The Prime shipping option Amazon should offer

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
26,067
24,396
136
Instead of 1-day or 2-day, how about 4-day?

I was speaking to friend of a buddy of mine, who works on Wall Street now but was a mid-level manager in operations at a large Amazon warehouse in the NYC metro area not that many years back. He said it's rough in those warehouses, especially for the base employees, but the pressure is immense on all levels. He said it's true about the bathroom breaks. You get one 15 min break in the morning, 30 min for lunch, 15 min in the afternoon. If you go to the bathroom outside of those time slots, you will have a supervisor marking down your productivity levels and it will affect your record, just like that.

So how about everytime you select 4-day delivery, Amazon workers get an extra break. I'd select that option.

Lately I've been getting shit from other places like REI or JensonUSA (for bike stuff) that I would normally have gotten at Amazon. Although who knows how they treat their warehouse employees, though REI seems like a good company.

Give us a 4-day shipping option Amazon! And charge me a little bit more for that product. Give your employees an extra break and a little raise!
 

BarkingGhostar

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2009
8,410
1,617
136
Please don't take this the wrong way, but businesses have been abusing their employees forever and a day. Hell, my first job was working in a Zinc-molding factory in the Northeast with no AC. Melting Zinc ingots at 800F and thirty feet away in the middle of summer had me walking outdoors during my 30-min lunch to cool off in the 90F outdoor weather. I remember the day one of the factory owners asked a worker on lunch why his nipples were erect and he said flat out, "Because it is cold out here compared to inside [the factory]." People all laughed, but not the owner.

And then I remember the opening to the movie Castaway. Just think of what the working mentality of FedEx is in their time is everything workplace environment. Not justifying this, but it is a culture long-bred in the human culture to screw one another over.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,842
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Lol you have the heart but not the logic. That's just not how humans operate. I'm specifically talking about the market. Everyone will keep buying there because the overwhelming majority wants that 2 day or less gratification.

If you hate how hard they work then go in to a Target or other retail store.
 
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lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,010
10,503
126
I'd like to pay less shipping, or get a small rebate on my purchase to have everything put into one box, even if takes longer. It's dumb buying a bunch of small stuff, and having it sent in three deliveries. That goes for everyone, not just amazon.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,560
13,801
126
www.anyf.ca
1-2 day shipping is practically unrealistic anyway. Unless you happen to live in the same city or very close to a warehouse, I just can't see how they can pull that off. Any time I order something and it says that I'm like "yeah sure, there's no way".

That said I have been surprised a few times where I actually got the item in like 2 days. No idea how they do it. The warehouses are all down south so it's not like they have any near me. Even a direct drive is a good 8 hours.

At a job I had we had to order a replacement part from Dell for our SAN and they had a 4 hour SLA. We knew that was completely unrealistic and did not actually expect them to honour that. It was an oddball part for a SAN, so not like that part would exist anywhere in our area. But lo and behold they actually did deliver it that afternoon. The only thing I can think of is that they put it on a jet and flew it straight to the airport and then put it on a Fedex truck. I wonder if Dell has jets now...
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
51,509
7,222
136
Lol you have the heart but not the logic. That's just not how humans operate. I'm specifically talking about the market. Everyone will keep buying there because the overwhelming majority wants that 2 day or less gratification.

If you hate how hard they work then go in to a Target or other retail store.

It's a difficult situation. I have a buddy who works for Amazon and he hates how they treat him. But he also refuses to get educated to do anything else...won't do college or technical school or trade school or certifications or even OJT that requires any kind of mental effort, even though he's capable of it. No one is holding a gun to his head to work there, so he's just kind of caught in a catch-22 loop where he doesn't want to make an effort to get educated but also doesn't want to make an effort to get a different job. Over time, I've really become a big believer of the phrase "where there's a will, there's a way", because everything in life is action/consequence, and if you're not willing to do the action, then there's no path forward to the consequence you want.

