Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Weaver]

[Has someone else been moaning about this recently?]

Is Amazon delivery rubbish nowadays compared to what it used to be? I’m sure I used to get things next day (equals next day but one because if the Highlands and Islands excuse). I ordered several small items from amazon on New Year’s Eve and they’re quoting delivery on the 10th - I was so disgusted that I cancelled the item. It was something very small which could just be sent by Royal Mail letter post, in a letter sized tiny packet. A load of sheets of sticky coloured dots for identifying plugs and cables. So I reordered with a different supplier still quoting delivery on 6th-8th. I ordered a (very) short ethernet patch cable - again could be sent by Royal Mail, and in fact once again by letter post. That’s is supposed to be here tomorrow iirc.

These are various third party suppliers. But why can’t they just get Amazon to deliver things if they can’t do it fast enough themselves with their own crappy carriers? (Answer: something to do with money). The thing is, it reflects badly on Amazon, slow service equals poor service, no?

[kitz]

Yes someone else did mention it within the past few months.    From memory though the concensus was it was OK for Prime members, but the 'free' postage for non members wasn't fairing to well.

For me personally I have absolutely no problems and I've used them a lot this year and quite late into the Xmas period as I lost track of time after having a fall.
Everything I have ordered has been delivered next day and on time.  One thing that wasn't next day was the Echo Show I ordered on Cyber Monday when it was half price.  It warned me when placing the order that there may be delays due to exceedingly high demand and may not arrive before Xmas.   However, it arrived within about 10 days and in plenty of time for Xmas. 

I think there may have been a few other things that originally quoted longer times during the BlackFriday/Cyber Monday Event and the run up to Christmas, but they all turned up next day.

In fact, this is something I ordered something which surpassed all expectations.

Time order was placed: -  Mon 23/12/2019 17:37
Expected delivery date when the order was placed:-  Arriving: Friday, December 27
Actual delivery time:- Tue 24/12/2019 3:32 PM

[sevenlayermuddle]

I find them pretty good on delivery these days, for the paid services at least.  And I’ve no objection to paying, if the service is good.

A few days before Christmas I urgently needed about £15 worth of obscure bits for a diy gift I was making.  Instead of making up the order to £20 for free delivery I elected to spend the ~£5 on next-day delivery.  That order was placed around 9pm on a Sunday evening, package arrived early afternoon the next day.

I’ve not yet tried same-day-delivery but I believe it’s now available for my post code.

I also like that most deliveries have real-time tracking, you can follow the van’s exact location on a map as it gets closer.   Sometimes I wonder if that has privacy implications mind you, as houses around here are sufficiently spread out that I know exactly which neighbours the van visited en-route to me

The only thing I strongly dislike about Amazon, and sometimes makes me feel like boycotting them, is the shady tactic of ‘tricking’ people into signing up for trials of Prime through use of deliberately contrived checkout interface. On one occasion I failed to notice it had happened, only noticing after several unexpected payments had been taken from my account. I fell for it again quite recently but, fortunately, quickly spotted it.  Prime’s probably a perfectly good service for those who choose it, I sometimes consider it myself, I just don’t like bring tricked into subscribing.

[gt94sss2]

The ASA ruled that Amazon's claims of 'next day' delivery were misleading last year (including for Prime customers)

As for why smaller firms don't allow Amazon to manage their deliveries - I imagine Amazon would want plenty of ££ to store products in their warehouses.

The only thing I strongly dislike about Amazon, and sometimes makes me feel like boycotting them, is the shady tactic of ‘tricking’ people into signing up for trials of Prime through use of deliberately contrived checkout interface.

Yes, the ASA has pulled them up on that as well.

[Weaver]

I am a prime user, and this is the free delivery thing. Perhaps it’s just the usual Highlands and Islands discrimination. <rant>Do they refuse to deliver to Cornwall, because it’s too far away from(?) London(?), or to York because that might mean crossing the Humber Bridge depending on route making North Yorkshire an ‘Island’. I may have had this rant before. [apol] I do seriously believe some tough legislation about forbidding advertising of services that are region-limited, price discriminatory or delivery time discriminatory for UK-internal deliveries of items apart from some extremely large or heavy items where distance from the source may be factored in.</rant>

But I don’t recall it being like this before ? And what’s the excuse now that it’s January?

