go ahead a just cancel my order? I ordered 11 items, 7 books and 4 DVDs and all but one was supposed to ship within 24hrs, the other was 2-3 days. This was on Friday the 31st of May.
I used the “SuperSaveShipping” option which says orders over $99 are free shipping with this option if they are all shipped together at the lowest rate. They warn you that it may take an additional 3-5 days to arrive.
When I checked my order status today it says the estimated ship date is June 8-9 and estimated delivery date is June 17-21! It looks like they’re taking another week to jerk around without even shipping anything and then sending it stagecoach freight to eventually get it to me. I’m really pissed about the week of dead time, since they don’t say anything about that, just that the delivery could take longer. The whole thing is set up to look like they’ll ship in a couple days and with the free shipping it will take a few days more (assuming they use the lowest/slowest possible shipping).
They say I can cancel before the order is in process, but they don’t define just what that is. The email I sent stated that I thought they were being misleading and that if I don’t get notified that my order has been shipped within 24 hours that I would cancel the whole thing. Should I go ahead and cancel it before the just change the status and then say I can’t cancel?
Okay, then, Customer Service 101 states that “dissatisfied customers tell 20 people about their bad experience” and as of this posting 23 of you have already read my OP. Who knows how many may eventually see this? At least you’ve been warned what to expect.
I’m not really impatient, regardless of my username, but I think they are being misleading and need to be called on it.
Listen, I used to work in internet retailing, in the customer service division. I can’t even describe to you how many “What the hell kind of scam are you running!?” emails I’ve answered in my day. (We were not running any kind of scam, by the way. I worked in the online division of a very reupatble real-world retailer).
Most likely the problem is simply that shipping status has not updated promptly to the web site. Customer service can tell you if this is what happened. It is possible that availability of items has changed. If so, it is probably a freak occurance and the customer service drones will be apologetic. Amazon would not have the customer base it does if most of its orders didn’t ship promptly. It is also possible that you have not thoroughly understood some point of policy. Did you ask to have your order “consolidatted for cheaper shipping?” If so, none of your items will ship until ALL of them are available.
I’ve never gone out of my way to help abusive customers, so, I’d keep any vitriol to myself if I were you. Hint: you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
H8, I’d suggest getting on the phone with someone. When you’ve got a live person, make it clear that you’re upset, but – and this is very important – make it clear that you’re not upset with the person you’re talking to. That person is your ally, see, and they’re going to help you get what you need.
So you got the carrot and you got the stick. The customer service rep knows that you have a temper, but you’re being nice to them currently. If they help you out, they get praised and complimented, and you can drop them an email thanking them for their help (do this – it’s a nice gesture, and it might go in their personnel file). If they screw you around, ask for their supervisor.
The key is to politely communicate your displeasure. It’s what I do in these situations, and it seems to work wonderfully.
Except with the telephone company. If you ever have a problem with the telephone company, seriously consider seppuku.
I just realized something about your situation. Most companies only ship on business days. You placed your order on a friday. Saturday and sunday were not business days. (The 1st & 2nd). Your first “day” was monday the 3rd. “2-3 day shipping” would not be expected to ship until the 5th or 6th.
I would wait until the 6th (your last official ship date) before you start firing off the angry emails. If your order does ship before the 6th… you owe the customer service staff an apology!!!
I ordered from Amazon 5/ 26 (also supersaver) The expected ship date was 6/3, and it was to arrive around 6/7 or 6/ 8. Instesd, it was shipped on 5/29 and arrived 5/30. They may just build some extra time into their estimates.
the super saver free shipping does take longer than the pay for shipping. even though the site may say ships with in 24hrs, orders that are paying for shipping are put before your’s.
ups is always business days m-f. they may pick things up on sat. but they only move sat deliveries out that day.
Its called “under promise, over deliver” and its a pretty basic tenet of customer service. They want you to be pleasantly surprised as often as possible!
