OT Deliveries gone wild.

[Micky]

OT, I signed up for Amazon Prime, iirc, because I couldn't get close tor $49 and they were going to charge me about $7 just for postage on a $20 order. And I think I've ordered 6 times this month, and the last one was 1AM this morning, Saturday.

I bought 6 things and they have scheduled 4 deliveries, FOUR, to deliver them all. I'm not in a hurry for any of them, but get this, the two they are delivering tomorrow, Sunday, are the two "add-ons", that I need the least, that cost $9 total (2 packages** of self-stick laminating clear vinyl envelopes and 100 blank paper CD sleeves. **For some reason the summary of the order and the email about delivery doesn't even know what these things are and they call them "2 items". )

Then the biggest thing and one little thing are coming on Tuesday, a ream of paper is coming on Thursday. AFAIC, they could have waited from Saturday to Thursday to deliver all 5 things, but once you're prime, they don't ask, usually.

And a $3.50 USB hub is coming late June, early July, a separate delivery for a 3.50 item, all deliveries free.

Earlier this month they asked me if they could merge two deliveries and I said Yes (I'm almost never in a hurry) but not so far this time.

[Ed Pawlowski]

The items are coming from four locations and sounds like one is direct from China. You do have the option of choosing free shipping at a slower pace. Sometimes they offer a credit for something too.

[Steve Stone]

I've avoided drinking the kool aid on Amazon Prime membership. Something about paying $99 for the "privilege" of receiving an order for a reasonable shipping cost in timely fashion irks me.

If whatever I'm buying is less than $49 and the shipping cost is plain silly I will look to purchase the product elsewhere, and there alot of elsewhere's available online and locally.

Even if your item is above the threshold, if you opt for free shipping they seem to delay processing and getting the item out the door just to remind you that you are not a Prime subscriber.

What also drives me nuts (for many vendors, not just Amazon) is when you anticipate something will be delivered FedEx or UPS and then they hand off the item to US mail, usually with a 200 mile detour to some processing facility in Allentown, PA to make it happen, delaying delivery even further.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Prime works for me, but not for everyone. I get to watch some shows and listen to music as an added benefit. Amazon is a good place to shop and is competitive on price but you can at times find better deals.

As for the Smart Post, for us it may add a day in transit. If you belong to the UPS My Choice you can pay extra to have UPS deliver it earlier. Its all about money. The USPS has to pass my house anyway so it is cheaper to have them do the final delivery.

[Gordon Shumway]

+10

[DerbyDad03]

But it's still faster than going to China to pick it. ;-)

But seriously, folks, compared to the old days (I mean old as in pre-www) a few extras days of shipping after ordering on-line is nothing compared to what we used to go through.

Anybody remember paper catalogs, hand written order forms, checks and waiting for companies waiting for checks to clear before they would ship?

[dpb]

On 05/29/2016 8:16 AM, Steve Stone wrote: ...

Personally, that's the best thing that can possibly happen--no leaving items somewhere on the farmstead where I've got to try to find them or somebody else can pick them up. Instead, they're at the PO where have to go get the mail, anyways...

Just sayin', ain't all bad for all folks...what really peeves me is vendors who ignore/can't deal with the fact there is no rural delivery at a location and won't accept the actual PO mail address.

[Vic Smith]

And with faster shipping. But if they have the best price w/shipping+taxes I still buy from them.

Yep. I noticed them dragging their feet on an order of mine this year.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

My most recent "free shipping" order time line:

Order placed late on 5/20 Automatic confirmation email an hour or so later (early hours of 5/21) "Your order has shipped" email 7pm on 5/23. Delivered early afternoon 5/25.

No complaints from me.

Perce

[Vic Smith]

My last 2 orders. Order placed March 22, 2016 Delivered March 29, 2016

7 days

Order placed February 6, 2016 Delivered February 14, 2016

8 days

No complaints from me. But I no longer expect prompt free shipping from Amazon. The time in transit was fast, about 2-3 days.

[Steve Stone]

My latest "free shipping" order on Amazon.

Order placed: 5/22 Acknowledged: 5/22 Order shipped: 5/27 Order received: TBA (not yet), estimated June 2nd

Steve

[notbob]

Free shipping is NOT the same as Prime shipping.

Free shipping will still take several days. Not even as fast a USPS Priority Mail (3 days). Prime shipping, OTOH, will take 2 days. Every freakin' time!

Also, free shipping is not guaranteed to be delivered to yer doorstep. Prime IS! I once had Prime shipping. I ordered something fer $2.35. It was on my doorstep 2 days later.

Free shipping and shipping by 3rd vendors is a crapshoot. I once ordered a used book from Amazon. The vendor was in USA. Took a full MONTH! to be delivered. OTOH, I ordered something that was shipped directly from Japan. I got it 8 days after I ordered it. Go figure.

nb

[Steve Stone]

Why does it take 5 days to process an order? I'm guessing they never had it in stock to begin with. Kind of like the grocery store the past few years. If they run out of pancake mix they don't get it back in stock for weeks (Hannafords) . I asked how come? The reply was we get whatever is on the truck and have no say in what is put on the truck. Sounds to me like computers have taken over what was once done very well with common sense, but it must be cheaper or they would have off shored it.

[CRNG]

On Sun, 29 May 2016 16:01:08 -0500, Vic Smith wrote in

One thing I have noticed in the past year or so is that I can no longer assume Amazon is the low price. Most recent example is NeatsFoot Oil

is $14.18 via Amazon and $9.99 at my local Tractor Supply. That's not considering the $49 min order since I don't have Prime.

Now when there is a local alternative I always compare prices and usually Amazon is significantly higher, even with free shipping.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Tractor Supply is a good source for many things. In my case, it would only be a 1/2 mile trip from other places I go to frequently. OTOH, if it was a 5 mile one way trip it would be about break even when you factor in the true cost of travel.

You really have to factor in what works best for you. Two day free shipping is nice, but there are times you need something NOW to finish a project and a few bucks difference is not a consideration.

The internet has changed the way we live and shop. I buy things that I never knew existed before the internet. Used to be we went to the store and found what we wanted any had a choice of black or white and never knew there were a hundred other variations.

An example is bed sheets when we bought new beds. We have two twin XL beds that adjust instead of one king. Three different stores in the area offered a total one set of sheets in that size. It was also about

20 miles of driving and over an hour of my time. Overstock.com offered 60 variations. Couple of clicks later they were on the way. Can't compare price to local as they did not exist locally.

[notbob]

Testify, Ed!

I live 100 mi from the closest urban center. That's 200 mi, round trip. Care to figure the fuel costs? I'm lucky to get 15 mpg. So, it's infinitely cheaper to shop, online, even if I have to pay outrageous shipping charges.

OTOH, I would rather shop, locally. What if you get a bad item? How much fer return shipping, etc. Plus, I like to support local businesses. And yes, you are correct. Driving 10 miles (in my case) to a Tractor Supply store is not a deal breaker. Ours is right next to our local True Value store. I go to both much more than I would like. 8|

But, we lack the BIG box stores, like Home Depot, Lowe's, Costco, etc, so Amazon is often my only alternative. EXCEPT! .....fer Ebay.

Lotta ppl dismiss Ebay. Big mistake. I jes bought a new banjo off Ebay. Saved $50 over Amazon and the banjo came already "set-up", unlike Amazon. My buddy shops on ebay, constantly. He's a hoarder and Ebay keeps him fully hoarded and boarded! ;)

nb