<p>Things happen with shipments at this time of the year, but how companies respond is not always pleasant. Then comes a company that leaves speechless in a good way. </p>
<p>I had a package shipped to a very dependable UPS store that registers all packages. Among lots of packages, one showed as delivered by our friendly USPS but never entered in the logs at the store. The store spend considerable time checking their system and concluded the pachage might have slipped between the truck and the store. Or something along those lines. I contacted Amazon and was hoping they might have more information on the delivery --not hoping anything since USPS does not require signatures-- and was preparing for a debate. </p>
<p>Within ten minutes of sending a request to Amazon, I got a lengthy EXCUSE and an offer to reship or reimburse me. I asked for a new shipment and my order was confirmed immediately. Pretty amazing! </p>
<p>Of course, one cannot always be lucky. A large KitchenAid mixer bought at Sears was left on the … sidewalk in front our our building by UPS. No signature - no paperwork – but it was our fault! It took quite some work to make them send a replacement, even with some added costs. In the meantime, long live Amazon Prime! </p>
<p>I use Amazon a lot and they have been great when things have gone wrong. My son ordered an Ipod last year and tracking showed that it was in our local post office but they never delivered it. I went there and they couldn’t find it so I called Amazon and they had one on my doorstep the next day. Had a couple of minor issues with ebay, and the seller or ebay quickly refunded my money when I asked them.
I love Amazon prime…it keeps me from driving all over the place. Very convenient to make a few computer clicks and have the products on my doorstep 2 days later.</p>
<p>Lucky you, xiggi. My shoes ordered off Myhabit never made it to my house. “Destroyed in transit” - that’s what Amazon’s email said. Really? More like stolen by some crook! TDB for me… that was one and only pair. The fact that they quickly reimbursed me is of no help. I would want them to buy the shoe elsewhere for me! I know, ain’t gonna happen. :)</p>
<p>Same thing, I was in the pre-college program at Brown and bought a package through Amazon.
Then when it was finally delivered, I went to the office to pick it up but they told me that there wasn’t any package for me. Long story short, I was prepared for a lengthy discussion but they re-send me the package for free.</p>
<p>I’ve been a heavy Amazon user for several years. Most of the time things go smoothly, and whenever there has been a problem, they’ve been very responsive. The problems I’ve had included a package being lost (one of those hybrid shipping situations where the USPS does the final delivery) a huge Prime Pantry order being somehow shipped to another state, an item being damaged, and quite a few instances of dented cans. Immediate replacement or refund. I usually use their online chat service.</p>
<p>Apparently, making a profit isn’t high on the priority list for Amazon right now, and we all benefit. I worry, though, when there isn’t any other choice but Amazon, as they seem to be making it pretty hard on the competition. Will they be so agreeable then?</p>
<p>I ordered something from Rei Tuesday night, and I got it Wednesday.
No shipping charge.
I hate the hybrid shipping of Amazon with USPS, cause our mail carrier is flighty.</p>
<p>There’s some truth to Amazon not being concerned with making profits - they have to take care of the market share fast: AMZN is deathly scared of BABA. Either way, one of them will own the bulk of cybercommerce soon. </p>
<p>Sometimes it’s more profitable for a large volume company to have very liberal refund policies, in terms of reputation, repeat customers, and the value of employee time spent in conversation with customers. They can generally refund or reship with the click of a button – but discussing the matter takes time.</p>
<p>They also have a LOT of information potentially available on their customers. I don’t know if that plays a part or not – but at least in theory if I have a problem with an order, the customer service person could very well be presented with some sortof indication of my trustworthiness (based on buying history, prime status, frequency of orders, any history of past requests for refunds, etc.) at the same time as taking my call or reading my email. I’m not saying that they are engaged in differential treatment, but rather that they have enough data on most customers to allow their system to flag potential fraud situations. They probably have pretty good data on delivery patterns to different areas as well. </p>
<p>Amazon better be concerned about making a profit or they won’t be around long. Amazon doesn’t have the expense of operating brick and mortar retail stores but their expenses for delivering their wares has to be off the charts crushing.</p>
<p>They were great when I had a delivery that was completely smashed. Immediately gave me a refund and also told me that, due to numerous problems with this item’s shipping, they were taking it off their website.</p>
<p>I also am a heavy user of Amazon and have been very happy with their customer service over the years. Along with LE and LLBean, they spoil me wrt to shipping. I get irritated when I order from another company and it takes more than a few days to receive the item. </p>
<p>Maybe Amazon is getting more efficient by replacing human workers with robots that don’t complain about getting paid a little more than minimum wage and having to wait 20 minutes after clocking out to get frisked at gate with no pay.</p>
<p>I’ve been happy with Amazon’s customer service but I have had problems with some of their shipping services. Twice we’ve had packages marked as delivered (using the tracking) a day before they actually arrived on the doorstep. In each case, Amazon asked us to wait an extra day before they’d redo the order. It seemed to me like they were trying to pump up their two day Prime guarantee compliance, kind of like an airline being able to report an on-time departure just by pushing back from the gate. That said, their general success with expedient delivery is a godsend to this non-shopper.</p>
<p>I hate shopping and love Amazon. And UPS. So NOT a fan of any hybrid delivery system that finishes the delivery with USPS. Unfortunately, those of us in rural America seem stuck with it. I do wish online retailers were more upfront about that, because it might change some of my purchase decisions.</p>
<p>Amazon has been great the very few times I’ve had an issue with an item.</p>
But their profit margins aren’t driven by their refund & reshipping policies – “returns and allowances” is just a line item on their budget. If that number gets too high, they can make micro-adjustments to their policies… or they could leave their return policies in place and just push through micro-price increases on their inventory. So one day a bunch of items that were priced at $X.95 the previous day now are priced at $X.97 A lot of these adjustments can be handled in real time, automatically, with pre-programmed computer algorithms. Even the refund/reship determination can probably be automated in most circumstances – the customer fills out the online form, checks the appropriate boxes – and the computer generates an automatic response unless there is something unusual enough to require review by a human being. </p>
<p>Any business is going to allow for a certain percentage of returns and reshipping. Amazon has the advantage of having an enormous catalog and an incredibly huge amount of data available to allow for greater efficiency. </p>
<p>^ I understand it is important for companies to treat customers right and fairly, I also understand businesses can’t operate as charities…a balance has to be maintained. Amazon lost about $437 million 3rd 1/4 2014 despite having revenues in the tens of billions. 2014 is going to be an ocean of red ink for Amazon. Amazon just growing rapidly, but without profit, won’t cut it if Amazon wants to stay in business. Amazon can’t be all things to consumers, at some point Amazon will have to stop giving the store away, or investors will turn off the money faucet and stop pouring more money into the company.</p>