I LOVE and HATE (well DISLIKE) Amazon.com! The good and the bad......
by 2buzy - Written: Dec 22 '02 (Updated Jan 04 '03)
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I, like A LOT of other online shoppers, have ordered from Amazon.com many times. Through these orders I have developed a love/hate relationship with the site!
With my Christmas shopping this year, I am glad to say I had more positive experiences than negative ones and yet, it was not all smooth going! This seems to be my pattern with Amazon!
AH, AMAZON
Every time I go back to Amazon it seems like they have added something new! Most recently, it was apparel and before that it was their gold box.
It has become a site where you can find a items for your kitchen to Lawn Furniture to Toys (for all ages) to DVD's to Tools to Clothing to Guitars and just about everything in between!
WHAT I LOVE
Amazon.com has made shopping VERY easy. You can SEARCH for an item, BROWSE through a department, see the TOP SELLERS which are updated hourly or check out TODAY'S DEALS.
By clicking on an item, you can get more information about the product, it's features and hopefully a review or two from people who own the item.
Once you have found what you want to buy, check out is simple. If you are a past customer and you aren't using any coupons or codes, you can speed through with one step checkout. Even with the use of coupons or codes the checkout is fast. You get a confirmation number before leaving the site and then again in an email. You also get an email when your items have been shipped.
They have a terrific selection, pictures of the items, and easy to understand write ups.
You can keep your gift certificate balance in from order to order. I do some reward programs and i often pick Amazon gift certificates as the reward. These are put into my account and then used each time I order, with the remainder held over.
They have online tracking of your orders which is something I wish ALL online sites did! You can also bring up past orders easily to see when they arrives, how they were paid etc. In fact, they make it easy to view a lot of things dealing with your account, from your gift certificate balance to items you have returned to changing your password.
Add that Amazon.com is a VERY user friendly site and they always running a coupon and/or shipping special and you can see what there is to LOVE about Amazon.com!
SO WHAT IS THERE TO HATE?
I have ordered from Amazon.com many times and I can only remember 2 times it going through without a problem!
For some reasons, my orders always seem to get messed up! Twice I have had orders delivered to my house that were to be delivered somewhere else. This is a real pain as I then either have to send it on myself or send it back to Amazon and then have them send it again, this time to the correct address. So, I must choose to spend shipping money I had planned on saving or lose time by going back through Amazon.
Five times I have had them over charge me. Four of the times I was able to clear this up in 3 phone calls (each time) but one time it took me 5 phone calls and 2 emails! This can get more than frustrating!
Three times I have had my order held up because I still owed money. Every time, it has been their error and taken multiple phone calls to get the order sent!
This happened with my last order. I had sent it out of State and paid by Gift Certificate. I get a confirmation and everything is fine. Two days later I am told I still owe money and the order is on hold. I check the order and find out that the order has not taken off a code. I call and am assured it will be fixed. The next day, i get a new email saying I owe a DIFFERENT amount and the order is being held! This time they have put in my shipping address and charged me sales tax and want me to add that! FINALLY after a total of 8 phone calls my order was sent! I will add that they also sent me a $10 Gift certificate for my troubles.
Let's bring up delivery speed ~~ of my last 7 orders, 1 has arrived complete and on time. The other 6 have been delayed, 4 were delivered at least 2 weeks after the shipping date and the other two were split up with parts of the orders sent weeks later. ALL of the items were stated as in stock and usually shipped out within 24 hours.
Another thing I hate is paying sales tax! This is something I know I would normally pay at a store but have learned to search out online sites that don't charge sales tax to Washington State. I don't really mind this until I place a large order, than the extra $$ really raise the price!
My last and final complaint would be they way they ship. I have had orders of 8 items and have them arrive in 7 different boxes! These were not large items and 6 of them could have easily fit in one of the boxes ~ yet they were shipped in separate boxes filled with filer! Such a waste of paper not to mention a their added shipping cost!
~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ 2BUZY'S FINAL THOUGHTS ON THIS SITE ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~
So there you have it ~~ my Love/Hate relationship with Amazon.com and yet after all is said and done I WOULD recommend Amazon.com They are running a FREE shipping with orders of $25 and up (not on toys) and there are a few coupons floating around to cut the cost a bit. You can also send the order right to another address with a price free receipt and a gift card. This saves you both the time and cost of mailing it yourself!
But, along with checking other sites to make sure you are getting the best deal, I would suggest you check your order carefully and often to make sure it stays correct and gets shipped to the right address!
Recommended:
Yes
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