On the flip side, Bezos is worth $183 billion as of today, so he could afford to treat his workers a little better, i.e. hire a few more people & let people be human (like not taking off productivity points for having multiple potty breaks, which is crazy), especially for people who aren't capable of getting a better or higher-paying job for various reasons. I'm a firm believer that we should help each other out...not necessarily create a welfare state, but at least create a good working environment where your people are taken care of with dignity, rather than being treated like slaves. I've worked in a chain restaurant & do IT support for mom & pop shops, and the difference between corporate food service & family-owned businesses can be lightyears apart. Granted, not every personally-owned restaurant is managed "you're family"-style, but many of the ones I do IT work for really try to take of their workers & treat them right and they almost always have thriving businesses because people love working there & put in the extra effort to make the place successful instead of it just being "a job".

And that's the thing with the market: demands exist. Power hates a vacuum. If you don't fill the need, someone else will, whether it's the war on drugs or ISIS or McDonalds or Amazon 2-day delivery. And no one forces any kind of moral behavior in capitalistic businesses - only legal behavior - so you're free to make a zillion dollars while your workers slave away meeting demand, when you have the chance to do better & really take care of the people under you. I have a lot of respect for Bezos, as I think he does a lot of cool stuff, but with some simple changes, he could create a company that people really love working for instead of having people hustle like cattle their whole shift. Case in point:


In a capitalistic society & any society really, the onus is on us to choose our own adventure. No one is forcing us to work for any business...everyone is there of their own free will. In an ideal world, employers should treat people well, but in the real world, they are only required to do what is legal - the rest is up to us. If a person is willing to:

1. Work
2. Get educated
3. Relocate

Then their job opportunities skyrocket because again, no one is making anyone do anything, but we can choose to create more options & opportunities for ourselves by our willingness to put in effort & overcome feeling trapped. Thus "where there's a will, there's a way" makes a lot of sense because we're free to stick with crappy situations as long as we want, just as much as we're free to pursue other avenues. I had a friend who spent like 10 years going to night school & finally got out of her $13-an-hour job as an adult & became a nurse & started making $70k a year. It was a lot of hard work & sacrifice, both time-wise & financially, but she's been in that job for like 15 years now & loves what she does. The world is our oyster, but the price is effort! Which is especially important to understand as there are so many people willing to do take advantage of workers & not do right by them as human beings. But on the flip side, at least they're providing jobs, which puts food on the table. Like I said, it's a difficult situation. People feel trapped & many employers are more than happy to exploit their worker bees to the full extent that is legally possible, so ultimately we're responsible as individuals for how we want to proceed & what we're personally willing to put up with.
 
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Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
51,509
7,222
136
1-2 day shipping is practically unrealistic anyway. Unless you happen to live in the same city or very close to a warehouse, I just can't see how they can pull that off. Any time I order something and it says that I'm like "yeah sure, there's no way".

That said I have been surprised a few times where I actually got the item in like 2 days. No idea how they do it. The warehouses are all down south so it's not like they have any near me. Even a direct drive is a good 8 hours.

At a job I had we had to order a replacement part from Dell for our SAN and they had a 4 hour SLA. We knew that was completely unrealistic and did not actually expect them to honour that. It was an oddball part for a SAN, so not like that part would exist anywhere in our area. But lo and behold they actually did deliver it that afternoon. The only thing I can think of is that they put it on a jet and flew it straight to the airport and then put it on a Fedex truck. I wonder if Dell has jets now...

I have no idea how they do it either. I order the majority of my work stuff on Amazon these days. It's rare that I use Newegg or any other vendor outside of a few specific oddball things or things that are priced so competitively it's a no-brainer to go with another seller. But fast shipping plus easy returns makes them so convenient to deal with that they're my de-facto supplier. Plus for home too...like if I run out of paper towels, I just order them off Amazon, and that's one less thing to get at the grocery store or on my next Walmart run. Scary stuff lol.
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,391
1,780
126
Amazon isn't the only warehouse company. Those jobs are always rough and many other large operations have the same poor climate control and lifting requirements. They typically attract younger workers and do face high turnover.... But that's the nature of the beast/rat race.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,871
10,222
136
I'd like to pay less shipping, or get a small rebate on my purchase to have everything put into one box, even if takes longer. It's dumb buying a bunch of small stuff, and having it sent in three deliveries. That goes for everyone, not just amazon.
I let a free 30 day trial for Amazon Prime slide and I'm a couple extra months in now. I used to just let stuff accumulate in my cart until I had enough for free shipping. Sometimes it would all come in one box, other times not IIRC. Now, I guess they're separate packages usually, but sometimes delivered at the same time. I ordered an external optical burner Wednesday that's scheduled for delivery this coming Monday, so that's 5 days. I'm finding Prime to be not a lot faster than before. The advantage is I don't have to get over the $25 limit before purchase. So far, I haven't been using other Prime features, just the delivery perks.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
26,067
24,396
136
I let a free 30 day trial for Amazon Prime slide and I'm a couple extra months in now. I used to just let stuff accumulate in my cart until I had enough for free shipping. Sometimes it would all come in one box, other times not IIRC. Now, I guess they're separate packages usually, but sometimes delivered at the same time. I ordered an external optical burner Wednesday that's scheduled for delivery this coming Monday, so that's 5 days. I'm finding Prime to be not a lot faster than before. The advantage is I don't have to get over the $25 limit before purchase. So far, I haven't been using other Prime features, just the delivery perks.
If it wasn't for the video streaming I'd have cancelled prime by now to see how it goes.
 
