Amazon's online shopping is not very friendly ... BEWARE.

[thunder rising]

It's Saturday night, 10:30 and I decided to do a little online shopping.

Originally, I was going to order a 3/4" air hose and 2 fittings to reduce the end sizes to 1/4 in. I started to order the from Northern Tools, a company that I have done much business with. However, they did not have the reducers, so I searched and Amazon supplies them. So I ordered the the fittings and some other hardware and it all came to about $45. Since I had not placed the order for the air hose I looked to see if Amazon had a good deal, and selected a 50 ft 1/2 hose; the problem is 1/2 in hoses have 3/8" fittings not 1/2" fittings, so I didn't need the reducers; $22. However, I missed that fact until seconds after I paid.

After I paid I noticed the problem and immediately went to change the order. What I got was a message that stated:
"Your order has already been processed and cannot be canceled or changed. Please contact the seller directly to cancel this order." An additional message states: "This portion of your order is being prepared for shipment and cannot be canceled or changed." However they give you NO clue as to who the seller is and will not forward a message to the seller that there is a problem with the order. And it is apparent the only thing they have "processed" is my credit card.

Now for the punch line. Amazon wants to make you think that they offer a secure payment method so you get emails that say:

"Your order will be paid using the new credit card number that you provided. Please note that your credit card will not be charged until your order is ready for shipment." But, in fact, my credit card was charged as soon as I hit the button.

Note the difference in the language. The email says "ready for shipment" and the web site response is "already been processed" and "being prepared for shipment".

So, the only choice I have is to reject the shipment at the door and dispute the charge. Meanwhile my money is tied up.

I regularly purchase online and I make adjustments to orders occasionally. But not so much with Amazon. So, just BEWARE! Amazon is not as friendly online as they would like you to believe. I will keep this in mind as I chose where to spend my money again.

Thunder Rising

[Mimosa]

1. Amazon and hardware? Please...

Shop local for hardware. Amazon is about DVDs, books and CDs. maybe even cookware.

[thunder rising]

2. But Ace ain't open at 10:30 on Saturday night...

[pipi_k]

50. That's true, but...

ordering from Amazon on a Saturday isn't going to get it to you any sooner than if you had waited till Monday to go to Ace hardware. Unless you ask for overnight shipping and pay extra, but who wants to do that?

[Tunkamerica]

13. cheap shoes (if you have average feet)

cheap bags, cheap sunglasses... some other stuff I've bought and been happy with

[hlthe2b]

3. I shop alot with Amazon and have always seen secondary sellers

listed and they actually have a storefront with the information that you generally need to access if you want to deal with them or not. I tend to try to purchase only those items Amazon stocks, so that I can use the Prime shipping option, but have used secondary sellers on occasion. If you click on the link for the objects you purchased, you should be able to identify who the seller is.

That said, they do give you less of an opportunity to cancel, I've noticed, with secondary sellers, especially on the weekends. I actually made a purchase from a secondary seller a few hours ago, and as you said, it already says it is being prepared for shipment and can not be canceled. However, it also has a link to contact the seller. If you do so and indicate your intention to return the item if it is shipped, they may well work with you to cancel it on that end.

Amazon works well for me and they have readily refunded the few items I have ever canceled or returned, but the secondary seller is an issue you need to pay attention to... as there are differences, including the fact you don't get free shipping.

[thunder rising]

4. Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC. And they rejected an email that I sent to the only address provided.

[marybourg]

5. Go to the page labeled "my account", log in, and next to the item you

you purchased, you should see a link for "contact the seller". Also on the page for the item itself you should be able to click on the seller's name and get a link.

[thunder rising]

6. This is not the case when Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC

There are 3 other items in the total order from other sellers and the drop down has the option of contacting the seller. But not for item purchased through Amazon.com, LLC.

In the Available Actions there is only

*
This portion of your order is being prepared for shipment and cannot be canceled or changed.
* Write a Product Review

[msongs]

7. amazon punishes people who choose the free shipping options by holding back products....

even tho the page said item in stock, it sat at Amazon for 8 days before it was shipped because we chose the free shipping option for a $300 purchase. since we didnt kick in the $5 for shipping we got to wait 13 days. that's their business strategy. and it was from amazon, not a third party seller.

[Abq_Sarah]

8. I've been buying from Amazon for about 12 years

And have never had a problem. Occasionally, I will buy an item that states on the page it takes an additional 2-3 days to ship. Everything else ships in a timely manner.

