Amazon.co.uk shocking service.

HillStreetBlues

MobileSaver said:

Undervalued said:

drjohn67 said:

The number of similar cases might suggest criminal activity within the warehouse / distribution.

The number is meaningless without knowing what percentage of sales it represents.

I found one article suggesting Amazon deliver at least 120,000 parcels every single day so the reports here and in the media would appear to represent an incredibly tiny number of problems. (That's no consolation to genuine customers affected of course but it's obviously an exceptionally rare event.)

That's just using "zero emission vehicles"

MobileSaver

HillStreetBlues said:

MobileSaver said:

Undervalued said:

drjohn67 said:

The number of similar cases might suggest criminal activity within the warehouse / distribution.

The number is meaningless without knowing what percentage of sales it represents.

I found one article suggesting Amazon deliver at least 120,000 parcels every single day so the reports here and in the media would appear to represent an incredibly tiny number of problems. (That's no consolation to genuine customers affected of course but it's obviously an exceptionally rare event.)

That's just using "zero emission vehicles"

Yes, that's why I said "at least".

It's not clear (to me) from that article whether 120,000 is all daily deliveries and zero emission vehicles were used at some point during each and every one or whether that is 120,000 which are delivered exclusively via zero emission (in which case the total number of daily parcels will be significantly higher) ...

Of course, whatever the real total number of daily parcels is, it's clear the number of problems is minuscule.

HillStreetBlues

MobileSaver said:

 the total number of daily parcels will be significantly higher) ...

It is (2021 figures)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/mar/27/amazon-delivery-drivers-raise-alarm-over-real-terms-pay-cut

more than 2m items a day

And that's just what they deliver,  I get stuff via Royal Mail at times.

drjohn67

No more meaningless than quoting the huge number of deliveries. Vast majority of those purchases are lower cost purchases - books, stationary, groceries, etc

The true rate / risk would be achieved by measuring the number of failed high value item deliveries as a percentage of high value purchases. 

There are a worrying number just over this Christmas, based upon those cases being reported here and on the BBC. The advice has been to take a video of the package prior to and during opening.

As an individual considering an expensive purchase, I would be concerned about even a small risk of complete loss or only getting a refund after a significant amount of effort/hassle.

Amazon currently seem to have been targeted by criminals which has exposed deficiencies in tracking of high value items. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-64296971

MobileSaver

drjohn67 said:

No more meaningless than quoting the huge number of deliveries. Vast majority of those purchases are lower cost purchases - books, stationary, groceries, etc

As an individual considering an expensive purchase, I would be concerned about even a small risk of complete loss or only getting a refund after a significant amount of effort/hassle.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-64296971

That article talks of one single case and then says "David McClelland said he had heard other reports" against a company delivering hundreds of thousands if not millions of orders every single day.

Even if only 1% of those orders are what you would consider "high value" it's plainly obvious that the number of dodgy deliveries is completely and utterly insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Similarly this MSE site has a huge user base (16 million users a month) and receiving a box of cornflakes instead of an iPhone is a newsworthy event in anyone's life so you'd expect far more people to be reporting such a thing if the problem was widespread. You really are massively exaggerating the risk involved.

sheramber

It is not just high value items that are swopped.

My son ordered a bicycle light and got three batteries instead.  Refunded no problem.

Murphybear

MobileSaver said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

Penz_02 said:

... Not only am I angry and frustrated about the refund delay, but I'm pretty confident Amazon won't honour the purchase I made by sending me another watch at the price I originally paid for it...

I've never personally bought anything from Amazon so I've no idea how their returns process works, but I don't think I would have sent back the item for a refund

To be fair to the OP, I do buy a lot of stuff from Amazon and I can't remember the last time I was offered a straight replacement when returning something; the only option offered in the last few years has been a refund.

I think from Amazon's point of view it's too much hassle to replace products when the transaction can just be cancelled and refunded and the customer can then re-order if they wish.

I know it's not down to price as only last week a Christmas gift I'd bought for my girlfriend was faulty - a few clicks arranged a free next-day collection of the faulty item and a few more clicks allowed me to re-order the same item which was now a few quid cheaper than I'd originally paid. The next day the faulty item was collected, seconds later I received an email to say I'd been refunded and then a few hours later the new replacement I had ordered the day before arrived. Again, for me at least, outstanding customer service.

