Amazon.com Shipping Screwup (Am I right to be upset?)

[02ranger]

I ordered 3 books from Amazon on January 1st while I was visiting family in Virginia and had them shipped to Virginia. I paid for one-day shipping because one of the books was a gift for a family member there, and I knew I'd be leaving Sunday for NC, where I live. On Friday morning, when the books were in Richmond and supposed to be delivered, I get a status update that adverse weather has delayed shipment. After looking closer and talking with UPS, Amazon shipped my package via UPS Ground instead of next day air. Two different UPS reps told me Amazon could upgrade the package to Next Day Air in mid-shipment, but it had to be done on their end. By this point my tracking showed it wouldn't arrive until Monday the 6th, after I would already be back in NC. I spent about an hour and a half on the phone with Amazon and finally we decided on a "fix". They continually said they couldn't upgrade shipping speed. What they eventually did was refund me the shipping cost, redirect the original package with all 3 books to NC, sent a second package via UPS SmartPost (ugh) with the one book that is a gift to the Virginia address, and they sent me a prepaid label to return the book that's a gift from the original package that is now coming to NC. I have to give them credit that they did quite a bit to make it right, seeing as I ended up paying no shipping on any of this, but it still frustrates me. It looks to me like they took my one-day shipping and decided to use UPS Ground anyway because it "could" make it in one day given ideal conditions, like they were saving money.

My question is, would you be irritated/aggravated/ticked off about this? Not so much when it's arriving because the right books are at least going to the right place now, but the part that bugs me is the fact they shipped incorrectly to begin with. I would say it was an honest mistake, but the Amazon rep tried to tell me UPS was to blame and that Amazon had "a bit of blame I suppose". That was what really irked me.

Cliffs:
Ordered books out of town One Day Shipping
Amazon shipped package via UPS Ground instead of Next Day Air
Package didn't arrive before I left Va
Amazon made it right, but tried to blame UPS

 

[cbrunny]

Yes.

But sounds like they fixed it to the best of their ability, and saved you some dough, so I'd probably smile and walk away.

 

[02ranger]

Yes.

But sounds like they fixed it to the best of their ability, and saved you some dough, so I'd probably smile and walk away.

They did make a great effort to fix it, so I can't be too upset. It just irks me about the shipping being wrong originally and then blaming UPS. I ended up saving about $30 on shipping so I'm not really mad, just aggravated. lol

 

[LTC8K6]

Next Day Air may not actually go by air if it will get there the next day by ground anyway. Space on airplanes is precious. All you get for the extra money is a refund if it doesn't make it there the next day in the morning.

All UPS has to do is make the guaranteed delivery time. They don't actually have to ship it by air.

I wouldn't be too upset. Stuff happens.

 

[rudeguy]

I ordered 3 books from Amazon on January 1st while I was visiting family in Virginia and had them shipped to Virginia. I paid for one-day shipping because one of the books was a gift for a family member there, and I knew I'd be leaving Sunday for NC, where I live. On Friday morning, when the books were in Richmond and supposed to be delivered, I get a status update that adverse weather has delayed shipment. After looking closer and talking with UPS, Amazon shipped my package via UPS Ground instead of next day air. Two different UPS reps told me Amazon could upgrade the package to Next Day Air in mid-shipment, but it had to be done on their end. By this point my tracking showed it wouldn't arrive until Monday the 6th, after I would already be back in NC. I spent about an hour and a half on the phone with Amazon and finally we decided on a "fix". They continually said they couldn't upgrade shipping speed. What they eventually did was refund me the shipping cost, redirect the original package with all 3 books to NC, sent a second package via UPS SmartPost (ugh) with the one book that is a gift to the Virginia address, and they sent me a prepaid label to return the book that's a gift from the original package that is now coming to NC. I have to give them credit that they did quite a bit to make it right, seeing as I ended up paying no shipping on any of this, but it still frustrates me. It looks to me like they took my one-day shipping and decided to use UPS Ground anyway because it "could" make it in one day given ideal conditions, like they were saving money.

My question is, would you be irritated/aggravated/ticked off about this? Not so much when it's arriving because the right books are at least going to the right place now, but the part that bugs me is the fact they shipped incorrectly to begin with. I would say it was an honest mistake, but the Amazon rep tried to tell me UPS was to blame and that Amazon had "a bit of blame I suppose". That was what really irked me.