[hlthe2b]

10. My experience too...

And in the near dozen years dealing with them, I've only gotten one wrong item shipped.

My only problem is that I use a PO Box and the Post office doesn't want to deliver to my residential address as a result (don't ask me why). Since Amazon now often uses FEDX-USPS transfer, this has become a problem for me. Since I have no problems with UPS or FEDX deliveries, I need to know how something is being shipped to determine what address to use, but they won't tell you up front. So, I try to accumulate small purchases with at least one large (size) purchase, figuring they will have to use UPS... But, sometimes it doesn't work and USPS has sent packages back, rather than try to deliver. I have let them know I was going to file my complaint with both the USPS POSTMASTER General and discuss the problem with my congressional rep. That seems to have done the trick, for now and I have had one shipment relayed to me. :shrug:

I guess I can't blame Amazon for that, though, as they clearly need to ship the cheapest way possible, especially if I get it free.

[Buns_of_Fire]

49. I had that problem at one point. I found that using a "double address" works.

Like this:

Mr. Buns_of_Fire
1234 Friendly Street
PO Box 5678
Greever Gulch, VA 98765

Since the USPS basically routes from the bottom-up (Zip Code, then City, then Delivery Address), they seem to have no problem with it.

And the friendly UPS person has the "real" address right there in front of them.

It worked for me. YMMV. :-)

[hlthe2b]

52. Thank you for that suggestion...

I have wasted hours talking to the ever changing route supervisors (one says no problem, we'll see to it, then she leaves and the next person says no way)and waiting to try to meet what is now an ever changing litany of delivery carriers. As I said, the last time I got their attention, I had mentioned quite politely and calmly, that I had had a discussion with aides of my congressional rep to see what they might suggest. All of a sudden, the carrier opened up the box I don't use at my apartment complex, made sure to put notes in there regarding delivery of packages AND found the package on his truck, he'd repeatedly told me earlier he didn't have. (!)

I'll try the double address, but have you found FedX or UPS having any problems with this? My dilemma lately is that I don't know when Amazon is going to pass off to USPS, which they do from FedX, but not UPS.

[Buns_of_Fire]

55. No, no problems that I can remember.

That said, if I know beforehand that something will be shipped UPS/FedEx/Whatever, I'll go ahead and use the "real" address (some sites I've ordered from will explicitly reject PO Boxes as the delivery address -- those companies that sell ammunition online are the first that come to mind, since USPS won't knowingly accept anything that might go boom).

But, so far so good, for everything I've ordered since I started double-addressing things.

Good luck. I know how frustrating it is to patiently watch the tracking information on things and see that a package made it to within 50 miles and then turn around and get routed back to the sender via Anchorage (usually through Key West and Portland, Maine). :-)

[Born_A_Truman]

58. I have the same problems ...

I always try and put both addresses when I order online since many sites don't tell you how they ship. I only receive mail at my PO box and FedEx HOME delivers to the Post Office (REGULAR FedEx delivers to my home). Since the PO won't deliver to my home, they need my PO Box #. Very frustrating.

[Sal Minella]

57. I've been using P.O. Box plus street address for years and

have had no problems with any deliveries.

[pipi_k]

54. Wow, what a crappy post office!

I'm pretty rural, and before we had actual residential delivery we had a PO box. That was more than 12 years ago.

Occasionally someone will address something to us using our OLD PO Box number (which I'm sure someone else rents now) and the PO always delivers to our home even though we no longer have that PO Box.


Now, if we could just get the mail lady to stop delivering to the wrong addresses, we'd be OK. She's dropped off mail addressed to our neighbors, and neighbors have brought up our mail she's misdelivered to them. I keep careful track of whatever I've ordered just in case...

[hlthe2b]

56. Yes.. the insult for me is that I pay a considerable amount for

that PO Box, that lets their carriers have less work to do. I did so, because I was getting so much junk mail that my tiny box at my condo couldn't handle it and the carrier kept complaining. So, it seems an occasional package should not be an issue. One route supervisor, though told me I could only have ONE address, even after describing what had happened to me. (I had tracked one package for days, and several days after it kept showing it had arrived in Denver, only to find they had turned it back, costing me the shipping ($15), as the business saw no reason to refund that when they had done "due diligence." And of, course, I still did not have the merchandise).

