Amazon completely drops the ball on shipping <moved>

Amamba wrote in post #16951651
You missed the point - I ordered it on Friday before 5pm. On Tuesday at 10 pm it still hasn't been shipped. That's two full business days plus some Friday time plus the weekend. It wasn't until 10 pm on Tuesday that I made another purchase using what ended up being the same points; by that time Amazon has already missed any reasonable shipping time, and they failed to notify me of issue with points (that happened due to their own screw up in first place ) for another 10 hours.

Now this is the screwing up part, which I can forgive. What I won't forgive Is the completely dismissive attitude of their customer service, including the supervisor that first tried to blame me for everything and then hung up on me when I presented her with times and dates, and asked why an item ordered during business on Friday hasn't shipped as of 10pm next Tuesday. That's 4.5 days, mind you, and over two full business days and the item hasn't even left their warehouse in Virginia at 10pm last night - no freaking way it would make it to Michigan today. They screwed up, and lied, and she hung up on me when caught on that lie ("dropped call" my ass) and I don't think I am being unreasonable at all.

I did not miss the point. But 5p.m. Friday is not magic. Prime Eligible always tells you what time you have to order by. And with PE, for only $3.99 you can have it the next day. Yes, I understand that a shipping delay occurred. I am very sorry. It happened to me once, too. However, when an item is expensive/time-sensitive, order early, watch the order/tracking immediately (including for ship date), know that UPS and FedEx aren't going to do much with it on Sat-Sun (at least in my area), and politely bring their attention as soon as a miss-step occurs. This has worked well for me.

Amamba wrote in post #16951727
The supervisor claimed they could still get the lens here if there wasn't a "payment issue" and that they have emailed me immediately when they saw the points were used. Well, that email was sent at 7:48am today, I fixed the payment at 8:02 am. So if they can process a purchase at 7:48 and claim they would still have it in my hands at 8 pm the same day, I asked to have that lens at my house before 10am tomorrow morning. Well, can't guarantee time, only the day. Ok, then give me a discount as I still want the lens. Well, heres $5. To me, that's an insult.

So you want what? A 50% discount? Free lens?

Amamba wrote in post #16950876
Ordered a lens with them last Friday afternoon. I am a Prime member and expected it here today the latest. Lens didn't ship on Monday or on Tuesday, yet still showed delivery on Wednesday. Last night I ordered something else and paid with points available in my account (that was around 10pm). At 7:48 am Amazon emails me that there's a problem with my lens payment a- apparently the points I paid with on Tuesday night were the same used for a partial payment on Friday. Immediately switched payment method but now it shows delivery date one day later - the day I need the lens.

Several calls later nobody can answer a few simple questions - why did the item ordered before 5pm on Friday still wasn't shipped at 9:42pm on Tuesday the following week, when I have a "guaranteed" 2 business days delivery ? Why the points I paid with were still available in my account full 4 days later ? Why did it take them until 8 am the day of delivery to notify me of that problem ? How did they expect to honor their date in first place if they still didn't ship it a night before from a warehouse in Virginia (according to the rep) to Michigan ? One of the girls I spoke with did let it slip that the warehouse was overloaded and running behind - which means they were going to miss the date anyway, even though they refuse to admit this.

I am done with Amazon, should've ordered from B&H, the price was the same anyway.

When you saw it hadn't shipped why did you wait 2 days instead of contacting them. If they hadn't contact you when would you have contacted them?

If I understand the timing you waited until they emailed you on Wednesday and you expect them to get it to you by Thursday at 10am?

matthewm wrote in post #16951753
So you want what? A 50% discount? Free lens?

I wanted them to send me the lens before 10am the next morning. According to their customer service rep, they can deliver a lens from Virginia to Michigan on same day. So they should be able to deliver it by 10 am the next morning, unless she's lying. If they can't do that, they could offer a 10-15% discount to make up for their screw up. Heck, a sincere "we're sorry, we did screw up" would be enough to keep me from venting here - if received early enough. But a complete runaround with lies and hung up calls, capped with an offer of $5, is insulting.

benji25 wrote in post #16951773
When you saw it hadn't shipped why did you wait 2 days instead of contacting them. If they hadn't contact you when would you have contacted them?