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[DHT]Osiris

Lifer
Dec 15, 2015
17,368
16,645
146
Instead of 1-day or 2-day, how about 4-day?

I was speaking to friend of a buddy of mine, who works on Wall Street now but was a mid-level manager in operations at a large Amazon warehouse in the NYC metro area not that many years back. He said it's rough in those warehouses, especially for the base employees, but the pressure is immense on all levels. He said it's true about the bathroom breaks. You get one 15 min break in the morning, 30 min for lunch, 15 min in the afternoon. If you go to the bathroom outside of those time slots, you will have a supervisor marking down your productivity levels and it will affect your record, just like that.

So how about everytime you select 4-day delivery, Amazon workers get an extra break. I'd select that option.

Lately I've been getting shit from other places like REI or JensonUSA (for bike stuff) that I would normally have gotten at Amazon. Although who knows how they treat their warehouse employees, though REI seems like a good company.

Give us a 4-day shipping option Amazon! And charge me a little bit more for that product. Give your employees an extra break and a little raise!
I don't have Prime, I just only order things that are either already free, or hit the $25 min for free. Stuff gets here when it gets here, I'm not in a rush because I plan ahead. It also comforts me some to know that I'm not part of that specific problem.
 

skull

Platinum Member
Jun 5, 2000
2,209
327
126
You have obviously not worked in places like this or you're one of the losers and can't see it. People that work these jobs are generally terrible they'll disappear for an hour and say they were in the bathroom, thats why they make these rules not because someone takes a leak real quick. I should know I was one of these losers that worked at amazon back when I was on dope. My old lady has an amazon like job shes moved up real quick because she actually shows up and works. She has to deal with these losers and there non working antics all day. The people that actually work can take a quick bathroom break without it affecting them. Generally its hard to get fired from these places even when your one of the losers cuz they need bodies. Just because they have a rule doesn't mean its strictly enforced.
 
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woodman1999

Golden Member
Sep 19, 2003
1,712
115
106
I don't know where you guys live that 2-day is so unrealistic. In North Jersey 2 days is about the max amount of time I wait. Once in a while, things come same day even with 2 day shipping selected.

My buddy works for Amazon robotics so I am guessing the conditions are a little different. He loves his job....
 

skull

Platinum Member
Jun 5, 2000
2,209
327
126
I'm with you 2 days is a max, I get a lot of my prime stuff next day if not that day now.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,871
10,222
136
I don't have Prime, I just only order things that are either already free, or hit the $25 min for free. Stuff gets here when it gets here, I'm not in a rush because I plan ahead. It also comforts me some to know that I'm not part of that specific problem.
I was just like you but signed up for auto-offered 30 day Prime on Dec. 2, 2020. Didn't cancel by Jan 1, 2021, so am paying $12.99/month for Prime unless and until I cancel.

Just because you aren't on Prime doesn't mean people in Amazon warehouses aren't packaging and sending out stuff for you. It's functionally not that different. They send out stuff maybe a little faster, maybe less packaged together, but when I wasn't on Prime and ordered 3 items, they often wound up coming separately anyway. They are making minimally $15/hour. They do work hard, don't have freedoms a lot of workers, most have but I don't feel sorry for them. I've had lots of crappy jobs, some worse than that.

I may cancel my Prime, especially if I stop shopping Amazon as much as I have been, which is more than usual. I used to go months without ordering on Amazon. Now that I'm vaccinated, I'll be doing less online shopping, so yeah, I may cancel soon.
 