That's when I continued to talk with the route supervisors, but now mentioned my intent to talk to my congressional rep. I always mentioned what a promoter I am for the PO (which is true) and that I simply wanted to resolve a problem. :shrug: I have to wonder how many other people this happens to.

[Dappleganger]

37. Buying from Amazon since 2001...

We choose to get the free shipping option each year and it's well worth it, but we've never had a problem with shipping issues and have numerous price difference refunds go through without a hitch. When you deal with one of Amazon's other sellers the process is a little different, but the page is always clear about who is selling you the product. You have to deal with the other seller directly if you have any problems and we've not had any issues before with getting money back or exchanges.

And yes, once you press that button to buy there is a soft charge on your CC but it doesn't get fully charged until the item is sent. I have checked before to see and it's always been that way.

[JCMach1]

59. Plus when something went wrong with my shipment, the next dayed the replacement to me

for free!

Excellent customer service!

[Mimosa]

11. That's so true.

I've done it at times. But 'free shipping' means 'wait 7 or more days'.

[orleans]

21. i always do free shipping at amazon and have been

happily surprised when i got a couple of my orders in two and three days! i was totally prepared for the wait.

[eShirl]

23. Depends; sometimes they ship right away.

If you really can't wait a week for it, though, free shipping might not be the best option.

[tammywammy]

20. That's never happened to me n/t

[TBF]

30. I've never had that happen - I've had items literally arrive

overnight. I remember ordering a fire engine for my son last year (over $100 item) and it arrived the next day. I was absolutely stunned, but I did order early in the day and I'm an Amazon Prime member.

[jp11]

35. This was what I experienced in the last few years, only recently last 6months

have I seen them stop holding items for a week when I choose free shipping. Previously, years ago they shipped everything within a few days, then they went to holding them for up to a week, IIRC when Prime came about unless my recollection of it is faulty, and more recently I've been getting things shipped faster after I stopped using them due to the long time they let my items sit in a warehouse.

[pipi_k]

51. That's never happened to me

A lot of the stuff I buy qualifies for free Super Saver Shipping, and I've never had a problem with them holding back an order.

They always give an estimate as to when to expect an item, and at least 99% of my orders have arrived well within that timeline.

[OhioBlue]

9. I ordered a lens cap for my camera and got a CD.

It wouldn't have sucked so much if I had ever heard of the band... lol. This just happened... so I still have to look into how to contact the shipper.

[Tunkamerica]

14. what band?

[OhioBlue]

17. just took it out of the packaging to look at it again -

it isn't even a music CD lol - it is software called "Jagged Alliance".

[AnArmyVeteran]

18. It would be easy to use the CD as a lens cap. Just duct tape it on.

I wonder what happened when the person who got the lens cap put it in his CD player?

[Dappleganger]

40. Mistakes can happen....

we've had wrong or missing items which were quickly replaced/exchanged by contacting the seller.

[Nye Bevan]

12. Almost no online retailers will allow you to cancel once you have placed the order.

You should be able to return your order, unopened, for a full refund, however.

[David Zephyr]

15. Every Californian should boycott Amazon. Buy at B&N or at a local bookstore.

Amazon is a parasite on this state.

[Nye Bevan]

16. How about Californians use Amazon and then pay the Use Tax that they owe to California?

As they are legally obliged to do?

http://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/usetaxreturn.htm

You generally owe California use tax when you use, consume, give away or store tangible personal property (i.e., products you can see, weigh, feel or touch, such as clothing, books, computers, DVDs or CDs) in California that you purchased from an out-of-state vendor. If the out-of-state vendor does not collect the California tax on your purchase, you must pay the tax.

How does people not paying the Use Tax that they owe to California make Amazon a "parasite"?

[Statistical]

41. How about CA be responsible and pay the USE tax as required by law?

[Codeine]

45. You need to pay that tax as the consumer. nt

[David Zephyr]

61. I don't have to pay any tax on behalf of Amazon because I don't shop there.

It's a parasite. Californians are catching on.

Amazon will give a great big amazonian size suck-up as their sales in the biggest market in America drop.

[Nye Bevan]

69. So say someone in California buys something from Amazon for $100.

They declare this when they file their tax return and pay the Use Tax of $9.75 to the state of California. As they are legally obliged to do.

How exactly does this make Amazon a "parasite"?

And why don't you buy from Amazon? Don't you trust yourself to pay the tax you owe?

(Feel free not to reply if this does not fit with your monotonous "Amazon is Evil" mantra that you post in every DU thread that mentions Amazon).