If I understand the timing you waited until they emailed you on Wednesday and you expect them to get it to you by Thursday at 10am?

I did contact them on Monday night - I think I wrote about this earlier. I saw that the whole business day passed without them shipping the lens ordered two and a half days ago, and sent a customer service request. I got an email reply from Arun V. saying the delivery date was 6/4 and everything was going to be fine. Contacting them a second time in two days after they assured me the lens would be delivered as promised seemed silly.

I am convinced they were so far behind in shipping from that warehouse they were fully aware they would miss the deadline - but were just getting to let it slip.

Again, this stuff happens. It's how they handled it that I find appalling.

Amamba wrote in post #16951792
I wanted them to send me the lens before 10am the next morning. According to their customer service rep, they can deliver a lens from Virginia to Michigan on same day. So they should be able to deliver it by 10 am the next morning, unless she's lying. If they can't do that, they could offer a 10-15% discount to make up for their screw up. Heck, a sincere "we're sorry, we did screw up" would be enough to keep me from venting here. But a complete runaround with lies and hung up calls, capped with an offer of $5, is insulting.

Interesting to hear... I can see both sides here. Sucks that it happened. Hope you can move past it. I do think that 15% is way too much compensation here. On a $600 item, you're talking $90. That's a LOT. I would think a $15-20 Gift Card would have been sufficient as well as an Early AM delivery.

matthewm wrote in post #16951798
Interesting to hear... I can see both sides here. Sucks that it happened. Hope you can move past it. I do think that 15% is way too much compensation here. On a $600 item, you're talking $90. That's a LOT. I would think a $15-20 Gift Card would have been sufficient as well as an Early AM delivery.

If they offered an AM delivery, the issue would have been settled right away. I don't need their $25 card, I need the lens I paid for on Friday afternoon to be here on Thursday morning. All they could offer was to have it redirected to wherever I am going to ( a camping site in Northern Michigan ? Don't think so).

They charge $99 a year for Prime. That's not cheap. Their video section is lame compared to Netflix, and all the good stuff has to be paid for anyway. Their prices are average. So the only value of Prime is in fast delivery. Friday to Thursday is NOT fast.

Everything I ordered with my Prime account showed up in 2 days and by UPS. Nothing ever got in the hands of USPS. Never ordered lenses from Amazon, I can get my local B&M store to price match and no tax.

Often times, on small items I have orders get transferred to usps. Unfortunately, my USPS does not deliver to a physical address. Items get sent back to amazon and then I wait for a refund. I placed an order for two sdxc cards I needed to multicam film a graduation. I ordered it with a day to spare. However, I knew I was taking a gamble. Anyway, UPS ended up passing the items to USPS on Tuesday when I was suppose to get them at my house. I needed it by Wednesday. As soon as I saw UPS say it was handed off to USPS, I knew right away I wasn't getting my package.

Long story short, plan ahead. Luckily I had some large size cards already, but I was ordering extras as backup. I know that if I need anything to get to me that is time sensitive, I pay the 1-day delivery.

Even though Amazon makes mistakes, make sure to contact tech support about the issue, just to let them know a problem exist. I am frustrated, but it hasn't bothered me enough to cancel prime. There are still benefits to their shipping and products for me.n

After about 7 calls to CS and several emails and a bad feedback on the order, and all but giving up, last night I actually got a reply someone who admitted to the screw up & was willing to offer me a solution, and as importantly, what felt like a sincere apology. I think this was a reply to my feedback on the purchase.

She offered free next day shipping - which will be here tomorrow since I already canceled the lens they never bothered shipping. I am leaving in 2 hours but one of my friends who's coming with us now has to work on Friday so I arranged for him to bring it over to the camping site when he joins us on Saturday. She also offered, without me asking for it, $25 discount. While it doesn't make much difference on a $600 lens, at least it's not as insulting as $5.

Now, I still think they've botched it; she is the last of the many people I spoke with, and the only one who bothered to actually help. But at least this is a resolution.

