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Same here (France). I will actually pay a bit more for Amazon products because I never, ever had any problem. The closest I had to a problem was when I sent an

Same here (France). I will actually pay a bit more for Amazon products because I never, ever had any problem. The closest I had to a problem was when I sent an email stating that a product is not functional after a year and a half. They replied that the 30 days return window is over and that I should contact the producer. I replied that according to the law, I have 2 years of warranty with zero costs from my side. They replied that are very sorry for the misunderstanding (or something like that), together with a return slip. Teh second one would probably be when I was suggested to test Amazon Prime and I was charged 50€ right away. I replied this is a test. They replied that I actually signed for Prime, that it was not a test. To what I replied it was, to what they replied they will reimburse me 50€ minus the fast shipping costs (that would otherwise be included in Prime). To what I replied i was really unhappy. To what they replied that 50€ are on their way to may credit card. This is one of the reasons I buy with Amazon without much fear.

jliptzin 6y ago
But what did you reply after that?
- BrandoElFollito 6y ago
  Ah yes, I ended up replying to a HN comment :)
benhurmarcel 6y ago
It's not just Amazon US which is terrible for that. Since moving to Spain I've stopped ordering on Amazon also. At least half the products I've received from them were either counterfeit, or clearly already used. Add to this their terrible delivery service and I don't understand how they're still in business here.
mcv 6y ago
I almost never buy from Amazon anymore. Not really because of any bad experiences, though reports about the high number of counterfeit goods that Amazon sells certainly contributes to my reluctance. Also: Amazon is just too big. I like a bit of competition in the market. Also, in Netherland, Amazon isn't all that big. In the distant past, I sometimes ordered at amazon.com, later at amazon.de. Recently I got an invitation to amazon.nl which apparently just opened, but I really don't see the point. Netherland already had a couple of big online retailers: bol.com and coolbue. They're good, fast, reliable. I don't need Amazon anymore.
- EtienneK 6y ago
  bol.com is fine, but coolblue is overly expensive and does not offer anything above other online vendors. I am glad Amazon is here - more competition is always good for consumers such as ourselves.
- Fnoord 6y ago
  A lot of people in The Netherlands [1] use Bol.com (part of Ahold; Albert Heijn's parent company). However, Amazon.de (Germany) is also popular, and you can avoid S&H with Amazon Prime. The reason there is no huge Amazon.nl is the same reason there's no huge eBay.nl; there's already a large local competitor: Bol.com (and Marktplaats.nl). Because of Amazon Prime Germany being popular in NL, Amazon introduced an Amazon Prime Netherlands. They even offer a discount deal but they offer a lot less than Amazon Germany, so it does not make sense to switch the Prime subscription (apart from the discount). If you want to order something in The Netherlands from Germany, and they only ship to Germany, then you can use a service like Huifkar. They have a drop place in Germany to ship to, drive over border, and post it from there in The Netherlands to your address in The Netherlands. I had positive and negative experiences with all of these. On Bol.com I received some kind of fashion (?) book by Kim Kardashian instead of a 200 EUR budget smartphone (I didn't even know who she was before that). They fixed it though. If you look at the working circumstances in distribution centre of Amazon and Coolblue you understand why sometimes things go wrong. [1] It is called "The Netherlands"; not "Netherland". You can also use the ccTLD, "NL".
  - mcv 6y ago
    > It is called "The Netherlands"; not "Netherland". That's an archaic Anglicism in my opinion. Nobody in Netherland calls the country "de Nederlanden", and probably hasn't in two centuries. I think it's about time that English finally followed suit.
    - sokoloff 6y ago
      I’d think it’s more important to get people to stop calling the whole country “Holland” first.
rtsil 6y ago
Amazon may be awful elsewhere, but it's miles better than our local French online retailers. I've got a lost mouse (the package was delivered empty), Amazon immediately refunded. I had other packages not delivered at all with other retailers, and they wouldn't refund until they enquired with the delivery company, which had to do an internal investigation. And some of them wouldn't refund but gave vouchers instead. Also, Amazon returns are refunded as soon as the package is scanned at the post office, not 2 or 3 weeks after. I'd really like to buy from a French company, but every time I try, they go out of their way to send me back to Amazon.
- BrandoElFollito 6y ago
  I am completely with you. It is even surprising that none of them wants to get the, let's call it patriotic part of French Amazon customers. But they indeed all rate much worse than Amazon
- ElFitz 6y ago
  Heck, I once bought two folding cushion "stools" that could be unfolded into "ground sofas" (for lack of a better word) from IKEA. Delivered by "Trusk". They were left with the building caretaker who just signed without checking. We only got one. And IKEA won't do anything, because we can't prove we didn't receive the second one and aren't just fraudulently asking for a freebie. Never got these kind of issues with anything sold by Amazon. Only time a package went missing, despite "La Poste" stating the contrary, they just re-delivered it without a fuss.
- eigenvector 6y ago
  The flip side of this is Amazon actually refuses to inquire with delivery companies, and here in Canada, the post requires that the sender be the one to inquire. I've had several instances where the item was clearly at my local post office but misplaced. Canada Post refused to check without Amazon requesting it, and Amazon refused to do anything but send a new item. In each case the original item mysteriously appeared in my box months later when the postal workers inadvertently found it.

jliptzin 6y ago

But what did you reply after that?

