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OT: Buying from amazon.com ?

rons

Diamond
Joined
Mar 5, 2009
Location
California, USA
If you missed the PBS Frontline program last Monday....

YouTube

Since I see people here buying stuff from amazon this may help you understand how they do business.
I have avoided them for years and after learning about their tactics I don't regret it.
 
Maybe you could summarize the issues so decent people, like me, don't have to do business with YouTube.
 
The Big A works for me

I can buy a complete temperature controller for $20 and it arrives in two days to replace the American made ancient controller the OEM wants $500 for.

Try to go downtown to any local town and the employees have taken all the parking spaces by the business I need to go to.

The business I need to talk to works day shift in their time zone and answers the phone with a message in Spanish then English to press numbers. By the time I have reached someone they don't know squat.

I don't care what hole they crawl into, I am going to make my living and they can try to figure it out.
 
Here is an article from the BBC that is interesting, probably about the same thing. I do buy a few things from them but try like hell to avoid them.
 
"Try to go downtown to any local town and the employees have taken all the parking spaces by the business I need to go to."

Precisely! So sick of going to stores and the 15 best spaces are taken. Go inside and there's not a single customer.
 
Neither community I live in has stores I need, other than groceries, so online ordering is my only real choice, be it ebay, amazon, Graingers/McMaster, etc. If I'm in Tx, neither SA or Austin are that far away, and I used to drive there more often, but today its a traffic nightmare and can be an all day affair. In Nevada, its a 4 hour drive in any direction to anything, no traffic!

Try finding a parking spot in San Marcos, every parking lot is for 1 business only, and posted as a tow away zone for all others, if you happen to need something from next door or across the street, as soon as you leave the property the tow trucks sweep in and snatch your car:angry:.
 
I buy from eBay only, I’ve never cared for Amazon basically because I don’t feel their prices are that great. But I personally hate dealing with salesmen, especially the traveling and come to you type.


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In a way the labor part of this is old news.

Fifty years ago, GM was #1 on the Fortune 500. It dominated industry. And working on a GM or Ford assembly line was arguably worse for your body and spirit than packing Amazon boxes.

Today, Walmart is #1 on the Fortune 500 list. It, more than any other company, has moved manufacturing (appliances, consumer electronics, clothing, knock down furniture, even some food) to China where it gets put in cargo containers and trucked to your local Walmart. By letting others pick up things like medical expenses, it's also no picnic for its greeters and workers.

Amazon is a measly #5 on the Fortune 500 list. The kids of auto assembly line workers might be working there now?

In any case, the trend has been to automate or export manufacturing assembly jobs and most every large company is working hard on automating the ones that are left, from packing boxes to trucking them across this country. Seems no one has figured out where full employment comes from after we no longer need kids working two part-time service jobs without benefits to afford a place to rent? Jobs in trades like construction or, say, a tree service are about as good as it gets these days for skilled labor - and those jobs come with their own risks.

Personally, I think Amazon does a pretty good job of being customer oriented -- a good thing. Similar in some ways to the older school McMaster Carr many of think is the best industrial distributor. Amazon would probably argue it's not their job to provide full employment. Sadly, but inevitably, their answer to the difficult working conditions of people putting stuff in boxes, will be to automate those jobs out of existence fast as they can.
 
I've searched products on Amazon, then looked up the company that made the product and ordered direct for the same price. I'd rather those who did the work get the money.
 
Yesterday I wasted an hour trying to buy locally. I traveled to a local distributor for Westin Tool boxes...
After nearly a 30 minute wait the counter guy decided the boxes would cost about $700 each.... He honestly used the word "about"

Needless to say I could find the door and once again off to Amazon I go...

A long as I think cheap Amazon stuff is CHEAP worthless junk... and buy name brand good reviewed stuff I get decelt value.
And the free shipping I pay $120 a year for is worth the price....


If you dont wanna work for Amazon dont... Educate yourself. Learn marketable skills. Whining about a poor job fixes nothing. Becoming a productive individual leads to financial stability... a good thing for anyone.
 
Mixed feelings here. I/we do a lot of work for amazon infrastructure, so that might weight my bias. When Amazon increased minimum wage it paid to 15 it raised all trades (welders, carpenters, mechanics, et al) to 15 here in the south - a very big jump, also its health insurance plan increased number of places offering it at almost reasonable rates for employees and families.
Do I like how they have hurt brick/mortar stores, how they encourage counterfeiting? no. At the same time real stores that do not leverage there biggest asset - me being able to touch/see something and buy it right here right now - are not trying to compete. I buy mostly local, I buy straight from manufacturer when I see them listed as seller on amazon.. but when a local supplier takes longer to order, deliver, and cost more than Amazon I will go with Amazon.
 