I agree that some packages ship on saturdays. HOWEVER, saturday is NOT a business day. Look in their shipping policy section… every references indicates “business days.” If their warehouses operates like ours did, they use saturday as a “catch up day” but it is NOT an official “ship day.” (only packages that go US Priority mail can be shipped on Saturday anyway). They specify Business Days, so Business Days is all you, the buyer should count.
This is an example of what I meant in my first post when I suggested that the OP had not thoroughly understood some point of policy.
Not too long ago I asked if anyone had ever had Amazon ship within 24 hours. And I am a frequent customer who usually buys over a hundred dollars worth of books. Up until then, I had not ever had one ship in 24. Oddly, my last two orders shipped within 24! Do you think Amazon reads the SDMB?
Also, the manufacturer may change ITS shipping target. I ordered the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation from Amazon.UK. I pre-ordered in March with an estimated ship date of June 6-9. Later, I got an e-mail stating the manufacturer had changed the ship date and I would get the set July 10-12. I got another e-mail last week changing the ship date back to June 6-9.
I got a standard reply from them, pointing out that I opted for the free shipping which takes longer (which I already knew).
They also state that “ships within 2-3 days” ACTUALLY means that their suppliers get it to them within 2-3 days and THEN they start processing my order. How clear is that to the customer?
As someone pointed out, they process my order whenever they get to it (after the paid shipping orders - which is only fair) but I still think it is very misleading to say an item ships within 24 hours or 2-3 days when it will really take 9-10 days.
At least 274 people have seen this post and can know what to expect.
I think its up to you to read their policies before you go bitching and moaning, quite frankly. How are you supposed to know that “ships in 2-3 days” means it takes them 2-3 days to get the item? Well, did you try reading their policy information on availability? Did you perhaps not notice that Ship date estimates appear on the order form AND your order confirmation had two different dates for “shipping time” and “delivery time?”
Click Help, then “ordering from Amazon.com” and you will see this explanation, right out in the open for customers to find.
"The availability estimate on each item’s product information page refers only to how long it will take us to acquire the item once you place your order. It does not include the time your order will take to reach you once we ship it. "
But I guess its easier to go off half-cocked than actually inform yourself before you buy.
Another point: Amazon.com does not own the Post Office. In fact, NO online retailer owns the Post Office – it is actually an independent contractor dedicated to delivering letters and packages. (This comes as a surprise to many customers). Therfore, any retailer is primarily concerned with how long it will take the item to leave their warehouse; after that it is out of their control.
At least 274 people have seen this post and know that you don’t know what you’re talking about. Complaining about free shipping. HONESTLY! You only ordered the stuff like 4 days ago, and you might still get it within a few days. Why don’t you wait until it’s actually late before you start griping? You aren’t even paying any attention to anything Hello Again is telling you, which is right on the money.
You’re going to have to come up with something better than that to discourage people from using Amazon. I use them all the time and have no complaints.
Hello Hello Again - I did indeed look up shipping times at Amazon prior to ordering, but all I really saw indicated that with the free shipping option it would take 3-5 days longer.
It is clearly unclear to customers who are used to receiving their purchases in about 1 week (it is looking like it will take 3 weeks to receive it now) and I don’t think they are being up front about it.
The estimated shipping and arrival date quotes do not appear until after you have placed your order - hit the “purchase” key to make it final.
I placed an order with Amazon on Thursday, 5/30 that was supposed to ship within 24 hours. There was a delay and now is “in process”. They originally quoted a delivery date of 6/6 or 6/7, and now are quoting 6/13. I wonder if they had a system issue towards the end of last week?
In any case, I also work for a direct marketer, and waiting 7 - 10 business days to receive a package is not unusual, and is generally considered good service. And no, weekends don’t count as business days.
Gosh. Remember the days when mail order was “6-8 weeks for delivery” normally? Three to four weeks if they were really on the ball?
Did you check on your order status which warehouses your items were coming out of? If they’re not all the same, it may take extra time for them to assemble your order so that it all ships at the same time. (I don’t know if Amazon puts this info in their status updates - CDNow does, though.)
I routinely receive Amazon orders within four days, with only the basic shipping chosen.
