Thank god I haven’t had that happen yet. I’ve had Amazon give above-and-beyond customer service twice recently. They gave me discounts and credits I wasn’t even asking for. I hope it doesn’t go down the drain but I suppose at some point it’s bound to happen.
USPS negotiates rates with companies that engage in bulk transactions at scale. The claim that Amazon is ripping off the USPS is... well that's "fake news":
> [Amazons] rates are kept under wraps. That said, we do know the Amazon deal is at least a break-even venture.
> That’s because the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act made it illegal for USPS to price parcel delivery below its cost.
I didn't read it as "Amazon is ripping off the USPS" but rather "Amazon is benefiting from the USPS needing to deliver everywhere in the US, even places where UPS wouldn't deliver".
I live three blocks from the post office, my grandma lives 25 miles and down a dirt road from her nearest post office. It's hard to argue that my deliveries cost the same as hers, yet we pay the same price for postage.
--edit: I hold no opinion either way on the subject, just clarifying based on what I understood from reading it.
"Amazon is benefiting from the postal service's reliable, universal delivery" seems like one of those stock phrases we tout out as to why investing in infrastructure is a good idea.
My understanding is that this argument is not a particularly good one.
I may be incorrect, but my understanding is that while Amazon pays a discounted rate, this is the same as any other bulk shipper for USPS, and in fact, without Amazon, many routes would not be profitable for USPS without Amazon.
Customer service and total disregard for what customers wants. Not to mention their "mobile only" stupidity starting with Myntra which they were trying to extend to Flipkart but stopped just in time.
I just can't believe that Flipkart still doesn't have filter and sort by ratings. There can be arguments about how effective ratings are but this is one feature I definitely need for buying or booking anything - from my stationary to hotels and buses.
PS. I just logged in to Flipkart to check whether they have added that feature yet. I guess my last login was a year ago or more. Last purchase was on July 29, 2015.
I've read multiple times on HN that Amazon isn't doing very well in other countries (like US, Canada, Argentina, etc.) and that Prime is super expensive as well.
In India, Amazon is so good its hard to imagine how it will be sustainable. I paid $8/year for prime (yes a year) and they're now selling it at $16/year for free 24 hours delivery.
However, I can foresee how it may not be as good in the near future. Try buying a pair of Apple Airpods and one soon figures AMZN is not best place to make the purchase, it's so hard to tell which seller / product is genuine!
You're right. I misunderstood a reply that said, "I pay 99USD for Amazon Prime here in Argentina". Didn't think the user was talking about US Amazon Prime purchased from Argentina.
I'm going to assume you aren't in the US because that simply isn't true here.
Amazon is quite often not the lowest price. And, while they do still seem to be quite liberal with "send it back and we'll refund plus <mumble>", that doesn't matter if you can't get a genuine product because of all the counterfeits.
I never said it didn’t exist. I asked for data. In a marketplace as large as Amazon’s finding a single example isn’t indicative of a wide spread problem.
You won't have a problem if you buy "big-ticket" (I'm using this word incorrectly, but hopefully you get what I mean. Normal consumer goods(?).)
If you buy something used, or something with a lot of knockoffs (Xiaomi) or old tech (GameCube Controllers) there is a chance you will get a counterfeit.
I switched to buying all that stuff from eBay and it's much better. Untrusted-by-default makes eBay a very healthy marketplace to buy and sell in.
I said the same thing a year ago. I didn't believe Amazon had counterfeit products, I'd never had one, I could tell fake from real, everyone is just buying sketchy shit and should know better. I didn't believe it one bit.
Then within the last year I've started receiving probably one out of five products being very blatant fakes. I only order Prime items and only sold from the manufacturer and only brand name, but I still get counterfeit items. It's actually driven me back to retail stores for items where I 100% need to get the real thing.
I think people are posting based on their personal experience I got fake macbook Pro charger (sold and fulfilled by Amazon)
2 times out of 5 purchases so now just buy directly from apple when I need any Apple accessories.
From India, wish there was a way to separate, cheap products (yes, I can filter via price) and counterfeit products to get some high-quality products (albeit at a higher price point).
So many of my recent decisions have been offline because I can't figure out which products are high quality. ex:- phone charger (the quick charge one, wire tears in days), infusion water bottle (breaks in months), Bluetooth earphones (This one was a nightmare)
Wish there was a filter for this on Amazon!
Same thing with Amazon in the US. I want a metal water bottle with a flip-top lid but I can't find any in my local stores. I find them on Amazon, but the reviews always say "I didn't get the brand, I got a counterfeit product" so I haven't bought one yet.
I ended up paying $30 extra for my backpack I bought recently because I didn't trust the Amazon items were real after reviews saying they were counterfeit. And these are Prime items, sold by the manufacturer, but they're stilling coming counterfeit.
As in, Amazon says it's a Prime item, and Amazon says the seller is the manufacturer, but when you receive the item they've sent you a counterfeit item.
Because it takes two days to get to me, then I have to contact support and get a refund and send the item back, then wait another two days to get the item and hope it's real. Or wait two days to get the item, then still have to drive to the store to get the real thing.
And in the meantime, I already used the cable and it burned my house down and now half my family is dead. But yeah, I can get a quick refund no problem.
Why do I care? What kind of ridiculous question is that?
