The latest in Amazon idiocy

[Crono]

oops, double post

 

[gorcorps]

Seems like Amazon is becoming a Sams Club of Internet sold merchandise where membership is needed. If an Amazon corporate dude is reading this I will straight up and tell you right now that is a failed business model. Use the Walmart strategy of everyday low prices. Don't make it an exclusive club. Like how the Internet should be open and free, so should online retailers. If eBay ever went this route they would in very short order lose a ton of their users. Bad enough they made one mistake after another. You know what they are. Many switched to Facebook or other online auction websites.

I can only imagine that if Amazon continues down the dark stupid path, their stock will too become a lousy $32 bucks.

I have yet to find an e-shop as reliable and CS oriented as Amazon. I'm sure I'm not alone either. I don't mind paying a little extra just to have the best online shopping experience for me.

 

[Gibsons]

It was not in any way bulk, alternator sized or related to hookers and/or blow. Nobody should care.

Bose speakers with Monster Cable?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Bose speakers with Monster Cable?

SHIT!!! My dark secret has been discovered. And the missing item is the Justin Bieber box set.

 

[kranky]

Seems like Amazon is becoming a Sams Club of Internet sold merchandise where membership is needed. If an Amazon corporate dude is reading this I will straight up and tell you right now that is a failed business model. Use the Walmart strategy of everyday low prices. Don't make it an exclusive club. Like how the Internet should be open and free, so should online retailers. If eBay ever went this route they would in very short order lose a ton of their users. Bad enough they made one mistake after another. You know what they are. Many switched to Facebook or other online auction websites.

I can only imagine that if Amazon continues down the dark stupid path, their stock will too become a lousy $32 bucks.

I have no idea how it will work out, but clearly Amazon is making a fortune from Prime. Here's some data I am aware of.

They are estimated to have 63 million Prime members (at $99 each, that's $6 billion a year just for memberships). And it's 20 million more Prime members than a year ago - adding 55,000 new Prime members every day. And Amazon has found that when people join Prime, they do almost all their online buying at Amazon even if they didn't before. So it's not just the membership fee, not just the increased sales, it's also the taking of market share from competitors. And that's reflected in their overall market share of online sales, which keeps growing and is now about 33%. It's estimated that Prime members spend an average of about $100/month at Amazon.

So I'm not sure Amazon sees any downside to restricting some items to Prime only - they may have found that the result is it gets people to fork over the $99 annual fee, instead of buying elsewhere.

 

[Perknose]

I have no idea how it will work out, but clearly Amazon is making a fortune from Prime. Here's some data I am aware of.

They are estimated to have 63 million Prime members (at $99 each, that's $6 billion a year just for memberships). And it's 20 million more Prime members than a year ago - adding 55,000 new Prime members every day. And Amazon has found that when people join Prime, they do almost all their online buying at Amazon even if they didn't before. So it's not just the membership fee, not just the increased sales, it's also the taking of market share from competitors. And that's reflected in their overall market share of online sales, which keeps growing and is now about 33%. It's estimated that Prime members spend an average of about $100/month at Amazon.

So I'm not sure Amazon sees any downside to restricting some items to Prime only - they may have found that the result is it gets people to fork over the $99 annual fee, instead of buying elsewhere.

Yeah, Bezos knows what he's doing, hands down. The rest of us can whine about it if it impacts us negatively, but, eh. Which reminds me, I saw something somewhere yesterday that there's a day coming up soon when you can get Prime for something like $68 for the year. I guess Google would be your friend on that.

And, OP? It was all "allowable main malfunction" UNTIL multiple CSRs didn't have the tools to fix it for you, stat. That's when I, a manly man consumer extraordinaire, take a deep breath and calmly insist to "speak with YOUR immediate supervisor." This can entail up to 30 minutes more of stonewalling and tragic let down, but my shopping penis is large and hard and determined.

Is it worth my time on a time/cost basis to do this? Objectively, no. But I treat it like a game, and gain the satisfaction of "winning," which keeps my Consumer Ego proudly erect.

Long may it wave!

 

[GagHalfrunt]

And, OP? It was all "allowable main malfunction" UNTIL multiple CSRs didn't have the tools to fix it for you, stat. That's when I, a manly man consumer extraordinaire, take a deep breath and calmly insist to "speak with YOUR immediate supervisor." This can entail up to 30 minutes more of stonewalling and tragic let down, but my shopping penis is large and hard and determined.

Is it worth my time on a time/cost basis to do this? Objectively, no. But I treat it like a game, and gain the satisfaction of "winning," which keeps my Consumer Ego proudly erect.

By my count it was six "allowable main malfunctions" that got me into this. There was a long cascading chain of design, programming and logic errors that allowed things to happen, any one of which should have identified a problem and halted the order at various stages before we got this deep.

