Rant on shipping

[Oaktree]

I'm another who refuses to pay for Prime. Or Sam's Club, or...
I had Prime for a while and really didn't use it much. I also don't do business with places which require "Autopay".

By "autopay" do you mean things like subscriptions where you need to give them a CC# that they charge monthly? I don't like that either, the only one I have is Sirius for my wife's car. If it was me I'd get rid of it, but she won't let me. :laughing:

The nearest Sam's club is a 2+ hour drive from me, don't even know where there is a Cosco...have never seen one. There is a regional warehouse club in NE called BJ's...even then it's still an hour and a half away. Don't really have much need for gallon jars of ketchup, can't see how I'd ever save the membership fee by buying there.
Likewise Prime. I might make 2 or 3 Amazon purchases a year...easy enough to hold off until I get enough for free shipping. Yeah, their "free" shipping is excruciatingly slow, but if you need something yesterday doesn't make sense to order it online.

Agreed. Amazon bargains are becoming few and far between but usually still cheaper than I can buy locally (if even available).

Yeah, but I go there more for stuff that can't be found locally, which is pretty much everything.

Of all of the stores which have gone under, I miss Sears the most.

Yeah, me too. Or at least the Sears that existed up until the early 90s or so.
You'd have thought that the company that all but invented mail order would have been at the forefront of online merchandising, but they missed that boat big time.

 

[rekees4300]

The nearest Sam's club is a 2+ hour drive from me

Sam(e) for me. We upgraded Sam's membership to Plus which has free shipping. IMO their shipping has become better/faster than Amazon Prime. Couldn't believe it when we started getting Sam's deliveries on Sundays via Fedex.

 

[bigtiller]

Ebay - win some, lose some.

With the recordbreaking fires here, the downwind smoke has been unbearably bad at my home over in the valley. And for a single day out at the ranch. Fearing this might be the new normal, I bought another used Oreck electrostatic air purifier off Ebay. These really work, smoke particles stick to the plates and after running a day you can't smell smoke in the indoor air.

'Guaranteed delivery Wednesday', it arrived Thursday. Ok, whatever. But then I started it up and the fan clanks and clunks, bad bearings or something. The one I already had runs like a clock. The noise in this one isn't right. I asked the vendor for return at his expense, which is Ebay's remedy for 'not as described'. Surprisingly he immediately reversed my payment and told me to dispose of it however I wish. Great service!

(I suspect he paid $5 for it at Goodwill so he isn't out very much).

In summary, just another weird Ebay experience.

Luckily the smoke hasn't gone back up to last week's levels but this is still early fire season, anything is possible. Be Prepared! I ordered another one.

I hope you get some rain out there to quench the fires. Your smoke makes it to Iowa occasionally and makes for some beautiful sunsets but it sure does stink.

 

[California]

I hope you get some rain out there to quench the fires. Your smoke makes it to Iowa occasionally and makes for some beautiful sunsets but it sure does stink.

Unfortunately we're still in the part of the year when it gets increasingly dry and more fire-prone. Everything is tinder by now.

Maybe in another month there will be enough precipitation to quench fires. But presently, it just the opposite - fire potential increasing daily. I hope we don't get another dry lightening storm like last week that started over a thousand fires with several now merged into near-largest in history.

It's going to be a long hot summer for a while yet. This chart shows rainfall doesn't reach an inch in a month, before October.

 

[Diggin It]

This Bay Guy took a neg a while back that knocked him down to 94%. That usually makes people ignore them, but I read further when I see it. Just an unhappy knothead and nothing really bad about the seller. It was a $10 item, so no real risk. Bought it about 3 or 4 AM this morning.

Aug 29, 2020 9:05am Tracking number provided

Aug 29, 2020 11:05am SHIPPING LBL CREATED USPS AWAITS ITEM HAMPSHIRE, IL 60140

Aug 29, 2020 11:25am USPS IN POSSESSION OF ITEM HAMPSHIRE, IL 60140

Aug 29, 2020 12:03pm DEPART POST OFFICE HAMPSHIRE, IL 60140

Less than 8 hours after I paid, on a Saturday, it's already left the PO.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
On the rare occasion that I buy there I do the same. Somebody with 5 thousand sales is bound to have an unhappy customer once in a while. I actually get more nervous when they have none; too many tales of people getting bribed to change negative reviews.

