Amazon really messed up shipping some vinyl.

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Sick Sick Phil, Dec 27, 2017.

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  1. zongo

    zongo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Davis, CA
    Thank you for your service. And sorry for the crappy experience.
     
    Myke likes this.
  2. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    I respect your sharing this with us. It reminds me of my son's experience working at the local UPS hub years ago. A work environment you'd never think still existed in the 21st century, yet it does. Screaming supervisors, packages being drop-kicked, and thrown against walls for "amusement," and more. Things the majority of forum members will never see, let alone experience.
    .
     
  3. JAG

    JAG Forum Professor with Tenure

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    I couldn't care any less about how many mess ups they have. I know my records are hand packed with extreme care from acoustic sounds and not on five different conveyor belts bouncing around a warehouse. Amazon uses massive trucks and stuffs all their items in those trucks and get banged around on forklifts. They are handled by different workers by the time they even get to the delivery companies. No thank you but to each their own.
     
    Dave likes this.
  4. lucan_g

    lucan_g Forum Resident

    I agree with this. Amazon has made things so easy to replace... that people regularly keep returning looking for that “perfect pressing”. Unless you are spending serious money on a record... perfection is not something to be expected in this medium. And as for a packaging mess up over the holidays, let them know but at least try the product. It is crazy not to...and terribly wasteful.
     
    Slick Willie likes this.
  5. Slick Willie

    Slick Willie Decisively Indecisive

    Location:
    sweet VA.
    Sure...but try returning an album to AS!!! Horrible shipping and return policy!
     
    eddiel likes this.
  6. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Punk

    Location:
    England
    Yeah, we banned people too in our independent record store (when I was 16/17, many many years ago too), for those reasons, and for CDs as well as vinyl. Even after a couple of goes, not worth it, our profit margins were so small we relied on high turnover and happy customers, not gits.

    And we had a large piece of long wood under the cash register to chase them away with if they tried to return :)
     
    Mazzy likes this.
  7. GroovyGuy

    GroovyGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Halifax, NS Canada
    Another 5 star Amazon vinyl shipping experience here ... NOT lol. See picture below. Both LP's in the set were SEVERELY warped to the point where I didn't even drop the tonearm on either as I know they won't play. I'm not sure if it's just a bad pressing, bad storage, or a result of the lack of packaging but they're going back.

    I'm just going to use packing tape to seal the open side of the shrink wrap and slap the return label on it and send it back. They are getting completely ridiculous with their shipping of vinyl to the point where I'm not going to bother any longer.

    [​IMG]
     
  8. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Personally, I would NOT do that. Yeah, it feels good to say "you shipped it to me this way, I'm sending it back the same way!" But if the person in receiving at Amazon gets it this way, they may ding you for not using proper packaging. And, yeah, then you can start a long tiresome process if they reject the return, but why would you want to deal with that? Better to put it in a box or record mailer and slap on the Amazon pre-paid label...
     
  9. steveharris

    steveharris Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Oh I`ve heard what goes on and seen pictures of inside UPS.
     
  10. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    I've been wondering if my account now has a black mark... I sent back a laptop from Amazon Warehouse in December for arriving with the wrong operating system and all serial numbers blacked out (really strange...). I waited for two weeks after tracking showed it was delivered for the refund and finally decided to ask them for it, at which point they apologized and promptly refunded me.
     
  11. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    That sounds like the kind of thing a shyster third party seller would try to foist off. After you sure it was sold by Amazon and not sold by a third party with fulfillment by Amazon?
     
  12. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    It was Amazon Warehouse Deals, which after speaking to their tech support was surprised to find out was not affiliated with Amazon?

    This is a newer Thinkpad so they don't have the serial number under the laptop anymore, AWD placed black stickers all over the spec sticker and serial numbers on the factory box.
     
