Is Amazon taking over the world?

Mike

Mike

Audioshark
Staff member
Joined
Apr 2, 2013
Messages
30,492
Location
Sarasota, FL
I remember when Amazon started, they were just selling books. Remember that? Then when they made the move into other items, I remember all the excuses "oh, no one will ever buy clothes online." Ha!

Today, every time I think I've figure out all they can do, I get surprised yet again. I had no idea Amazon was offering "come to you" services like iphone screen repair, grill assembly (man, where was that when I needed it!), garbage disposal installation and a whole host of other things found here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/ref=vas_sf_load_?node=10192820011
 
A large number of my friends use Amazon regularly. Until recently Amazon was my primary source for purchasing books and CDs from all over the world pretty much. Now my recent purchases included a cell phone and some cell phone covers. It's great for the little stuff that you normally have to drag yourself to some store where you may or may not find what you like. Sometimes it just astounds me what you can get on Amazon these days.

So yes ... Amazon is well on it's way to taking over the world.
 
For many products I use Amazon as the first place I look. Sometimes they are not the cheapest but the customer service is very good and it is so easy to shop from home.
 
I ordered my wife some really nice chocolates from Amazon for our Anniversary earlier this month. The bozos at UPS drove around with the box all day in the hot Florida July weather (inside the box, it DID have loads of ice packs all around it) and when it arrived, it was a pile of chocolate soup. I went to the website, clicked on return. Instantly they refunded my money and said "no need to return the item" (obviously). OK, not an ideal outcome, but it wasn't their fault and I got my money back and didn't have to bother returning the chocolate mess.
 
On the downside, I ordered a MOFI pressing off Amazon once and it still hasn't arrived. MOFI never delivered my copy to Amazon. So, there are some downsides...
 
I know one thing...i'm completely over buying dvd's through Amazon. Half the time the dvd cases arrive damaged, dvd's scratched (or both). And they seem to be cheap licenced reprints, not original titles from the studio as the cases are thin and cheap, and the dvd's have generic printed labels. You complain, and they send you exactly the same cheap, dodgy dvd's! (and this is buying from Amazon, not from other sellers).

Back to my corner dvd store thanks...:rolleyes:
 
yes amazon seems to do everything right.

retail will have a hard time, if they do not find the right answer...soon.

and unfriendly salespeople in stores help amazon a lot....

andy
 
I use them regularly. Not always the cheapest but the customer service for the couple of times (over several years) I had issues was perfect.
 
I understand Wilson and Magico will be offering their lineups on Amazon .........:lol:
 
Well Amazon is going to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. According to the New York Times, citing anonymous sources within the company, Amazon is kicking the tires on the concept of brick-and-mortar showrooms for big-ticket items like furniture, appliances and electronics, in addition to its forays into book and grocery stores.

So maybe they are going after world domination.
 
Mike said:
I ordered my wife some really nice chocolates from Amazon for our Anniversary earlier this month. The bozos at UPS drove around with the box all day in the hot Florida July weather (inside the box, it DID have loads of ice packs all around it) and when it arrived, it was a pile of chocolate soup. I went to the website, clicked on return. Instantly they refunded my money and said "no need to return the item" (obviously). OK, not an ideal outcome, but it wasn't their fault and I got my money back and didn't have to bother returning the chocolate mess.
Click to expand...

So what's not to like about free hot fudge?

Don't misunderstand my post. Amazon has given me good service and saved my butt a couple of times. Like when I was able to get repair parts for my lawn sprinklers. Sprinklers that Home Depot sells every day----but not the parts.

On the other hand I do not think Amazon is the end-all or be-all. I recently purchased a 3-in-one hand truck, glass-top desk, and bar stool from Walmart for less than the Amazon price. Not much less, but delivery to my door was very prompt and I had an actual store to return the items to if needed. Home Depot also carried the same Brita desk at a competitive price so I had another option to purchase and return locally. I did purchase a patio chair cover from HD for $0.66 more than Amazon, because I wanted the easy return option if it did not fit.