[Codeine]

71. Baloney.

Californians aren't falling away from Amazon in any significant number. Post a scinitilla of evidence to support your statement.

[Bluebear]

19. I've had nothing but good luck with them, but YMMV. nt

[deacon]

22. It should be covered under their A-Z guarantee. You might want to check that out. n/t

[txlibdem]

24. I'm sorry to hear about your experience, Thunder

I've been shopping at Amazon for years and have never had that situation. I hope everything gets worked out in the end. If you get stuck with the extra parts you might think of selling them on flea-bay...

[WinkyDink]

25. I buy from Amazon all the time, in many categories. LOVE Amazon!

[Travis_0004]

26. I also buy with free shipping, and it usually arrives in about 2-3 days

Now, I also happen to live about 150 miles away from their distribution center, so that helps them get it to me faster, but I have no complints about amazon.

[WinkyDink]

34. I have found that many e-Bay sellers also list on Amazon, so I'll buy from the latter, for security.

[ET Awful]

27. The reason you can't change an order at Amazon after submission is

because once you click submit, the shipping label and packing list is prepared in one of dozens of warehouses that store all the different merchandise (hell, some of it is even drop-shipped from the manufacturer).

In order to change or cancel the order, a request would have to be sent to the same warehouse (where your order may be one of thousands packed and labeled already for the day) requiring them to sort through all the orders they've already packed to be shipped, find your order out of all of them and alter it.

Once you click submit on an order that's farmed out to one of their partner companies, the same thing starts to happen.

It's much easier to alter an order if you're a smaller business with a single location. Amazon has a LOT of locations and a massive number of orders each day.

BTW, I've always had a bit of a window (10 minutes or so) before it told me the order could no longer be changed. I've successfully changed payment methods and shipping addresses on orders in the past (usually ones submitted on a weekend, as they are not processed as fast since they don't ship until Monday).

[calikid]

28. Similar thing happened to me.

I ordered some books at the last minute before a trip, by mistake I ordered one book twice then tried to cancel, no such luck.
My words to describe the situation to my wife were "Amazon is NOT user friendly".
Fortunately, my most accommodating UPS man took the one book back, and I got a full refund, so, the story ended well, but I was very
frustrated to say the least.

[TBF]

29. I've had great experiences with Amazon & order from them

all the time. Like any other merchant they run your card so that they know you can pay. It is a "pending transaction" and will fall off your account in a few days (ususally, depending upon the bank) unless they ship very quickly. If they don't ship quickly you will see it come off, and then post again when the item ships.

I actually limit myself pretty much to what they carry because I have Amazon "Prime" membership. Most of my items arrive within a day or two. I always check the description to see if it's Amazon itself shipping, or another vendor. If it's another vendor I decide how much I want the item, because it's extra shipping and always slower.

I've had very good luck with both Amazon and Zappos.com (shoes).

[ecstatic]

31. That's not my experience

I have canceled so many orders in the past few weeks. They always give me at least 30 minutes, and if you sign up for the Prime promotion, your order has free shipping and arrives in 2 days.

[Vickers]

32. Never had a problem with Amazon or their merchants.

I average about 8 purchases a month with them, and have for several years.

[enough]

33. I use Amazon a lot for all sorts of things, and I have never had any sort of problem like this.

I find it has been easy to change an order within a reasonable time if I make a mistake. Shipping is remarkably fast and I have never received the wrong item or been incorrectly billed. This holds true with the outside sellers as well.

[blueamy66]

36. Sorry for your bad experience.

Hopefully you can get a refund soon!

[stray cat]

38. Amazon has always been outstanding with my orders -an order was lost and they immediately replaced

It with no questions asked. it was over $100 order

[spanone]

39. i've never had any problem buying on amazon.

[Statistical]

42. Once it gets to the shipping floor it can't be canceled.

Sometimes during high demand it may take hours to get to the shipping floor.

Sometimes during low demand it may go to the shipping floor almost instantly. If you order right before a FedEx pickup time and they have room it may ship right away in order to get it onto that partially full truck.

"Now for the punch line. Amazon wants to make you think that they offer a secure payment method so you get emails that say:"
What is insecure about amazon payment system. I think your post is just devolving into mindless rant here.

"So, the only choice I have is to reject the shipment at the door and dispute the charge. Meanwhile my money is tied up."
Which is fraud.

