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Great source of reviews, incredible convenience, massive selection of goods, huge value for membership (Amazon Instant Video included), free 2-day delivery, rea

Great source of reviews, incredible convenience, massive selection of goods, huge value for membership (Amazon Instant Video included), free 2-day delivery, reasonable pricing, consumer-friendly customer service, yes, it's a nightmare? This is one of those things where you are going to have to explain to consumers why they should be outraged in order for them to realize how awful it is. By most measures, Amazon is one of the best companies for consumers to buy from.

chriswarbo 9y ago
> huge value for membership (Amazon Instant Video included) Forcing customers to support their unwanted video service by bundling it with the next-day shipping service was a completely transparent move, and every Amazon customer I know a) saw straight through it, b) doesn't use it and c) would like to stop paying for it.
- vidarh 9y ago
  The vast majority of time we spend watching TV is via a FireTV box, with a good split between Amazons own video service, the Netflix app (which is very well integrated - Netflix results show up in the normal FireTV search results), and the BBC iPlayer app. With the addition of additional "channel" subscriptions I suspect we'll use it more and more.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - slowmovintarget 9y ago
    Aye. I got Prime when we needed diaper subscriptions. Later when watching TV on the big screen would keep the little one up, Prime Video was the only way to watch a lot of things (on the PC). Want the shipping, want the video.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- kodablah 9y ago
  > every Amazon customer I know [...] doesn't use it and [...] would like to stop paying for it Then consider myself and several that "I know" as a counter to your personal anecdote and the people that you know. You can argue that unbundling is preferable, but in my case I use the video and music portion more than the shipping portion.
- midnitewarrior 9y ago
  I've watched things on there, I do watch Netflix and Hulu more though.
lightbyte 9y ago
>Great source of reviews This has not been the case for a long time, most Amazon products are filled to the brim with fake reviews and they do not appear to care at all. They've also been having massive problems with fake chinese goods being sold as the real thing, which is compounded by said fake reviews on those products.
- midnitewarrior 9y ago
  It's not too tough to spot the fakes if you are looking.
  - lightbyte 9y ago
    If you're manually looking through the reviews, yeah it's easy. But it makes sorting results by star rating almost useless as you can no longer trust the average ratings until you go through and read some of them.
    - HelloMcFly 9y ago
      FWIW, I use Fakespot.com now for any purchase of significance.
kennydude 9y ago
Amazon Logistics is dreadful, a parcel may turn up at 8am, 1pm, 9pm or whenever they feel like it. As a consumer, where do I get it delivered to? Work? Home? If you don't want Prime (I have no use for it), it's now £20 minimum for free (Amazon Logistics) delivery. Price-wise they're not even that much cheaper in the UK
- robertcope 9y ago
  That's the best retort you've got? Sounds like Amazon is killing it.
  - Johnny555 9y ago
    Heh, it is amazing how perceptions change. It wasn't all that long ago when you'd phone or email your order to the merchant (with credit card number!) or even send it in on paper, you'd be lucky to get any tracking number at all and still wouldn't know what day or even what week your order would be delivered on. But now people get upset about a 12 hour delivery window.
    - kennydude 9y ago
      Royal Mail don't give me a 12 hour delivery window, and other merchants actually pay their fair share of tax as well

chriswarbo 9y ago

> huge value for membership (Amazon Instant Video included) Forcing customers to support their unwanted video service by bundling it with the next-day shipping service was a completely transparent move, and every Amazon customer I know a) saw straight through it, b) doesn't use it and c) would like to stop paying for it.

vidarh 9y ago
The vast majority of time we spend watching TV is via a FireTV box, with a good split between Amazons own video service, the Netflix app (which is very well integrated - Netflix results show up in the normal FireTV search results), and the BBC iPlayer app. With the addition of additional "channel" subscriptions I suspect we'll use it more and more.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- slowmovintarget 9y ago
  Aye. I got Prime when we needed diaper subscriptions. Later when watching TV on the big screen would keep the little one up, Prime Video was the only way to watch a lot of things (on the PC). Want the shipping, want the video.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
kodablah 9y ago
> every Amazon customer I know [...] doesn't use it and [...] would like to stop paying for it Then consider myself and several that "I know" as a counter to your personal anecdote and the people that you know. You can argue that unbundling is preferable, but in my case I use the video and music portion more than the shipping portion.
midnitewarrior 9y ago
I've watched things on there, I do watch Netflix and Hulu more though.

lightbyte 9y ago

>Great source of reviews This has not been the case for a long time, most Amazon products are filled to the brim with fake reviews and they do not appear to care at all. They've also been having massive problems with fake chinese goods being sold as the real thing, which is compounded by said fake reviews on those products.

midnitewarrior 9y ago
It's not too tough to spot the fakes if you are looking.
- lightbyte 9y ago
  If you're manually looking through the reviews, yeah it's easy. But it makes sorting results by star rating almost useless as you can no longer trust the average ratings until you go through and read some of them.
  - HelloMcFly 9y ago
    FWIW, I use Fakespot.com now for any purchase of significance.

kennydude 9y ago

Amazon Logistics is dreadful, a parcel may turn up at 8am, 1pm, 9pm or whenever they feel like it. As a consumer, where do I get it delivered to? Work? Home? If you don't want Prime (I have no use for it), it's now £20 minimum for free (Amazon Logistics) delivery. Price-wise they're not even that much cheaper in the UK

robertcope 9y ago
That's the best retort you've got? Sounds like Amazon is killing it.
- Johnny555 9y ago
  Heh, it is amazing how perceptions change. It wasn't all that long ago when you'd phone or email your order to the merchant (with credit card number!) or even send it in on paper, you'd be lucky to get any tracking number at all and still wouldn't know what day or even what week your order would be delivered on. But now people get upset about a 12 hour delivery window.
  - kennydude 9y ago
    Royal Mail don't give me a 12 hour delivery window, and other merchants actually pay their fair share of tax as well