Amazon.com == AMAZING!

[J-Mac]

They also do price matching with other internet companies. In the UK you can almost guarantee that Amazon products will be 1 penny cheaper than play.com.

-Carol Haynes (March 10, 2010, 09:57 AM)

Amazon used to have a 30-Day price guarantee, meaning that if the Amazon price dropped within 30 days of your purchase you would get a refund for the difference. However they stopped doing that sometime early last year. Now that was a great feature! I miss that one.

Jim

[pmcg]

I'm also a prime member and use Amazon whenever I can. I buy everything from them from coconut oil, to Sharpie DVD Markers, to computer parts, etc.

The only gripe I have with them is their shipping of fragile electronics. Hard disks in particular should only be shipped in a way that prevents all six sides from drops by the carrier. I have seen photos people have posted (even recently) of Amazon shipping hard drives in cardboard envelopes with no wrapping other than the thin bubblewrap liner of the envelope. New Egg is no better, btw. The only vendor I have found to ship hard drives properly is Zip Zoom Fly. They encase the drive securely in a foam enclosure that protects all six sides.

I recently ordered an Epson v600 scanner from Amazon. The scanner box was placed in a larger box with *no* padding. It was basically rattling around inside the big box. Fortunately it seemed fine..but I was not happy.

I still love Amazon and buy everything from them except for fragile electronics.

[Carol Haynes]

Hard disks in particular should only be shipped in a way that prevents all six sides from drops by the carrier.

-pmcg (March 10, 2010, 10:30 PM)

To be fair - the manufacturer should provide adequate pacakaging for the product. I was pretty horrified recently to receive a WD OEM internal drive in its antistatic bag just inside a card mailer. If you have to use RMA services they send you massive amounts of packaging to return the faulty item - why the heck have they started distributing new items with no more protection than a plastic bag and a sheet of cardboard. I have also received WD drives in 'bubble tube' packaging which is probably good for protection but you cant get the drive out without a pair of scissors - not good if you need to return the item.

[vegas]

My UPS guy has to HATE me.  He just rings the buzzer and leaves the package now, doesn't even wait for me.  I order 1 or 2 shipments a week, been on Prime for 4 years now (much of it for other people). It's Flawless! Amazon rocks. Returns are SO easy, they usually cover all return shipping (if you select the proper reason for return ) There is definitely a difference between ordering from Amazon and it's third-party sellers, not too hard to distinguish. PLUS, big plus here, I can order stuff for other people.  I can order it through my prime, have it delivered to their house (2 days).  OR Add their credit card to my account and have it shipped to them OR me. Then delete their number right after the order is placed. TOO Easy. As long as it doesn't change any, I will keep renewing.  I must say I greatly miss the price matching, I got SO much money back using that.

[TheQwerty]

I've only been a Prime member for 1 year, and I love it except for one thing...

Because it's so convenient I've ended up placing a ton more orders, and don't take too much care to consolidate them into larger purchases.  As a result I sometimes feel guilty about the increase in my carbon/waste footprint as a result of all these smaller orders.   

Though that's entirely user error and I can't think of anything Amazon can do to help.

[pmcg]

In regards to shipping of HDs... I wrote Western Digital and got this reply back:

-----begin email reply----
22 Feb 2010

Good Morning Mr. McGovern,
 
Thank you for your interest in and support of Western Digital and our hard drives.  Your clear experience in the use and installation of hard disks over the years, and your loyalty to WD, is admirable and appreciated.
 
Your email is quite timely. WD has, over the past 6 months, engaged in an exhaustive review of our online and distribution partners re-packaging of WDs products, and come to the same conclusion you have: the packing and shipment of our world-class hard disks needs to be much more consistent, reliable, and up to standard specifications that Western Digital tests and sets for our products in terms of handling, shock/vibe, etc. WD ships to our direct distribution partners in factory-sealed master packs (20 or 50 depending on form factor) and then the distributor, e-tailer, or online reseller puts them into single-pack boxes (referred to as single kits or single packs).
 
So, in the interest of the providing a reliable and consistent customer experience, WD will, effective April 1, 2010, be implementing a requirement for our WW Distribution accounts to use ONLY a WD-approved single-pack box for all online retailers (to include but not limited to Newegg, Tiger Direct, Amazon, Dell, CDW, PC Connection, PC Mall, Zones, Insight, others). These online partners have been notified of this change and will be purchasing their WD drives in these new packs from the distributors in mid- to late-March.

... (sales hype about WD drives paragraph left out)

I hope I have provided you with a satisfactory explanation and outlined our plan to resolve the packaging issues you’ve discussed.  It is always our pleasure to serve your storage needs, and I hope that you will also try our other products that are designed to enhance your digital life, like the new WD TV Live.  Take a look at www.westerndigital.com.
 
Best regards,
Rick
 
PS: We have addressed the packaging concern with Newegg directly and they have assured us that they have modified their procedures even in advance of the new WD-required boxes.  Also, Amazon, Tiger, Dell, and CDW have improved their processes following our discussions with them.
 
Rick Vogel
Sr. Sales Manager, Americas E-Channel
Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
------end email reply------------

[Innuendo]

My UPS guy has to HATE me.  He just rings the buzzer and leaves the package now, doesn't even wait for me.

-vegas (March 11, 2010, 09:24 AM)

No, your UPS guy doesn't hate you. These drivers have their routes timed. Get too far out of compliance and you're looking for a new job. To make matters worse, every year the required time to complete your route gets smaller and smaller. It's gotten to the point where the drivers can't wait for people to come to the door anymore. They have to shave off seconds wherever they can if they don't want to be on the unemployment line.

Sad, but true.