# Amazon needs to be broken up and sold off in little chunks to the lowest bidder **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 30, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793 "2019-05-30T22:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/21 "2019-05-31T17:52:36Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > I would just let it go, but I have ebooks and music that I paid for that I would like to be able to use. This definitely sucks. This is a good reason not to “buy” that have DRM attached to them. Because you’re not really buying them. You’re renting them for as long as it’s convenient to the company that rented them to you. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/22 "2019-05-31T18:00:58Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > This is a good reason not to “buy” that have DRM attached to them. Because you’re not really buying them. You’re renting them for as long as it’s convenient to the company that rented them to you. The digital music that Amazon sells doesn’t have DRM. Any songs/albums you actually buy from them can be downloaded, stored locally, and freely played just like any other MP3 files. However, I haven’t taken the trouble to download all the music I’ve bought from Amazon; I’ve just trusted it to be available from the cloud whenever I want to listen to it. As for ebooks, my understanding is that some are sold with DRM and some without, and it’s the publisher who decides. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/23 "2019-05-31T20:01:40Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > OTOH, the tiny webhosting company which charges me $5 per month is always quick with prompt and useful help when I e-mail them. (I’ve several stories of both extremely good and extremely bad customer service.) This is common, and that’s why people get irritated when their favorite tiny webhosting company shuts down because they can’t compete with the Amazons of the world. Online retail is still a relatively new thing. The laws and regulations that have worked for many years at traditional retail establishments don’t necessarily work when everything but the end product (and often including the end product!) is virtual. I’m sure we’re facing some of the same problems that were faced by brick-and-mortar consumers before traditional consumer protections were in place. I strongly support stronger consumer protection and stronger privacy laws as well. I don’t recommend breaking up Amazon though because that’s where I buy most of my stuff now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/24 "2019-06-01T01:31:29Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I’m torn about Amazon, and feel that I may have to soon decide. They’re veering into the area that causes me to never spend a dime in WalMart- the destruction of any local competition. A WalMart will destroy a small town downtown. Yes it’s techically fair from a free market yadda yadda yadda point of view, but I don’t have to like it. It doesn’t help to know how rich the owners are, and how poor the rank and file workers are. Are we getting to that point with Amazon? Shit, it sure seems like it. > But goddammit, it sure is convenient to open the laptop and have near any damn thing delivered promptly. This is pretty much how I feel. It’s not illegal for Jeff Bezos to be stinking rich while Amazon workers are abused and not paid enough to live on, but I don’t want to support that kind of business. I’m also not happy that most of the bookstores in my town have closed (we have two left, if you count the university bookstore, which isn’t really a bookstore). We used to have at least seven. I wanted to buy a cookbook for a gift and I couldn’t find any. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/25 "2019-06-01T01:35:02Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > How did that happen? How did the scammy lowlife get access to your Amazon account in order to change that? That’s a good question. I don’t know. I did get an email from Amazon with a code that had to be entered to change the email address, and I personally did not give Amazon the code. That’s all I know. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/26 "2019-06-01T01:57:49Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > But goddammit, it sure is convenient to open the laptop and have near any damn thing delivered promptly. How convenient will it be when Walmart and Amazon and Disney are all that’s left except maybe a Starbucks or two? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/27 "2019-06-01T02:07:10Z")
I don’t know. And I’ve already stated my apprehension. But those other 2 companies you mention aren’t in the same league as Amazon when it comes to opening one’s laptop and having damn near anything delivered promptly. So I guess I don’t understand your question. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/28 "2019-06-01T03:13:59Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > That’s a good question. I don’t know. I did get an email from Amazon with a code that had to be entered to change the email address, and I personally did not give Amazon the code. That’s all I know. OK. That looks very much like that email address of yours has been compromised - someone else has access to it. At the very least you need to log in to that email account right now and change the password. You should also let the issuer of the card you use to buy stuff from Amazon know too. What else have you signed up to with that email? ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/29 "2019-06-01T12:41:59Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > OK. That looks very much like that email address of yours has been compromised - someone else has access to it. At the very least you need to log in to that email account right now and change the password. You should also let the issuer of the card you use to buy stuff from Amazon know too. What else have you signed up to with that email? I changed the password. The card I had linked to the account has been closed for a few years, and the first customer service person I talked to said she removed it from the account ( but I don’t think she did anything else she said she was going to do, so it might still be on there). ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/30 "2019-06-01T23:21:17Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I don’t know. And I’ve already stated my apprehension. But those other 2 companies you mention aren’t in the same league as Amazon when it comes to opening one’s laptop and having damn near anything delivered promptly. So I guess I don’t understand your question. I’m saying Disney’s screwing with copyright laws and buying up everything from Star Wars to Muppets and also news stations means they will soon have a monopoly on entertainment and communications. Walmart and Amazon will fight it out over consumer goods. Starbucks will be the only place you could sit and wonder why shopping isn’t fun anymore. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/31 "2019-06-02T04:26:19Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > I changed the password. The card I had linked to the account has been closed for a few years, and the first customer service person I talked to said she removed it from the account ( but I don’t think she did anything else she said she was going to do, so it might still be on there). As has been said multiple times, password alone is not nearly good enough. Enable multi-factor authentication on every account that allows it. This is the best defense to stopping other accounts of yours from being taken over, which is what has happened here. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/32 "2019-06-02T05:00:37Z")
