I recently bought a trailer hitch and wiring harness via Amazon. About a day after they arrived and I was writing about the purchase, I noticed that when I reclicked on the recent order tab that both items had gone down in price. $20.09 for one item and $6.76 for the other. I called Amazon to inquire about a price protection adjustment. My very friendly operator informed me that official policy was to return the item and re-order at the new price. I consider this momentarily. It would be easy to return since they had never come out of the boxes. Some humor in the idea of shipping two heavy boxes again (one hitch return and one hitch delivery) so that I could save $20. I politely asked the operator if she could issue me a store credit for the difference.
For my less than $27 discrepancy, she issued me a $40 account credit. She was very clear to state (like she was reading it) that this was not a credit for price matching but rather was for customer loyalty appreciation. Happy!
In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :
Nobody ever said the Highway to Hell wasn't a fun ride....
Peabody
UltimaDork
7/2/20 8:42 a.m.
I've been saying this for almost 40 years now that the strength of the economy and customer service are inversely proportional.
The hotter the economy gets, and it's crazy right now, the worse customer service gets.
Just wait til we're in full blown recession. They'll all want your business again
I preordered a limited release vinyl album (Don't Break The Oath by Mercyful Fate) on Amazon back in the beginning of May. I was ordering some other stuff and tossed it in the cart instead of ordering direct from the record label.
That was a mistake.
They keep pushing back the release date, and I'm not confident I'll ever get it. It's gone from June 19th to July 3rd, and now it's been pushed to sometime in August. I'm part of some record collecting groups, and others who preordered through the label have had the record for a couple weeks now. Never doing that again!
Tony Sestito said:
I preordered a limited release vinyl album (Don't Break The Oath by Mercyful Fate) on Amazon back in the beginning of May. I was ordering some other stuff and tossed it in the cart instead of ordering direct from the record label.
That was a mistake.
They keep pushing back the release date, and I'm not confident I'll ever get it. It's gone from June 19th to July 3rd, and now it's been pushed to sometime in August. I'm part of some record collecting groups, and others who preordered through the label have had the record for a couple weeks now. Never doing that again!
I'm guessing the record label is sold out? That's why you haven't canceled and ordered through them?
But if they keep pushing the date back because the supplier doesn't have any, not really Amazon's fault either.
In reply to z31maniac :
Record label is sold out and they are not producing more, but why would Amazon even offer a preorder in the first place if they couldn't get the product? Other retailers offered preorders and people got them.
today their driver dropped off an empty envelope that never was sealed now im on hold with india call center. 
Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:
today their driver dropped off an empty envelope that never was sealed now im on hold with india call center.
I just used their chat and got a similar problem resolved in a few minutes.
One was an empty envelope, the other was one that had a hole punched in it and allowed some of the stuff to fall out.
Both times, hit up the chat, explained the situation and they refunded the money to my account in a few hours.
E36 M3 happens in shipping, just the cost of doing business.
I've placed some Amazon orders recently and they all came through. I couldn't find a tool in town and Amazon shipped it in 2 days, regular shipping.
Some things I still avoid. I bought shorts directly from Wrangler, because I don't shop at Wal-Mart anymore and some of the product descriptions on Amazon were too ambiguous. I had to be sure I was getting the right color, style and size. Socks through Amazon, no problem.
Tony Sestito said:
In reply to z31maniac :
Record label is sold out and they are not producing more, but why would Amazon even offer a preorder in the first place if they couldn't get the product? Other retailers offered preorders and people got them.
No idea. My assumption would be their allotment was sent somewhere else. These things happen, especially with Vinyl's since they are typically produced in very low numbers.
z31maniac said:
Tony Sestito said:
In reply to z31maniac :
Record label is sold out and they are not producing more, but why would Amazon even offer a preorder in the first place if they couldn't get the product? Other retailers offered preorders and people got them.
No idea. My assumption would be their allotment was sent somewhere else. These things happen, especially with Vinyl's since they are typically produced in very low numbers.
My guess is that Amazon doesn't sell the records for free. If the label sells the album directly they probably stand to make more (not have to share with Amazon.)
So, to hedge their bet and leverage the international audience of Amazon, the label signs on with Amazon. However, if direct sales are brisk, the label never sends product to Amazon and sells either themselves or through next cheaper avenues.
In reply to z31maniac :
I ended up finding a copy in stock today at another retailer, so I ordered it up. I also found out I'm not alone with the preorder issues with Amazon; a number of people in one of my record collecting groups said they have had issues in the past with them, even before the pandemic. They have been good with getting in-stock records so far, so this was a surprise. Guess I'll stick with the little guys when it comes to preorders. In the end, it's not a huge deal, just annoying.
John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:
z31maniac said:
Tony Sestito said:
In reply to z31maniac :
Record label is sold out and they are not producing more, but why would Amazon even offer a preorder in the first place if they couldn't get the product? Other retailers offered preorders and people got them.
No idea. My assumption would be their allotment was sent somewhere else. These things happen, especially with Vinyl's since they are typically produced in very low numbers.
My guess is that Amazon doesn't sell the records for free. If the label sells the album directly they probably stand to make more (not have to share with Amazon.)
So, to hedge their bet and leverage the international audience of Amazon, the label signs on with Amazon. However, if direct sales are brisk, the label never sends product to Amazon and sells either themselves or through next cheaper avenues.
Thank you for adding clarity to my brevity. That's exactly what I suspect happened.
I've had several in-stock items with 2 day prime shipping take 7+ days to arrive, with amazon shipping with UPS or USPS. Mostly the car parts needed for the Olds. Last item for it was a set of flex-a-lite fans. It took 8 days to arrive and it was obviously a returned item they sold as new. Box had holes in it and was missing the mounting brackets. I ordered a replacement and it came shipped direct from the manufacturer earlier than the expected arrival date. The last item to be late are some screen protectors for my cell phone. It was picked up by USPS at one of the amazon warehouses here in town on June 29th and spent 6 days going 60+ miles to a USPS distribution center. Now its back in town and expected to arrive tomorrow.
