The Amazon Effect

[rhett7660]

B5 all the way... Maybe some Startrek... Dont get me wrong... Im a believer in the trilogy every 3 years as per the gospel of How I met your Mother, but overall starwars is #4 on my scifi list

#1 B5
#2 Farscape
#3 Star Trek (mostly lower decks)
#4 Starwars

Those are TV shows though lol... But that is the forever debate, which is better Star Wars or Star Trek... lol

 

[rm5]

The point I was making was about convenience, (btw no Electronic stores in the little town I’m in), the process taking significant time driving around town to brick and order stores and finding limited inventory as compared to the convenience of online shopping.

Right. Actually, where I'm at right now, there are no electronics stores either (not even an Apple store). My point is that there are better places to buy stuff where there aren't serious ethical issues or cheap knockoffs.

I live in a pretty big area (Los Angeles County) and well Best Buy is hit and miss, and here lately a big miss. We don't have a Micro Center that is close and if I was to go to the one in Tustin (Nearest one), I would be looking at an hour drive one way... sometimes longer depending on the day, time, and if there are any events going on along the way. Nope, not going to do it. , and I haven't heard of a Sweetwater, and after a quick search looks like audio gear. We do have Guitar Centers, which I usually shop at for my drum equipment, but I was able to find bass pedal's on amazon at a significant discount. Took it to GC and they did price match it... which they didn't have to do, but they did.

I think your mic stands might have been an ordering issue between the keyboard and chair. Saying that nicely! I have a feeling there wasn't a lot of research done on what you purchased.

I personally have had good luck with Best Buy, which is why I mentioned it, and we have two back home.

Sweetwater is purely an online retailer. They do have a retail store, but I think only one. On Amazon, are you personally connected with a salesperson who can help you navigate through the order from clicking "Buy" to when the package arrives? No. That's why I use Sweetwater, because their customer service is actually good. So is it at Guitar Center.

And fine, the mic stands were likely my fault.

 

[KaliYoni]

Online shops expect me to pay in advance and wait for my items.

Online shopping should be COD

online stores just place an order from manufacture when you make an order from them

(I'm writing this as a former retailer, not as a fan or attacker of AMZN)

Paying with a credit card has more consumer protections, at least in the US, than paying with cash in most cases. The most important is that if a retailer refuses to issue a refund or if a retailer refuses to address a problem with a purchase, federal regulations require credit card issuers to temporarily reverse the charge when requested by the cardholder. The retailer then has to prove to the card issuer that its actions were justified; otherwise, the temporary charge reversal becomes permanent after 30-60 days. Further, many retailers have difficulty responding in the mandated time period.

Next, most online retailers, especially those that offer next-day or 2-day shipping, cannot use just-in-time inventory management. The merchandise has to be immediately available for orders to be processed that quickly. Also many categories of goods need significant lead time to be manufactured and made available to retailers.

 

[fanboy-ish]

I try to avoid Amazon, sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't.

I too have noticed that the overall quality of the goods on Amazon has lowered quite dramatically.

I don't like online shopping in general but, living in a medium sized town, it's the only way I have if I wish to buy goods from specific brands, or books that are not exactly popular.

 

[rhett7660]

Right. Actually, where I'm at right now, there are no electronics stores either (not even an Apple store). My point is that there are better places to buy stuff where there aren't serious ethical issues or cheap knockoffs.

I personally have had good luck with Best Buy, which is why I mentioned it, and we have two back home.

Sweetwater is purely an online retailer. They do have a retail store, but I think only one. On Amazon, are you personally connected with a salesperson who can help you navigate through the order from clicking "Buy" to when the package arrives? No. That's why I use Sweetwater, because their customer service is actually good. So is it at Guitar Center.

And fine, the mic stands were likely my fault.

Didn't know that about Sweetwater... which is probably why I didn't find a store near me!

 

[Huntn]

Right. Actually, where I'm at right now, there are no electronics stores either (not even an Apple store). My point is that there are better places to buy stuff where there aren't serious ethical issues or cheap knockoffs.

I personally have had good luck with Best Buy, which is why I mentioned it, and we have two back home.

Sweetwater is purely an online retailer. They do have a retail store, but I think only one. On Amazon, are you personally connected with a salesperson who can help you navigate through the order from clicking "Buy" to when the package arrives? No. That's why I use Sweetwater, because their customer service is actually good. So is it at Guitar Center.

And fine, the mic stands were likely my fault.