Cliffs:
Ordered books out of town One Day Shipping
Amazon shipped package via UPS Ground instead of Next Day Air
Package didn't arrive before I left Va
Amazon made it right, but tried to blame UPS

You have every right to be upset.

However I can tell you from personal experience that the end of the year was a cluster fark for shipping. Packages that normally arrive overnight via ground took 4 or 5 days. Pickups were all kinds of screwed up, so our normal shipping times got thrown way off.

If one of our customers within the "next day" area orders before 4 PM, we get them their stuff the next day via ground. But with the delays in pickups and shipping, that time frame got closer to a week. That doesn't even involve air, where planes were stuck down south due to the ice.

So yea...you are right to be upset. But I promise no one you talked to at Amazon had any idea about the cluster that was going on. I only know because I see it first hand.

 

[purbeast0]

i'd be somewhat upset but i wouldn't hold it against them. if the item you ordered is an hour away, it makes 0 sense for them to ship it "next day air" when they could just do it ground and it would get to you in the same amount of time. they can't control the weather either so it probably would have been delayed either way. i live in the dc metro area (like 2 hours north of richmond) and went to work friday and the roads were pretty bad.

 

[jaedaliu]

you have a right to be upset.... at mother nature.

UPS doesn't hold shipments to encourage you to upgrade for faster service. That's something the idiots at FedEx ground/freight do. The only reason your shipment arrived late was the weather. Amazon did a good job of fixing everything and refunded your expedited delivery cost.

 

[02ranger]

Next Day Air may not actually go by air if it will get there the next day by ground anyway. Space on airplanes is precious. All you get for the extra money is a refund if it doesn't make it there the next day in the morning.

All UPS has to do is make the guaranteed delivery time. They don't actually have to ship it by air.

I wouldn't be too upset. Stuff happens.

You have every right to be upset.

However I can tell you from personal experience that the end of the year was a cluster fark for shipping. Packages that normally arrive overnight via ground took 4 or 5 days. Pickups were all kinds of screwed up, so our normal shipping times got thrown way off.

If one of our customers within the "next day" area orders before 4 PM, we get them their stuff the next day via ground. But with the delays in pickups and shipping, that time frame got closer to a week. That doesn't even involve air, where planes were stuck down south due to the ice.

So yea...you are right to be upset. But I promise no one you talked to at Amazon had any idea about the cluster that was going on. I only know because I see it first hand.

This is the kind of stuff I was wondering about. So as long as it can get there in one day via UPS Ground, they have no obligation to ship via Air? Would that decision be something on UPS' end or Amazon's end? Like can Amazon put in for one-day shipping and UPS make the call to ship via Air or Ground, or will UPS ship only via the method Amazon requests?

Like I said in my second post, I'm not really mad since they made it right, it just seemed unethical for Amazon to change shipping method and still take the full shipping payment, given my knowledge of the process at the time.

 

[02ranger]

you have a right to be upset.... at mother nature.

UPS doesn't hold shipments to encourage you to upgrade for faster service. That's something the idiots at FedEx ground/freight do. The only reason your shipment arrived late was the weather. Amazon did a good job of fixing everything and refunded your expedited delivery cost.

If it had been only the weather I would have been fine. Shit happens, right? But when I was looking into it and saw UPS Ground it started to really make me mad. Amazon did good getting it corrected, but I felt kinda like they were stealing by using a lesser method. I'm not sure if I'm right or wrong in that opinion, hence the thread. lol I was never upset about the weather, though. I did find it odd since Richmond didn't really get anything that day according to Weather Underground, but not being there I wasn't going to hold a weather report against them.

 

[rudeguy]

This is the kind of stuff I was wondering about. So as long as it can get there in one day via UPS Ground, they have no obligation to ship via Air? Would that decision be something on UPS' end or Amazon's end? Like can Amazon put in for one-day shipping and UPS make the call to ship via Air or Ground, or will UPS ship only via the method Amazon requests?

Like I said in my second post, I'm not really mad since they made it right, it just seemed unethical for Amazon to change shipping method and still take the full shipping payment, given my knowledge of the process at the time.

