4 ms·

> I've chatted with an Amazon rep on the issue, and to their credit they seemed to take it seriously and "noted the report violation against the seller" I was

> I've chatted with an Amazon rep on the issue, and to their credit they seemed to take it seriously and "noted the report violation against the seller" I was deliberately scammed by a seller, and the wave of bad reviews they received after I purchased made me think I was not the only one with whom they dealt dishonestly. I contacted Amazon and received a similar reaction the author of the article received, except they were even more explicit in telling me they were going to shut the seller down over it. They seemed to take it very seriously, but I was still skeptical anything would come of it. That was months ago, the seller is still around, and is still getting terrible reviews. Amazon has come a long way on a lot of fronts, but in terms of being customer-focused they are so much worse than they used to be. Edit: I also ordered something that died during the warranty period. Manufacturer/seller (one in the same) was utterly worthless. Wouldn't respond to a single inquiry. They released a revised version, emailed their customer list, and I responded saying I'd buy it if they hadn't already demonstrated that they were so dishonest. They asked me to place a paid order on the new model, email them the receipt and the link to my 5-star review, and insisted they would directly PayPal me my purchase price afterwards. (Of the new, less expensive version. Not the original I paid ~2x for.) They also refused to honor their warranty and send me another one, or even just mail me the cheaper replacement model as a compromise. They just had to get a 5-star review out of the whole deal. I put all this into a review and it was promptly deleted by Amazon. At this point, I consider 4-star reviews the new 1-star. I have a few more stories like this from the last year or so. I used to be a very vocal supporter of them, but I'm increasingly developing a visceral hatred for them.

einpoklum 6y ago
> Amazon has come a long way on a lot of fronts You mean, the various fronts in the struggle for world domination? :-(
- handedness 6y ago
  Sure, but to be entirely fair, they do execute pretty well on some things where others either didn't, or still don't. I'm happy to give credit where due, but as a zero-hassle way of ordering things, between their fakes, their absurd experimentation with insufficient packaging, their sub-par regional delivery networks, their broken review system, their clamping down on independent sellers across many categories, and about two dozen other things I could probably come up with, their star has fallen as far for me as their share price has increased. They're entering their hydra phase and abandoning so much of what made them good to deal with before.
  - einpoklum 6y ago
    Yes, they do execute pretty well on a lot of things, granted. However, I've had no trouble ordering things from many on-line stores/distributors which aren't Amazon and don't use Amazon. So that isn't an Amazon thing per se.
    - handedness 6y ago
      Yeah, I think as time goes on the situation only improves. Apple's doing same-day delivering now, and Instacart is making that an option for more retailers. But when Prime first came around, it was utterly amazing, as were the moves to next-day and same-day in some areas. There still isn't a one-stop place where I can buy baby wipes and coil packs on the same account, under the same membership plan, for free rapid delivery. That will take a while for someone to match.

einpoklum 6y ago

> Amazon has come a long way on a lot of fronts You mean, the various fronts in the struggle for world domination? :-(

handedness 6y ago
Sure, but to be entirely fair, they do execute pretty well on some things where others either didn't, or still don't. I'm happy to give credit where due, but as a zero-hassle way of ordering things, between their fakes, their absurd experimentation with insufficient packaging, their sub-par regional delivery networks, their broken review system, their clamping down on independent sellers across many categories, and about two dozen other things I could probably come up with, their star has fallen as far for me as their share price has increased. They're entering their hydra phase and abandoning so much of what made them good to deal with before.
- einpoklum 6y ago
  Yes, they do execute pretty well on a lot of things, granted. However, I've had no trouble ordering things from many on-line stores/distributors which aren't Amazon and don't use Amazon. So that isn't an Amazon thing per se.
  - handedness 6y ago
    Yeah, I think as time goes on the situation only improves. Apple's doing same-day delivering now, and Instacart is making that an option for more retailers. But when Prime first came around, it was utterly amazing, as were the moves to next-day and same-day in some areas. There still isn't a one-stop place where I can buy baby wipes and coil packs on the same account, under the same membership plan, for free rapid delivery. That will take a while for someone to match.