I buy tons of things from Amazon and have rarely had any problems.  A couple of times a small item was damaged and they sent me replacements the same day, they didn’t want the originals returned as they both cost about a fiver.  I have only not received an item once and they refunded my money immediately as the item was then out of stock.  

I do have a tale about another item.  I bought a heated pad for my back and it stopped working when I had it just under a year and they sent me a replacement immediately.  The same thing happened and they sent me another one.  When that stopped working I sent it to the manufacturer (in the U.K.) and they blamed me for not using it correctly  I pointed out that I had used much more complicated equipment as part of my Physics degree and they didn’t respond.  When I told Amazon they gave me back my original payment to compensate me for the inconvenience (how many businesses would do that?) so I bought another pad from Amazon from a different U.K. manufacturer.  That was 3/4 years ago and it’s still going strong.  

km1500

I too can echo the excellent customer service I have has from Amazon over the many years I have used them

If I had a gripe, it would be the dark patterns they use to either 1. try and get me to accidentally sign up to Prime and 2. try and get me to accidentally sign up for a monthly subscription for items rather than just a one-of purchase.

You just have to have your wits about you when ordering.

TELLIT01

MobileSaver said:

Undervalued said:

drjohn67 said:

The number of similar cases might suggest criminal activity within the warehouse / distribution.

The number is meaningless without knowing what percentage of sales it represents.

I found one article suggesting Amazon deliver at least 120,000 parcels every single day so the reports here and in the media would appear to represent an incredibly tiny number of problems. (That's no consolation to genuine customers affected of course but it's obviously an exceptionally rare event.)

As a proportion of total sales the numbers may well be tiny, but if it is always high value items which are being switched the cost to the customer is not.  Assuming the way it is said to be done is accurate, it would suggest the most likely place for it to happen would be the warehouse as they have easy access to the packaging materials.  It seems unlikely that a delivery driver would have such access.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

MobileSaver said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

MobileSaver said:

A bizarre attitude, why specifically don't you trust them?

Amazon are my retailer of choice with prices, product selection, delivery and customer service all being amazing which is why I order literally hundreds of products from them every single year.

I appreciate it can happen wherever you buy and we probably hear about it more with Amazon as Amazon has more customers than anyone else

I think that's the key; I don't know the specifics but if someone told me that Amazon processes more orders in a single day than any other online retailer does in a whole year then I wouldn't be surprised. Dealing with that many orders then things will go wrong from time to time but I'd feel much more confident that I'd always get my money back from Amazon than any other company I buy from.

Case in point; last year I ordered a £1,400 item, wasn't happy with it for some reason so I contacted Amazon and they collected it next day from my home at no charge and refunded me once they'd received it back. No hassle, no stress, no arguments just a few clicks and great customer service.

I agree the odds of a problem are slim but they do happen, I've had an order sent to me twice, I've had FBA stock pulled back and received something belonging to another seller (they did eventually send my item as well), I've had a problem with a return for a console game and steelbook that arrived damaged, Amazon sold the items on the same page but priced them as a bundle, they wanted the 2 items back but only refund the £5 odd for the steelbook, I had to ask for the other £45 which to be fair they refunded without question. I had an empty mailer arrive with 2.5 meters of 5mm garden chain missing, the card was perfectly flat so I don't think it was put in to begin with as the shape of the item would have creased the mailer

I'm also tired of their poor packing, they cut back during Covid due to carboard shortages and they seem to be sticking with it, I had £20 of Lego before Christmas sent with Evri which arrived flattened, got another Lego order currently out with Evri, I don't have high hopes.... 

Many years ago I purchased my wife's engagement ring on Amazon and like a donut ordered the wrong size, completed the returns flow and got a 1st Class Royal Mail label, I won't say how much the ring was but it was certainly a lot more than the cover on 1st Class. CS did arrange a collection with DPD in the end and that was a long time ago so maybe they've figured out to use an appropriate service for high value returns but had I been returning that ring today I wouldn't be happy with a DPD collection, they stick a tiny barcode label on the box and then label them a some point later on, the risk of a mix up and Amazon getting some random item rather than the ring is not worth it. 

I do find generally service is poor from most big companies, the best shopping experiences I tend to have is from small sellers on eBay, eBay has great cover if things go wrong and eBay is cheaper than Amazon half the time (Amazon tends to be cheaper for branded items).