UPS will send it any damn way Amazon wants to pay for. Amazon is the one who decides ground or air.

My guess is that Amazon's systems automatically calculate the "overnight" area. Under normal circumstances there would be no possible reason to ship air. Its a ton more expensive and there would be no need for it. Keep in mind that its probably all automated. No one actually types anything in, the printer just spits out a label and someone sticks it on the box.

I am sure Amazon advertised "next day" shipping. We did. Probably didn't advertise next day air, since they thought ground would be next day.

 

[Humpy]

Can you show anything from the Amazon check-out page where you selected "next day air"?

If not, why do you keep using the terms?

 

[HN]

yeah, get mad at mother nature on this one.

one day shipping doesn't necessarily mean Next Day Air (some sites specifically have it in their options for shipping but on Amazon, it's just 'One-day shipping').

Look at it this way, what if it did get put on a plane, something happens to the plane, you go through this whole bit, and find out it would have arrived also in one-day had they shipped it by truck (a seemingly 'safer' way)? would you still be mad at amazon?

 

[dphantom]

I did not think there was a next day air option, just next day shipping, or two day shipping, etc... It is up to the shipper what method meets their stated guarantee. Because this package was not delivered through no fault of Amazon, they followed their policy and refunded to you the additoonal shipping costs.

Sounds fair to me.

 

[02ranger]

UPS will send it any damn way Amazon wants to pay for. Amazon is the one who decides ground or air.

My guess is that Amazon's systems automatically calculate the "overnight" area. Under normal circumstances there would be no possible reason to ship air. Its a ton more expensive and there would be no need for it. Keep in mind that its probably all automated. No one actually types anything in, the printer just spits out a label and someone sticks it on the box.

I am sure Amazon advertised "next day" shipping. We did. Probably didn't advertise next day air, since they thought ground would be next day.

You're right about it being automated, I'm sure. It just seemed unethical to ship it via a slower method.

Can you show anything from the Amazon check-out page where you selected "next day air"?

If not, why do you keep using the terms?

Next day air is what I assumed (I know I know, assume is a bad word lol) they meant by one-day shipping, but it did not specifically say Next Day Air. It said One-day shipping. The way I look at it is I paid for top shipping method, it should be sent via top shipping method. If I had some way to tell at checkout where the item was shipping from and I knew I could select Ground and get it in time, I would have done so. It seems wrong/unethical to advertise that they will ship something in either 3-5 days, 2 days, or 1 day and yet still ship all of them via the same method while charging different amounts. By the time you get to where you select shipping they have your address, so they should tell you that it will do no good to select a faster shipment method due to your proximity to the warehouse, or something like that. I don't really know if I'm correct in my thinking here, this is just how I have reasoned it out since the whole thing happened.

yeah, get mad at mother nature on this one.

one day shipping doesn't necessarily mean Next Day Air (some sites specifically have it in their options for shipping but on Amazon, it's just 'One-day shipping').

Look at it this way, what if it did get put on a plane, something happens to the plane, you go through this whole bit, and find out it would have arrived also in one-day had they shipped it by truck (a seemingly 'safer' way)? would you still be mad at amazon?

Nope, because at least Amazon sent it via the best method they could, according to what I paid. I wouldn't even be upset with UPS. Stuff happens. What aggravated me in this situation was paying for a faster shipping method and getting the same shipping method I would have gotten had I selected 3-5 days or 2-days. In the end they made it right so I'm not really mad, just trying to understand if Amazon really did screw up or I had unrealistic expectations of their shipping method.

 

[02ranger]

I did not think there was a next day air option, just next day shipping, or two day shipping, etc... It is up to the shipper what method meets their stated guarantee. Because this package was not delivered through no fault of Amazon, they followed their policy and refunded to you the additoonal shipping costs.

Sounds fair to me.

It was very fair what they did to make it right so I'm not really mad, but my problem was the different shipping method from the start.

 

[dphantom]

You're right about it being automated, I'm sure. It just seemed unethical to ship it via a slower method.



