Amazon's 3rd party vendors

[Joe W.]

I just had an experience with Amazon I thought I'd share.

I ordered an item from Amazon, not noticing it was coming from a vendor direct.
Got the wrong item delivered.
Went on Amazon to see what to do to return it and found it was not eligible for return to Amazon and to take actions on Amazon to contact with vendor.
Which wasn't possible - the button to click on for that action did not appear on the referenced page.
Said a lot of bad words after trying many times to accomplish said actions.
Looked for a way to communicate with an Amazon representative, in any form.  No luck.
So I did the Google thing and found the actions/steps to take on the Amazon website.
Went back on Amazon website, took the actions and got an automated help program.
I described what happened - ordered one thing and got something else.
The automated program instantly offered to reimburse me for the item cost in either a gift card or credit back to my credit card.
And stated I could keep or dispose of the item I received.
So, the point of my story is a suggestion to check to see if the item you are ordering from Amazon is coming from a 3rd party vendor or not. 

 

[TAIrving]

Some of the third party vendors are very good vendors, others not so much.  I now look to see who I am buying from before deciding.  

[barb.j.enders]

It isn't just an Amazon issue.  I ordered some shelves I thought I would use/like.  On the banner on the vendor's site is a large "30 day no hassle return".  I changed my mind and went to return.  Turns out that because I changed my mind, the 30 day return isn't true.  I will have to pay shipping and restock fees.  They were supposed to get back to me about the restocking fees, but I haven't heard anything yet.  At least they weren't overly expensive shelves.

[don in brooklin on]

I had a similar experience.  Item stopped working before the warranty period.  Contacted manufacturer who said I would have to contact seller. 

I pulled up the invoice and clicked on vendor and I got no contact info except company name and address.  Google gave no info on company or address.

Contacted Amazon over the phone and the representative could not provide any more info so I asked to speak to a supervisor after hearing the issue just said she would credit my account with a gift card for the original amount.  No hassles.

Every time I have had an issue and contacted Amazon by phone the issue gets resolved quickly. 

 

[Scrappile]

Once you get the phone number to actually speak to a human at Amazon, write it down and keep it.  They do not make it easy to speak to a person.

[kmmcrafts]

I don't think Amazon make it very easy to contact the third party vendors.. I sell on Amazon and I rarely get any messages from customers.. I've never really looked to see how to contact a seller so i don't know.. But I can say I get at least 10 messages a week on Etsy and most questions the answer is in the listing description.. which is really annoying sometimes..

Amazon gets their money from the vendor and they handle it immediately to the customers.. They hold our funds in reserve for approx. two weeks after the tracking shows the item was shipped.. IF for some reason you have to go through Amazon for the dispute... they REALLY hammer the third party seller with penalty fees and if you get a certain amount of these on your store they'll take action and shut you down.. Unlike the other money greedy sites like Etsy and eBay etc.. they keep sellers for a long time even if there is bad feedback and disputes.. 

I personally have a love hate with Amazon.. as a seller.. I get it though.. lot's of scammers out there but I've been selling on there for 6 years and not one dispute.. yet they still hold my funds.. something I sell today I pay shipping on but I won't get the payout for about 6 weeks.. I'm still waiting on about $8000 from beginning of Dec orders.. they've been delivered for several weeks.. yet they keeping my money.. was just informed this morning my payment will be processed late next week for orders placed the first week of Dec.. This is for orders placed the first part of Dec.. They'll hold the rest for another couple weeks out.. payout is only every two weeks..  The nice thing about it though is the porch thieves and those that claim they didn't get their item.. IF I buy my shipping labels through Amazon ( which I do ) then if tracking shows it was delivered.. They handle it all and refund the customer if needed and it doesn't come from my funds.. I don't have to deal with trying to track down where the package is they handle it all.  

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, Scrappile said:

Once you get the phone number to actually speak to a human at Amazon, write it down and keep it.  They do not make it easy to speak to a person.

I programmed it into my phone. Never have problems.

[ChelCass]

1 hour ago, OCtoolguy said:

I programmed it into my phone. Never have problems.

Can you share the phone number to Amazon??

[OCtoolguy]

48 minutes ago, ChelCass said:

Can you share the phone number to Amazon??

Here ya go. 888-280-4331

[kmmcrafts]

Google should give you the number.. sometimes google is faster than searching on Amazon for it.. When I needed to contact them I just googled "Amazon Customer Service Phone Number".. But as a seller I think there is a different number.. However I never once gave it much thought to put it in my phone so thanks Ray for the idea.. Being a seller there could be a time where I'm on vacation somewhere and might need to call when I don't have a computer handy.. I hate looking up stuff on my phone.. my wife and kids shop right from the phone and I can't stand that.. I need a bigger screen that I can see what I'm ordering, LOL Probably the fault of the magnifier light on my scroll saw has spoiled me..  

[meflick]

11 hours ago, Scrappile said:

Once you get the phone number to actually speak to a human at Amazon, write it down and keep it.  They do not make it easy to speak to a person.

