Amazon wants Prime customers to just get packages once per week

[truth_seeker]

If they mess up the delivery system, then they will end up as a brick and mortar store and they'll become the next Sears.

It took Sears from 1893 until present to more/less totally fail. Along the way they were involved with Allstate Insur, Coldwell Banker real estate, to name examples of "conglomerate" businesses.

Amazon started in 1994 and is now almost beyondcomprehension.
 They too are bound to make mistakes.

But the world of business moves very fast now. Amazon and Walmart seem to be competing for the grand kahuna of retail, online and neighborhood.

My business mind says no seller can make a profit selling $5 items, and providing overnight delivery to households.


It is very difficult to argue that Amazon lacks highly agile smart management.

I remember when the first Starbucks came to my area--also 1994.

It was sort of  cultural arrival. We had been deemed to be sufficiently cool, to "get" a Starbucks. Now there are 6 to 8 within a couple of miles. They are starting to upgrade, replace locations with better ones.

Speed, risk, decisiveness seem to be aspects of these business "replication" and "scaling" examples.

I expect Amazon, Starbucks and Walmart will linger as long as Sears did, over mistakes.

[Cyber Liberty]

@truth_seeker

My business mind says no seller can make a profit selling $5 items, and providing overnight delivery to households.

Amazon Prime won't ship items that small at all.  They're called "add-on items" that will sit in the Amazon Fulfillment center until you order at least $35 worth of items, then ship it all together.  The independents that ship directly are not Prime and will charge for S&H.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

No, but when I order several things at once, they tend to trickle in, which requires me to be at home for hours several days in a row.  I would much prefer they all arrive at one time.

I wonder if this is part of the motivation for them getting into the grocery business (a place they could ship everything to, and then either make one trip to your house or have you pick it up at your "convenience").  I know my local wally grocery has signs all over the place lately advertising this.

[Cyber Liberty]

It depends on the situation.  The new Castle is in a place where there is no AMZL, so almost everything comes by USPS or UPS.  UPS is reliable, USPS is not, even when we lived in Phoenix.  I'm expecting a package today, it's Prime and being delivered by USPS.  I won't be surprised of I have to report another lost package tomorrow.  If I seem much more of this, it's bye-bye Amazon if I can't get them to stop using USPS.

@Victoria33

Miracle of miracles!  USPS just delivered my large-screen TV mounting brackets!

[Victoria33]

@Victoria33

Miracle of miracles!  USPS just delivered my large-screen TV mounting brackets!

@Cyber Liberty

Lucky you.  Am waiting for curtain and curtain rod today.  Waiting, Waiting, Waiting,...

[Cyber Liberty]

@Cyber Liberty

Lucky you.  Am waiting for curtain and curtain rod today.  Waiting, Waiting, Waiting,...

Who is the carrier?  UPS, USPS, AMZL or "other."

[Victoria33]

Who is the carrier?  UPS, USPS, AMZL or "other."

@Cyber Liberty

CURTAIN/ROD HERE!  Don't know the carrier: he/she left it in front of door and didn't knock.  I just went to door to check as I have done several times, and finally there it was.
We are off to church right now.  Glad package came before we left.  When get back, will check to see if you posted to this message.

[Cyber Liberty]

@Cyber Liberty

CURTAIN/ROD HERE!  Don't know the carrier: he/she left it in front of door and didn't knock.  I just went to door to check as I have done several times, and finally there it was.
We are off to church right now.  Glad package came before we left.  When get back, will check to see if you posted to this message.

You can find out the carrier when you click "Track Package" from the "Orders" page.  Click "Details" and a small window will appear with the carrier and tracking number.

@Victoria33

[Fishrrman]

I don't subscribe to amazon prime.
In fact, when I order something from them, I buy enough to get "free shipping".
It usually takes a little longer.
But it's free.
I can live with that.

[Victoria33]

You can find out the carrier when you click "Track Package" from the "Orders" page.  Click "Details" and a small window will appear with the carrier and tracking number.
@Victoria33

@Cyber Liberty

"Track Package".  Yes, I do that when waiting for packages.  I am back from church and dinner, so am now able to write you.  When got back, I did check the route of the packages.  No carrier was listed; however, I am 30 min. from Dallas and there is a large Amazon warehouse there.  The packages I get from Amazon are delivered by UPS, or car driven by a person delivering the packages.  I suppose these individual car carriers come from Amazon in Dallas.  Packages from "Amazon" are delivered those two ways.  If package is from "another company" on Amazon, they come by regular mail, USPS, put in the mail box of this house.  That is, of course, the less desirable way to get a package - maybe you get it, maybe you don't.

[Cyber Liberty]

@Cyber Liberty

"Track Package".  Yes, I do that when waiting for packages.  I am back from church and dinner, so am now able to write you.  When got back, I did check the route of the packages.  No carrier was listed; however, I am 30 min. from Dallas and there is a large Amazon warehouse there.  The packages I get from Amazon are delivered by UPS, or car driven by a person delivering the packages.  I suppose these individual car carriers come from Amazon in Dallas.  Packages from "Amazon" are delivered those two ways.  If package is from "another company" on Amazon, they come by regular mail, USPS, put in the mail box of this house.  That is, of course, the less desirable way to get a package - maybe you get it, maybe you don't.

