I saw the van slow down outside the house (the driver saw me at the window) and stop just beyond it. No movement, so I went out only to find that he had driven off. A later email advised me he had delivered it to 'Claire at door 5'.
There's no 'Claire' (and no parcel) at 'door 5' down from us. Someone (perhaps not 'Claire at door 5'...) has a £1000 laptop in a box with my address on.
The replacement arrived three days later without any dramas.
The USB HDD that the Amazon fairy delivered the other day wouldn't have gone through the letter box. The box it came in just about came through the damn door.
Whilst I am definitely no fan of their tax avoidance tactic or the way they treat their employees, this is exactly the reason why I tend to buy from them - customer service at a level that is considered standard in the US, but is still almost unheard of here in the UK (John Lewis is one exception).
Had you bought it from Curry's (or any other UK company for that matter) you would have been lucky to have seen your money (or replacement merchandise) in months...
Could be worse, you know. I've had hard drives (bare drives) delivered by Ebuyer in a jiffy bag and nothing else. They went straight back, didn't even open the bag.
I tried 7 Day Shop recently. Never again. I paid extra for some camera batteries, but that didn't include the rest of the order, not that they made that clear. The rest arrived in four separate parcels, delivered in dribs and drabs well over a week. No tracking and no notification of when they'd sent the order, other than the batteries delivery.
I had one (an SSD) posted through the letterbox yesterday. I saw the van arrive, and went to the door expecting to have to sign for it - but it was poking through the letterbox and the delivery man was walking away.
I ordered it on Wednesday - for free delivery, having had to run the usual gauntlet of avoiding signing up for a free trial of Prime, or opting to pay extra for next day delivery which they try to sneak in while you're not looking. The scheduled delivery date was Thursday 21st. On Friday, I got an email saying that it it had been dispatched, and on Sunday another one saying it was out for delivery.
That's the second item I've bought from Amazon recently which has been delivered way earlier than their initial estimate. Can't help feeling that they quote long delivery times in order to try to con you into paying extra to get it sooner - whereas it comes pretty quickly with free delivery anyway!
You should try being a supplier. They claim virtually every delivery is short, not just odds and ends but they regularly claim 30 out of 36 pieces in a sealed case were not delivered. I have increased all our prices to them by 10% just to cover the admin time it takes providing proof of delivery etc. for 50% of consignments.
I'm still fighting a £500 charge back for late delivery when the delay was down to their loading dock being broken. Yes they do charge suppliers £500 for missing a delivery book in time and date by more than 2 hours!
We have Prime, and quite apart from the video library ("Man in the High Castle" is probably one of the best series of the past few years, and that's not from lack of competition) music library, and free selected deliveries, we also have access to same-day deliveries (up to 10 pm).
So, for *us* Amazon work. Been a customer since 1997, and the few issues (fingers of one hand etc) have been cleared to our satisfaction each time.
Last year, we ordered a DVD. We didn't receive it, so flagged it. A replacement was sent and received the next day. That evening a distant neighbour dropped the original in. The label had been slightly damaged so the house number was illegible - clearly the dlivery driver guessed. Amazon said to keep the spare :)
Heard that from other sources as well. Should have written "Whilst I am definitely no fan of their tax avoidance tactic or the way they treat their employees AND SUPPLIERS"
Presumably you're supplying goods which they are going to hold in their warehouse (either as "sold by Amazon" or "fulfilled by Amazon") as opposed to using Amazon as a marketplace.
Out of interest, what sort of things do you supply?
If you have prime then you can elect to have a slow delivery and get a £1 credit. This pays for prime if you read kindle books. Frequently they deliver next day even when you go for a slow delivery.
I don't like those deliveries which arrive in dribs and drabs.
Last week I rang a retailer in the Channel Islands (where 7DayShop is based) to ask if a large order for health supplements which I was placing could be delivered in one package. The answer was no.
This article mentions an ?18 limit to qualify for tax exemption which may be part of the explanation.
If they are sensible, I guess they are buying themselves padding and stock control time. Perhaps if they don't need the padding today, they just process it normally.
Wish they'd go back to using DPD for express - Amazon logistics is not as good, though at least you can leave standing "what if I'm not in" instructions which is one up on other methods.
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