Amazon -Any Gripes?

I live in a rural area, and Amazon is often the best option.
I use Prime Video sometimes, so I think Prime is worth it—by a narrow margin.

There are a few legitimate manufacturers that use Amazon as their online store. However, a lot of what gets sold on Amazon these days is trending towards cheap knockoff and blatant counterfeit, which pisses me off.

Reviews have become nearly worthless due to shils.
 
My most recent purchases (in years) seemed to be available only on Amazon: gauze dressing, and a silicone scar healing dressing from Denmark.

I got the gauze in 24 hrs direct from the medical supply house and the other came swiftly from a distributor. (Though buying medical products on amazon seems like a great way to get a sham product, these were both the real article—a gamble none the less.)

When in the market for a new cuisinart, the Amazon reviews were helpful. Someone posted a photo of the broken blade. The formerly 1-piece design was a multi-piece design with rivets in the blade (made in China). One of the rivets broke off in the user’s baby food mixture.

Also reviews complained about cuisinart CS, so I bought mine at a local kitchen supply shop—where they confirmed blade problems were resolved, and if I had a problem I would deal with them not cuisinart.

So…mixed bag.
 
Not a prime member but I somewhat a regular customer.I don't buy any items unless they are fulfilled by amazon that can be returned without hassles.I did recently learn a lesson purchasing Panasonic cordless phone batteries from a third party fulfilled by amazon which were not returnable.The item did not come in shrink wrapped but in a ziplock bag.

I do sometime browse the warehouse section for deals on returned items, like knives.If there's a problem I can simply just return it.

I live in city which is a major shipping hub.I have purchased add on items and food items only if they're the same price as in store and purchase enough for free shipping.I have a random wishlist created which is randomly browsed and when I see a deals that I like,bundle them together to qualify for free shipping.

Just last week I saw a third party selling some ceramic ball bearing at a reduced price with amazon fulfillment. So I bundled it together will other add ons.I simply purchased it because it was an extremely great deal and the other options would of costed 2-2.5x more.
 
razorburn said:
Not a prime member but I somewhat a regular customer.I don't buy any items unless they are fulfilled by amazon that can be returned without hassles.I did recently learn a lesson purchasing Panasonic cordless phone batteries from a third party fulfilled by amazon which were not returnable.The item did not come in shrink wrapped but in a ziplock bag.

I do sometime browse the warehouse section for deals on returned items, like knives.If there's a problem I can simply just return it.

I live in city which is a major shipping hub.I have purchased add on items and food items only if they're the same price as in store and purchase enough for free shipping.I have a random wishlist created which is randomly browsed and when I see a deals that I like,bundle them together to qualify for free shipping.

Just last week I saw a third party selling some ceramic ball bearing at a reduced price with amazon fulfillment. So I bundled it together will other add ons.I simply purchased it because it was an extremely great deal and the other options would of costed 2-2.5x more.
Click to expand...
Were the batteries ok? Never heard of a "warehouse section"? Amazon has a couple facilities near me (one about 5 miles, other about 30 miles). Stuff from the local facilities get to me pretty quick. Once a item was shipped north to Cinci and then circled back to me.... thought that was humorous but they technically met their estimated delivery date.
 
22-rimfire said:
Were the batteries ok? Never heard of a "warehouse section"? Amazon has a couple facilities near me (one about 5 miles, other about 30 miles). Stuff from the local facilities get to me pretty quick. Once a item was shipped north to Cinci and then circled back to me.... thought that was humorous but they technically met their estimated delivery date.
Click to expand...

The batteries are working fine.The Amazon Warehouse Deals can be found at the top of the page,next to the search bar by clicking the down arrow menu.
 
I never understood the popularity of Amazon, beyond the pure laziness of the population. I use them a few times a year at most, entirely because i can almost always find what i need on Ebay or some other site for cheaper. Ive definitely never bought a knife on there. I get most of mine either on here, or through ebay if its something a bit more rare and i cant wait.
 
DrRollinstein said:
I never understood the popularity of Amazon, beyond the pure laziness of the population. I use them a few times a year at most, entirely because i can almost always find what i need on Ebay or some other site for cheaper. Ive definitely never bought a knife on there. I get most of mine either on here, or through ebay if its something a bit more rare and i cant wait.
Click to expand...

