DiipuSurotu
Banned
What's a good alternative to Amazon (for a non-American person)?
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Amazon is the shit
- Thread starter reKon
- Start date
I like amazon and I hate that I like amazon because of all the stories of how they treat their people.
Is Jet outside the US? What is Alibaba? I really don't know.
Is Jet outside the US? What is Alibaba? I really don't know.
jts
...hate me...
I'm not american and I use amazon all the time.
Mainly amazon.co.uk and amazon.de.
Amazon.de recently did the same for a 64GB microSD card I bought. Now I have a free 64GB microSD in my Nintendo Switch.
Monocle
Member
I believe in plastic and Doritos.
I've been using Amazon less and less over the past year or so. They are great for media and hdmi cables. For anything else they are awful.
Look up a product and all you get are off-brand results from third-party sellers with obviously fake reviews. Finding anything is a real chore. They also often have the same item listed multiple times so you have to read the questions and reviews to find out what you're actually getting. Even then it can be hit or miss depending on who is fulfilling the order. They don't even win on price as often anymore.
Look up a product and all you get are off-brand results from third-party sellers with obviously fake reviews. Finding anything is a real chore. They also often have the same item listed multiple times so you have to read the questions and reviews to find out what you're actually getting. Even then it can be hit or miss depending on who is fulfilling the order. They don't even win on price as often anymore.
pelicansurf
Needs a Holiday on Gallifrey
USPS sucks and marks my packages as delivered, leaving them god knows where. Amazon just refunds that stuff and sends me new ones. That's what's kept me coming back.
Bluekaveli
Member
Some items are a "hazard" and we can't take them back.
They're good, but they can take a long time to sort shit out or not offer any compensation when they fail to deliver items, etc...
I ordered Persona 5 for a specific day and it didn't arrive, the delivery was marked as delivered though. Support said the company had marked it so by accident. Game was late, not a huge deal... I didn't cause a fuss but it was annoying.
I ordered something else recently and the same thing happened. Except this time it was marked as left with neighbour two doors away, gave a specific name and number. Checked there and the person they named doesn't even live there, and no package.
Called support and spoke with a guy who told me the item had been marked that way by accident, he said he spoke with the delivery company who confirmed it would be with me by 9pm that evening.
9pm came and went, no parcel, and it was ordered with next day delivery specifically as it was a gift and the timing was pretty essential. I spoke with them again and was told the previous rep had lied (not their exact words, but the same effect).
I was given a refund but nothing more. Was told "Sorry, here's your money, please order from us again sometime!". Which was useless to me.
Throughout the entire experience the support staff repeated stock responses (I was passed around three times and they each gave the same set of responses initially each time which showed they hadn't bothered to read up or ask their previous colleague).
They ended up offering me £5 credit which was little good as I needed the item that day. I made a bit of a fuss and got it up to £10, and they put £20 on, not sure if that was a mistake but Ha!
Anyway, the staff were really unhelpful for the most part, repeating themselves using stock cut and paste responses, they gave me incorrect information regarding refund policy, lied, and I'm sure it's a language barrier thing but they came across as quite rude at times. It was a hell of a fuss to correct a £10 item.
The item ended up being delivered tow days later, so I managed to get the item, a refund, and £20 credit. Pretty sure this wasn't the intended outcome their end, but they were so poorly organised with their responses and actions it didn't surprise me.
-
tl;dr: mundane example of Amazon fucking up and me ending up with 3 times what I paid for the item in cash/credit + the item, but a bit of a headache to get there.
I ordered Persona 5 for a specific day and it didn't arrive, the delivery was marked as delivered though. Support said the company had marked it so by accident. Game was late, not a huge deal... I didn't cause a fuss but it was annoying.
I ordered something else recently and the same thing happened. Except this time it was marked as left with neighbour two doors away, gave a specific name and number. Checked there and the person they named doesn't even live there, and no package.
Called support and spoke with a guy who told me the item had been marked that way by accident, he said he spoke with the delivery company who confirmed it would be with me by 9pm that evening.
9pm came and went, no parcel, and it was ordered with next day delivery specifically as it was a gift and the timing was pretty essential. I spoke with them again and was told the previous rep had lied (not their exact words, but the same effect).
I was given a refund but nothing more. Was told "Sorry, here's your money, please order from us again sometime!". Which was useless to me.
Throughout the entire experience the support staff repeated stock responses (I was passed around three times and they each gave the same set of responses initially each time which showed they hadn't bothered to read up or ask their previous colleague).
They ended up offering me £5 credit which was little good as I needed the item that day. I made a bit of a fuss and got it up to £10, and they put £20 on, not sure if that was a mistake but Ha!