Best Buy regarding mundane stuff like cables and other accessories was a rip off last time I checked…🤔 although admittedly in the face of online convenience, I check there much less often as I remember and it requires a drive to get there. 🤔

 

[Huntn]

Actually, I make sure that as much as possible we do not shop at Amazon. And we don't! We might get a few things from Amazon once or twice a year but that's about it. Everything else is shopping at a brick and mortar place. For some items, I make sure to get them from a local mom-and-pop type of place.

To each his/her own, the consumer base will speak. However, I do remember lamenting several decades ago about the Walmart Effect on small town America... 😐

 

[Huntn]

Supporting Amazon will just make things worse.
I have a rule, if its not at my local box store, ill buy it direct from the manufacture otherwise I dont need it.
Amazon has some good stuff but 99% of it is crap, their delivery is suspect (we just had a driver arrested in Vancouver for stealing 15k worth of stuff, he listed as delivered) I can only imagine how amazon treated these customers when they reported they didnt receive their items

Amazon Prime is not worth it, I have apple music and run my own plex server for nearly 10 years now (screw you netflix for removing startrek!)


Amazon is like the empire in Starwars story and I hate starwars, thats how badly I think of amazon, its a community destroyer and a cash printing machine for people who care less about you. I cant tell others what to do, but if you care about your community stop supporting companies like Amazon.

I agree with your sentiment, but feel like we are caught in a wave, an unstoppable wave. Nothing stays the same, this is a capitalist society, the rebirth of the age of Tycoons, we make the best of our current circumstances. Besides I’m too old now to do much other than look for convenience when it comes to retail. Maybe you young whipper snappers will rise up and produce a more overall just society. I’ll participate if the opportunity presents itself.

Like the article, “not buying anything made in China for a year”, ( from the 1990s) which is practically, if not totally impossible, that due to the wheels of commerce, Capitalism, it would take one hell of a lot of effort, by one hell of a lot of people, including the billionaires, to change anything, and they already voted. Actually, they waved their wands and made it so and the sheep in bawed response. 🤔

 

[SteveManila1960]

Its a good point. I like Shoppee in the Philippines so many items are cash on delivery. No doubt it is due to most people not having credit or bank accounts with debit cards but I really like it. I receive the item, check it and then pay.

 

[msackey]

To each his/her own, the consumer base will speak. However, I do remember lamenting several decades ago about the Walmart Effect on small town America... 😐

Regarding Walmart: is another store we do not go buy from.

Consumer base typically aren’t making purchasing decisions with the idea of a future or ethics in mind. They need to be educated and the culture changed. That has been happening but not fast enough.

 

[BotchQue]

I can only imagine how amazon treated these customers when they reported they didnt receive their items

I just dropped Prime for this reason. I got a delivery but the envelope was empty, and never sealed. Their online return process didn't give me an option to explain what happened, so I had to pick a category that did have a comment box, and got a return authorization, which I took to my local Staples along with the empty envelope.
They refunded my money as soon as Staples registered the return, but then two weeks later said they didn't receive the merchandise and would charge my CC. The email did not give me an option to respond, so now I have to refuse the charge with my CC company, gah.
I'll still order the odd item from them I can't find elsewhere, but I'm not paying for Prime anymore. I can wait an extra day or two.

 

[SteveManila1960]

In my current job as Property Manager for a block of 76 flats in London I can say its not Amazon per se it is the delivery drivers. They are atrocious the things they do are unbelievable sometimes. Now that does not absolve Amazon themselves after all they contract the delivery service. However, the delivery drivers are awful. If the end delivery part of the service was improved the whole Amazon experience would be so much better.

 

[SteveManila1960]

Just yesterday an Amazon driver arrived with a huge container of packages for the building. Rather than try to deliver then to every flat in an eight floor building he took them all to the first floor and dumped them in the lift lobby!

I understand these guys are under pressure, so many deliveries on a tight time scale and penalties if they don't deliver on time. However, he could have left them with the duty porter rather than dump them in a lift lobby!!!

 

[Huntn]

Supporting Amazon will just make things worse.
I have a rule, if its not at my local box store, ill buy it direct from the manufacture otherwise I dont need it.
Amazon has some good stuff but 99% of it is crap, their delivery is suspect (we just had a driver arrested in Vancouver for stealing 15k worth of stuff, he listed as delivered) I can only imagine how amazon treated these customers when they reported they didnt receive their items

Amazon Prime is not worth it, I have apple music and run my own plex server for nearly 10 years now (screw you netflix for removing startrek!)


Amazon is like the empire in Starwars story and I hate starwars, thats how badly I think of amazon, its a community destroyer and a cash printing machine for people who care less about you. I cant tell others what to do, but if you care about your community stop supporting companies like Amazon.