BrandoElFollito 6y ago
Ah yes, I ended up replying to a HN comment :)

benhurmarcel 6y ago

It's not just Amazon US which is terrible for that. Since moving to Spain I've stopped ordering on Amazon also. At least half the products I've received from them were either counterfeit, or clearly already used. Add to this their terrible delivery service and I don't understand how they're still in business here.

mcv 6y ago

I almost never buy from Amazon anymore. Not really because of any bad experiences, though reports about the high number of counterfeit goods that Amazon sells certainly contributes to my reluctance. Also: Amazon is just too big. I like a bit of competition in the market. Also, in Netherland, Amazon isn't all that big. In the distant past, I sometimes ordered at amazon.com, later at amazon.de. Recently I got an invitation to amazon.nl which apparently just opened, but I really don't see the point. Netherland already had a couple of big online retailers: bol.com and coolbue. They're good, fast, reliable. I don't need Amazon anymore.

EtienneK 6y ago
bol.com is fine, but coolblue is overly expensive and does not offer anything above other online vendors. I am glad Amazon is here - more competition is always good for consumers such as ourselves.
Fnoord 6y ago
A lot of people in The Netherlands [1] use Bol.com (part of Ahold; Albert Heijn's parent company). However, Amazon.de (Germany) is also popular, and you can avoid S&H with Amazon Prime. The reason there is no huge Amazon.nl is the same reason there's no huge eBay.nl; there's already a large local competitor: Bol.com (and Marktplaats.nl). Because of Amazon Prime Germany being popular in NL, Amazon introduced an Amazon Prime Netherlands. They even offer a discount deal but they offer a lot less than Amazon Germany, so it does not make sense to switch the Prime subscription (apart from the discount). If you want to order something in The Netherlands from Germany, and they only ship to Germany, then you can use a service like Huifkar. They have a drop place in Germany to ship to, drive over border, and post it from there in The Netherlands to your address in The Netherlands. I had positive and negative experiences with all of these. On Bol.com I received some kind of fashion (?) book by Kim Kardashian instead of a 200 EUR budget smartphone (I didn't even know who she was before that). They fixed it though. If you look at the working circumstances in distribution centre of Amazon and Coolblue you understand why sometimes things go wrong. [1] It is called "The Netherlands"; not "Netherland". You can also use the ccTLD, "NL".
- mcv 6y ago
  > It is called "The Netherlands"; not "Netherland". That's an archaic Anglicism in my opinion. Nobody in Netherland calls the country "de Nederlanden", and probably hasn't in two centuries. I think it's about time that English finally followed suit.
  - sokoloff 6y ago
    I’d think it’s more important to get people to stop calling the whole country “Holland” first.

rtsil 6y ago

Amazon may be awful elsewhere, but it's miles better than our local French online retailers. I've got a lost mouse (the package was delivered empty), Amazon immediately refunded. I had other packages not delivered at all with other retailers, and they wouldn't refund until they enquired with the delivery company, which had to do an internal investigation. And some of them wouldn't refund but gave vouchers instead. Also, Amazon returns are refunded as soon as the package is scanned at the post office, not 2 or 3 weeks after. I'd really like to buy from a French company, but every time I try, they go out of their way to send me back to Amazon.

BrandoElFollito 6y ago
I am completely with you. It is even surprising that none of them wants to get the, let's call it patriotic part of French Amazon customers. But they indeed all rate much worse than Amazon
ElFitz 6y ago
Heck, I once bought two folding cushion "stools" that could be unfolded into "ground sofas" (for lack of a better word) from IKEA. Delivered by "Trusk". They were left with the building caretaker who just signed without checking. We only got one. And IKEA won't do anything, because we can't prove we didn't receive the second one and aren't just fraudulently asking for a freebie. Never got these kind of issues with anything sold by Amazon. Only time a package went missing, despite "La Poste" stating the contrary, they just re-delivered it without a fuss.
eigenvector 6y ago
The flip side of this is Amazon actually refuses to inquire with delivery companies, and here in Canada, the post requires that the sender be the one to inquire. I've had several instances where the item was clearly at my local post office but misplaced. Canada Post refused to check without Amazon requesting it, and Amazon refused to do anything but send a new item. In each case the original item mysteriously appeared in my box months later when the postal workers inadvertently found it.