I love Amazon. Living in the depths of the Welsh countryside it makes shopping so much easier. I have never had problems finding what I want on there at reasonable prices. Delivery is fast and customer service brilliant.
As for the poor staff working long hours and walking miles every day - I worked in the hotel industry . 12 hour days were normal and I often walked more than 10 miles a day - used to wear a pedometer to check. We did Christmas functions for several hundred people every lunchtime and night in December. I worked every Christmas day for 25 years - BUT that's what you expect in that industry - and thats what Amazon employees must expect in December!
Amazon is brilliant. At worse they usually have reasonable prices, when not the cheapest.
Also as a Prime customer, they never failed at delivering my goods on the date that was expected. You can't say that for other online retailers, even with their premium delivery options.
I'm not saying they are not cheap it's more about principals and being choosy with where I shop. I would rather buy a DVD in HMV and support the high street.
High streets as we know them are a thing of the past, and things will only get worse, for the high street.
I must have had my Amazon account over 10 years now. Buying from Amazon is always simple and I don't have to wait long.
Then buying from the 3rd parties is also great for finding things you won't find anywhere else. For me it's usually old software I used in my teens that I may want to have a play around.
Or once I ordered several albums for 99p each from the third parties. Saved a fortune!
They may have a few dodgy business practices, but I find their service brilliant. I send a few Christmas presents to people far away and it saves me all the hassle of wrapping stuff up and posting it. Disgustingly lazy I know, but it takes all the stress out of it
High streets as we know them are a thing of the past, and things will only get worse, for the high street.
I think the high street will change for the better, and will eventually be full of small, owner-run shops selling specialised articles. It's not merely Amazon causing it, it's also the huge, out of town, superstores.
In the last couple of months I've been to Brighton, Whitley Bay and Morpeth. All are full of small, individual shops rather than large stores.
As for Amazon, I had a two-week old laptop battery (the battery's two weeks' old, not the laptop)fail around noon today. Fill in the appropriate details on the order page, and I was sent to a page containing return labels.
I took the battery to a collection point about 2:30pm, and this evening I received an email telling me my credit card would be credited with the cost.
Not everyone has the option of shopping on the high street. Let's face it, that is fine if you live in or near a big city. Living in rural Northern Ireland, Amazon are a godsend. I have a greater selection of products to choose from, they are reasonably priced and delivery is quick and hassle free.
I've been ordering from them for years, always got what I wanted at good prices, and i've never had an issue with them.
Same. It irritates me that they use legal loopholes to avoid paying their full corporate business tax but as they're not the only company to do so then I can't get worked up enough to lose the convenience of buying from them.
I don't remember people complaining when the supermarkets forced all the fishmongers, butchers, greengrocers, etc, out of business, or when the chain-stores did the same for independent retailers. Most people were happy because they could do their weekly food shop in once place and not have to traipse from shop to shop carrying bags any more.
Walk along most High Streets of any major town or city and they are identikit, they could be anywhere, that is what started the rot for the High Street.
I live in a small market town in Gloucestershire, a town that still has three bakers, two butchers, a delicatessen with a wet fish counter, two fruit & veg shops and a host of independent retailers without a chain-store in sight and it is thriving; you struggle to park in the week, let alone Saturday. Go to Gloucester, which has all the usual suspects on the High Street and it's dieing on its a*se.
However that has its limitations. I love Symphonic Metal, the last two CDs I purchased from Amazon were 'Symphonies Of The Night' by Leaves' Eyes and 'Black Is The Colour' by Arven. If I were to and visit the four major towns and cities within a 30 mile radius of where I live, Bath, Bristol, Cheltenham, and Gloucester, the chances of me finding any CD by either of those bands would be pretty close to zero, the chances of finding both CDs by both bands would be zero, and yet with a few clicks I can order both and have then delivered free to my door the next day.
People will shop on the High Street if they have choice and can get what they want, remove either of those and the Internet will provide.
This would be where, if I was on a different forum, I'd use a little gif that said "Preach"
I'm incredibly lucky to live in a small market town surrounded by working agricultural land and to have three farmer butchers' shops (and an active auction mart), two independent bakers and quite a few quirky little independent shops but that's because the Chamber of Trade has worked bloody hard to try and keep it like that.
We have three supermarkets (Asda, Sainsbury's and Waitrose), plus a Jack Fultons, and more charity shops than should ever be allowed on one main street.
We lost our last greengrocers a few years ago when the owners retired but we have a market three times a week with some excellent fruit and veg stalls and we have a farmers' market once a month. Again, all because the people who live in this town have fought hard and continued to use their local services.
I just ordered an anatomy book I've been after for a while but found too expensive for what it is everywhere else (it's a workbook and so I wouldn't be able to sell it later on).
Frankly I lurve Amazon. So many times when I have wanted to purchase an item from a high street shop, it still ended up with me buying from Amazon as the shop didn't have it in stock (which I wasted a phone call to confirm and cost me in fares) which frankly I cant afford to do on limited funds.
I am so happy that many FM's have the spare cash to afford running around the shops and paying for transport etc, and the extra cost many items are, all to support the high street.
In the 9 years I've been using them, I've never had any trouble.
One small criticism, and that's the fact they're so slow to despatch item these days. Once you could guarantee an item would be on your doormat the very next day (even without paying for the privileged.
