Amazon Scam?

[Anonymous]

Like many of us, I ordered eclipse glasses on Amazon. They were supposed to arrive yesterday. At 10pm I get notified that they are now arriving on 4/10. I call and the customer service agent continues to tell me to be patient and they are sorry for the inconvenience, but isn’t it great that they will be here by the 10th. I repeatedly try to explain no, because the eclipse visible from North American (relevant because she clearly was not) is visible today only. She tells me things happen and I can simply return the package on 4/10. So now, I have no glasses (needed them for school this am, went out at 10:30pm last night and the CVS and 7-11 didn’t have them) and I am now expected to go through the hassle of returning this? I am convinced that they overcommitted and couldn’t deliver (it was through the overnight delivery service, so it is basically local delivery). Im not kidding - they could not have cared less. Meanwhile, they keep hiking their fees and their service gets worse. I relied on a service, paid for a product, and received the benefits of neither. In any other industry, that would be fraud. In this case, it’s an “inconvenience”. Anybody else in the same boat?

[Anonymous]

I mean, you pushed it pretty close. They’re not coming. Get over it, and return them when the arrive. No biggie.

[Anonymous]

Amazon allows anyone to create a store.

I was going to buy my friend’s book, which is published by a traditional publisher. But the book was being sold by a random woman who has an Amazon “store.” I googled her. This woman works in a retail warehouse and maybe has access to advanced reader copies of books and then sells them, it seems.

Criminals steal from CVS and Ulta and sell the merchandise through Amazon stores. They earn millions doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, you pushed it pretty close. They’re not coming. Get over it, and return them when the arrive. No biggie.

The flaw in this response is that the entire Amazon model is premised on the fact that I pay an annual fee in addition to buying the product and in turn I enjoy the benefit of next-day shipping. They are fully in their rights to say we don’t have xyz product available to ship the next day, and I would have no reason to complain. But they said they had the product and it would arrive on time. So yeah, that’s different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amazon allows anyone to create a store.

I was going to buy my friend’s book, which is published by a traditional publisher. But the book was being sold by a random woman who has an Amazon “store.” I googled her. This woman works in a retail warehouse and maybe has access to advanced reader copies of books and then sells them, it seems.

Criminals steal from CVS and Ulta and sell the merchandise through Amazon stores. They earn millions doing this.

Thanks. It’s not an issue with the store unfortunately, it was actually Amazon shipping. Totally agree with you, but even then, I can see the non-Amazon backed products and avoid them. This was a product shipped from Amazon and eligible for next-day.

[Anonymous]

I've been a happy Prime customer for more than 10 years, and own stock in the company.

Rarely, a last-minute purchase doesn't come on time, usually due to weather events or warehouse issues. It hasn't happened to me in more than a year, which considering the amount of stuff I buy is still a high delivery success rate.

Commercially, eclipse glasses are a highly risky bet for companies. The next domestic eclipse isn't for years to come, and companies aren't going to lose money by storing glasses for that long. Limited stock scattered across the US means Amazon can't fulfill all orders on time.

Not excusing Amazon in any way, but explaining why, of all widgets, this should have been ordered ahead of time.

[Anonymous]

This seems like an extreme overreaction, and you've already spent more time arguing with customer service agents and posting on DCUM than it will take to return them. You can likely get glasses at your local drugstore, 7-11, or Buy Nothing group.

[Anonymous]

NP - OP, I get it. I don't get people saying you are overreacting or should have assumed Amazon's representations about timeliness would have been wrong. Sometimes life just doesn't work that way and we are playing catch-up, I have to believe this is true of everyone. I think it's fair to be irritated when a company that makes billions on a commitment to be reliable is not.

[Anonymous]

What is your question here?
YES you have to return them.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree with you OP. It seems scammy and I bet they are counting on many people not wanting to make the effort to return them. They are being delivered three days late if they should have arrived on or before the 7th and now aren’t arriving until the 10Th.

They should have credited your account.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with you OP. It seems scammy and I bet they are counting on many people not wanting to make the effort to return them. They are being delivered three days late if they should have arrived on or before the 7th and now aren’t arriving until the 10Th.

They should have credited your account.

They will . . . as soon as she returns them. Or you think she should get to keep them for free?

[Anonymous]

You shouldn't be using glasses from Amazon for this anyway -- good way to burn your eyes out.

[Anonymous]

The scam here is everyone falling for the Eclipse glasses as being needed for viewing. It’s all marketing. Last time we had an Eclipse we made our own viewer, this year everyone is about needing these glasses that will now create mounds of trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with you OP. It seems scammy and I bet they are counting on many people not wanting to make the effort to return them. They are being delivered three days late if they should have arrived on or before the 7th and now aren’t arriving until the 10Th.

They should have credited your account.

+1

[Anonymous]

OP I understand the frustration you have. We ordered glasses off of Prime that were scheduled to be delivered on Sat. They did not get delivered and the date then changed to 4/10. I went to 5 stores and could not find glasses. So I took the chance again and ordered on Amazon and found glasses that $5 more for a pack of 5 that had overnight delivery. The good news is they arrived by 8am!! The bad news is I now have to drive to my ds school 20 min away to take him a pair. He is in high school and is staying after school for sports. He loves science and especially space so is excited for today's eclipse.
I will also have to return the first set of glasses after they get delivered on 4/10, also a 20 min drive. We no longer live in the DMV and are a bit out in the country, so extra trips are a big time suck.