AIBU to think that Amazon has gone to shit?

[SophieGiroux]

It now seems to be full of third party sellers from China. You used to be able to get stuff delivered next day but this seems to be a rarity these days. All I wanted to buy was a pool noodle but it seems this is not possible without having to wait about 3 weeks. It feels just like eBay now and you can't guarantee anything you get is genuine, I've heard of a lot of people getting fakes. I don't know if it's just the things I've been searching for but not much is now supplied by Amazon, just delivered by them.

I'm not particularly worried as felt a bit like Amazon were taking over the world but with this business model I can see sales only declining.

Yeah I've gone right off Amazon, too many fake reviews for scammy stuff. It's saving me a fortune.

I agree. You have no idea if you are buying from them or some random company.
I don’t use Amazon if I can avoid it and the problem is that they have now dominated the market place for so long that they can go to shit but people will still use them as they have no other option.

Yeah I’m also finding that they’re no longer always the cheapest either. DS wanted a sandwich toaster and it was actually over £5 cheaper in Dobbies garden centre which as a rule is always over priced! Same for a milk frothier thing DH wanted.

I agree but find change search to prime it filters better.

O know what you mean about just feelit like a load of eBay stores

They charge you for prime and then if you get a prime delivery generally the item is dearer. As other person said it’s often not next day now and I too have gone right off it . I also had been getting Morrison’s delivery but noticed they up the cost of all the items by a significant amount not 1p but 10, 20 or even 50p . Now wonder they are massively rich. It’s going to all back fire big time

Agree that I find Amazon is usually more expensive than the high street these days.

I admit I was wondering why you were buying a pot noodle from amazon.

I need to buy some reading glasses, maybe not from amazon.

I can get things delivered same day. Hermes picks up returns from my home and they recently refunded me for a product that I've had for 5 months that broke.
I think they're bloody amazing and changing the way we shop.

But.
I use all the search filters and only purchase items with great reviews, sold and fulfilled by Amazon.

I’ve found the same sellers on Etsy with cheaper prices.

Yes there’s loads of fake reviews and loads of fake stuff and their search facility is rubbish, really annoys me. It’s a bit like an online jumble sale these days.

Yes! Still use it enough to justify the prime subs but only if it's an amazing deal, or a last minute thing.

I agree. I have Prime and a few years ago I’m sure they had an option where you could opt to get it slower for about £1 credit and I used that most of the time. That option seems to have gone now but when you actually need something next day it just doesn’t happen.

Twice I’ve contacted them recently because it pissed me off so much. I specifically filtered for Prime only, it said next day delivery on the main page, it said next day delivery when on the shopping basket page then mysteriously changed to a different estimated delivery when actually checking out. It’s really misleading. One of the items was sent from Germany and I had to pay for the return. Shipping costs were refunded when they received the item but if you filter for Prime products only you should only get things genuinely available for next day delivery.

I looked at setting up a business account and they take a massive cut making it unviable, so I'm not surprised its mostly Chinese sellers.

@EastWestWhosBest

I agree. You have no idea if you are buying from them or some random company. I don’t use Amazon if I can avoid it and the problem is that they have now dominated the market place for so long that they can go to shit but people will still use them as they have no other option.

Theirs always other options, ive never used Amazon for online purchase, and yet managed to do all my shopping online from other sites

Agree that all searches throw up Chinese sellers/products with long delivery times, weird brand names and doctored photos misrepresenting the size of the product.

I've been sending so many items back due to being of very poor quality and am buying from elsewhere. It's great that others are doing this too. Hopefully it's the beginning of the end of Amazon's dominance over shopping in the UK.

I agree to an extent. I always check and don’t buy anything from China. Don’t have problems with deliveries being quick

Used their service here in ROI. Very bad since Brexit.
Switched to German site and its in Euros so know exact cost. Takes a day or two longer.

I hate shopping on Amazon it's too overwhelming just pages and pages of exactly the same crap and they make it hard to filter it. The same items are usually cheaper on eBay, but I'd actually pay bit extra to have simplistic shopping style like good ol' xyz options not 100 of same item at different prices, sellers, delivery times & costs. Shame Argos have also gone to crap as you can't order lot of what they appear to sell.

The reviews now aren't a useful guide and have seen that some companies have complained to Amazon about the fakes of their products as they ultimately get bad rep when it's poor quality, but then Amazon didn't do anything about the sellers.
I could never get a delivery slot for the Amazon Morrisons so gave up on trying that and just ordered direct.

The customer care people have tried to be helpful but they seem very limited in what they can do "sorry, computer says no" "I can't alter until x date, I'll have to call back then". So can't come up with solutions like other companies have.

Yep I've tried filtering it by prime but when you go onto the item it says will be delivered Aug 14th or something random in the future, definitely not next day! It always used to be handy for last minute forgotten birthday presents for next day but not anymore!

@How2Help

I admit I was wondering why you were buying a pot noodle from amazon.

I need to buy some reading glasses, maybe not from amazon.

Haha, I do love a dirty pot noodle although not as good as they used to be with masses of salt in!

Yes, it’s just like eBay now. I try to avoid buying from Amazon but if I do, I find it really difficult because 95% of stuff on amazon is really dodgy and it’s not even cheap.

No issues here. I have Prime and filter search results to Prime only. For the most part I buy things that are either a well known brand (cat food for example) or something that can't go wrong really (just had a bargain pack of 3 straps for my Fitbit delivered this week; unbranded but perfect for what I needed).

I'm cautious about things that are more likely fake and/or would be dangerous or unusable. I would never buy phone chargers, electrical items from unknown brands or clothes on there.

But when I need a random tool or run out of supplements for my cats, it's so easy to get them there for next day delivery. I buy lots from small businesses too but it's not always convenient to wait 3 days for the order to be sent and another 2 for Royal Mail to deliver it.

Agree

I buy everything but the tesco shop on amazon! I've only had one or two Chinese dropshippers in years, I Filter by prime apart from books, love second hands books from world of books and other similar sellers on amazon!