Anyway, the staff were really unhelpful for the most part, repeating themselves using stock cut and paste responses, they gave me incorrect information regarding refund policy, lied, and I'm sure it's a language barrier thing but they came across as quite rude at times. It was a hell of a fuss to correct a £10 item.
The item ended up being delivered tow days later, so I managed to get the item, a refund, and £20 credit. Pretty sure this wasn't the intended outcome their end, but they were so poorly organised with their responses and actions it didn't surprise me.
-
tl;dr: mundane example of Amazon fucking up and me ending up with 3 times what I paid for the item in cash/credit + the item, but a bit of a headache to get there.
Earthbound64
Banned
Prime Fresh is great - start buying food there too.
Was this in a 3-4 week period or something?
This is categorically wrong, actually.
My mom had ordered a few video games to give people as Christmas gifts. She isn't TOO computer savvy, so she did it like the day before Thanksgiving. Well along comes Black Friday and she could have saved like $50 on the games she bought in total. We call and try to get Amazon to price match, because hey, why not just refund us the price difference? But nope. Amazon wouldn't budge. So we ended up ordering the games a second time, saving the money on the Black Friday pricing, and shipping the original order back to them. Mind you, they were paying for shipping both ways for the first one and out to us for the lower priced shipment.
Now, common sense says, "Hey, maybe instead of paying 3 shipping charges, we should just refund the $50 and price match the games that haven't shipped yet that we CLEARLY have advertised as a special!" But no dice.
So I mean, until then I was all on the Amazon customer service bandwagon. After that? Not so much. It really just brought Amazon's customer service into the same realm as just about every retailer I go to-- you get good service if you get lucky and the right people are reviewing your stuff. If not, it's completely average and sometimes even headache inducing. This time at their own cost.
I mean, if I'm running a business and I have to choose between losing $50 worth of a sale but keeping the customer happy or $50 plus shipping items back and forth (Probably another $30-$50 I'd guess on their end?) PLUS annoying the customer, it's a no-brainer. Apparently not though.
led4lyfe
Member
I ordered a amazonbasic lightning cable and a few other items a couple years back. When I opened the package I couldn't find the cable so I contacted them saying it was missing. They refunded me the cable and re-sent it, but it wasn't until I was cleaning my room when I discovered I had the original cable the whole time, it was just packaged in a way that I thought it was filler. Oh well...thanks Amazon!!!
They treat their corporate workers like shit too, just in different ways and they pay them better (still pretty far below industry standards, though).
I agree and they just did the same for me. I ordered a bracelet that got stuck at a sorting station for 3-4 days. A simple email to Amazon got the package moving for me again and a full refund. I got nervous and did the chat with them and they told me to keep the item and the refund which was awesome of them. I think for small items at low cost, it's cheaper to let the customer have it than to spend money on the freight.
shnurgleton
Member
I wish I didn't love them as much as I do
Myths
Member
Great service except when they rely on carriers who use convoluted route systems that end up delaying delivery dates further (UPS).
I mean in my case, the origin post is Oregon with a destination to SoCal except they kick it over to ... Kentucky. All the way over there when that region of the USA is most affected by the severe weather conditions and now transport of this package is affected unnecessarily. Why even still use this route knowing that region is already fucked up? Establish alternate routes. ffs.
What was just 1 state away is now over 7 states away and stuck for no reason other than poor routing systems and contingency.
I mean in my case, the origin post is Oregon with a destination to SoCal except they kick it over to ... Kentucky. All the way over there when that region of the USA is most affected by the severe weather conditions and now transport of this package is affected unnecessarily. Why even still use this route knowing that region is already fucked up? Establish alternate routes. ffs.
What was just 1 state away is now over 7 states away and stuck for no reason other than poor routing systems and contingency.
ArtemisClydeFrog
Banned
Love this bump. "Similar Threads" needs some work.
Still, after all these years Amazon, you're still the one I love
Myths
Member
Thanks. I was trying to find a home for Amazon Prime related stuff but a couple of others were too old and locked.
I ended up with a free water softener due to a problem with the first one being damaged in shipping and never making it. They issued me a full refund then 3 days later the water softener showed up at my house. I contacted Amazon asking if they needed to charge me again and they said not to worry about it!
AFWFilters 5600sxt Metered On-demand 48,000 Grain Water Softener with brine tank, bypass and 1" adapters - Faucet Stems - Amazon.com
AFWFilters 5600sxt Metered On-demand 48,000 Grain Water Softener with brine tank, bypass and 1" adapters - Faucet Stems - Amazon.com
www.amazon.com
ArtemisClydeFrog
Banned
Returning shit at Kohl's instead of having to box everything up and ship it out is hella convenient, too. Sorry to all the overpriced small-businesses that pay their workers even less than Amazon, but I shall not be returning to your establishments.