Went to buy a speaker in hmv the other day,they had none on display for us to try beforehand. Asked of we could return for refund if we wasn't happy with it and nope,could only get vouchers back. So off to amazon we go. No wonder shops like hmv lose business:( we love amazon and use it all the time.
I'm another amazon fan. Its ALWAYS my first point of call for anything at all. Work trousers, kids games, cat/dog food (subscribe and save!) books (and obviously kindle books), audible for the audio books, the list goes on. I work long, long hours so I love the fact I don't need to trudge round the high sreet (which is 40 mins away if I want any decent shops), battle with idiots that have no personal space boundaries and screaming kids etc etc.
^^HMV with its vastly overinflated prices, poor product range and the last one I went into about 2 months ago the Blu Rays/DVDs were all over the place, there seemed to be to rhyme or reason to where they place things.
There are somethings I won't buy on line TV, Washing machine other white goods. I like to browse and get the staff's opinion on the product and I always buy from local retailers not warehouses like curry's etc. But Amazon are great for things that basically don't change regardless of where you buy from. Example I bought my PS4 from them and in the last few weeks I've bought Perfume (based on customers reviews) for the Wife's christmas present, some shave oil for myself (not available locally) and DVD's/Blu Rays for Xmas.
I have some issues with amazon not paying tax etc, but they are still very good at what they do and do a lot of it better than the competition. It isn't always the cheapest, and even if it was just slightly cheaper than the competition, I'd find it easier to boycott them, but it's main appeal is that it's just so convenient. Everything is customer focused.
I ordered a pair of headphones and an SD card at the beginning of November, it wasn't until the confirmation email arrived that I noticed the provisional arrival date of 16th December. If it had been stated clearly before I paid I wouldn't have ordered them. Anyway I thought it was just to cover themselves in case it takes a long time, I presume it comes from Taiwan or China or something, even if I bought it from a UK seller. Anyway it's the 10th of December and they still haven't arrived. What on earth can take sooooo long in this day and age? I'm going to be more careful to notice the expected delivery date next time and if it takes this long I won't order. I'd rather have paid double than waited this long.
Meeeeeee, I would shop there and I have been for years. Great customer service. They ship quickly, you can cancel orders, return purchases within a certain period, you get your money back no questions asked. As for delivery dates, they always put there if something in stock or not, they always put there expected delivery. If something changed they send you an email. I only use a handful Internet shops, but Amazon is up there as #1.
Comments
As for the poor staff working long hours and walking miles every day - I worked in the hotel industry . 12 hour days were normal and I often walked more than 10 miles a day - used to wear a pedometer to check. We did Christmas functions for several hundred people every lunchtime and night in December. I worked every Christmas day for 25 years - BUT that's what you expect in that industry - and thats what Amazon employees must expect in December!
Also as a Prime customer, they never failed at delivering my goods on the date that was expected. You can't say that for other online retailers, even with their premium delivery options.
Perfect, no, but nothing is.
High streets as we know them are a thing of the past, and things will only get worse, for the high street.
Then buying from the 3rd parties is also great for finding things you won't find anywhere else. For me it's usually old software I used in my teens that I may want to have a play around.
Or once I ordered several albums for 99p each from the third parties. Saved a fortune!
And their customer service is very good. At least you don't have to phone India to speak to them
I think the high street will change for the better, and will eventually be full of small, owner-run shops selling specialised articles. It's not merely Amazon causing it, it's also the huge, out of town, superstores.
In the last couple of months I've been to Brighton, Whitley Bay and Morpeth. All are full of small, individual shops rather than large stores.
As for Amazon, I had a two-week old laptop battery (the battery's two weeks' old, not the laptop)fail around noon today. Fill in the appropriate details on the order page, and I was sent to a page containing return labels.
I took the battery to a collection point about 2:30pm, and this evening I received an email telling me my credit card would be credited with the cost.
Couldn't agree more.
Same. It irritates me that they use legal loopholes to avoid paying their full corporate business tax but as they're not the only company to do so then I can't get worked up enough to lose the convenience of buying from them.
This would be where, if I was on a different forum, I'd use a little gif that said "Preach"
I'm incredibly lucky to live in a small market town surrounded by working agricultural land and to have three farmer butchers' shops (and an active auction mart), two independent bakers and quite a few quirky little independent shops but that's because the Chamber of Trade has worked bloody hard to try and keep it like that.
We have three supermarkets (Asda, Sainsbury's and Waitrose), plus a Jack Fultons, and more charity shops than should ever be allowed on one main street.
We lost our last greengrocers a few years ago when the owners retired but we have a market three times a week with some excellent fruit and veg stalls and we have a farmers' market once a month. Again, all because the people who live in this town have fought hard and continued to use their local services.
I love Amazon
I am so happy that many FM's have the spare cash to afford running around the shops and paying for transport etc, and the extra cost many items are, all to support the high street.
Some of us DONT have that luxury.
One small criticism, and that's the fact they're so slow to despatch item these days. Once you could guarantee an item would be on your doormat the very next day (even without paying for the privileged.
long live amazon.
There are somethings I won't buy on line TV, Washing machine other white goods. I like to browse and get the staff's opinion on the product and I always buy from local retailers not warehouses like curry's etc. But Amazon are great for things that basically don't change regardless of where you buy from. Example I bought my PS4 from them and in the last few weeks I've bought Perfume (based on customers reviews) for the Wife's christmas present, some shave oil for myself (not available locally) and DVD's/Blu Rays for Xmas.
You said that yesterday!