[MineralMan]

43. Yah, but the main deal here is that you made the mistake, and

ordered something you didn't need. You'll get your money back when you return the items you ordered by mistake.

The real lesson here is that you should always review your order carefully before clicking that last button. That's basic online shopping stuff. You'll always see a detailed list of what you have ordered before you commit, so failing to check the order isn't a problem.

When the items you don't need arrive, return them, carefully following the instructions from the vendor. They'll credit your account. Problem over.

[thunder rising]

62. "carefully following the instructions from the vendor" WTF? I'm the buyer, you know, the one paying.

[underpants]

44. We order canned goods and pasta and 7th Generation stuff from Amazon

Seems like a good deal when you factor in not having to go the store. :shrug:

We have been very happy with it.

[TwixVoy]

46. No, actually it wasn't

""Your order will be paid using the new credit card number that you provided. Please note that your credit card will not be charged until your order is ready for shipment." But, in fact, my credit card was charged as soon as I hit the button."

If you knew anything about modern banking, sir, you would be well aware your card was NOT actually charged.

What you saw was a pre-authorization. Your bank had sent NO money to amazon. All that had happened was Amazon electronically asked your bank "Does this guy have the money to cover this purchase?". Many banks take that to mean "Let's make these funds unavailable".

But that is your BANKS fault NOT Amazon. All Amazon did was ask if this transaction would be authorized. You just have a shitty bank that locks your funds right away. (and likely uses them as their own until Amazon actually charges you and officially requests the money 2-3 days later)

Nice hit piece on a company that supports Democrats though. Too bad most people on this site don't seem to know the difference between when a merchant pre-authorizes a transactions and an actual CHARGE.

Instead you should be writing a piece on your shitty bank that likely uses the interest on the millions dollars from customers money they lock to back republicans.

Ignorance wins again. For further reading on EXACTLY what your bank did (THAT WAS NOT AMAZONS FAULT) read this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_hold

Chances are you probably won't though.

[Regret My New Name]

60. So why be a jerk about it? The OP obviously doesn't understand how it works...

I mean, I agree that it's not Amazon's fault because of the reason you mentioned and a couple others. However, the OP doesn't know that, and was simply posting how he viewed it. Why not just explain the situation without being an ass? Also, why do you have to bring up politics? The fact that it's a company that gives lots of contributions to democrats is irrelevant if one feels they received poor service. It almost sounds as if you're saying it's not okay to say bad things about such companies. One might even feel that you're saying there is some other agenda behind the negative review... Not everything is political. Blah. Why can't we just be helpful and give out information without being snarky?

[thunder rising]

63. The "OP" knows good and damned well how to order shit online. Amazon is FU!!

[Regret My New Name]

67. Do you have a link to the item and merchant you purchased from?

If so, you could post it here to see if some extra eyes could assist you in finding the contact information for the seller. If you do not wish to do that, then I suggest you try calling Amazon customer support so that they can assist you.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

47. Are you confusing authorization and charge transaction?

They are not the same thing.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Doremus]

66. +10,000 Clearly doesn't have the first clue about Amazon's checkout procedures ...

or etailing in general.

[thunder rising]

64. NO I"M NOT! But thanks for asking

[Codeine]

53. So drag your ass to the hardware store.

Most are open Sundays, they don't charge shipping, you support local jobs, and you get your parts instantly.

[Doremus]

65. "So, the only choice I have is to reject the shipment at the door and dispute the charge" = silly

Amazon customer service is excellent. If you can't find the contact info for your seller, Amazon CS will walk you through it.

If you're still unable to reach the seller, Amazon's A-Z guarantee will assure you aren't out-of-pocket on the transaction, even though you are the guilty party who placed the order wrong.

[Up Quark]

68. I have bought over $20,000 through Amazon and never had one single problem

and certainly not anything like the one you have described. I also have observed that they do not charge my credit card until well after the items are marked as 'shipped'. Hope you can get it fixed!

[Egnever]

70. I dont think amazon itself is a problem

but they have gotten a little to cozy with the third party sellers IMHO. I recently purchased a usb stick through them, that was actually through a third party. when i recieved it it was not the item pictured when i went to return it i was informed by the third party they would not take it back because i opened it...There was no way to know it was the wrong thing without opening it.....In the end after many emails they agreed to take it back with the caveate it would take up to 90 days for my refund to be processed....LOL is all i can say.

I know technically its not amazons fault as it was a thiurd party seller doing business tyhrough amazon but i will never buy from amazon again because of it.