  13. GroovyGuy

    GroovyGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Halifax, NS Canada
    I am returning it the way they packaged it when they sent it to me. By sending it to me packaged that way they established the standard for which shipping such material was acceptable. Should they try and claim recourse against me for shipping it back that way the onus would be on them to explain why my packaging was substandard which would circle right back to the manner they packed the item when they sent it back to me.

    If they reject the return I will make the effort to validate my return. It is through legitimate efforts such as this that Amazon will be made to realize that customers will not tolerate items they are paying good money for being shipped to them in a manner which is not industry best practice nor acceptable to any reasonable person.
     
  14. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    While I agree it should be acceptable to return exactly as shipped, why set yourself up for the hassle of a possible rejection and there time it will take to fix it? Amazon won't care one iota about the point you're trying to make and it will change nothing.
     
    GentleSenator likes this.
  15. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Ok... So this is what happened: a crook bought the laptop from Amazon. They claimed a defect and returned the pile of crap you received in its place. Amazon returns get resold through Warehouse Deals.
     
  16. GroovyGuy

    GroovyGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Halifax, NS Canada
    With all due respect, if everyone does nothing nothing will ever get done about the problem. I am also fortunate enough to "have the ear" of someone in Amazon's supply chain. I'll use the standard process to provide feedback and if that fails and/or if I get flagged then I'll pick up the phone
     
  17. Dave Garrett

    Dave Garrett Senior Member

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    As far as Amazon is concerned, there likely isn't a problem. They almost certainly have data that indicates that their loss rates/returns due to damage resulting from shipping specific items a specific way are within a range that they consider acceptable. If something starts to regularly fall outside that range, then they make changes.

    For someone purchasing vinyl from Amazon, there is definitely a problem. But buying vinyl online from any vendor that you can't guarantee will pack properly every time is a fool's errand, given the fragility of both LPs and jackets. If you are not willing to take a chance on damage resulting from poor packaging, then you should either not buy vinyl online at all or restrict purchases to the specialist vendors that may charge higher prices but will consistently pack vinyl to arrive in the same condition it left in.
     
  18. GroovyGuy

    GroovyGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Halifax, NS Canada
    You've described the issue perfectly. There is a disconnect between Amazon and it's customers in the value equation for the products they sell and delivery. Until about 3 months ago, every LP I purchased from Amazon arrived in a corrugated shipping package. They made changes in their supply chain to remove cost while under the impression this would not impact the value provided to customers. Their assumptions were incorrect and they need to be aware of this.

    Again, if no one advises vendors there is a problem with the goods or services they are providing they will proceed onward with no changes not realizing decisions they made are not transparent to their customers. Simply abandoning them as a supplier does not provide them with feedback they need to change their practices. I like buying from Amazon and want to continue to do so which is one reason I'm pursuing this matter with them.
     
  19. Alan2

    Alan2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I've found amazon have got their packaging act together now, but I had some bad experiences a few years ago. For example a record sleeve bent to fit the box, which was less than 12" across.
     
  20. ScramMan2

    ScramMan2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland OR
    Any vinyl I have purchased through Amazon has always been in those expensive Pratt mailers for albums. Sometimes even double boxed.
     
  21. slop101

    slop101 Guitar Geek

    Location:
    So. Cal.
    What's kinda annoying is when you get something that is a little bit messed up, but not quite worth going through the process of an exchange. Like I just got a record, and there were a couple blade slashes through the front, cutting through the shrink wrap, and making slight scratches on the cover, not all the way through to the record or the sleeve, just enough to see if you look closely. Annoying, but not really "damaged" per se. It's a weird middle ground that's almost worse than if the record was broken, as it's not quite worth exchanging so you just have to live with it.
     
  22. InStepWithTheStars

    InStepWithTheStars It's a miracle, let it alter you

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Trying to figure out if this is a joke or not. I have no doubt you're telling the truth, but the album you specified... :shh:
     
    Lost In The Flood likes this.
  23. GroovyGuy

    GroovyGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Halifax, NS Canada
    If the item you ordered is not 100% thank it should be returned regardless of the hassle factor.
     
    Dave likes this.
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