I have bought stuff local, only to have it gave to me by the store in an Amazon box.
There aren't a lot of suppliers around here. I can order an A-B brand heli-coil kit for $16 free shipping in 2 days.
Local the real Helicoil is $50+ from the local supplier.
It may take 10 days to get here.
Sometimes it's the wrong thing.
I order 10mm× 1.25 Helicoils, they send 10mm× 1.5.
The kid at the counter doesn't care. He's playing with his phone.
Now it's gonna be another 7-10 days.
I do work with O'Reilly Auto Parts.
They get stuff next day, don't charge anymore, and know what they are ordering.
Our local are a great bunch of people.
 
95% of my personal purchases are made through Amazon for the last 15-20 years. In my opinion, it is the best consumer-oriented US company.

Yes, I know Amazon is not ideal, and some of its workers or competitors may not be as happy as I am. But it's a free market. If you don't like working there, find another place. And trying or wishing to become a monopoly is a natural tendency for any business. As long as the anti-monopoly laws work, we're covered.

I also realize that Amazon, as many other Internet based companies, collects and analizyses our online behavior. I'm not crazy about it, but I don't lose my sleep over it either. This type of snooping was, is, and will take place with or without Amazon. As our lady friend used to say when we expressed concern about her excessive body parts exposure: "Let them see it and go blind!"

P.S. Sorry, I cannot make myself spend 2 hours watching the PBS broadcast. Besides, the currently prevailing socio-political views of PBS are not in my taste.
 
There are not too many days that go by without a amazon delivery here.

I’m not especially proud of that, but I’m busy and if I have a couple minutes waiting between endless meetings.... a few swipes and taps and stuff shows up at the door.

Auto parts(i buy a lot) I go local. I drive past an Advanced and a Napa to get to a mom and pop place. They are awesome. Smart people, great prices and easy to work with if something is not right. If i have my stuff up on jack stands and find an unplanned issue they will deliver (that’s how they make most of their $$, running parts to dealer service shops and independent mechanics)

I try and support the local Ace Hardware as best I can, but if I need more than 1 bolt I go to Tractor Supply and buy a couple pounds.




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Heh. Parking. Head over to Lowe's, for example.

Handicap parking places are based on a proportion of store square footage. They're there for a reason, and sooner or later all of us will need 'em, so no problem with those.

Next is the parking reserved for vets. Fine by me, and thank you for your service.

Next is pregnant moms. Last time I checked, everybody's mom was pregnant at least once. Again, fine by me.

Next are the reserved spaces for "pros". Ok, I can see that, and when I'm there on a pro mission, I use them.

But the ones I have problems with are the reserved spaces for online order pick-up. Wait a minute here. I got off my ass to go get the thing, and review their brick-and-mortar options, and keep their non-virtual store in business, but I have to yield to button-clickers too lazy to look in the aisles... It seems that the in-person shoppers should have some consideration over the "I'll just swing by and pick up my order" folks. Those guys should park in the far corners of the lot just to make up for the exercise they didn't get strolling the aisles. Just sayin'...

Really, I don't mind the order/pickup side of things at all. It just doesn't merit premium parking places. What are they gonna do, write me a ticket?
 
I needed ink for my Brother copier, I ordered from amazon. 5 star rated ink cartridges. They never worked correctly and now the copier is screwed up. I bought new Brother ink cartridges and now they don't work either.I have never had a lick of trouble with this copier, it was fine,worked great even after I got the low ink warning. Trouble started instantly when I installed the new 5 star rated ink cartridges. Obviously shit crap from who knows where with fake ratings. Buyer beware.
 
Even if you don't buy on Amazon, lots of brick and mortar stores will price match them (as well as multiple other stores) as long as it is sold/shipped by Amazon and not a third party. Works great if you want something now that is both online and in store.
 
"Try to go downtown to any local town and the employees have taken all the parking spaces by the business I need to go to."

Precisely! So sick of going to stores and the 15 best spaces are taken. Go inside and there's not a single customer.

Wonder if something has changed or it was a regional practice. When I lived in California a lot of shopping centers had solid lines painted close to the outside perimeters. Employees of the businesses were required to park passed the lines.
 








 
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