Last edited:

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
26,067
24,396
136
You have obviously not worked in places like this or you're one of the losers and can't see it. People that work these jobs are generally terrible they'll disappear for an hour and say they were in the bathroom, thats why they make these rules not because someone takes a leak real quick. I should know I was one of these losers that worked at amazon back when I was on dope. My old lady has an amazon like job shes moved up real quick because she actually shows up and works. She has to deal with these losers and there non working antics all day. The people that actually work can take a quick bathroom break without it affecting them. Generally its hard to get fired from these places even when your one of the losers cuz they need bodies. Just because they have a rule doesn't mean its strictly enforced.
I'm just repeating what I've heard in the news and what a guy said to me who was a Major in the US army, is now a VP for a major wall Street firm, and was an operations manager at Amazon. He said the atmosphere at those warehouses can be rough, for a lot of the employees, but especially the core workers, because of reasons I listed above.

Want to call him a loser too?

I'm sorry that triggered you.

Dbag.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,871
10,222
136
Smart TV/Roku device

They have a good library.
I'll check it out. My TV's are 43" 4K TCL Roku, 3 of them. Wifi connected. I don't know how it's done... I suppose there's an Amazon Prime channel I can set up on them.

Edit: I turned on TV and I already have Prime Video channel icon available. Just gotta sign in, looks like... Yo, I'm in. Now just gotta find stuff I want to watch. I do a lot of Youtube free, check out DVDs and BRs from local library, have stuff on my shelves.
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,450
126
Instead of 1-day or 2-day, how about 4-day?

I was speaking to friend of a buddy of mine, who works on Wall Street now but was a mid-level manager in operations at a large Amazon warehouse in the NYC metro area not that many years back. He said it's rough in those warehouses, especially for the base employees, but the pressure is immense on all levels. He said it's true about the bathroom breaks. You get one 15 min break in the morning, 30 min for lunch, 15 min in the afternoon. If you go to the bathroom outside of those time slots, you will have a supervisor marking down your productivity levels and it will affect your record, just like that.

So how about everytime you select 4-day delivery, Amazon workers get an extra break. I'd select that option.

Lately I've been getting shit from other places like REI or JensonUSA (for bike stuff) that I would normally have gotten at Amazon. Although who knows how they treat their warehouse employees, though REI seems like a good company.

Give us a 4-day shipping option Amazon! And charge me a little bit more for that product. Give your employees an extra break and a little raise!

I'll bet that companies like Amazon realized that people who are taking more than 2 bathroom breaks a day are probably spending it playing cell phone games on the toilet.

Let's face it... warehouse jobs like that don't exactly attract the highest quality people.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
26,067
24,396
136
I'll bet that companies like Amazon realized that people who are taking more than 2 bathroom breaks a day are probably spending it playing cell phone games on the toilet.

Let's face it... warehouse jobs like that don't exactly attract the highest quality people.
I never said slackers don't exist, but apparently it's tough for some people to wrap their heads around the possibility that at the same time, some companies can treat their employees like robots as well.

Also, just because you are at a warehouse job doesn't make you a sub standard worker. It's easy to dehumanize them. I worked a lot of restaurant jobs in my teens, early twenties. Being a busboy or dishwasher is manual labor too. Lots of really hard workers for the most part.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
26,067
24,396
136
I'll check it out. My TV's are 43" 4K TCL Roku, 3 of them. Wifi connected. I don't know how it's done... I suppose there's an Amazon Prime channel I can set up on them.

Edit: I turned on TV and I already have Prime Video channel icon available. Just gotta sign in, looks like... Yo, I'm in. Now just gotta find stuff I want to watch. I do a lot of Youtube free, check out DVDs and BRs from local library, have stuff on my shelves.
Enjoy. Prime has tons of good free content. The Grateful Dead documentary series was fantastic. Mile, mile and a half. The Expanse, great sci fi series. The Boys, interesting take on superheroes. Tons more
 
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sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
100,198
17,890
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I'll bet that companies like Amazon realized that people who are taking more than 2 bathroom breaks a day are probably spending it playing cell phone games on the toilet.

Let's face it... warehouse jobs like that don't exactly attract the highest quality people.


Err I go to bathroom way more than twice a day.