Amazon Screw Up

[bborzell]

Bought a new Blue Ox SwayPro WDH to replace the one that I sold with our 21C. Decided to order it from Amazon as it was a direct Amazon sale rather than one of the myriad 3rd party types who sell on Amazon.

After unpacking it from the Blue Ox box, I realized that the bars didn’t have the familiar dimples that designate tongue weight ratings. As 1,000 lb. bars they should have had 3 dimples on each bar. With no dimples, they are rated at 350 lbs.

Called Blue Ox and they said, “no dimples = 350 lbs. Called Amazon and they said “We will replace it with the correct model by the 12th.

We are leaving on the 12th to pick up the new E23 so I spent 1 1/2 hours calling around. eTrailer can’t get one here until the 15th and nobody else online could do better. Then I remembered AlliedRV Parts in Sacramento. They had 100 of the model I needed in their warehouse at the same price as eTrailer. We pick it up tomorrow.

Phew!

[Ron in BC]

Something to said for dealing with a bricks and mortar store.

Best of luck on the pickup and trip home.

Ron

[bborzell]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Something to said for dealing with a bricks and mortar store.

Best of luck on the pickup and trip home.

Ron

Thanks, I had forgotten how much stuff Allied carries. And, it is handy that they are 45 miles down the hill from us.

[bborzell]

As a followup to the mismatched SwayPro bars from Amazon, one of the Blue Ox folks told me that they had heard reports that Amazon has sold and shipped returned hitches as new.

Because many returned products come back in makeshift packaging, they are unpacked and set aside for repackaging. Seems reasonable to assume that someone put a package together using the BXW1000 box with the correct Blue Ox sticker but stuck in the wrong bars. All the SwayPro bars look identical. The only difference in weight handling is the degree to which are heat treated. Hence, the system of marking the bars with different dimples for different weights.

Not very happy about the notion of getting a used and returned WDH.

[C&G in FL]

IMO, Amazon has “grown to big for its breeches.” My favorite Amazonian blunder is when I’m told an item is “out for delivery,” only to be told it is delayed later in the day and won’t arrive for several days. Then it miraculously gets delivered the next day. In my case, this has happened several times. I’ve also had a driver show up to drop off an “out for delivery” item that the driver cannot find because it is not on the truck. Any time they have sent me less than new merchandise (obvious wear) it gets sent back with a nasty comment as to why and then reordered. It is exasperating! Unfortunately, if I cannot find a local source for something I can usually find what I want/need on Amazon.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

My favorite Amazonian blunder is when I’m told an item is “out for delivery,” only to be told it is delayed later in the day and won’t arrive for several days. Then it miraculously gets delivered the next day.

Wow, so it's an across North America thing. That exact thing happen a few days ago. Even saw that the item had returned to the distribution center about 35 miles away. Were resigned that it almost got to us and now there would be a delay. Delivered the next day.

Ron

[Ian and Sue]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Wow, so it's an across North America thing. That exact thing happen a few days ago. Even saw that the item had returned to the distribution center about 35 miles away. Were resigned that it almost got to us and now there would be a delay. Delivered the next day.

Ron

We are rural here and do not have amazon deliveries but UPS has had the same problem. I asked my driver about it and he said that there is so much getting delivered directly to people's homes that often it will not all fit on the truck so even though it says "out for delivery" it is really sitting on the bench waiting for tomorrow. That is why it will go all day "out for delivery" and then the truck returns to base and it will say "for delivery tomorrow"

[Ron in BC]

Thanks for clearing that little mystery up.

Ron

[bborzell]

My wife has been looking for a package that was listed as having arrived at our local Post Office. After a week, she went in and asked what was up. The person at the counter said that they were "running behind".

[Chama]

We live in a very rural area so admittedly, we are somewhat used to poor delivery service from Amazon/UPS but it hasn't always been that way. Until the Covid era, we used to routinely get Amazon shipments in 2 days. Since Covid, the Amazon 2 day delivery has morphed into the 1 week delivery. Since I don't want to see Amazon Prime programming with ads and since we no longer get 2 day delivery despite paying for it, I am seriously considering dumping Amazon Prime. Oh, and we also routinely see the "Package out for Delivery" only to have it delivered a day or two later.
Chama

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Chama

and since we no longer get 2 day delivery despite paying for it, I am seriously considering dumping Amazon Prime.

Chama

We don't have Prime and routinely get deliveries much faster than the day quoted. Sometimes I wonder if we'd have gotten the delivery any faster with Prime.

Ron

[iamunique127]

Originally Posted by Chama

We live in a very rural area so admittedly, we are somewhat used to poor delivery service from Amazon/UPS but it hasn't always been that way. Until the Covid era, we used to routinely get Amazon shipments in 2 days. Since Covid, the Amazon 2 day delivery has morphed into the 1 week delivery. Since I don't want to see Amazon Prime programming with ads and since we no longer get 2 day delivery despite paying for it, I am seriously considering dumping Amazon Prime. Oh, and we also routinely see the "Package out for Delivery" only to have it delivered a day or two later.
Chama

We live in a city and our Prime deliveries come promptly BUT I'm not keen on the new Prime Video policy of the extra charge to see programming without commercials.

