Topic: Adventures in Utter Incompetence from Amazon.com

[broodwars]

Sorry, but I just need to rant about this for a moment: last week, I ordered an Xbox 360 so I could finally play Alan Wake and Tales of Vesperia, the latter a game I've been waiting years to play because I've been hoping Namco-Bandai would bring over the PS3 version.  There was a whole nightmare associated with PayPal and the purchasing process, but I'd like to focus on the sheer ludicrousness that was the 360's delivery:

So I'm watching the tracking info on Friday night and see that my local Fed Ex got the package in early (it wasn't scheduled for delivery till Monday), and according to their tracking info my package was on one of their trucks for delivery.  So I stay home on Saturday waiting for the package.  It never comes.  I call their customer service number and talk to a representative, who tells me they were just putting it on a truck to make sure it was ready for delivery on Monday.  I ask the representative to hold the package at that Fed Ex so I could come in on Monday to pick it up.  You see, I have this minor inconvenience called A JOB that keeps me from being home to sign for packages.  I also live in an apartment, so when you put those two factors together nothing good happens.  I'm a night owl, so it was extremely hard to get me to go to bed early and wake up early so I could be there at the Fed Ex depot when they opened.  I went in, gave them my information, and was then told that the package was never held and was already on its way.  They let me speak with the driver, who tried to arrange a place where I could meet up with him before work to sign for it.  Our wires got crossed somewhere, though, and one of us wasn't there on time.  So I ended up having to ask him over the phone just to deliver the package to my apartment front office.  I've had dealings with them in the past on this, and generally they had been kind enough to sign for my packages and (on occasion) even deliver them to my apartment since it's literally less than a minute away.

So I walk into my apartment office and tell them what's going on.  I'm told that there are standing orders not to accept packages of any kind.  What.  The.  Hell.  I explain the whole story to them, and I think I convinced the lady there to accept the package.  Thing is, I'll still have to wait until tomorrow morning to come into the office and pick it up because the office closes at 5 PM and I get home at 7:30 PM.  ARGH!

This whole process has been such a ****ing nightmare, and I have done everything in my power to try and make this easy.  But every single person along my way has decided they'd rather do things in the greatest possible way to screw me over.  I just want my 360!  By the time I finally get the damn thing, the Shadow Complex sale will be over!   

And all of this started because Fed Ex refused to deliver a package early when they had it in stock the night before.  Unbelievable.
 

[Pale]

Yeah, FedEx signature requirements are absolutely asinine.  I recently had a similar problem in that I had to have a much-longer-than-it-should-have-been discussion with them about how it was physically impossible for me to sign for the package Monday-Wednesday of the week and that we had to figure something out or they would return my package to the sender.

It took forever for the lady I was talking to to do whatever it takes to tell the system NOT to put it on a truck so I could go out of my way to pick it up at the FedEx location.

Yeah, wonderful service.


I have to ask though, are you bummed you bought a 360 right before the new slim, or did you actually order a slim?




Also, as for the Shadow Complex sale, it may be possible to create an xbox live gold account online, buy the game, and then have it waiting to be queued up when your xbox arrives.


At the very least you could use a friend's system to create you account, then buy it online, then "recover" your account on the new 360.

[broodwars]

I have to ask though, are you bummed you bought a 360 right before the new slim, or did you actually order a slim?

No, I intentionally ordered my 120 GB Elite right after the Slim was announced and prices for the old Elites went down (I got mine for $200 with free shipping, fyi).  I don't plan on playing many games on this 360 outside the download titles, to be honest.  Any multiplatform games I'll just get on the PS3, where I already do the vast majority of my gaming.  I got this 360 just for the occasional exclusive, so I'm not as worried about the RRoD as I would be if this were my primary console.  I am annoyed by the lack of internal WiFi, though, since my current setup means every time I want to do something online I'll have to move my TV and 360 out of my bedroom to my living room to access the ethernet cable connected to the router there, and then move it all back into the bedroom when I'm done downloading stuff.  The WiFi adaptors are just ridiculously expensive, so I'll get around to purchasing one later.  I'm trying to spread out the financial impact of this 360 so it doesn't hurt my wallet all at once.

