AmazonReviews 11,108

I purchased Amazon Prime earlier this year for their guaranteed 3 day shipping. One of the items I purchased was lost in transit, this was told to me by the customer support gentleman I first spoke with. This gentleman also offered to refund me the original purchase and send me the same item (if i agreed to buy it again) with 1 day shipping. After being placed on hold for 20 minutes while the finalized the 2nd order I am told that 1 day shipping is not available for this item, and amazon is able to offer me a 5$ gift certificate for the hassle.
I was already a little bothered that after 8 days I had to call for Amazon to tell me the package was lost. To then be offered a quick fix and then be told its not possible, brought me to a point of anger.
Amazon needs to train their customer support team to better handle situations and use better wording when speaking to guests. As someone who works directly with clients, one of the basic rules in customer care is to NEVER offer something you cannot guarantee and that is exactly what happened. The manager/supervisors solution was to extend my Prime membership an extra month. Besides this one incident, Amazon has been able to deliver items within 3 days of purchase including Sundays. It's a good company and has its benefits as an frequent online shopper. I would suggest the customer service department receive extra training.

I've done several reviews on Amazon for products I've ordered over the years. Amazon is the best for ordering items and receiving them in a short amount of time, especially if you are an Amazon Prime member (which I am). I must say however, I have found cheaper items elsewhere on other sites that worked out cheaper even with shipping. But you still can't beat Amazon for providing almost everything that you are looking for. Returns and refunds are also easy.

I definitely would recommend Amazon as the place to shop for anything online.

Amazon's trajectory of improving it's service (and global domination) is commendable. Everything is very user-friendly, and the site has a good reputation. The only thing I'd point out is that some of the customers' product reviews appear to be fake - boosting up the score. It might seems as a minor thing, but in reality, most consumers want to know how product actually works from other consumers before commiting to a purchase. A better filtering system might have improved the situation.

I do a monthly order on Amazon with my Subscribe and Save account. Not only are the prices better (for five items per month, or more, you receive a 15% discount per item!), but I NEVER run out of ANY of my sundries! I always have enough Deodorant, TP (toilet paper AND toothpaste lol), Toothbrushes, Paper Cups, you name it! There are ALWAYS five items a month that I'm running out of, whether it's Aleve, Arizona Green Tea with Honey and Ginseng Powder Tubes, Coconut Oil (I oilpull everyday!), or any one of a number of items I use daily, or even occasionally... I ALWAYS have what I need on hand. Now, I'm in a little bit of a different category, as I am disabled, and not able to do my shopping as regularly as I need to. But, for my Sons, well, they love that they aren't being bothered by, 'Mom is in desperate need of (you fill in the blank!)... So, no one is bothered by an emergency trip to the local Walgreens! Lol I find that I am fulfilling those five items per month EVERY MONTH, and if you don't, just SKIP a month... No worries! YOU decide what date you want your delivery, so you don't have to worry about it coinciding with your paycheck... It's just a win/win! For me, it's been a life saver, and I've shared this with any one that will listen to me ~~

I've ordered 'stuff' from Amazon many times in the past; and when I cannot find what I want on any 'general' website I go to Amazon - I cannot believe the variety of 'stuff' they seem to have. Most of the time the prices aren't too bad - keeping in mind that the items come from individuals sometimes, and not straight from Amazon. The shipping isn't bad - you have to expect to pay for deliveries - but occasionally I got free shipping. Once you order whatever, you immediately get an E-mail verifying what you've ordered, and periodically another E-mail advising when the item will be (approximately) delivered. They have some items that are overpriced - and I choose carefully in those cases - but overall I like shopping at Amazon. Especially when I want something specific & I don't want to drive all over to find it. I recommend shopping with them; and paying for the item thru Paypal. I have found various amazing items at Amazon that were no longer available thru regular channels. I would definitely recommend checking into Amazon when you want to buy something & cannot find it wherever you now live.

The Prime membership gives two day no charge shipping on only items direct from Amazon.com or cooperating vendors as best as I can tell and those items tend to be a little higher priced than the same item from other vendors on Amazon.com which is a consideration only if they do not offer free shipping or you would order too little to qualify for the other vendor's free shipping. To at least make up part of the difference, but if you need things that are hard to find this seems to be the best place to order them because of the huge selection of vendors and merchandise.

The only caution is that if you are buying something with a promised delivery date weeks away it is probably being shipped directly from China or elsewhere in Asia and you might want to consider both whether you want to wait that long or cancel it and pay a little more to get a likely higher quality sold in the USA item. You basically gamble on quality in that situation because most orders will not be cost effective for you to pay return shipping for a refund. We came out way ahead on barbers capes but behind on some other times, so just be careful you order the right thing from the beginning.

Realize too that on some items, like used books, that don't qualify for free shipping that they may be not price competitive with even local purchase once shipping is added. A lot of 1 cent paperback books for example come with $3.99 for shipping.

Never stake your job or your life on Amazon's Prime 2 day shipping to arrive on time because it often does but doesn't always do so and the shipper has until 8 p.m. to make delivery on the promised day, well after work hours if a business with no set arrangements with the carrier for delivery only during business hours. Also if you send the shipment to an extended services U.S. Postal Service location be aware that they may not have the item available for you until the day after delivery, especially with later in the day deliveries and Amazon locket locations may not keep your delivery as long as your would like to get when convenient.