I previously purchased a folding hand truck from Fry's Electronics (online but it was also in the store) for much less than Amazon. Companies are starting to defend their turf. That is good for everybody. That said, Amazon is my first stop when I shop online but not my last stop.
 
My only beef with Amazon is slow shipping. I don't purchase enough from them annually to make their Prime delivery worth the cost, so what I do is try to take advantage of their free shipping. To do this one usually has to have a minimum order, usually over $40.00 to qualify for free shipping. I will wait until I have several items in my shopping cart and the total reaches a point where free shipping kicks in, then place my order. Understand, I am not expecting 2-day delivery but I am expecting a timely delivery, perhaps four to five days. What seems to happen is Amazon intentionally delays shipping for three to four days, then ships the slowest possible way which takes an additional five to seven days. Amazon's free shipping amounts to nearly a two week wait. In my opinion there is no excuse for this. My suspicion is they want you to be frustrated with the slow deliver as an attempt to encourage you to purchase their Prime service. It has been eight days since I ordered 3 CD's and I am still waiting for delivery.
 
I personally feel Amazon Prime is well worth it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I like Prime too. Will on occasion also watch videos for free. It does let you stream music as well. I might use it once or so a year to see if I like something enough to buy a disc or download. I added their free 4k mastered videos to my watchlist and did watch one not that long ago.
 
jdandy said:
My only beef with Amazon is slow shipping. I don't purchase enough from them annually to make their Prime delivery worth the cost, so what I do is try to take advantage of their free shipping. To do this one usually has to have a minimum order, usually over $40.00 to qualify for free shipping. I will wait until I have several items in my shopping cart and the total reaches a point where free shipping kicks in, then place my order. Understand, I am not expecting 2-day delivery but I am expecting a timely delivery, perhaps four to five days. What seems to happen is Amazon intentionally delays shipping for three to four days, then ships the slowest possible way which takes an additional five to seven days. Amazon's free shipping amounts to nearly a two week wait. In my opinion there is no excuse for this. My suspicion is they want you to be frustrated with the slow deliver as an attempt to encourage you to purchase their Prime service. It has been eight days since I ordered 3 CD's and I am still waiting for delivery.
Click to expand...

I am seeing free shipping for orders over $25 in the USA. Are you on a different continent or planet?
 
I have I have been an Amazon customer since 2003, and buy as much as I can from them. Currently, my new Sony a6000 camera and 55-210mm lense is sitting in the garage waiting to be opened. I like Prime but only use it for shipping; no music, videos, etc. I love ordering a CD or Blue Ray and getting it in 2 days. I buy furniture, clothes, shoes, whatever from them. If it doesn't fit I return it for free and try another size until it does fit.

I went to a mall a couple of weeks ago and it was weird. :).
 
Dizzie said:
I am seeing free shipping for orders over $25 in the USA. Are you on a different continent or planet?
Click to expand...

Dizzie.......Last time I checked I was on planet Earth. Yep, recently dropped to $25.00. Not long ago is was $40.00. The dollar amount to qualify for free shipping is not the issue for me, it is the ridiculously slow shipping when you take advantage of their free shipping offer. I like free shipping, why not? Guess I'll just have to wait or become a Prime user. I tried the 30 day free Prime and immediately discovered that not everything on Amazon is shipped under the Prime program. The first two items I ordered were from Amazon vendors, not Amazon direct, and consequently I had to pay shipping. That irked me.
 
I use Amazon for the majority of my vinyl purchases. shipping, while slow is much cheaper than "real"world costs.

Their customer service is the prime reason why I continue to use them as they send out a replacement for free with expedited shipping and most of the time you do not have to return the faulty LP. compare that to almost the customer service of all other online sellers and the choice is simple. for eaxmple - CCmusic is cheaper than amazon, however their customer service is diabolically bad.

customer service rules and this is why amazon is ruling the world.
 
I order almost all my redbook CDs from Amazon. They break the jewel cases every single time. Sometimes they have even thrown the parcel over my back fence! I finally bought a box of jewel cases to replace the broken ones as they come in. Guess where I bought the jewel cases from? Right, Amazon...LOL. At least they weren't broken! :)

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