I'm curious why you say it is laziness that causes people to buy from Amazon but then you say you buy stuff from other online retailers. Why is it lazy to buy from Amazon but not from ebay or "some other site"?
 
Norcaldude said:
I'm curious why you say it is laziness that causes people to buy from Amazon but then you say you buy stuff from other online retailers. Why is it lazy to buy from Amazon but not from ebay or "some other site"?
Click to expand...
They consider it a convenience thing. "Oh look at all of the things Amazon has, and such quick shipping"! So even if its available cheaper elsewhere, why use other sites when Amazon has it all?

Also i just dont like Amazon as a company. A pretty large percentage of my graduating class has worked at their warehouses at one point or another, and i have not once heard a single good thing about it. There is a reason they've bumped their pay up to 15 an hour starting out.
 
It's a toss up no matter who you buy from. I've ordered stuff from Ebay sellers that has been shipped straight to me from Amazon and then felt stupid because I obviously paid the Ebay seller as a middleman. I've ordered stuff from Amazon that got here the very next day and stuff that has been in my home state and took two weeks. Ebay is full of liars who say they're US sellers and then you get a package from China- finally. Other times it takes two days. My kid liked "Wish" for awhile and then got screwed on two orders that never showed up at all. Still, all things considered I'd have to say most of them (excluding Wish) are pretty reliable insofar as actually getting your stuff to you if you're not in a hurry.
EDIT: Remember- the holidays are about here, figure an extra three days to a a week on anything through the USPS and an extra day or two on anyone else without a guarantee.
 
My order that I originally wrote about will probably beat the revised shipping dates by a day or two. Seems that the stuff is being shipped in three shipments. I suspect the last one came from China or a direct seller as it shipped from CA.

I bought stuff on fleabay, General stuff appears to be fine oveall. Collector stuff you need to pay attention to.

A couple years ago I ordered some replacement hubcaps for my old Toyota pickup from fleabay. Original Toyota stuff was pretty much unavailable. The replacement hub caps were plastic but looked good. The funny part was I needed one hubcap.... they shipped one hubcap, but their listing said 4 for the price I paid. I called the seller and they agreed... shipped me a box containing 4 hub caps. Thought that was pretty good business and customer relations. They were obviously made in China and the seller was probably Chinese. I later had an accident with that pickup and the insurance company totaled it.... I still have a box of 4 hub caps in my garage. :D
 
Last edited:
We've had Amazon Prime for years, and it's a must have for us. It's not unusual that we receive 3 or 4 deliveries a week.

I'd like to buy local, but we live in an area that doesn't have many options for shopping. (We don't even have a book store, so 100% of our book purchases are from Amazon.) If we didn't have Amazon, we would likely have a 120 mile round trip to get what we needed locally. I'm just not willing to do that when I can simply order it from Amazon. Once they start offering groceries in my area, I'll probably use them for that as well.
 
Mitchell Knives Mitchell Knives That's amazing and a perfect reason to have Amazon Prime. My purchases seem to go in spurts. I keep an active cart of things I intend to buy and when they pile up a bit, I order and it is mostly driven by "free shipping". Most of my books are now Kindle books from Amazon and I probably buy one about once a week.

I used to like looking at a big pile of books on a shelf like it gave the appearance that I was educated or something. Now, I want no bound books unless it is some sort of manual that I am likely to just pick and choose portions to read. The Kephart book Camping and Woodcraft is one of those I dig out every couple of weeks. I don't even keep my old hard backs on the shelf any more... all in boxes and they will eventually go to the used book store for resale.
 
I must admit to using Amazon but have learned that - if I can - buying directly from the source of the product I prefer, rather than from an Amazon handler gets me the exact product I order, rather than something repackaged, and better hassle free service if I ever need it. Usually that is worth the extra 5% or 10% more. Sometimes there is no savings at all using Amazon compared to buying direct. I do take the time to shop and compare on line, still less time consuming for me than the alternative of driving for 45 minutes to an hour and a half to any real stores.