[sevenlayermuddle]

May be wrong but I thought, even with Prime, they still offered delivery service upgrades on a pay-per-order basis?

Prime’s delivery service is what it is.  Based on my recent accidental membership I think it’s not too bad, and reasonable value.   But I’d like to think, even if I subscribed to Prime, that I could get an even better service by paying extra on those occasions where it matters...

[displaced]

I have to admit, Amazon Prime is quite phenomenal round my way.

Most Prime items can be ordered for same day delivery if the order's placed before 12pm.  And when I'm at work, I can use Prime Now and get certain items within 2 hours.

I leave evaluation of the economic and environmental ethics of this to the reader, but it is handy.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Same day delivery is not limited to Prime, though Amazon may like Prime members to think so. 

Non-Prime members can select same day delivery too, when it is available.

[Alex Atkin UK]

May be wrong but I thought, even with Prime, they still offered delivery service upgrades on a pay-per-order basis?

Prime’s delivery service is what it is.  Based on my recent accidental membership I think it’s not too bad, and reasonable value.   But I’d like to think, even if I subscribed to Prime, that I could get an even better service by paying extra on those occasions where it matters...

Not that I've seen, all the fastest delivery methods are included in Prime.

I can also confirm that next-day, doesn't always happen.  Also the condition of deliveries has deteriorated dramatically over the last year or so, regular deliveries with destroyed boxes.  This seems to be particularly problematic with Amazon Pantry where they also put heavy items with fragile ones, leading to constant damage.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Not that I've seen, all the fastest delivery methods are included in Prime.

That puts me off prime.   I’d not be happy to think I was paying (by my Prime subscription) for a better service than I require.

My own ideal is simply to have the choice.   If I unexpectedly need some item urgently, happy to pay an extra fiver to expedite it.  Most things that I order are not urgent and I’d choose to pay less, or nothing, and wait a few days.

[jelv]

I nearly always go for the cheapest delivery option (I think I've only paid for faster delivery once). Several of my recent orders have turned up on the same day is that Amazon suggested if I paid extra for a 'faster' delivery!

[Ronski]

I am a prime user, and this is the free delivery thing. Perhaps it’s just the usual Highlands and Islands discrimination. <rant>Do they refuse to deliver to Cornwall, because it’s too far away from(?) London(?), or to York because that might mean crossing the Humber Bridge depending on route making North Yorkshire an ‘Island’. I may have had this rant before. [apol] I do seriously believe some tough legislation about forbidding advertising of services that are region-limited, price discriminatory or delivery time discriminatory for UK-internal deliveries of items apart from some extremely large or heavy items where distance from the source may be factored in.</rant>

But I don’t recall it being like this before ? And what’s the excuse now that it’s January?

If Nicola Sturgeon gets her way you'll be classed as an international delivery as well unless Amazon have a Scottish warehouse.

[chenks]

what always amazes me is that i live in the same town as one of the major amazon warehouses.

i can order something, watch it leave the warehouse, go all the way to edinburgh (which is the other side of the country) and then make it's way back to the local "delivery" agent for delivery.

surely they could have come up with a process that pinpoints "local" deliveries and puts them straight to delivery agent rather than having to travel by truck all the way from here to then come all the way back again.

[Weaver]

Luckily Amazon does have Scottish warehouses. I take your point. Don’t get me started.

But I seem to recall being very impressed with the delivery times formerly.

I never get any upgrade delivery options, to answer a point from earlier.

Perhaps it’s just my geographical bad luck then.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Ironically our biggest issue, apart from damage, are regular deliveries arriving early and my mum HATES Sunday deliveries.

But we've had a lot of trouble with supermarkets stopping products we use, so Amazon Pantry has been well worth it for that alone.

Like a lot of people, we'd rather not use Amazon for their shady tax situation, but even ignoring the cost difference, there isnt always somewhere else to get the products from.