Amazon is facing a serious downturn

ekinnyc wrote in post #16803984
my only complaint with amazon is their increasing usage of USPS-based fulfillment

I'd be perfectly OK with it if they hadn't increased the minimum order from 25 to 35 to qualify for free shipping.

I've got a good mail carrier and the actual post office is only a few blocks away. On the other hand, I've had issues with UPS and FedEx in the past, but I'm sure everyone out there has a similar story about X carrier.

I use Amazon a lot for little things here and there that I don't need immediately, but I'll admit that it's sometimes a struggle to tack on an extra 10 bucks of stuff when I'm not really in need of anything else specific, but I'd rather spend 10 bucks on an item than spend 7 bucks on shipping.

No problem here what-so-ever. I order there a TON and have not noticed any "quality degrade" in options/pricing/custom​er service in the past few years as a prime member. The only thing I have noticed is an increase of add-on items.

Still the same great service.

Been using Prime for about 2 years now. Absolutely loving it. Customer care has been great. I 've returned stuff with no problems. Also don't forget the reduced price you get on 1 day shipping. Customer care is great compared to others. I just wish they threw in more features with the price increase on prime membership.

I have had no issues with them. I had a package stolen off my front door step and I got a new tracking number and item within a few days. They even allowed me to ship to my work so I do get the item.

I will gladly pay the new Prime fee. Shipping isn't getting cheaper so I understand the cost. I'm sure they get a huge discount but still, shipping is still going up.

I support brick and motor stores but sometimes they don't have the item I am looking for.

Well from what I read merchants paying for fulfillment are not to happy about where things are headed either. This is not just an issue of Amazon not stocking product or inventory selling out quickly rather this is an issue of third party vendors refusing to deal with fulfillment headaches. In fact Amazon in an attempt to make more money even borrows inventory from third party sellers to boost it's own stock and replaces returns from the stock of other sellers. This is not supposed to happen with stickered inventory but Amazon is obviously looking to make bigger gains by screwing merchants rather then buying it's own legit stock.

Not that big a deal until you realize much of the product getting moved around may or may not even be legit. And if your product (such as memory cards) gets mixed with someone else's counterfeit goods you can be penalized and lose your Amazon account just so that Amazon can cut corners and enjoy bigger profits for itself. And while we can simply choose to avoid merchants with bad feedback on Ebay with Amazon they take the issue of returns to another level. Merchants can have their account suspended for high order defect rate even though Amazon itself lacks the ability to control their own inventory quality. All while merchants actually pay fees to absorb the costs associated with these returns but Amazon would still rather just close the account.

I can see why the things I was able purchase without a problem last year are no longer becoming available this year outside of China direct. Many of those items have crappy feedback even though I placed dozens of orders for the same products and never once had a problem. Some of the complaints were not even valid imho just pure buyer stupidity where they expected much more then was even promised. So buyers are becoming the biggest part of the problem as people are so accustomed to returning the majority of what they buy to big box stores who can easily discount or absorb the losses.

I have no issues with them and will keep Prime too. I also return things quite frequently, I buy lots of art and photography books and they don't always pack them well. I don't accept a book with dings and damage, amazon replaces them no problem. I have to pay sales tax but don't care, if I don't have to head to some big box store somewhere I can wait two days. Customer service always came through for me too, including discounts and prime extensions if something didn't get to me in two days.

I rarely ever use ebay, I prefer to deal with one vendor I can trust, not multiple vendors I've never dealt with. I also try to avoid 3rd party vendors on Amazon when ever possible, even if they sell for a bit less.

I'd never set foot into or order from Walmart.

RHChan84 wrote in post #16804561
I have had no issues with them. I had a package stolen off my front door step and I got a new tracking number and item within a few days. They even allowed me to ship to my work so I do get the item.

It's not a problem because either the merchant eats the loss if they shipped or the shipper eats it if Amazon shipped it. No matter what Amazon does not lose a nickel even if it was the last drop of stock they had. Even if another merchant was selling for a higher price Amazon will pull replacement stock from them to cover your replacement and then reimburse the merchant for the lesser cost they sold to you for.

So yea it's brilliant for buyers just like Ebay until most of the merchants are gone and you have to buy everything direct from Amazon. Because when it's Amazon's money on the line they will just cancel your account when it starts costing them out of pocket. They have suspended plenty of customers already simply for returning products and requesting refunds rather then exchanges for defective products.

The tax collection thing for me here in Indiana that kicked in this year has made a difference for large purchases...both my Tamron 150-600 and upcoming Canon G1X MKII and underwater housing were bought via B & H due to the fact they don't collect sales tax here, and offered free shipping just like my Amazon prime membership. Approx. $150 saved so far this year compared to Amazon on the tax issue alone.

Still use Amazon to buy about anything else, but the big stuff, sorry, going to look elsewhere, where in the past I'd use them 99.9% of the time.

phantelope wrote in post #16804588
I also return things quite frequently, I buy lots of art and photography books and they don't always pack them well. I don't accept a book with dings and damage, amazon replaces them no problem.

You obviously don't return that frequently but if you do I'd be expecting a warning letter or account closure pretty soon.