And believe me, I have a large supply of Consumer Ego viagra which allows me to go for hours when the moment is right. It's just that past dealings with Amazon have taught me that's a poor way to approach things. On the phone the first person you speak to is a script reader that knows nothing and can't help and the second one is only working at the call center as extra credit for her English as a Second Language class which she is flunking. The third person will have no knowledge of what you've already talked about with the first two and will require your order number read off again and the next one will just laugh and "accidentally" disconnect you after a 17 minute wait on hold. Eventually you'll navigate the maze and reach a CSR 5 or 6 levels deep who can click the single button that cancels the order. And even if I had that kind of patience, with Amazon I want to work via email so that I have a paper trail. With so many CSR people having no idea of whats happening and so many more who just lie about it, you always get several different stories before unraveling the truth. I want written confirmation of what is told to me rather than relying on "well CSR #3 whose name I think was Apu Nahasapeemapetalan said...".

 

[Perknose]

And believe me, I have a large supply of Consumer Ego viagra which allows me to go for hours when the moment is right. It's just that past dealings with Amazon have taught me that's a poor way to approach things. On the phone the first person you speak to is a script reader that knows nothing and can't help and the second one is only working at the call center as extra credit for her English as a Second Language class which she is flunking. The third person will have no knowledge of what you've already talked about with the first two and will require your order number read off again and the next one will just laugh and "accidentally" disconnect you after a 17 minute wait on hold. Eventually you'll navigate the maze and reach a CSR 5 or 6 levels deep who can click the single button that cancels the order. And even if I had that kind of patience, with Amazon I want to work via email so that I have a paper trail. With so many CSR people having no idea of whats happening and so many more who just lie about it, you always get several different stories before unraveling the truth. I want written confirmation of what is told to me rather than relying on "well CSR #3 whose name I think was Apu Hahasapeemapetalan said...".

Sigh. The life of the modern ninja consumer. The system giveth, and the system taketh away. It's why I have never had much compunction about exploiting legal opportunities when they fuck up, and it's to our advantage. Is that a rationalization and not pristinely ethical? You bet it is, but it's a war out there, and mostly we're at their mercy, as they've got the heavy ordnance.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Sigh. The life of the modern ninja consumer. The system giveth, and the system taketh away. It's why I have never had much compunction about exploiting legal opportunities when they fuck up, and it's to our advantage. Is that a rationalization and not pristinely ethical? You bet it is, but it's a war out there, and mostly we're at their mercy, as they've got the heavy ordnance.

And the pragmatic warrior knows enough to climb into a foxhole once in a while. Let the French try to negotiate a deal and if things go wrong you can blame them for being pussies.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Seems like Amazon is becoming a Sams Club of Internet sold merchandise where membership is needed. If an Amazon corporate dude is reading this I will straight up and tell you right now that is a failed business model. Use the Walmart strategy of everyday low prices. Don't make it an exclusive club. Like how the Internet should be open and free, so should online retailers. If eBay ever went this route they would in very short order lose a ton of their users. Bad enough they made one mistake after another. You know what they are. Many switched to Facebook or other online auction websites.

I can only imagine that if Amazon continues down the dark stupid path, their stock will too become a lousy $32 bucks.

It's not so much membership only so much as padding profits. You arne't really SAVING money at Amazon for many things when you use prime. Also, the idea behind it is more around if you spend that 'membership' money, you feel more inclined to shop there because you spent that money and don't want it to go to waste.

I personally have never understood why they are so popular. I get just as good service, free shipping, and prices anywhere else. People are just too lazy to shop around these days. On occasion Amazon may be the only place that has some obscure item and I'll go with them, but more often than not I can find things cheaper elsewhere. Some like to tout that they are just too busy...um..yea..we're all busy you aren't a special snowflake.

I will say that in 20+ years of shopping online, I can count on 1 hand how many times I've had to deal with service or had issues and regardless of where it has been, it's never been an issue. Guess I've just been lucky.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I have no problems with you saying that, and I'm sure most of us would do a worse job, but companies (and governments) where the leadership thinks that arrogantly suck.

WTF is "arrogant" about Prime?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Seems like Amazon is becoming a Sams Club of Internet sold merchandise where membership is needed. If an Amazon corporate dude is reading this I will straight up and tell you right now that is a failed business model. Use the Walmart strategy of everyday low prices. Don't make it an exclusive club. Like how the Internet should be open and free, so should online retailers. If eBay ever went this route they would in very short order lose a ton of their users. Bad enough they made one mistake after another. You know what they are. Many switched to Facebook or other online auction websites.

I can only imagine that if Amazon continues down the dark stupid path, their stock will too become a lousy $32 bucks.

Using eBay as a comparison is straight up stupid considering how much they pushed Paypal which had far more issues than Prime.

And uh, saying the Sam's/Costco way is a failed model is...well its pretty stupid too considering neither of those are failures. In fact, you whining that Prime is a "crime" is also dumb since there's more value from that then there is from the typical membership model.

Next up you'll rant about how Netflix is a ripoff because you can pay less and get similar amount of content from Amazon Prime, plus all the extra perks that Prime offers.