Next day air is what I assumed (I know I know, assume is a bad word lol) they meant by one-day shipping, but it did not specifically say Next Day Air. It said One-day shipping. The way I look at it is I paid for top shipping method, it should be sent via top shipping method. If I had some way to tell at checkout where the item was shipping from and I knew I could select Ground and get it in time, I would have done so. It seems wrong/unethical to advertise that they will ship something in either 3-5 days, 2 days, or 1 day and yet still ship all of them via the same method while charging different amounts. By the time you get to where you select shipping they have your address, so they should tell you that it will do no good to select a faster shipment method due to your proximity to the warehouse, or something like that. I don't really know if I'm correct in my thinking here, this is just how I have reasoned it out since the whole thing happened.



Nope, because at least Amazon sent it via the best method they could, according to what I paid. I wouldn't even be upset with UPS. Stuff happens. What aggravated me in this situation was paying for a faster shipping method and getting the same shipping method I would have gotten had I selected 3-5 days or 2-days. In the end they made it right so I'm not really mad, just trying to understand if Amazon really did screw up or I had unrealistic expectations of their shipping method.

you still are not understanding i think. If you had selected 2-day, then you probably would have received it in 2 days. It may even have shipped via air. You paid for a guarantee. Period. You did not pay for a shipping method. Amazon or any other fulfillment house will select the fastest shipping method to meet your stated shipping need. In this case, based on location of their distribution center and any other factors their shipping software uses, ground was the best way for Amazon to guarantee to you a one day delivery.

 

[02ranger]

you still are not understanding i think. If you had selected 2-day, then you probably would have received it in 2 days. It may even have shipped via air. You paid for a guarantee. Period. You did not pay for a shipping method. Amazon or any other fulfillment house will select the fastest shipping method to meet your stated shipping need. In this case, based on location of their distribution center and any other factors their shipping software uses, ground was the best way for Amazon to guarantee to you a one day delivery.

I get what you're saying. I've always looked at it as the shipping speed determined the shipping method regardless of whether it "can" make it in time via a different method, for instance in this situation. If they're gonna guarantee a particular delivery day they should ship it via the fastest available method (for one day and maybe two day too) to guarantee actual delivery on that day, in case of issues. What if it's something really important that you really absolutely have to have? Their guarantee won't do much good in that situation, even if they refund shipping. This is why I posted the question though, cause I wasn't sure if I was looking at it right. So are you pretty much always better off to go with 3-5 days instead of paying extra on shipping? I still feel like that's dishonest somehow, since when you order you have no way to know whether 3-5 days would be fast enough or not. I understand the whole guarantee thing, I just still feel like it's a dishonest system. Or maybe incomplete is a better word. I also would have assumed (there's that ugly word again) that Saturday delivery would be included in one-day shipping, but it wasn't. That further compounded the issue. Had they included Saturday delivery it would have made it in time.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

I get what you're saying. I've always looked at it as the shipping speed determined the shipping method regardless of whether it "can" make it in time via a different method, for instance in this situation. If they're gonna guarantee a particular delivery day they should ship it via the fastest available method (for one day and maybe two day too) to guarantee actual delivery on that day, in case of issues. What if it's something really important that you really absolutely have to have? Their guarantee won't do much good in that situation, even if they refund shipping. This is why I posted the question though, cause I wasn't sure if I was looking at it right. So are you pretty much always better off to go with 3-5 days instead of paying extra on shipping? I still feel like that's dishonest somehow, since when you order you have no way to know whether 3-5 days would be fast enough or not. I understand the whole guarantee thing, I just still feel like it's a dishonest system. Or maybe incomplete is a better word. I also would have assumed (there's that ugly word again) that Saturday delivery would be included in one-day shipping, but it wasn't. That further compounded the issue. Had they included Saturday delivery it would have made it in time.

You are paying for a guaranteed delivery date (1, 2, 3-5 days, etc) when you select the shipping speed at Amazon.

Amazon then find the most cost effective method of getting the package to you in that time frame, via either ground or air or whatever. It looks like your package was delayed by the weather, and there is no saying whether sending by Air would have averted that delay (still has to get from the airport to the sorting center).

So, no, I wouldn't be angry at Amazon for "screwing up shipping" because they didn't (1-day ground vs 1-day air). An example where I would be mad is paying for expedited shipping and getting a USPS media mail package or something like that.

 

[jaedaliu]

You're right about it being automated, I'm sure. It just seemed unethical to ship it via a slower method.