Ah!  The guys in cars are Amazon, the acronym used in tracking is AMZL.  You can see that more detail, like a tracking number, is available while the shipment is in process.  I don't have that anymore, because there is no AMZL center here at the Castle.  I left the 'burbs, and glad for it.

UPS, USPS and sometimes DHL were usually direct from an external vendor.  UPS has been pretty reliable about performing to expectations (I can take the tracking number to the UPS website and I can see the detail, and even have them text me when it;s delivered), but sometimes they use "SmartPost" where they hand off to the local post office to do the final delivery (I hate this).  Which leads me to...the USPS.

USPS is the worst of the lot in being reliable.  I've had them deliver to the wrong house and misroute perishables (like pastry) to the wrong city (How difficult can it be to hit a city the size of Phoenix?).  I quite buying things from my hometown bakery because they don't care about my complaints and insist on USPS who blew it 2 out of 5 times.  They aren't any better at the Castle than they were in Phoenix.  They delivered one of my first packages (coffee) to the wrong house.

 
Amazon instantly refunded the cost of the coffee, BTW.

[Applewood]

@Cyber Liberty

I guess it depends on where you live, but I have no problem with USPS.  I had the same mal carrier for 27 years and he was a sweetheart.  He once saw me wrestling with a huge box on my front porch and helped me get it inside (the box was from UPS not USPS).   Wiling to go above and beyond his job description.   The current mailman is a young fella, but he is also doing well.  Plus this is a small town.  The post office knows everyone and where they live.  A misdirected or lost package is a rarity. 

Now UPS amd Fed Ex are a whole different matter entirely.  They were good when I first moved here, but lately, they can't seem to find my house. Eventually, I fiuigured out that with Fed Ex, the problem was with the service used by Amazon or its third-party sellers.  If they request Fed Ex Ground, Fed Ex assumes it is a delivery to a business.  Amazon and its third paprty sellers are now supposed to use Fed Ex Home delivery.  Even worse, my street name is generic like Main Street.  I found out there are several streets like mine in this region.  Since the packages were sent Fed Ex Ground instead of Fed Ex Home, Fed Ex assumed it was a business.  So it kep trying to find an address similar to mine that was a business and kept trying to deliver to that business.    I had to finally notify Amazon that Fed Ex shipments must be sent via Fed Ex Home and ask that it so notify its third party sellers. 

I don't know what the problem is with UPS.  The company doesn't offer a separate hime delivery service option.  I just think UPS doesn't really read the shipping label.

I have noticed that, as much as possible, Amazon has been using its own AMZL service, but there is an Amazon distribution facility not far from me, so that works well. If the distribution center has the otem in stock, it has its own delivery people run it to my house.  If the product has to come from somewhere else, it is shipped to the local Amazon distribution center and then delivered by AMZL to me.  Unfortunately, third party sellers wull still have to use Fed Ex, UPS or the Postal Service, but I am doing my best not to order from those sellers and get my deliveries from Amazon itself.

[Cyber Liberty]

@Cyber Liberty

I guess it depends on where you live, but I have no problem with USPS.  I had the same mal carrier for 27 years and he was a sweetheart.  He once saw me wrestling with a huge box on my front porch and helped me get it inside (the box was from UPS not USPS).   Wiling to go above and beyond his job description.   The current mailman is a young fella, but he is also doing well.  Plus this is a small town.  The post office knows everyone and where they live.  A misdirected or lost package is a rarity. 

Now UPS amd Fed Ex are a whole different matter entirely.  They were good when I first moved here, but lately, they can't seem to find my house. Eventually, I fiuigured out that with Fed Ex, the problem was with the service used by Amazon or its third-party sellers.  If they request Fed Ex Ground, Fed Ex assumes it is a delivery to a business.  Amazon and its third paprty sellers are now supposed to use Fed Ex Home delivery.  Even worse, my street name is generic like Main Street.  I found out there are several streets like mine in this region.  Since the packages were sent Fed Ex Ground instead of Fed Ex Home, Fed Ex assumed it was a business.  So it kep trying to find an address similar to mine that was a business and kept trying to deliver to that business.    I had to finally notify Amazon that Fed Ex shipments must be sent via Fed Ex Home and ask that it so notify its third party sellers. 

I don't know what the problem is with UPS.  The company doesn't offer a separate hime delivery service option.  I just think UPS doesn't really read the shipping label.

I have noticed that, as much as possible, Amazon has been using its own AMZL service, but there is an Amazon distribution facility not far from me, so that works well. If the distribution center has the otem in stock, it has its own delivery people run it to my house.  If the product has to come from somewhere else, it is shipped to the local Amazon distribution center and then delivered by AMZL to me.  Unfortunately, third party sellers wull still have to use Fed Ex, UPS or the Postal Service, but I am doing my best not to order from those sellers and get my deliveries from Amazon itself.

I had good luck with AMZL, UPS and Fedex when I was in Phoenix.  My local USPS letter carrier was great, he worked the rout for about 30 years.  He retired when I did, so the carrier for the past few months while I've been moving is a bullet-head.  The main problem that cost a company my business was they routed 2 of the 5 shipments I got with perishable items to a town 50 miles of me and by the time I got them they were ruined.  I asked the vendor to send another way and he refused, so bye-bye.

The other shippers were good in my experience.  I miss AMZL.  No fulfillment center near me now.