Also, as for the Shadow Complex sale, it may be possible to create an xbox live gold account online, buy the game, and then have it waiting to be queued up when your xbox arrives.

I might end up doing that, though it would only be the 1 month trial period for Gold membership since I don't plan on doing much online gaming.  I'm not paying Microsoft $50 a year for the "honor" of download discounts and online features I'll never use.

At the very least you could use a friend's system to create you account, then buy it online, then "recover" your account on the new 360.

Don't have a friend with a 360, sadly.
 
Now, as for this 360, I'm working on a solution to retrieve it today.  I'm going to call my apartment office just before my 1-hour lunch period.  If they received it, I have just enough time to drive back home; pick it up; drop it off in my apartment; and then drive back.  The wasted gas is a pity, but I want this resolved today.  Watch FedEx somehow manage not to deliver it by 2 PM EST, though.  Just watch.

[BlackNMild2k1]

You should have rerouted it to your work and have them deliver it to you there.

[broodwars]

You should have rerouted it to your work and have them deliver it to you there.

I thought about it, and will certainly do so in the future.  This just irks me because it could have been delivered on a weekend when I was home, but they refused.  They could have held it for me like I requested so I could pick it up myself, but they didn't.  I shouldn't have needed it re-routed anywhere.
 
EDIT:  Wonder of wonders...just called my apartment office, and they did sign for the package.  I still have to retrieve it today during work, but at least something went right not wrong with this thing.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I know the feeling. I've had two incidents with UPS over the last month and a half.

One I was ordering some parts to fix something and the delivery guy never showed up and listed in the online tracking that delivery attempt was made twice and delivery attempt would happen again on Monday(it was Friday BTW). I called Fed-X and dumped an earful of complaints since I had been next to the door with the door open and no one had ever shown up on my doorstep. They said the driver was done for the day and I would have to wait till Monday. After about an earful from me and request of filing a formal complaint against whoever the driver was, the driver was on my doorstep about 45 minutes later, is his personal car and out of uniform to deliver my package. Turns out that he went to the wrong apartment building and couldn't find the address.


The next one they supposedly made a delivery attempt and no one answered (probably because they didn't knock on the door or window, but on the screen) so I called and setup a meet with the driver at their little meetup spot around the corner at a UPS Store. He didn't show up or showed up 30minutes before meet time and had already left......

I was told to be there at 5pm but try to be 10 minutes early. I was 15 minutes early. Apparently he had already left.
Seriously. Who says meet me at 5pm and don't be late, shows up at 4:30(30 minutes early), leaves by 4:35(25 minutes early) and then says oh well?

But anyway, a bunch of other drivers had showed up in the meantime and I was talking to them. One of them had that drivers cell phone number, called him up, found out he was about a mile away and told them I was waiting on him for the last 20-25 minutes and about 5  minutes later, he showed back up and gave me my package.

So believe me, I know your frustration.

[Halbred]

Back when I wrote for GameXC, I was at work all three times when the FedEx guy tried to deliver Viewtiful Joe 2. They were about to return it to sender when I ran over there on a Saturday and was able to pick up the game before they tossed it on the plane.

[NWR_Karl]

USPS is really the best way to go. I've been screwed over a bunch of times by FedEx and UPS (they once delivered my laptop to Quincy, FL, which would've been fine if I hadn't listed my return address as TALLAHASSEE), but USPS is usually really solid. I recently had some very fragile stuff delivered, and despite a weirdly long stay in U.S. Customs, it was delivered in perfect condition and relatively promptly.

[broodwars]

 
 
360 GET.  Not bad, either, performing exactly a 1 hour round-trip between my work and home, despite a huge wall of Florida tsunami-class rainwater standing in my way.  What's more, this 360 looks brand new and comes with stuff I wasn't expecting, such as a headset and wireless controller.  Very pleased, indeed.  Here's hoping the system works perfectly as well when I hook it up after work.