Next day air is what I assumed (I know I know, assume is a bad word lol) they meant by one-day shipping, but it did not specifically say Next Day Air. It said One-day shipping. The way I look at it is I paid for top shipping method, it should be sent via top shipping method.

<---snip-->

I think you're misunderstanding "top shipping." There's Courier and first thing next day, and also white glove delivery as additional pricier options.

If you wanted it air freighted, you could have called Amazon and paid a premium for that. The reason why Amazon opened a distribution center near you is so that they could 2-day and 1-day packages to you for less cost.

 

[ElFenix]

You're right about it being automated, I'm sure. It just seemed unethical to ship it via a slower method.

their ability to use cheap shipping methods through the magic of logistics is how they can offer 1 day service so cheaply. actual proper next day shipping is expensive.

not to mention neither amazon nor UPS controls the weather.

 

[cbrsurfr]

When you ship as many packages as Amazon does you're bound to run into some issues. Sounds like they did everything they could to rectify the situation.

What's your alternative? Buy the books locally at twice the price plus tax and your time? Suck it up and move on.

 

[Ns1]

Sounds like you made a lot of assumptions about what "one day shipping" means in the OP.

 

[Humpy]

You are paying for a guaranteed delivery date (1, 2, 3-5 days, etc) when you select the shipping speed at Amazon...

Is it even a "guaranteed" delivery date? I thought it says expected or something similar. Although I guess they often refund shipping on late deliveries.

I have Prime and almost always choose two day delivery. The order usually sits for a day then gets put on an overnight plane. I also have yet to ever have had a delivery issue with Amazon so they and UPS are still golden IMO. I care about me. 😎

 

[Subyman]

I've found its not worth the stress to get upset over consumer stuff. They missed an item for us during the holidays. A Bluray was missing from one of the boxes that numerous items were in. We never focus too much on gifts, so we didn't realize it until after Christmas. I spoke to the Amazon CSR and they shipped it to us next day.

I'd say be happy you've got the books now and don't ruminate it. Its not worth your time.

 

[02ranger]

I think you're misunderstanding "top shipping." There's Courier and first thing next day, and also white glove delivery as additional pricier options.

If you wanted it air freighted, you could have called Amazon and paid a premium for that. The reason why Amazon opened a distribution center near you is so that they could 2-day and 1-day packages to you for less cost.

Please don't take this as me trying to be an ass, but what's the point of offering faster shipping methods if they don't use those faster shipping methods? If Amazon knows that they can get the package to me in the same time frame using ground as they could another method, why differentiate? I haven't really seen anything so far that makes me feel like it isn't a dishonest system. Or at the very least they limit the information available to you to get you to select a "faster" shipping method. I also didn't see anything anywhere that said you could call for air delivery (I may have missed it). I've always thought one day shipping was synonymous with air. Otherwise why did I pay extra? It didn't cost Amazon any extra to ship it the way they did.

You are paying for a guaranteed delivery date (1, 2, 3-5 days, etc) when you select the shipping speed at Amazon.

Amazon then find the most cost effective method of getting the package to you in that time frame, via either ground or air or whatever. It looks like your package was delayed by the weather, and there is no saying whether sending by Air would have averted that delay (still has to get from the airport to the sorting center).

So, no, I wouldn't be angry at Amazon for "screwing up shipping" because they didn't (1-day ground vs 1-day air). An example where I would be mad is paying for expedited shipping and getting a USPS media mail package or something like that.

OK, but there again, shouldn't they have used the faster shipping method since I paid for the earlier delivery? Yes, under ideal conditions the method used would be fast enough, but they charged extra for the guaranteed date and still paid the same amount to ship that they would have had I selected 3-5 day shipping. This is the part that is getting under my skin. It just seems dishonest to guarantee a date, take the extra money to get that guarantee, and then use a lesser shipping method. I could have simply paid for 3-5 day shipping and gotten the same results with just a little more information, such as where it's shipping from. I understand the whole "You're paying for a guaranteed date, not shipping" but the two should go hand in hand I would think. To me that's like getting in a cab, being taken 3/4 of the way to your destination, but being charged for the full fare by the cab driver.

This is all "academic" at this point I guess because, as I said, I'm not mad at Amazon because they really did make it right, I'm only upset at the shipping system they use.