Did Amazon's shipping change?

I don't see same day or next day delivery on anything and two day shipping which took two days now takes 5 days or more.

 

(Related but mostly off-topic, first-world problems rant warning!)

Ha! Must be like nespresso’s 2 day shipping. Only counts for Monday through Friday and those two days don’t include a solid day (minimum) for processing and the delivery day.

They USED to deliver within two days. Now it means two days ‘in transit’. The new system is especially annoying as the store is only 4 hours away.

It literally means a day for faffing about and then once it ships, there’ll be two days of it traveling, and then another day for delivery. But only if you order early in the week! Before, I’ve ordered on a Wednesday, then they mess about and get it in the mail late Thursday, the coffee travels Friday and Monday, and is delivered Tuesday. Two day shipping that takes six. And they charge for that two-day shipping. Meanwhile, my caffeine levels drop dangerously low.

 

But will enough people stop using their service that they need to shape up? Hell no. They could take two weeks and people would still use their service. They are the online Walmart: they have long since shedded the need for quality.

 

I cancelled Prime last March. Never missed it, but decided to sign up for the Free 30 day trail in December. For the most part
it worked out. I received most orders in 2/3 days from ordering. But then after Christmas I ordered a bunch of books before I discontinued Prime.

I took them over a week to ship 2 books to me and one order (a book) was cancelled because they said it was lost in transit. The tracking number was for Amazon's
shipping service not USPS/UPS. The book they said was lost has now been relisted? It is from a Marketplace seller. A used book from 1996, not something that they would have multiple copies of.
What is up with that? I almost want to reorder it just to see if it ships.

 

I have Prime, and every single time that a delivery doesn't arrive on time, I email them and complain. They'll add a free month of Prime to your account.

 

I had Prime way back in the pre-Amazon Video $79 days, but cancelled after a year because I could almost always find the things I ordered (jazz & indie CDs and mostly-obscure movie DVDs) for less on the Marketplace or eBay even factoring in shipping.

Prime DID come in handy, though, before Christmas a few weeks ago when a Hallmark item that was supposedly in stock at a local store wasn't. Nothing like standing in a store looking at their website on your phone indicating that there's five of the item in stock while the employee returns from the stock room telling you they have none.

Anyway, I ordered it on Amazon Thursday morning the 21st with the free Prime trial, and it arrived as promised Christmas Eve. I've only placed two other orders since (still have the "finding it cheaper elsewhere" issue), but they've both been very promptly delivered.

I'm not sure if the good service only lasts during the trial period. Last time I had Prime, once Wednesday afternoon arrived, I almost never saw the order until the following Monday or Tuesday. I probably won't stick with Prime to find out--I just don't order enough from Amazon (or have interest in their streaming). They helped me out on Christmas, though--I'll give them lots of credit for that.

 

Yeah, Amazon is messing around with the delivery options. It started a little while before Xmas. If you have Prime, 1 day, and "standard" shipping have mostly disappeared. You still have Prime "2 day" and the slow boat shipping options for most items.

Not sure why they are doing this, or if it's permanent.

 

Here in Portland (and I'd guess most of the west coast) they have Amazon bunny vans. White unmarked small vans that deliver a lot of products. They also use Amazon Flex drivers that use their own vehicles. This is for 2 day Prime.

If you want 1 day delivery you can get it for free by using a kiosk downtown. Works if you are downtown a lot, I am, and don't use it. Two day is fine. I'm home during the day to get deliveries. Parking near the kiosk at 11th/Jefferson is hard to come by. All meters.

Third party sellers are sometimes cheaper but you have to deal with a longer delivery time. FCM is usually 2-3 days for me, but Media Mail can be up to a week from the east coast.

One thing I am really glad of. No sales tax here in Oregon!

 

Amazon Prime has always been fantastic during the trial period. Packages would actually arrive sooner than promised. Older Prime customers don't see that same level of service in my experience.

 

I’ve noticed in the UK that Same Day has practically disappeared on vinyl (it used to be a common option) and Next Day has to be ordered by around 2pm (used to be 7pm). I suspect it’s because they’ve grown rapidly and probably don’t have the drivers on the ground to fulfill those promises. Bring on the robots!