[BranDonk Kong]

FedEx is slow as hell too, and I *HATE* how they will hold packages even they get them early. I avoid FedEx at all costs, and I use USPS most of the time. They're actually the fastest, despite being "snail mail."

[oohhboy]

You Americans and your odd fascination with private enterprise. Having sampled your USPS I have always found it a perfectly good service that never needed a private counterpart with better advertising.

Every time I hear Fedex I think Wilson, or the Steve Martin monologue From Bow Finger. Good times from the latter.

[ThePerm]

considering how many people there is in the country, and the expanse, having private enterprise takes the load of the USPS. There have been times when UPS or FedEx was preferable, but now is not the time. The USPS has done some things lately that have sped up the mail, but people still go postal. Oh and you know USPS is dumping saturday delivery? If anything i think they should deliver on Sunday's too. Just to keep efficiency up and backup bottlenecks down, but whatever...

[mac<censored>]

Yeah, I always use the Postal Service when possible, because except for super-fast (1 day) delivery, they really seem to handle things a lot better for home deliveries.  All the other delivery services seem predicated on the notion that the recipient is either a business or has a stay-at-home family member that's always around to accept packages at random times... (geez what is this the 50s or something?!)

Amazon Japan has a cool new service where instead of delivering to your house, they'll deliver to a nearby convenience store (I think only Lawson, but it's one of the biggest chains), where you can then pick up the package at your leisure.  Since there's a Lawson approximately every 50 meters in Japan, this works really well, and is far, far, more convenient (!) than the usual package-delivery comedy routine...

[NWR_insanolord]

The FedEx signature requirement, which Apple uses, is annoying, but I guess I probably prefer they do that than just leave something as valuable as a computer there by the door. It's still annoying that I've had to manipulate my sleep schedule to the point I have in order to be able to be up to sign for my iPhone tomorrow. And it's really annoying when I'm ordering something small like a new power cord and they still require a signature.

[broodwars]

Just a quick follow-up after one night of play: the system works very well, indeed.  In fact, I think I kind of hit the lottery with this one, as despite the 360 being listed as "used" it looks like it was used maybe once.  The real kicker is that the manufacturer's label lists it as having been made on June 5th, 2010.  So yeah, $200 for what is essentially a brand new 360 with probably as low a failure rate as you're going to get on the thing.   

The only catch was that I had to buy my own charging kit for the wireless controller, but that wasn't a huge deal.  And Alan Wake's awesome, by the way.

[Pale]

USPS better not dump saturdays.  It's their key competitive advantage and would just be nonsensical to lose.

Also, the value of a Netflix subscription would go down significantly if they did that.  It would suck to no longer get Saturday movies or to have returned movies processed on Saturdays.

Brood, invite me to your xbox friends list... PaleZer0 <- last 0 is a zero.

[broodwars]

USPS better not dump saturdays.  It's their key competitive advantage and would just be nonsensical to lose.

Also, the value of a Netflix subscription would go down significantly if they did that.  It would suck to no longer get Saturday movies or to have returned movies processed on Saturdays.

Brood, invite me to your xbox friends list... PaleZer0 <- last 0 is a zero.

Will do when I get home later today.

[BlackNMild2k1]

USPS better not dump saturdays.  It's their key competitive advantage and would just be nonsensical to lose.

Also, the value of a Netflix subscription would go down significantly if they did that.  It would suck to no longer get Saturday movies or to have returned movies processed on Saturdays.

That's my biggest worry with no Saturday delivery.
I return movies on Saturdays to USPS who delivers them to Netflix on Monday who then sends me New releases on Monday which I receive on Tuesday. It' a system that only works with Saturday delivery.

[ThePerm]

yeah, when i heard they were going to drop saturdays i just thought it was so backwards...they said they were doing it to save money, but i just thought of how that would just eventually cost them way more money.Mail piles up, and post people have to sort it before they can deliver. I think however, if instead of dropping saturdays they like modern people add sundays they can actually drop down the piles of mail. Another thing they can do is limit advertisement mail...like flyers. That stuff im sure is the bulk of all mail. I'm sure ups and fedex can mail that.

