How good is Amazon

[Blister]

My 10+ year old Bosch 18 Volt battery drill needed some new batteries
I ordered 2 from / Through Amazon
They arrived so I charged them both up and of I went , Oh dear power wise they would not pull the skin of a rice pudding
OK I thought maybe they need a second charge , did that and the result was the same useless
Booked a return via Amazon , Instantly had a email QR code sent , Put then in a box and headded of to the drop of shop , I was given a recipt , 2 hours later I get a email saying " We have refunded you " Also I was expecting to pay the return postage but NO

Blimey how good is this for service , I do understand the high street demise but with Amazon opperating like this its no wonder

 

[Jelly]

They're phenomenally competent at what they do, can't argue about that...

However, there's a lot of really problematic things about how they run their operations, how they treat business partners and especially how they treat their employees that make me very reticent to purchase from them unless its my only realistic option to get something I need.

 

[shed9]

Have to agree with the comment above, can't fault them for customer service but that comes at a cost which outweighs the convenience for me.

 

[Richard_C]

I agree about their business practices, but to some extent if you can treat employees badly and stay within the law, or avoid tax and stay within the law then we need to change the law, Amazon are no worse than many others, just bigger.

A big plus is the way so many things are now available. I re-foamed a pair of lovely old AR speakers that were 40 years old. Technical aside for non speakery people, the 'foams' are the circular soft flexible gaskets that join the cone to the chassis. 10 years ago I doubt I would have been able to find any, certainly not the right size, now a quick search and Amazon deliver them the day after along with the little dust covers that sit in the middle of the driver. So they do add to availability of low demand products.

I too try not to use them, but find myself doing so more and more because of local road changes that make it a pain to get to real shops.

It's good to hear of the prompt refund, for some probably irrational reason I trust Amazon more than I trust Ebay which I use only as last resort.

 

[TheUnicorn]

I'd use the high street more if the average retail staff was interested in the product they are selling or the customer they are serving, when 90% of the time the response is just 'if it isn't on the shelf, we haven't got it' it is hard to justify the inevitable higher price than amazon would offer, delivered. When you do find a good shop, with knowledgeable staff, you go back, time and time again, and will pay the extra cost happily for their knowledge and the ability to actually see the quality in your hand before you buy, but far too rare an occurance.

 

[Bm101]

I think changing the thread title to 'how convenient is Amazon?' might give a more honest appraisal than how good they are.
I use Amazon because it is convenient not because of their business practices which under any sort of moral spotlight are dubious. Is it moral that Bezos has a net worth of nearly double Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
175 BILLION.
Think about that figure for a minute.
'People don't have a strong intuitive sense of how much bigger 1 billion is than 1 million. 1 million seconds is about 11 days. 1 billion seconds is about 31.5 years.' Paul Franz .
If Bezos spent a dollar a second, every single second of Every. Single. Day. And. Night it would take him five thousand five hundred and twelve (and a half!) years to spend his fortune.
And how much tax does he pay?
https://www.standard.co.uk/business/amazon-paid-tax-uk-last-year-a4543216.html
This man has enough money to address world reaching issues and does nothing to make the world a better place, least of all pay his employees a fair cut of the profits.
But I just bought some gear off them yesterday that arrived today. Well handy.

 

[transatlantic]

I genuinely don't understand it.

When you can afford everything beyond your wildest dreams, why still continue to push the boundaries? ...destroying any kind of competition, putting other smaller companies out of business, underpaying your staff ...

I'd like to think that as soon as I made my first 20 million or so, I'd just stop, retire, and live a great life! ... no worries, no stress! ..

If Bezos was to just retire right now, sell up, and have nothing to do with Amazon, ..how much in cash would he actually have though? not saying he still won't be ridicuously rich, but I assume it's a small fraction of that 50 billion?

 

[akirk]

I suspect that he is no longer interested in money (perhaps wasn't initially) - the drive for achievement in successful entrepreneurs is often not money related...
He has goals and vision he wants to achieve, and I suspect that finances are irrelevant other than as a tool to allow it to happen

 

[Garno]

If Bezos spent a dollar a second, every single second of Every. Single. Day. And. Night it would take him five thousand five hundred and twelve (and a half!) years to spend his fortune.

Does that include leap years?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I seem to remember reading that Labour MP Margaret Hodge — who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Responsible Tax - has a family interest in a very large firm that pays very little tax.

 

[thetyreman]

I wonder if Bezo will lend me a fiver?

 

[artie]

Dos anyone know what he does with his wealth?

 

[bjm]

I wonder if Bezo will lend me a fiver?

maybe if you ask nicely

The juggernaut he created is beyond his control. As a traded company they have a duty to maximise profits for their shareholders. Economics trump Ethics.

 

[Trevanion]

Dos anyone know what he does with his wealth?

Investments in space travel and various other things.

Blue Origin - Wikipedia

 

[Jelly]

I seem to remember reading that Labour MP Margaret Hodge — who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Responsible Tax - has a family interest in a very large firm that pays very little tax.

There's an irony there for sure, but it's not like that kind of activity isn't rife in any institution comprised of influential (and thus statistically quite likely to be wealthy) members...

Perhaps making it easier for people who would be, you know actually representative to be elected as our representatives in parliament might help... But I suspect news of that will come around the same time I get to watch a flock of Dodo's fly majestically overhead.

 

[Bm101]

Economics trump Ethics.

There's a sentence. Surprised it made it past the filter.

 

[bjm]

There's a sentence. Surprised it made it past the filter.

I did wonder about that!!!

 

[pcb1962]

Dos anyone know what he does with his wealth?

His divorce cost him 38 Billion.
I thought mine was bad

 

[Trainee neophyte]

His divorce cost him 38 Billion.
I thought mine was bad

If it floats, flies or f***s, cheaper to rent. Said by many many a bitter, twisted ex-yacht owner.

 

[DBT85]

His divorce cost him 38 Billion.
I thought mine was bad

She was was also with him before he started the company and instrumental in getting it going.