One evolving major gripe I have with Amazon is that I am coming to be aware of how brutal the company can be to their warehouse handlers. They pretty much run them to the ground and then spit them out once they are useless to them. It is getting more unsavory to me to participate, the more I learn how pervasive their abuse of employees is - some warehouses shipping centers, worse than others.


Ray
 
22-rimfire said:
Mitchell Knives Mitchell Knives
I used to like looking at a big pile of books on a shelf like it gave the appearance that I was educated or something. Now, I want no bound books unless it is some sort of manual that I am likely to just pick and choose portions to read. The Kephart book Camping and Woodcraft is one of those I dig out every couple of weeks. I don't even keep my old hard backs on the shelf any more... all in boxes and they will eventually go to the used book store for resale.
Click to expand...

I've been going in the opposite direction. In the past I was content to read mostly digital books, but I've been buying more physical books as of late. I actually had to build a new bookshelf to organize them all. I love my Kindle, but there is something I like about having an actual book on a shelf. The smell and feel of the pages just makes it more "real" to me. I still use my Kindle daily and it can't be beat for traveling. I totally agree with you regarding manuals or reference books. I absolutely need a physical copy for those types of books.
 
My book shelves are filled with reference books primarily now. They are pretty full actually, but I like some extra space to lay a knife down or a roll of tape and so forth. I keep my binoculars on my book shelves for ready access. I have a lot of books. For example I have about 50 years worth of the Gun Digests on a shelf. Have a few Shooters Bibles but always preferred Gun Digest. I don't use my B&W Kindle much any more and use a Tablet computer as it has better resolution. Amazon gets a lot of book business from me.

Just got a 2020 calendar, my favorite.... Tennessee Wild & Scenic by Brown Trout. My sister used to give me a new one for Christmas and she has had trouble finding them and substituted. Since I specifically want that calendar, I have opted now to just order one via Amazon about this time of the year and I don't wait for the reduced prices at books stores after Christmas as it is hit or miss on that specific calendar.

I do think Amazon really runs their warehouse workers into the ground with very strict production quotas. If you fall short a few times, they dump you or that is what I have been told.
 
22-rimfire said:
Amazon gets a lot of book business from me.
Click to expand...
I wanted to add that back during pre-internet days, I used to drive over an hour each way just to look at books and buy a small pile of paperbacks each trip. I would have loved Amazon back then if it was an option. Hence, the demise of the brick & mortar book stores.

I order stuff from Walmart and have shipped to their closest store which is about 6 miles away. Same thing with Home Depot although HD is not known for cheap prices.

Pet food would be a really big draw for me via Amazon (and a Prime membership) if retail stores weren't so close by. How does Amazon pack a bag of dog food? Box?
 
22-rimfire said:
Pet food would be a really big draw for me via Amazon (and a Prime membership) if retail stores weren't so close by. How does Amazon pack a bag of dog food? Box?
Click to expand...

I just got a bag on Tuesday, 26 lb, in a large box with brown kraft paper stuffing. (Had to say "stuffing") Happy Thanksgiving!!
 
Last edited:
22-rimfire said:
I am not a Prime member as I feel that the amount of stuff I order does not justify the cost. I try to take advantage of their "free shipping" option over a certain dollar amount. But.....

I just ordered some odds and ends from them and selected "free shipping". I get the email notice that they anticipate delivery in about 3 or 4 weeks and the stuff is in stock. Used to be you added a few days to the process. Now I believe Amazon is trying to push their customers to their prime membership for adequate service.

Seriously thinking about dumping Amazon for future purchases as much as possible. What say you?

The deal is that they simply don't process or fill the order and the "free shipping" is only a few days longer than several paid shipping options. Their checkout states shipping times "after the order is shipped".
Click to expand...

I've used Amazon to find where a knife is located but bought straight from the seller. Many knives are sold by third parties. Knife was cheaper direct from the provider.

Jeff Bezos is reason enough, on so many levels, for any thinking man to patronize anywhere else but Amazon...
 
brownshoe said:
I've used Amazon to find where a knife is located but bought straight from the seller. Many knives are sold by third parties. Knife was cheaper direct from the provider.

Jeff Bezos is reason enough, on so many levels, for any thinking man to patronize anywhere else but Amazon...
Click to expand...
So you "use" Amazon but you don't "support" it.

Classic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top