[NWR_insanolord]

The volume isn't a problem; the USPS is equipped to operate with a lot higher volume of mail than they have. Having more mail in a given day wouldn't be a problem. In fact, the reason postage rates keep going up is because the amount of mail in the system is decreasing. More mail per day would be preferable, because it wouldn't cost them much more than they're spending now, but would result in more income. Ending mail delivery on Saturdays means they don't have to pay mail carriers to work those days, and they don't have to pay for gas and maintenance on the trucks. In reality, the only people who would really be affected by it would be Netflix members, but as a Netflix member I will be very pissed if they do this.

[BlackNMild2k1]

The problem is that Netflix is the USPS largest corporate customer by volume Nationwide.

No other company in the United States buys and uses more postage than Netflix and cutting Saturdays potentially damages Netflix business.

Now maybe if the Post Office got a Netflix scanner and scanned in all Netflix movies they pick up on Mondays so that Netflix can still ship out on Mondays, then the cycle doesn't get interrupted and no one cares, but I doubt something like that would happen.

[NWR_insanolord]

That's true, but Netflix is in no position to make demands. They don't have any other option; they have to use USPS, no matter what changes they make.

[BlackNMild2k1]

That's true, but Netflix is in no position to make demands. They don't have any other option; they have to use USPS, no matter what changes they make.

But if the government cripples a thriving business like Netflix..... then we'll be on the hook for yet another bailout
Think of the taxpayers!!! It's gonna cost us either way.

p.s. I say get the Post Office some Netflix barcode scanners. For the people smart enough to pout their DVD sleeves back correctly, their disc will get scanned at the post office, reported to Netflix as received and then Netflix can process your next Disc out that same day the USPS received it. It would actually eliminate the day inbetween wait for movies and allow USPS to get rid of Saturdays without damaging the business of their largest client(by volume). It would actually increase efficiency for Netflix causing more benefit and create more revenue for USPS since more movies would be getting shipped.

I think I just solved the whole dilemma.

[BranDonk Kong]

broodwars - does it have a hard drive? If not, you do know that an Xbox 360 arcade system is only $149 now, right?

[broodwars]

broodwars - does it have a hard drive? If not, you do know that an Xbox 360 arcade system is only $149 now, right?

Yes, a 120 GB HDD.

[broodwars]

I usually don't care to resurrect one of my old threads long after they're complete, but I'm in the midst of a 2 week long war with Amazon.com and UPS that has me so upset at the moment that I literally can't sleep and that's just not healthy.  I figure maybe if I just rant for a moment maybe I can get it out of my system and finally get some sleep.

Alright, here goes: as you folks may be aware from my postings over the last 3 weeks or so, I've really been getting into the Mass Effect games lately, especially Mass Effect 2.  2 weeks ago after falling in love with the Mass Effect universe via the first game, I went ahead and ordered the three Mass Effect books on audio CD (I just don't have the time these days to read novels, and it's so much more pleasant to sleep at night with a good audiobook playing).  I've previously been on good terms with Amazon, so I filled out my order and sent it out standard shipping.  Amazon sent me an email later that day telling me that the package had shipped and to expect it to arrive the following Monday (it shipped on a Thursday).

That was the last I ever heard of my package.  Amazon never updated my package's tracking info and neither did UPS.  The following week I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with both companies, discovering that both were quite eager to blame the other for this bit of idiocy.  UPS told me that they were expecting the package to be delivered TO THEM in Florida near my home, and they had never received it.  Amazon told me that they had shipped out the package from their warehouses in Kentucky that Thursday when I ordered it.  The lady I initially spoke to was nice and refunded my shipping fee, telling me that UPS must have just screwed-up and to expect the package sometime in the next few days.