 

[Imp]

I personally have never understood why they are so popular. I get just as good service, free shipping, and prices anywhere else. People are just too lazy to shop around these days. On occasion Amazon may be the only place that has some obscure item and I'll go with them, but more often than not I can find things cheaper elsewhere. Some like to tout that they are just too busy...um..yea..we're all busy you aren't a special snowflake.

You got it, count me in.

I don't care for Wal-Mart as a company but damn, they got everything at one stop under one roof.

With Amazon, it's essentially the same -- even more so in Canada because our options are so limited in terms of stores and product selection at stores. I find stuff on Amazon that I can't on any other Canadian stores despite furious googling. Plus, Amazon is a known quantity with reliable and consistent shipping, packaging, and customer service.

 

[Perknose]

Some like to tout that they are just too busy...um..yea..we're all busy you aren't a special snowflake.

Actually, I have to admit that, for most of us, if one did a cost/benefit analysis, then paying slightly extra overall for that "no brainer, one stop shopping experience" is worth it. Our time is more valuable than what we might save on the margin. That's what an economist would say, numerically. But what that doesn't take into account is the positive emotional feedback of having gotten the best price. Hell, peeps here pay for and play video games to get that BS Charlie Sheen "winning" high.

So, yeah, I get stubborn and get my jollies bending an opaque bureaucracy set up to wear me down and make me go away, to my will. It's a game, and I enjoy winning it. But I do know that, objectively, I'd be richer exerting that energy, and my preciously finite time, to make more money directly.

 

[MongGrel]

Bose speakers with Monster Cable?

Some Bose speakers in the past were pretty awesome though.

I've seen a few old used sets I'd like to have.

 

[MrSquished]

Have never had anything but great customer service from Amazon when I've needed it. I've placed hundreds and hundreds of orders. It seems YMMV

 

[zinfamous]

normal Amazon peasant problems.

 

[Imp]

Some Bose speakers in the past were pretty awesome though.

I've seen a few old used sets I'd like to have.

My computer speakers are Bose... Not bad at ~$120. I got rid of a $700 system so this was dirt cheap by comparison.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Get Prime, first world problem solved.

 

[John Connor]

I have no idea how it will work out, but clearly Amazon is making a fortune from Prime. Here's some data I am aware of.

They are estimated to have 63 million Prime members (at $99 each, that's $6 billion a year just for memberships). And it's 20 million more Prime members than a year ago - adding 55,000 new Prime members every day. And Amazon has found that when people join Prime, they do almost all their online buying at Amazon even if they didn't before. So it's not just the membership fee, not just the increased sales, it's also the taking of market share from competitors. And that's reflected in their overall market share of online sales, which keeps growing and is now about 33%. It's estimated that Prime members spend an average of about $100/month at Amazon.

So I'm not sure Amazon sees any downside to restricting some items to Prime only - they may have found that the result is it gets people to fork over the $99 annual fee, instead of buying elsewhere.

Really interesting about those numbers, because that flys in the face of everyone talking about so-called corporate greed.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

The latest: I got two more different replies from two different Amazon people and based on their names I'm guessing they're in two different countries.

Person 1 (actually person 3 because 2 other people were involved previously) says that they'll cancel the item on their end and refund the money.

Person 2 (or person 4 depending on how you're counting) says it's easier to waive the Prime restriction and send me the rest of the order.

Both replies came within a couple of minutes of each other, so I'm not sure which one is valid. For all I know I'm still not getting the refund or the item or perhaps it's possible the refund will hit my account and the box will hit my front porch simultaneously. Or maybe I'm going to get 2 boxes of things I didn't order and will be quadruple billed next leap year.

This is why I want a paper trail.

 

[KMFJD]

That's what's pissing me off. How was I allowed to buy an item I couldn't buy? How was I billed for an item they wouldn't ship? Why did I get confirmation for an order that wasn't valid? Why wasn't I notified of the problem before the rest of the order arrived? How could the process fail to catch the conflict at 10 different stages? Christ almighty, this seems like the easiest thing in the world to plan for. When an item is added to a customers cart just check the item restrictions against the buyers privileges. If they can buy it, proceed, if they're not allowed, display error. Now I'm stuck dealing with this shit when one person with one brain cell could have prevented it with literally one line of code.

Valid concerns, how the fuck do they let you pay for an item while at the same time telling you that, no you cannot buy this item?

 

[MtnMan]

Would you like so cheese with your whine?

You also have to have a membership at Sam's or Costco to buy stuff there.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Would you like so cheese with your whine?

You also have to have a membership at Sam's or Costco to buy stuff there.

Fat drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son. Read, understand, be less in a hurry to make a fool of yourself.

 

[MrDudeMan]

The hell kind of peasant doesn't have Prime?

This was my first thought as well. I can't even remember not having prime. I often forget it's even a thing because it's so stupid not to have it - like indoor plumbing. People who don't have prime sound like they're defending shitting in an outhouse to me.