I still think that ordering an item that's in stock at 4 pm on Friday and not having it leave the warehouse on Wednesday morning under a premium shipping policy is pretty bad and the way it was handled until last night was inexcusable and can't be blamed on "poor planning" on my part. I will take this into consideration for any future purchase. But I am done with this one, as long as it is delivered as promised.

Amamba wrote in post #16952972
...
I still think that ordering an item that's in stock at 4 pm on Friday and not having it leave the warehouse on Wednesday morning under a premium shipping policy is pretty bad and the way it was handled until last night was inexcusable and can't be blamed on "poor planning" on my part. I will take this into consideration for any future purchase. But I am done with this one, as long as it is delivered as promised.

Glad you finally got resolution on this. I agree that the mistake is bad, and that poor planning on your part really is not the issue. I also agree that the lack of immediate response by Amazon is the real issue. It always is in these types of situations, as every company makes mistakes. The trick is always in the solution.

Amazon has always excelled in this area in my experience, so it is especially surprising to hear of this failure. I'd want to give them another chance, to prove that this is an outlier and not the "new normal", but that's maybe just me.

benji25 wrote in post #16951684
Their policy is this:

There would be no refund of shipping since Amazon Prime gives you FREE 2-day shipping. If he paid for overnight and the carrier (not Amazon) failed to deliver it next day, than your theory would be correct.

Amamba wrote in post #16951792
I wanted them to send me the lens before 10am the next morning. According to their customer service rep, they can deliver a lens from Virginia to Michigan on same day. So they should be able to deliver it by 10 am the next morning, unless she's lying. If they can't do that, they could offer a 10-15% discount to make up for their screw up. Heck, a sincere "we're sorry, we did screw up" would be enough to keep me from venting here - if received early enough. But a complete runaround with lies and hung up calls, capped with an offer of $5, is insulting.

They would never offer 10-15% on the item. They'll either give you a credit (thats how they get you to come back to shop), refund/upgrade shipping or just refund amount.

Amamba wrote in post #16952972
After about 7 calls to CS and several emails and a bad feedback on the order, and all but giving up, last night I actually got a reply someone who admitted to the screw up & was willing to offer me a solution, and as importantly, what felt like a sincere apology. I think this was a reply to my feedback on the purchase.

She offered free next day shipping - which will be here tomorrow since I already canceled the lens they never bothered shipping. I am leaving in 2 hours but one of my friends who's coming with us now has to work on Friday so I arranged for him to bring it over to the camping site when he joins us on Saturday. She also offered, without me asking for it, $25 discount. While it doesn't make much difference on a $600 lens, at least it's not as insulting as $5.

Now, I still think they've botched it; she is the last of the many people I spoke with, and the only one who bothered to actually help. But at least this is a resolution.

I still think that ordering an item that's in stock at 4 pm on Friday and not having it leave the warehouse on Wednesday morning under a premium shipping policy is pretty bad and the way it was handled until last night was inexcusable and can't be blamed on "poor planning" on my part. I will take this into consideration for any future purchase. But I am done with this one, as long as it is delivered as promised.

Glad its finally resolved and to your semi-liking. If they're willing to help resolve it, thats all I ask for.

Ordering at 4pm, isn't that close to the cut off limit for shipping the same day?

1KIND wrote in post #16953135
They would never offer 10-15% on the item. They'll either give you a credit (thats how they get you to come back to shop), refund/upgrade shipping or just refund amount.

Glad its finally resolved and to your semi-liking. If they're willing to help resolve it, thats all I ask for.

Ordering at 4pm, isn't that close to the cut off limit for shipping the same day?

I didn't expect them to ship the same day on Friday. If they did it would be great. Shipping on Monday would be a reasonable expectation for an order placed on Friday. Shipping on Tuesday would be late but an item shipped on Tuesday morning would still make it here, with high probability, by the end of the day on Wednesday. Not shipping on Friday, Monday OR Tuesday was a complete screw up on their part.

As long as they make good on their last promise it's over. I'll just remember they can't be relied on for timely delivery, and plan accordingly.

1KIND wrote in post #16953124
There would be no refund of shipping since Amazon Prime gives you FREE 2-day shipping. If he paid for overnight and the carrier (not Amazon) failed to deliver it next day, than your theory would be correct.

I pay $100 a year so it's most definitely not FREE.