Several days pass by, and still no package.  I called Amazon again, who told me that if the package didn't arrive by the 28th to call them and that they would send a replacement package with free One Day shipping to make amends.  This is where this story gets interesting, and it's also sadly where my relationship with Amazon.com is probably at an end: I checked my email yesterday at work just as a matter of course, and saw that Amazon had sent me an email telling me that the package had been returned to them as undeliverable and that a refund was pending.  I immediately called up the customer service line to find out what the hell was going on, and to find out what was going on with my replacement package.  I was informed that no replacement package was coming, and that I'd need to fund the shipping for a new package with my own money.  Yeah, I saw what was going on there: Amazon was trying to get away with not paying for the One Day Shipping, scamming me in the process.  This may come as a shock to you folks given the sometimes abrasive nature of my internet persona, but I'm not naturally a very aggressive person and as a former customer service rep myself I'm usually sympathetic to those who still have to deal with it.  I unfortunately had to lay into the customer service lady rather hard, but in the end I was awarded a certificate worth the value of the One Day Shipping (well, not quite but it was close enough that I considered it reasonable).

Out of respect for the history I've had with Amazon, I re-ordered those 2 Mass Effect audiobooks again with the One Day Shipping to go to my work.  I ordered them at around 11 AM yesterday morning.  It's now 12:41 AM EST, and as of this posting so far Amazon's tracking info only says they've shipped it out and UPS's still says they're waiting to receive it.  I have a nasty feeling that history's about to repeat itself, and if it does I am DONE with Amazon.com.  When people ask me why I have such a problem ordering online, it's crap like this that's the reason.  I don't trust online shopping.  I don't trust the retailers, and I especially don't trust the delivery companies, all of whom I've had problems with in the past.  I don't know what's happened to Amazon lately, because I once trusted them practically implicitly since I had had so few problems with them.  But if Amazon's become so incompetent as to screw up my orders twice in a row, then I don't see what reason I would have to trust anyone else with my internet shopping.  Hopefully, UPS will follow through on their end of the transaction this time and that won't be necessary.

[oohhboy]

That some pretty bad luck, not that bad luck is pretty. I have yet encounter any issues with ordering online regardless of distance or value of the item or it's speciality, but that's just me.

Burned by the brown shirts (Again?). Any chance they can deliver via blue shirts? I might be slower, but hell, when was the last time they fucked up.

[broodwars]

That some pretty bad luck, not that bad luck is pretty. I have yet encounter any issues with ordering online regardless of distance or value of the item or it's speciality, but that's just me.

Burned by the brown shirts (Again?). Any chance they can deliver via blue shirts? I might be slower, but hell, when was the last time they ****ed up.

Well, the folks who were so difficult to work with last time were Fed Ex, but they weren't anywhere near as bad.  My only problem with them was being pretty damn slow and difficult to work with arranging a pick-up.  Most of the time, I knew where my package was and so did they.  The amazon thing was with UPS, a company I've never liked and have had issues with before.  If I can help it, I'd rather have anyone other than them delivering my packages (yes, even Fed Ex) but they're the only option Amazon uses.  I find it amazing that I can shop at a relatively small online shop like TRSI (The Right Stuf International, an online anime retailer and distributor who I have never had issues with), and they will actually ask you who you want delivering it...but a major online site like Amazon offers no such options.

The good news, though, is that in the time it took me to write out that long rant above, UPS finally updated my tracking info for this new package so it's actually in their system and moving across country.  Unless they get pissy about delivering to my workplace, I don't foresee any more issues from them on this package (though it is UPS, so you never know).  I am concerned about the 3rd Mass Effect audiobook on order (Retribution, which as of this posting is still on pre-order but should be shipping out in the next few days), which is going out standard shipping soon.  For now, though, I'll take solace in something actually working right in this whole ordeal.  I'm just really disappointed in Amazon coming out of this.  Whatever happened to that first package may or may not have been their fault, but in the end its fate was their responsibility and they blew it.  When it came time for them to take responsibility, they shirked it at every opportunity and even tried to cheat me when I tried to follow their own instructions.  I really don't know what I'm going to do about them when it comes to future purchases.  It's not like you can find this stuff in retail, where I prefer to shop.  No one seems to carry these audiobooks except online, and even that's spotty.