Ain’t that the truth. They make it almost impossible to find any way to communicate with a real person.

[meflick]

7 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

. . . I hate looking up stuff on my phone.. my wife and kids shop right from the phone and I can't stand that.. I need a bigger screen that I can see what I'm ordering, LOL Probably the fault of the magnifier light on my scroll saw has spoiled me..  

I’m the same as Kevin. I hate using my phone for anything as I much prefer a bigger screen, my iPad at minimum, computer even better. Hubby who has an iPad and a computer almost insists on using his phone for everything even when I see him “squinting” at the screen. The bigger problem however is how many times he messes up what he is doing/ordering because he insisted on doing it on his phone,

[OCtoolguy]

15 hours ago, meflick said:

I’m the same as Kevin. I hate using my phone for anything as I much prefer a bigger screen, my iPad at minimum, computer even better. Hubby who has an iPad and a computer almost insists on using his phone for everything even when I see him “squinting” at the screen. The bigger problem however is how many times he messes up what he is doing/ordering because he insisted on doing it on his phone,

I can't believe how many folks don't know how to enlarge the font on their phones. I have mine set so I can SEE it and have no problem with it. What messes me up is that they always want your i.d. and p.w. and I don't keep them stored on my phone. I used Roboform on my pc's and have for about 20 years. I only have to remember one password to get everything I need on my pc but on my phone, NOT!

 

[kmmcrafts]

8 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said:

I can't believe how many folks don't know how to enlarge the font on their phones. I have mine set so I can SEE it and have no problem with it. What messes me up is that they always want your i.d. and p.w. and I don't keep them stored on my phone. I used Roboform on my pc's and have for about 20 years. I only have to remember one password to get everything I need on my pc but on my phone, NOT!

 

The screen is still only so big, LOL.. Hard to read when it's just one letter at a time size and you have to scroll around on the screen to catch all the letters .. 

No seriously I have changed the font on my phone and I "can do" anything on it that I can on my PC.. I just prefer to do it on the PC. I have done basically everything through my phone that I would with the computer from processing orders and printing shipping labels for orders etc.. Doesn't change the fact that I still prefer to use the PC.. IF and when possible..

[Joe W.]

2 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I "can do" anything on it that I can on my PC

I'm still using an old flip phone. 
My wife has a smart phone, so as long as we are together, I'm good.
But I know my days are numbered.
At some point there will be something I have to do that will require my own personal smart phone.
Anyway, back to cutting.

[meflick]

On 1/9/2024 at 2:34 PM, OCtoolguy said:

I can't believe how many folks don't know how to enlarge the font on their phones. I have mine set so I can SEE it and have no problem with it. What messes me up is that they always want your i.d. and p.w. and I don't keep them stored on my phone. I used Roboform on my pc's and have for about 20 years. I only have to remember one password to get everything I need on my pc but on my phone, NOT!

 

Oh I know how to enlarge my font and do most anything on my phone, I’m pretty tech savvy and did a lot of computer and tech support over the years.  Like Kevin mentioned, it’s the screen size and the keyboard. I just prefer a larger screen and keyboard.

[OCtoolguy]

2 minutes ago, meflick said:

Oh I know how to enlarge my font and do most anything on my phone, I’m pretty tech savvy and did a lot of computer and tech support over the years.  Like Kevin mentioned, it’s the screen size and the keyboard. I just prefer a larger screen and keyboard.

I totally agree with you but it sounded like folks were having problems reading their screen. I hate doing anything much on my phone if my pc is close by. But there are times when I'm away and need to use it. That's when it becomes frustrating to have to "sign in and supply password". I don't keep most of that on my phone for securities sake. So, now that we have that all settled, let's move on to something more productive.

 

[Scrappile]

My original point was I wanted to talk to a english speaking human a while back on Amazon to ask a question.. It took me two days going deep in to the bowls of Amazon secrectcy  speak to a human,,, to ask a question about an order.  Not easy.. they avoid it at all costs... so I purchase nothing from them that does not have a free return policy!

[BadBob]

I had two wrong item shipments and resolved this with a phone call. Both times, they told me to keep the items and refunded my money. I have a ten-pound bag of broken glass I'm told is used in a gas fireplace that I don't know what to do with. Both orders were for shipping boxes. I received a washing machine part and a box of glass that were shipped in the size of the boxes I ordered.

[barb.j.enders]

1 hour ago, BadBob said:

I have a ten-pound bag of broken glass I'm told is used in a gas fireplace that I don't know what to do with.

Put it up on FB marketplace.  Should be able to make some money back.  Think outside the box - would it work for crafters in some way?

[Joe W.]

2 hours ago, BadBob said:

I had two wrong item shipments and resolved this with a phone call. Both times, they told me to keep the items and refunded my money. I have a ten-pound bag of broken glass I'm told is used in a gas fireplace that I don't know what to do with. Both orders were for shipping boxes. I received a washing machine part and a box of glass that were shipped in the size of the boxes I ordered.

There is also a website called FreeCycle where you can list it or in our area we have a Restore store that takes a variety of items.