I've had cause to complain to PayPal about one vendor; I placed an order, they took my money, then I never heard from them. I tried to contact them but no reply. After a couple of weeks I filed a complaint with PayPal which prompted a reply from the vendor and it wasn't long before they shipped. I got the impression they're a small company and probably got backlogged. I can be pretty patient if I know what's going on but if you take my money I want something in return, or at least some idea of when it will ship.

By "autopay" do you mean things like subscriptions where you need to give them a CC# that they charge monthly? I don't like that either, the only one I have is Sirius for my wife's car. If it was me I'd get rid of it, but she won't let me. :laughing:

The nearest Sam's club is a 2+ hour drive from me, don't even know where there is a Cosco...have never seen one. There is a regional warehouse club in NE called BJ's...even then it's still an hour and a half away. Don't really have much need for gallon jars of ketchup, can't see how I'd ever save the membership fee by buying there.
Likewise Prime. I might make 2 or 3 Amazon purchases a year...easy enough to hold off until I get enough for free shipping. Yeah, their "free" shipping is excruciatingly slow, but if you need something yesterday doesn't make sense to order it online.



Yeah, but I go there more for stuff that can't be found locally, which is pretty much everything.



Yeah, me too. Or at least the Sears that existed up until the early 90s or so.
You'd have thought that the company that all but invented mail order would have been at the forefront of online merchandising, but they missed that boat big time.

I have Sirius, but only because up here my only other choices are talk radio, NPR, or listening to my own singing. Even that last gets old after a while. :laughing:

I pay for a year in advance, and they give me plenty of notice before renewal time. It costs about 77 $/yr, but the only other subscription I pay for is my phone/internet... and that's getting so pricy I'm looking at alternatives.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Me too! But when T-Mobile offered free Prime with five MetroPCS lines, total $150/month flat rate, I couldn't pass that up.

I still comparison shop on Ebay and often choose that alternative. But in addition to price the Ebay vendor needs to have excellent feedback and nothing indicating slow drop-shipping.

Amazon has a far better return policy, when that is relevant.

Amazon has been stone walling me for a measly $200 on a legitimate return for 4 months. Made calls, filled out requisite forms, sent photos, begged the 3rd party vendor. I really don稚 think it痴 malicious. I believe that once a situation falls thru the cracks, you are doomed. All their little AI and forms and e mails and bit wienies click click clicking does nothing except send the problem to someone else. All their automated solutions are meaningless once you fall in the between the cracks. Sometimes it actually takes a human being with the right attitude, someone who takes a personal interest in solving your problem. Or the Easter bunny.

I know they don稚 care but, because I知 building a house etc and I知 spending loys of money every day and not 1 cent goes to amazon. Do you suppose Bezos is losing sleep?

This will not MAGA

Gimme a break

 

[Diggin It]

This Bay Guy took a neg a while back that knocked him down to 94%. That usually makes people ignore them, but I read further when I see it. Just an unhappy knothead and nothing really bad about the seller. It was a $10 item, so no real risk. Bought it about 3 or 4 AM this morning.

Aug 29, 2020 9:05am Tracking number provided

Aug 29, 2020 11:05am SHIPPING LBL CREATED USPS AWAITS ITEM HAMPSHIRE, IL 60140

Aug 29, 2020 11:25am USPS IN POSSESSION OF ITEM HAMPSHIRE, IL 60140

Aug 29, 2020 12:03pm DEPART POST OFFICE HAMPSHIRE, IL 60140

Less than 8 hours after I paid, on a Saturday, it's already left the PO.

This showed a scheduled delivery date of Thursday the 3rd. At 7:30 this morning, I got an email (Informed Delivery) that it was due to arrive Wednesday the 2nd. At 10:30 this morning, it was delivered. Traveled 500 miles in about 48 hours, 24 of which was Sunday.

Apparently USPS service is faster than their computer estimates.



Also got a FedEx delivery at 9:30 Sunday morning that was shipped Wednesday. That one traveled roughly the same distance but took two days longer.

 

[Ford850]

Another example of good USPS service... I had an order shipped Monday evening from RI. Estimated delivery was Saturday, then changed almost immediately to Friday. It's now out for delivery today, Thursday morning!

 

[Doofy]

Ordered a new ceiling fan from Amazon for the garage on Monday evening, shipped Tuesday morning and arrived Wednesday morning. Amazon and USPS at its best.