What may be more concerning for shoppers is the number of people who say they've been banned from Amazon for what the store deems to be excessive returns. The store doesn't say anything about banning customers in its posted policy, but it apparently closes your account when you hit a certain percentage of returns.

http://money.msn.com …to-these-5-stores?ref=bfv

I've received this warning. Happened back during the holidays last year. I contacted Amazon and they said not to worry about it and ignore the e-mail. Haven't had any troubles since.

I use Amazon. A lot.

121 orders in 2011.
148 in 2012.
219 in 2013.
73 in 2014.

Today I shipped back my Samyang 14mm, and I had a notification for my refund less than an hour after it got scanned in at UPS. Before they even get it back in their hands.

v35skyline wrote in post #16804963
I've received this warning. Happened back during the holidays last year. I contacted Amazon and they said not to worry about it and ignore the e-mail.

My mother got the same email around that same time and she spent well over $10k yearly with Amazon yet they did close her account earlier this year. She bought lots of shoes, sunglasses, jewelry, auto parts, housewares, even the tires for her SUV. Unfortunately accounts are flagged and shut based on a profitability based algorithm that does not take purchase amounts into consideration. They simply look at your purchase to return ratio and anything over the undisclosed threshold even if they were just $1 items can put you over that mark. The same goes for sellers if they get to many defect returns they also get shut out even if it's a customer committing fraud Amazon does not care.

When and if you get your account closed those CS people who said not to worry will tell you tough luck. You will then be advised to contact CIS who manages the account reviews, handles the appeals which in all cases they deny. Once you are booted they also flag your ip address, phone numbers, credit cards, bank and everything else they have on you. Even worse you lose access to all your purchase history so unless you have paper backups forget about ever getting warranty help with anything you bought.

275 Amazon orders in 10 years for me. And that doesn't include the stuff my wife orders. I think I returned a jacket once because it was way too small. I don't usually buy shoes or clothing other than coats and stuff that will most likely fit, so I don't need to return stuff. I don't abuse the system by "trying stuff out" like some folks do. Their return policy is not supposed to be a "try before you buy" plan. It's meant to replace defective or damaged goods or, in the case of clothing or shoes, stuff that doesn't fit. I suppose if a person buys lots of clothing and has to return a lot of things that don't fit, you'd get Amazon's attention, and not in a good way. But I think if I were buying clothes and had to return things often, I'd find someplace else to buy clothes (or shoes or whatever).

You can find plenty of anecdotal accounts of retailers taking advantage of employees or suppliers or third party merchants. Walmart does it, Best Buy does it, and Amazon does it. Such is life in America. Every time the gov't tries to crack down on it, people scream bloody murder and claim the US isn't being business friendly. You can't have it both ways. If you want laissez faire for business, then you have to expect businesses are going to protect their bottom line above all else. Whatever makes the stockholders happy.

isoMorphic wrote in post #16805206
My mother got the same email around that same time and she spent well over $10k yearly with Amazon yet they did close her account earlier this year. She bought lots of shoes, sunglasses, jewelry, auto parts, housewares, even the tires for her SUV. Unfortunately accounts are flagged and shut based on a profitability based algorithm that does not take purchase amounts into consideration. They simply look at your purchase to return ratio and anything over the undisclosed threshold even if they were just $1 items can put you over that mark. The same goes for sellers if they get to many defect returns they also get shut out even if it's a customer committing fraud Amazon does not care.

When and if you get your account closed those CS people who said not to worry will tell you tough luck. You will then be advised to contact CIS who manages the account reviews, handles the appeals which in all cases they deny. Once you are booted they also flag your ip address, phone numbers, credit cards, bank and everything else they have on you. Even worse you lose access to all your purchase history so unless you have paper backups forget about ever getting warranty help with anything you bought.

I wasn't aware of this. This troubles me if true. Would you please post the source of this statement?

Thanks in advance,
mixednuts

M_Six wrote in post #16805735
I don't usually buy shoes or clothing other than coats and stuff that will most likely fit, so I don't need to return stuff. I don't abuse the system by "trying stuff out" like some folks do. Their return policy is not supposed to be a "try before you buy" plan. It's meant to replace defective or damaged goods or, in the case of clothing or shoes, stuff that doesn't fit.

No where does it clearly state in ANY specific terms that if you make to many returns they will terminate your account. And to make matters worse it seems price adjustments and gift returns actually count against you as well. Yet if returns are such a big problem it's interesting that Zappos which is owned by Amazon can offer a liberal 1 year return policy.

With Zappos Retail, Inc.'s 365 day return policy, there are no special catches or exceptions. All we ask is that you send the items back to us in the original packaging, and make sure that the merchandise is in the same condition.

mixednuts wrote in post #16805740
I wasn't aware of this. This troubles me if true. Would you please post the source of this statement?

It's been posted countless times by many users search Google for "Amazon CIS" and you will find many discussions dating back many years. My mother lost hundreds in points/credits along with music and most importantly years of purchase history. Lucky for me I keep all receipts but for merchant fulfillment they are doing away with the paper which means banned account = no proof of purchase.

And for the unbelievers the financials do not lie. Amazon is bleeding and the only real money being made is from Kindle/Digital media and Prime fees. They obviously need to raise Prime to be able to cover the huge expense of their new TV box venture.

http://www.marketwatch​.com/investing/Stock/A​MZN