Wise Fwom Your Gwave!
I had been toying with the idea of trying Amazon Prime. Recent events pushed me over the edge, in part as a service to you, the SDMB community.
I had ordered a power tool from Amazon and elected Super Saver Shipping, like usual. Said tool was listed as “Usually ships in 24 hours.” And after my order, I checked regularly, and yes, it was always listed as “Usually ships in 24 hours.”
The outside ship date on my oder – three weeks after I ordered – came and went. When I checked Amazon’s site, it told me the item was backordered and it would be another two weeks before it shipped. Yet the item page still said “Usually ships in 24 hours.” An email to Amazon customer service confirmed the delay, in spite of what the item’s page said.
So I decided to do a little experiment. Granted, it was going to cost me some money and potentially reward bad corporate behavior, but them’s the breaks. It’s a small price to pay in the name of science. I signed up for Amazon Prime, canceled my order, and re-placed it, electing for the Prime treatment.
Lo and behold, my tool arrived two days later.
So does Amazon give preferences to Prime customers over regular Super Saver customers, above and beyond just faster shipping? If my experiment is representative, then it would appear they do.
'Course, now I’m out $80, and I’ve always liked Amazon anyway, so in spite of their shenanigans, in the interests of getting my money’s worth out of a year of Prime, I’ll still order from them. But I’ll be very, very annoyed every time I do, I promise.