I just dropped Prime for this reason. I got a delivery but the envelope was empty, and never sealed. Their online return process didn't give me an option to explain what happened, so I had to pick a category that did have a comment box, and got a return authorization, which I took to my local Staples along with the empty envelope.
They refunded my money as soon as Staples registered the return, but then two weeks later said they didn't receive the merchandise and would charge my CC. The email did not give me an option to respond, so now I have to refuse the charge with my CC company, gah.
I'll still order the odd item from them I can't find elsewhere, but I'm not paying for Prime anymore. I can wait an extra day or two.

Where I live, couriers take pictures of the package sitting on your porch or where ever.When an item is reported as delivered but you did not received it, or the package is empty, you don’t do a return. You call Amazon customer service. 😐 I can’t say what would happen if you did this multiple times.

 

[Clix Pix]

Occasionally a new delivery person will become confused about where particular units are in my condo building, as it is a rather strange configuration. Yesterday was apparently one of those situations, as when I stepped out of my place to go check my mail I saw three Amazon packages set out near one of the staircases in the main landing breezeway rather than in front of any apartment. When I returned from getting my mail, I then took a closer look at the packages and since I know the residents and also where their units are, I did the needful and delivered the packages to the proper locations. My good deed for the day....

 

[Scepticalscribe]

In my current job as Property Manager for a block of 76 flats in London I can say its not Amazon per se it is the delivery drivers. They are atrocious the things they do are unbelievable sometimes. Now that does not absolve Amazon themselves after all they contract the delivery service. However, the delivery drivers are awful. If the end delivery part of the service was improved the whole Amazon experience would be so much better.

Just yesterday an Amazon driver arrived with a huge container of packages for the building. Rather than try to deliver then to every flat in an eight floor building he took them all to the first floor and dumped them in the lift lobby!

I understand these guys are under pressure, so many deliveries on a tight time scale and penalties if they don't deliver on time. However, he could have left them with the duty porter rather than dump them in a lift lobby!!!

Well, to my mind, the solution is strangely - and deceptively - simple:

It is for Amazon to pay them - their staff, their drivers - properly, to treat them with respect, and not have such a controlling and punitive attitude to time.

 

[eyoungren]

Best Buy regarding mundane stuff like cables and other accessories was a rip off last time I checked…🤔 although admittedly in the face of online convenience, I check there much less often as I remember and it requires a drive to get there. 🤔

eBay is generally where I shop for new cables. Vendors get them from lots of places, but legit cables on eBay are very often cheaper than Amazon.

 

[eyoungren]

However, I do remember lamenting several decades ago about the Walmart Effect on small town America... 😐

Regarding Walmart: is another store we do not go buy from.

I really am not a fan of small town America. Having lived in small town America for 20 years, there is an immense depth to my disdain. I managed to escape that small rural town for good 23 years ago. I live in a major US city now and enjoy all the conveniences that small town America once denied me. Anything that can help along the demise of this much venerated (in America) concept, I will gladly assist with.

I shop at Walmart because it's inexpensive. Now I have another reason.

 

[SteveManila1960]

Well, to my mind, the solution is strangely - and deceptively - simple:

It is for Amazon to pay them - their staff, their drivers - properly, to treat them with respect, and not have such a controlling and punitive attitude to time.

Yes, this!

 

[Huntn]

I really am not a fan of small town America. Having lived in small town America for 20 years, there is an immense depth to my disdain. I managed to escape that small rural town for good 23 years ago. I live in a major US city now and enjoy all the conveniences that small town America once denied me. Anything that can help along the demise of this much venerated (in America) concept, I will gladly assist with.

I shop at Walmart because it's inexpensive. Now I have another reason.

My guess is that some of that depends on which small town you grew up in. I acknowledge that I grew up mostly in the city, and my visits to small town were to see my grandparents, and it was enjoyable, but I also recognized the limitations if you live out in the sticks and you expect something equivalent to what a city offers. But it’s all trade-offs one way or the other, pick your poison.

I mentioned the Walmart effect and would concede that society changes, commerce changes, technology changes, and billionaires run, huge corporations that make it convenient to buy material goods. 🤔

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I really am not a fan of small town America. Having lived in small town America for 20 years, there is an immense depth to my disdain. I managed to escape that small rural town for good 23 years ago. I live in a major US city now and enjoy all the conveniences that small town America once denied me. Anything that can help along the demise of this much venerated (in America) concept, I will gladly assist with.

I shop at Walmart because it's inexpensive. Now I have another reason.

Small town anywhere - alas and alack and quite unfortunately - tends to reflect your observations to a large extent.