We buy so little from Amazon anyway that I'm tempted to drop Prime altogether. We have other streaming services that have no commercials for the base price.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Ian and Sue

We are rural here and do not have amazon deliveries but UPS has had the same problem. I asked my driver about it and he said that there is so much getting delivered directly to people's homes that often it will not all fit on the truck so even though it says "out for delivery" it is really sitting on the bench waiting for tomorrow. That is why it will go all day "out for delivery" and then the truck returns to base and it will say "for delivery tomorrow"

Interesting that you would say that as it is a logical explanation. But I can truthfully say about a year and an half ago all of my Amazon purchases were delivered by UPS, FedEx, or the USPS, likely because I too live in a mostly rural area. Then Amazon stationed a fleet of its own delivery vans in my area. Prior to that, Prime deliveries typically came in two days 90% or more of the time. Since Amazon started delivering for themselves, tardiness and missing deliveries have quadrupled. Ironically, after this degradation in reliability, after every package arrives I get an email from Amazon asking me “how was your delivery?” It is almost as if they want a pat on the back for going south.

[bborzell]

To add insult to injury, the UPS guy who picked up the WDH dropped off a small Sharper Image ceramic heater; all of $29.95.

I opened the Amazon box to find a plastic bag containing a scruffy looking heater with the cord sloppily wrapped, missing a small rubber foot and with several scratches on the bottom. Clearly an item that had been returned without the box to await an order from me.

My second reaction after commenting to Deb, “ Here we go again”, was to just suck it up since we are packing to leave to get the new trailer and I wanted to have a small 110V heater for backup.

Deb reminded me that small ceramic heaters were probably to be found in about a thousand hardware and houseware stores between home and Chilliwack so I decided to start the return process only to find that returns through the UPS store now cost a dollar.

So with Staples the only option for free returns (even with bait and switch advertising), it’s off to staples with the abused little heater in tow.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by bborzell

To add insult to injury, the UPS guy who picked up the WDH dropped off a small Sharper Image ceramic heater; all of $29.95.

I opened the Amazon box to find a plastic bag containing a scruffy looking heater with the cord sloppily wrapped, missing a small rubber foot and with several scratches on the bottom. Clearly an item that had been returned without the box to await an order from me.

My second reaction after commenting to Deb, “ Here we go again”, was to just suck it up since we are packing to leave to get the new trailer and I wanted to have a small 110V heater for backup.

Deb reminded me that small ceramic heaters were probably to be found in about a thousand hardware and houseware stores between home and Chilliwack so I decided to start the return process only to find that returns through the UPS store now cost a dollar.

So with Staples the only option for free returns (even with bait and switch advertising), it’s off to staples with the abused little heater in tow.

I would bet that Amazon reselling used merchandise as new and then charging for its return would be good cause for a class action lawsuit.

[Ian and Sue]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

Interesting that you would say that as it is a logical explanation. But I can truthfully say about a year and an half ago all of my Amazon purchases were delivered by UPS, FedEx, or the USPS, likely because I too live in a mostly rural area. Then Amazon stationed a fleet of its own delivery vans in my area. Prior to that, Prime deliveries typically came in two days 90% or more of the time. Since Amazon started delivering for themselves, tardiness and missing deliveries have quadrupled. Ironically, after this degradation in reliability, after every package arrives I get an email from Amazon asking me “how was your delivery?” It is almost as if they want a pat on the back for going south.

The driver also said since the beginning of COVID they have split the UPS route that I am on and added new drivers twice they would split it again if they could hire another driver. Here it is all about how many stops a driver can make in one day and how many boxes will fit on the truck.

[Vermilye]

When Amazon established a local distribution center and started doing their own deliveries, my service improved with many 1 day deliveries. I'm just outside a small city & 30 miles north of Syracuse & the distribution center. I have had a few missed deliveries, but most of them were not Amazon direct deliveries, but lost by the USPS or the store using the Amazon small store business service.

When delivered by Amazon, they usually take a photo of the delivered item & email it to me. Handy since packages can be left at two different doors at my house.

I still get enough from UPS to know the driver for my route...

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

When Amazon established a local distribution center and started doing their own deliveries, my service improved with many 1 day deliveries. I'm just outside a small city & 30 miles north of Syracuse & the distribution center. I have had a few missed deliveries, but most of them were not Amazon direct deliveries, but lost by the USPS or the store using the Amazon small store business service.

When delivered by Amazon, they usually take a photo of the delivered item & email it to me. Handy since packages can be left at two different doors at my house.

I still get enough from UPS to know the driver for my route...

Same for me on all counts except for the two doors, I'm in a very rural area 30 miles outside of Austin. I've even come to know a couple of the Amazon drivers and thank them for their service.

I have to say all of the delivery methods that serve my address do a great job much more often than not. And though I've returned a few items for various reasons my experience with mega-Amazon is still generally favorable overall. I'm not aware of getting any 'used-sold-as-new' or 'repackaged' items from Amazon (yet?). I have bought a few clearly identified and deeply discounted 'return warehouse' items from Amazon with favorable outcomes.

Having said that I default to local vendors or other non-Amazon internet vendors whenever 'possible', even when the price may be a bit higher.

[iamunique127]

Originally Posted by Centex

Having said that I default to local vendors or other non-Amazon internet vendors whenever 'possible', even when the price may be a bit higher.

For me, here in Canada, I find the Amazon price is often higher than other Canadian online vendors.

[C&G in FL]

As I said, when the Amazon fleet took over, my service got worse. But I don’t blame the drivers; I believe it is a lot of incompetence at the newly constructed region center in Davenport, FL. Many of my orders go through Davenport and on to an Amazon facility in Lakeland (@40 minutes distant), where the trucks are loaded. I had one package that the idiots sent it on a round-trip to Baltimore, MD, rather than Lakeland. So much for 2-day Prime delivery. It ended up taking a full week before it was delivered to me.