jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Interesting situation. Because of Covid-19, Amazon says it is giving priority to shipping essential items, so regular items will take longer. Prime delivery has gone from one or two days to a week or two. I don't mean to be skeptical, but I wonder if Amazon is just taking it easy with their shipments and using Covid-19 as an excuse. Since I'm paying over $100 a year for fast delivery, I wonder how long I will be expected to put up with slow deliveries.

I'm just floating an idea here - not complaining about delivery - but if they could deliver in two days during the Christmas rush, why can't they do the same now?

Go easy on me. This is a topic for discussion, not an attack on Amazon.

Jim70 Loc: Delaware

Like you, I've found Amazon's deliveries slipping. So much so that I've terminated my Prime membership. I see no reason to pay a premium for lack of service. Maybe when this mess is over, I'll reinstate, we'll see.

RichardSM Loc: Back in Texas

Jerry I’m with you on this, even a three day delivery would be ok for me but not two week’s?

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

I think it's a result of supply and demand on some stressed items that consumers aren't able to get locally. Also, consider during the Christmas time, Amazon slowly staffs up to meet anticipated demand.... during this pandemic, the demand was instantaneous with a more rigorous working environment to consider. We live about 4 mi from a huge Amazon distribution center and the traffic in and out of there is something to behold. We haven't bought anything that we needed immediately and our delays have been minimal, sometimes even earlier on items that I clicked on the "I don't need it right away button." One other thing... Amazon has switched a lot of deliveries from services like (worthless) OnTrac and their own flight of vans. The surge of buying unless it becomes the new norm may not have justified purchasing more vehicles and training more drivers on how to properly throw packages on our porches? 😏

billmck Loc: Central KY

I’m always ordering things from Amazon, especially now. In the last week, Amazon managed to lose a 55” flat screen TV between their distribution center and my house 87 miles away!

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Not having a problem, we use Wally, some things take an extra day or two but usually the projected date is good, and no annual fee.

tommy2 Loc: Fort Worth, Texas

I've experienced haphazard delivery times from Amazon lately.
Just this morning an e-mail appeared saying they had refunded my money on two items accompanied with a list of reasons why they hadn't been delivered with the two other items in the order.
Just getting that list makes me skeptical:

"Item is too big for a P.O. Box. Some items are too big to ship to a P.O. Box and must be shipped to a street address. Incorrect Address/Missing Information. The package is typically returned to us by the carrier or the unintended recipient if the address is incorrect, has typos, is missing information (such as an apartment number or ZIP code), or is outdated (such as a previous residence).Address Format. If a post office box address was entered in a format our system does not recognize, the package may be shipped through a carrier that cannot deliver to a post office box. To ensure that such packages are routed through the proper carriers, please enter the box number as "PO BOX" followed by the number. Also, if you're a private mailbox holder (use a local commercial mail receiving agency), do not use "Box" for your mailbox number, instead use # or PMB. This will ensure that your address is not mistaken to be a P.O. Box, and that orders can ship to you via means other than the U.S. Postal Service. Secure Location. Your package may be returned to us if there is no safe place to leave the package at the point of delivery, where the package is safe from weather and is not visible to passersby.Unable to Access.Your package may be returned to us if the carrier can't access the delivery location due to no access code, call box number, or buzzer information, and can't obtain the information after multiple attempts. Other Address Problems. If the order is being shipped to a prison, there may be delivery restrictions associated with the items or shippers. These restrictions are determined by the penitentiary and may vary. For more information about shipping to prisons, go to About Shipping to Prisons. Many items can be shipped to Department of State addresses, however, some cannot and will be returned as a result. For a full list of shipping restrictions at a specific DOS address, please contact the DOS facilities staff at that location. Failed Delivery Attempts. Most of our carriers make three attempts to deliver a package. Packages that contain more than $1300 of merchandise will always require a signature; otherwise, it is generally up to the driver's discretion to determine whether a signature is required. After three attempts, the package will be returned to us. Damaged During Transit. If a package is damaged on its way to you, the shipper may return it to us without attempting delivery. Other Transportation Problems. Packages can be sorted to the wrong carrier or labels can be damaged such that the carrier is unable to determine the correct delivery address.Refused by Recipient. If a recipient is not expecting a package, they may refuse it if they believe it was sent to them in error."

Horatio

Back in March, Amazon advised that everything deemed non-essential, would be delayed up to one month. No two day shipping. Then in April, Amazon made the statement that they would stop competing with FedEx and UPS. I would never use a company that eliminates all bookstores, and once those bookstores were out of business, started building bricks and mortar bookstores. Amazon is not a nice company.

Iron Sight Loc: Utah

My auto insurance AAA is giving me a partial premium refund for March and April due to decreased vehicle use during Virus shutdown.

Maybe Amazon ought to step up also?

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I believe this is a result of strain on their system. A given warehouse and related infrastructure can handle only so much traffic at a time. People are purchasing stuff from Amazon that they would have gotten from a big box {physical} store themselves, but are now getting from Amazon. If this were a normal time, they would plan new warehouses, etc, but these are not normal times. If this continues - if people don't go back to Best Buy, etc after we reach a new normal - they will probably built more, but it won't happen tomorrow.

HardwareGuy

I agree. Amazon should be refunding or crediting a partial amount of their Prime fees to anyone who has placed an order. That's what Prime is primarily about, and making excuses doesn't change facts.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

HaHa! Like that's going to happen. Let's face it, you go to the Amazon site and at the top of the page, there will be a statement about the potential for delays due to the virus. Those constitute a mod to the Prime terms and conditions. If you order, you accept those terms. Get over not getting $10-$20 back. Don't like it? Terminate your membership.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

The insurance case is different.

People are driving less than expected, and as a result, the actuarial tables are wrong - so the insurance is correcting them - or at least partially correcting them - then refunding {perhaps only some of} their excess profits to their policy holders.

In the Amazon case, their demand simply quickly outgrew their capacity in an unexpected way, so they are coping. I don't know that their profits are going up - perhaps if they are, some could be shared with the prime members, but it is completely different. I'm not aware of the tiny lettering that goes with prime membership, so I shouldn't comment beyond this.

tramsey Loc: Texas

I called Amazon asking that question, three days so where is my prime order. They gave me a song and dance and I cancelled prime right then and there. I might even stop shopping at Amazon. I don't like shopping at Walmart, I feel like I'm shopping in China. Most of my shopping is done at a mom and pop's grocery store an a True Value Hardware. But the hardware store has a lot of China junk to.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

First it goes to a central delivery hub, for you that hub is two states over, now it will come back.

Hey I ordered some bird food, it went by truck from a warehouse in a town 30 miles west of me to their central delivery hub 25 miles north of me (and the freeways the truck traveled go right through my town) then got put out for delivery through a delivery center in a town 30 miles east of me and finally got to my house, after a week.