My mother, who came from a pretty comfortable background, (all of her siblings, male and female, were packed off to good boarding schools, while her brothers had the opportunity of university, not that they all availed of it - this was in the 30s and 40s when secondary and tertiary education were not widely available) fled the country at warp speed - "escaped" was the verb she tended to use when discussing her background.

 

[eyoungren]

My guess is that some of that depends on which small town you grew up in. I acknowledge that I grew up mostly in the city, and my visits to small town were to see my grandparents, and it was enjoyable, but I also recognized the limitations if you live out in the sticks and you expect something equivalent to what a city offers. But it’s all trade-offs one way or the other, pick your poison.

I mentioned the Walmart effect and would concede that society changes, commerce changes, technology changes, and billionaires run, huge corporations that make it convenient to buy material goods. 🤔

Yes, quite a bit depends on your experience. I didn't want to derail the topic of the thread so I tried to keep it brief. Now, I will try to keep it on topic.

In the 1980s we shopped at Alpha Beta and if necessary traveled a bit further to shop at Stater Bros. That was by and large the only shopping experience available (unless I wanted to buy hay or horse feed). The irony is that this particular small town exploded with commerce AFTER I left. It got a large influx of Orange County workers seeking to buy homes they could afford while still traveling to work in Orange County. They wanted convenience and they forced the place to offer it.

Now you can shop at a lot of brand name stores there. 🤯

 

[eyoungren]

Small town anywhere - alas and alack and quite unfortunately - tends to reflect your observations to a large extent.

My mother, who came from a pretty comfortable background, (all of her siblings, male and female, were packed off to boarding school, while her brothers had the opportunity of university, not that they all availed of it - this was in the 30s and 40s when secondary and tertiary education were not widely available) fled the country at warp speed - "escaped" was the verb she tended to use.

My wife, when we first started dating, thought where I lived actually quite charming. She was born in East Los Angeles and lived there most of her life. Seeing pastures and cows (they need a bath!) and orchards, and so on was a new experience to her.

Then she lived there with me for a couple years there. And it was no longer charming. You want Starbucks? 30 minute drive. Redlands or Palm Springs, take your pick. Walmart? 30 minute drive. Barnes and Noble? 45 minute drive. Work? 45 minute drive. Movie? 30 minute drive. Need a hospital other than the awful one offered? 20 minute drive, 10 minutes if you're doing 100mph to get there. Restaurants? 30 minute drive for chain restaurants.

It wasn't all bad of course, but the bad outweighed the good frequently.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My wife, when we first started dating, thought where I lived actually quite charming. She was born in East Los Angeles and lived there most of her life. Seeing pastures and cows (they need a bath!) and orchards, and so on was a new experience to her.

Then she lived there with me for a couple years there. And it was no longer charming. You want Starbucks? 30 minute drive. Redlands or Palm Springs, take your pick. Walmart? 30 minute drive. Barnes and Noble? 45 minute drive. Work? 45 minute drive. Movie? 30 minute drive. Need a hospital other than the awful one offered? 20 minute drive, 10 minutes if you're doing 100mph to get there. Restaurants? 30 minute drive for chain restaurants.

It wasn't all bad of course, but the bad outweighed the good frequently.

Agreed.

Well, my mother always viewed boarding school - she herself was Games Captain and Deputy Head Girl at her well regarded school, what was described in its brochure as "a high class boarding academcy for young ladies" (which we both thought hilarious) - as an escape, a welcome escape, from rural life, - she always used the verb "escaped" - and never looked back once sent away to school - and, her background was pretty comfortable, which meant that she had never had to experience the worst that the country offered.

She was perfectly (and painfully) aware that rural life and living was an awful lot worse for many others, above all, for women, and she always said that, culturally, in terms of opportunities that opened doors of the mind, the country was exceptionally limited, sometimes suffocating, and exceedingly conservative in attitudes and outlook; and she always felt small towns were much the same.

 

[Lioness~]

Occasionally a new delivery person will become confused about where particular units are in my condo building, as it is a rather strange configuration. Yesterday was apparently one of those situations, as when I stepped out of my place to go check my mail I saw three Amazon packages set out near one of the staircases in the main landing breezeway rather than in front of any apartment. When I returned from getting my mail, I then took a closer look at the packages and since I know the residents and also where their units are, I did the needful and delivered the packages to the proper locations. My good deed for the day....

I must say that Amazon are incredible good to manage to get my packages right to and within my condo building. They even can get themselves in by using the port code, and put my packages outside my door.
Never a complaint about Amazon, and Airmee, the delivery service they use here.
Comparing to our national post service that can't do much right at all.
Whenever I can choose Airmee for other deliveries I do that too.