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Amazon is not immune from only being able to guarantee shipment within 24-72 hours of receiving an order. The "Only XX in stock" message may trump the "x hours
by Nadya 10y ago
Amazon is not immune from only being able to guarantee shipment within 24-72 hours of receiving an order. The "Only XX in stock" message may trump the "x hours and y minutes" message but that doesn't change how the math is being done - it just makes it invisible to the end user.
It is two day shipping. Starting from the time it ships which they calculate using the guaranteed delivery date. Often the delivery date is "sooner" rather than "later" but they're only going to guarantee the "later" date and not the "sooner" date for obvious business reasons.
While it is technically correct it isn't how people talk about shipping. Overnight means overnight to people - not overnight after I decide to ship it 3 weeks late. Which is why I agree it is a dark pattern. I imagine "Quick shipping" (no promise of X-day) doesn't market nearly as well.
E:
I'd like to make it clear I'm not meaning to defending the practice... only explain it. It seems very logical to me - even if confusing and unfriendly to many users who expect "2 day shipping" to mean "arrives in 2 days".
- FireBeyond 10y agoFurther on the dark patterns, here's an order I'm looking at now: "Guaranteed delivery date: Dec 2, 2016 if you order in the next 9 hours and 27 minutes" With this it has "2 business days FREE Two-Day Shipping" selected. As of now, there are four business days (inclusive of delivery date, but not of today- the window listed above). What makes it worse: "One day shipping, Wed Nov. 30" So "one day shipping will be Wed Nov 30, but two day shipping will be Fri Dec 2"? Note that now they don't even mention "get it by" for anything other than one-day. I get the following: - Wednesday Nov 30 - $11.97 - One-Day Shipping - 2 business days - FREE Two-Day Shipping - 6 business days - FREE Two-Day Shipping - 7 business days - FREE No-Rush Shipping Get a $5 credit for Prime Pantry. No idea why anyone would choose 6 day delivery given the choice between 2 day and 7 day (plus credit).
- Nadya 10y agoWell there goes my assumption on the maths. :) Thanks for the additional example. 9 hours = ships tomorrow. So 1 day shipping from tomorrow = Wednesday. But using my assumption above - the two day shipping would be Thursday, not Friday.
- FireBeyond 10y agoRight, that would certainly match my expectation. Ship tomorrow, and I'd expect Thursday for 2 business day shipping.