posted
On April fourth I decided to make the switch and try a go at Internet shopping. I placed a pretty big order on Amazon of stuff I wanted and stuff I needed--"need" includes school books and so on. I see SuperSaver shipping and go for that, 'cause hey, it's five to nine business days, and by that my stuff should arrive on the 18th at the latest, right? Just in time, and I save money on shipping.
According to order tracking, though, I can expect my stuff on the third of May. Now, even the 18th was banking on getting the necessaries a bit late, but May third is way out. So what gives? Does Amazon normally pull this kind of thing? Is this only with SuperSaver customers, or would spending more money given me the same degree of service?
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
With big orders a lot of times they won't ship until everything is in. Since the actual availability doesn't always match the stated availability there can be one or two things that appear to be in stock but aren't, and those things can hold up things considerably.
You can either split up your order (click "ship items as the become available") which might kill your free shipping, or better yet, call them and ask. The amazon.com customer service number is 1-800-201-7575. It's not listed anywhere on the website, but it's staffed by actual english-speaking human beings, and they've been helpful the few times I've called them.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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It depends entirely on what you are ordering. I almost always use the SuperSaver thing because I hate paying for shipping. Not paying for shipping and the fact that Amazon discounts rather heavily makes shopping their cheaper than most other places.
But, as for books and what not. It could be that they don't have the stuff in stock, or are waiting for their stock to be replenished. In which case, it wouldn't matter if you used next day shipping, you still wouldn't get it until next month.
Usually when this is the problem, they separate my order into separate shipments and ship things as they come available for no extra charge, even though you can choose that option for an extra charge, I've always been pleased with them offering it to me more or less without any asking at all, and with no charge.
I've never had a problem with Amazon. Whenever it looks like it's going to take too long for an item to ship, I cancel that specific item that is holding up the order and I go to local book stores of my actual school bookstore to try and find it faster. I'd suggest either calling/emailing Amazon to ask them what the hold up is, or checking the status of the order more in depth to see if it IS just one item that is waiting to be shipped because of invetory or high demand issues.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Yeah, what they said. Customer service has always been really really helpful (and I've used the email version) each time I've used it on the site. If you cancel the item that's taking too long (like Lyrhawn suggested), it should speed your order up.
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
I've been ordering with Amazon for years. It used to be that standard shipping would take about a week tops, and super saver a few days longer. For the last year or so, though, it's taken longer and longer to get my stuff through the mail. In fact, most of the orders I've placed this past year have taken longer than their estimated date, and I've had to get the order replaced and express shipped. I guess they've grown tired of doing that and just pushed back their estimated dates, because the last few times I've ordered things it'll estimate about 5-6 weeks.
I don't know if it's the USPS or Amazon, but whatever it is it's really getting me sick of shopping with them.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
See, that's strange. I've been ordering with Amazon for about the last year and a half, and they have always, every single time, beaten their estimated arrival date by a couple days. It's why I never feel the need to do anything other than free shipping, it always gets here in three or four days, there's no point in upcharging.
Maybe it has something to do with where you live? Or what you are ordering?
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
For me, they generally beat their estimated time, though I have found their estimated time for super saver shipping is longer than it used to be. I have toyed with the idea of amazon prime (I did get a free trial of it a while back), but can't bring myself to put down the money for it.
I also like older authors (Wallace, Verne, Dickens, and so forth) and they generally don't have problems tracking them down. Though, they do tend to have problems tracking down some of Kipling's stuff. They tend to carry abridged versions, but not the real thing...which I find rather annoying. If you want an abridged version, just buy the cliff notes.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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posted
I've never had a problem with Super Saver Shipping until I ordered three items at once. I wouldn't recommend it -- since you only need 25 dollars to qualify for SSS, if you really plan on getting a lot of merchandise you can split it up.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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