paying for a "premium" service that is worse than the service I get from every other retailer so I canceled my Prime subscription, so should you.