There is a Facebook group I have reported for over a year for selling stolen Amazon accounts. FB assures me every time that they’re not violating TOS despite having that convenient button for reporting selling stolen property. They steal information to open up Amazon Mturk work accounts and get access to Amazon Payments to steal workers’ pay and get access to their bank information. It’s scary, almost every other week someone in my work group will have this happen and quite often it’s never resolved. They just close it permanently. It’s nearly impossible to get someone on the phone who knows anything. They have some of the worst support I’ve ever seen for workers and customers. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/33 "2019-06-02T13:04:22Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Yep, that’s why I love Amazon. They’ve always treated me right. Yep, I have had zero problems with them. Now, it is scary how big they have become. But, it works great for me. One time, I ordered a case for a Kindle. I was in a bit of a fit at the time. I was staying at my mothers house (100 miles from my home) taking care of her business because she was in the hospital with a broken hip. Working on setting up everything from bill paying to nursing care. Oh, and a new roof was scheduled to be put on her house starting the next day. It was nuts. The Kindle and case where for her. The case did not fit the Kindle but every indication (to me) said it would. The CS rep asked for me to send it back and they would send me the right one, but I couldn’t find the darn thing to send it back. They sent me the correct one, no charge. I’m not proud of how I acted to the CS rep. But I was simply overwhelmed with shit. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/34 "2019-06-03T16:21:02Z")
There’s nothing stopping a competitor to step up and take Amazon on. Hell they did it to Walmart and did it better. At some point some other company with a better mousetrap will do exactly that. As many have pointed out, they loves themselves some Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/35 "2019-06-03T16:59:17Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Yep, that’s why I love Amazon. They’ve always treated me right. Something has changed recently. I too have always said that I love working with Amazon. I get [nearly] everything on time, their customer service is always great, I’ve never had any major problems and all the minor problems are taken care of with a 5 minute phone call or chat session. However, recently, their CS went to hell, at least online. They’re using a bot to run the chat CS, and it’s terrible. I spent well over 2 hours (after the fist half hour, I was just playing with it) trying to get an issue resolved. Very similar phrases kept getting repeated and every answer it gave me would be a response to a different question that may use the same words. For example, I could say ‘Why wasn’t my packaged delivered yet?’ and it would say “The delivery address is…”. Granted, my question(s) were a bit more complex, but it was terrible. I should call them and see if I get anywhere with that. I’ve run into a problem where there are no items available to me with same day delivery. In my opinion, there’s just something screwed up, but when I go to their chat bot, it tells me that it depends on the stock in the warehouse blah blah blah, it doesn’t matter how I try to explain to them that not a single item is available, nothing. Every.Single.Item is two day delivery now. The bot will tell me that perhaps same day/next day isn’t available in my area. It doesn’t understand when I tell it that I’ve been using same day for years and their own site confirms my address as being eligible, but when I click on eligible items, nothing comes up. In fact, when I do a search, even for something really broad like ‘paper’ or ‘batteries’ or ‘kitchen’ and ‘get it today’ button isn’t even there anymore. That’s my rant. I don’t know what changed or what’s wrong with my account, but when I lose same day delivery (which I’m so used to now), I often end up just running to the store. And again, I really should call them on the phone about it. See what a real person has to say. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/36 "2019-06-03T17:28:31Z")
Hey, if you are a prime member, you can now get free 1 day shipping on a whole shit load of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/37 "2019-06-05T03:10:57Z")
I finally got back into my Amazon account. It took 10 days. The first customer service person I talked to didn’t do anything. A week later, I found someone who actually changed the email on the account so I could get back in. Then the email codes didn’t work and I couldn’t set a new password and I was very close to giving up, but I have Mary Berry’s baking book on Kindle and I didn’t want to lose that, so I persisted and now I have a new password. It was not an enjoyable experience, but at least it’s over. Until next time. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/38 "2019-06-05T14:56:30Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#): > > I finally got back into my Amazon account. It took 10 days. The first customer service person I talked to didn’t do anything. A week later, I found someone who actually changed the email on the account so I could get back in. Then the email codes didn’t work and I couldn’t set a new password and I was very close to giving up, but I have Mary Berry’s baking book on Kindle and I didn’t want to lose that, so I persisted and now I have a new password. It was not an enjoyable experience, but at least it’s over. Until next time. There probably will be a next time if you don’t setup up MFA. It’s easy - do it! ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793/39 "2019-06-05T19:37:43Z")
When the same thing happened to me, it was clear to me that someone had hacked my email account password, because they would need to read my email in order to reset my Amazon password. So after getting my Amazon account fixed, I also changed the password for my email account. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-needs-to-be-broken-up-and-sold-off-in-little-chunks-to-the-lowest-bidder/834793.md?page=1)