[Halbred]

THIS. This is why I don't use Amazon. I've used eBay ONCE and had good luck. I've used Amazon ONCE and had good luck, but I am NOT about to make a habit out of it. I don't order anything from Best Buy.com anymore because of what they've put me through in the past, although, to be fair, THAT was the USPS' fault. They move at the speed of smell.

Anyway, I just have retailer stores in town order anything I want that they don't have, and don't give it a second thought. The only online store my wife and I frequent is Barnes & Nobel, who used to offer free shipping. They don't anymore, so that ship has sailed.

[Plugabugz]

I have an issue, which is a bit weird but more to do with how ebay and everyone else is passing the buck around:

A year ago i bought a pair of headphones, which come with a 24 month warranty on them, which the seller stated they had on them.

The headphone has began to split, so i contacted the seller. No answer.
So i contact the official UK reseller. Go to the head office, in Sweden. They'll help.
So i contact the Swedish head office. Sorry, no warranty on items on ebay.
So i phone ebay, they wont raise a case for "item not as reported" as its outside their 45 day period.
So i contact paypal, no answer.
So i phone the credit card company and raise a dispute with them. And it's now ongoing.

So.. i'm off to buy a new pair of headphones from the official UK reseller.

eBay doesn't mean a "better" experience.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Interesting thread, I find it so silly how some hate FedEx over UPS or vice versa. As someone who works with shipping packages the reliability of both are roughly the same, USPS tends to lose packages the most percentage wise, especially overseas packages. Signature being required is the same for UPS and FedEx, it is up to the discretion of the sender whether to include it or not. If a package does not have signature and is being sent to an area where known thefts have occurred both companies may require it depending on the driver's discretion (the driver is responsible if it does get stolen).

There was massive flooding during late July and that contributed to A LOT of delayed packages because the trains could not travel because of flooding. We received a ton of complaints regarding it, but there is really nothing anyone could do.

Anyway just thought I'd clear up some of the opinion given here, percentage wise UPS and FedEx are vastly more efficient in their delivery process then USPS who still uses very archaic systems, including a tracking system that is pathetically outdated. Signatures and things like that are more the retailer's call then UPS or FedEx except for the mentioned exception.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Interesting thread, I find it so silly how some hate FedEx over UPS or vice versa. As someone who works with shipping packages the reliability of both are roughly the same, USPS tends to lose packages the most percentage wise, especially overseas packages. Signature being required is the same for UPS and FedEx, it is up to the discretion of the sender whether to include it or not. If a package does not have signature and is being sent to an area where known thefts have occurred both companies may require it depending on the driver's discretion (the driver is responsible if it does get stolen).

There was massive flooding during late July and that contributed to A LOT of delayed packages because the trains could not travel because of flooding. We received a ton of complaints regarding it, but there is really nothing anyone could do.

Anyway just thought I'd clear up some of the opinion given here, percentage wise UPS and FedEx are vastly more efficient in their delivery process then USPS who still uses very archaic systems, including a tracking system that is pathetically outdated. Signatures and things like that are more the retailer's call then UPS or FedEx except for the mentioned exception.

But I'm sure USPS moves a multitude of more mail and packages than either Fed-X or UPS individually (or possibly combined?).

[mac<censored>]

Anyway just thought I'd clear up some of the opinion given here, percentage wise UPS and FedEx are vastly more efficient in their delivery process then USPS who still uses very archaic systems, including a tracking system that is pathetically outdated. Signatures and things like that are more the retailer's call then UPS or FedEx except for the mentioned exception.

Maybe so, but my experience is that USPS ends up offering a vastly better service from a user perspective, especially in recent years (the quality of service has gone up).  The main advantage of UPS seems to be that it's cheaper (and thus retailers love it).

As has been mentioned earlier, much of this is because postal services (US or otherwise), with their widespread physical presence, simply have a nicer model for casual users, because unlike UPS/Fedex/etc, they actually have an office nearby most people (within easy walking distance of every place I've ever lived -- and that's a lot of places).