T8SC
Gold Member
Plenty of companies treat their employees like shit (Hello Sports Direct). This is not an excuse for Amazon, they should be better than that, however because they're as big as they are, they get the most flack for it.
Also; they provide everything I need for competitive prices, usually delivered the next day. Their customer service is also great, so why would I shop elsewhere?
Unless it's a local butchers (or similar) then chances are I'll browse Amazon for a price of the item.
Also; they provide everything I need for competitive prices, usually delivered the next day. Their customer service is also great, so why would I shop elsewhere?
Unless it's a local butchers (or similar) then chances are I'll browse Amazon for a price of the item.
GoldenEye Samurai
Gold Member
Yeah, when the Gears of War 4 Xbox One S Limited Editon Bundle came out, my controller was scratched and they sent me a whole brand new bundle immediately without me even sending mine back first. They just told me I had so long to send it back, but the grace period was a fair bit of time. I thought that was pretty damn cool of them.
Edit: What’s with all the fucking letter posters? I see that quite a few of them are already banned.
Edit: What’s with all the fucking letter posters? I see that quite a few of them are already banned.
Last edited:
ArtemisClydeFrog
Banned
I think Neogaf will be fine, they banned the open-extremists already. Parler ignored their hosts' requests, so they got bopped.
ArtemisClydeFrog
Banned
Yeah, when the Gears of War 4 Xbox One S Limited Editon Bundle came out, my controller was scratched and they sent me a whole brand new bundle immediately without me even sending mine back first. They just told me I had so long to send it back, but the grace period was a fair bit of time. I thought that was pretty damn cool of them.
Edit: What’s with all the fucking letter posters? I see that quite a few of them are already banned.
Cuz it's a 4 year old thread lol. We walkin through the crypts bro.
GoldenEye Samurai
Gold Member
OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
I was wondering a thread I hadn't seen before had so many banned members in it lol.
kyussman
Member
I subbed to prime recently,didn't even realise you could sub monthly like Netflix....thought it was still a yearly big payment.
I've been really enjoying lots of their TV shows,like Vikings and currently Black Sails....and ordering stuff at like 8pm in the evening and getting it delivered lunch time the next day is pretty great too.
All hail our mega-corporation overlords,lol.
I've been really enjoying lots of their TV shows,like Vikings and currently Black Sails....and ordering stuff at like 8pm in the evening and getting it delivered lunch time the next day is pretty great too.
All hail our mega-corporation overlords,lol.
Check out Yellowstone, great series on Prime.
a multicultural team of v
Member
I've honestly never had any major issues with Amazon, and they have always gone way above what I would expect in terms of customer service. Once I accidentally shipped a video game to an old address and the people who were living there after me said they never received it (I'm sure they were lying but still). I straight up told Amazon this and they still shipped me a new copy at no charge to the correct address. It was 100% my fuckup and they basically gave me $60.
Outside of last year I always had great shipping speed too, but I've also always lived in a major city so that probably contributes.
I do miss the green Amazon Fresh boxes though, I still have a few I use as storage bins (which is probably why they quickly stopped using them lol).
Outside of last year I always had great shipping speed too, but I've also always lived in a major city so that probably contributes.
I do miss the green Amazon Fresh boxes though, I still have a few I use as storage bins (which is probably why they quickly stopped using them lol).
ArtemisClydeFrog
Banned
How so?
VN1X
Banned
Been living under a rock?
They treat their employees like shit and their main website is a fucking mess.
Oh and they're also at the forefront of censorship when it comes to taking down apps, websites and other services (which run on AWS) that don't adhere to the established narrative of the day.
ArtemisClydeFrog
Banned
Ahh, I see. Which of your local small-businesses treat their employees good? Which ones have decent websites? Which ones have better prices?
Forefront of censorship lol. People were openly calling for the murder of government officials. Including Pence. It's Amazon's platform. They requested that Parler take down the death threats and government-takeover posts. Parler refused. Amazon cut off access to their platform. It's not an "established narrative", it was a bunch of nutjobs that fantasize about murder.
VN1X
Banned
WHATABOUTISM!
No but seriously you act as if there's no alternative to Amazon? Especially on a local level? Give me a break. I've worked for plenty of smaller businesses that pay and treat me much better than Amazon does their employees. Have you read some of the horror stories that go on in their distribution centers? Just awful stuff.
By all means enjoy your Amazon products and what not. I'm not here to convince you otherwise but at the very least I think it's more than reasonable to expect better from such a ridiculously wealthy company.
ValiantTraveler
Member
I like Amazon but most of the time the shipping fees for my country are insane.