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Amazon not always cheaper
- Thread starter bdfbeemer
- Start date
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
In my experience (and I buy a lot of things on-line and have for years, both personally and professionally), Amazon is not always the least expensive in absolute cost, but you need to factor in the almost-always faster and no-charge Prime shipping, if you are a Prime member. That service is not free, and Amazon says so on many listings saying this item may be available cheaper from other resellers, and then they provide a link. Good, fast, or cheap. Pick any two. 
FedEx is a joke. I quit using chewing for my dog food because they kept delivering to the wrong houses. Once I found the box under the numbers on the house. The numbers weren't even close to my number. I complained to FedEx. I asked them if their drivers were required to be able to read? No response. I find Amazon more expensive many times. I always check the manufacturer first. It depends on how fast I need the product on who I use.
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
As to cost, I often find items enough less than Amazon to wait several more days for them. The starter relay for classic K-bikes on Amazon were just over or under $40 a couple of years ago when I needed one. But I found an industrial supply company with the same item for $27.00. It took three or four business days to arrive, but I wasn't in a hurry, so saved my money.
As for the shopping experience, so far, mine have been excellent overall. I've only had a handful of delayed and only one lost shipment from Amazon in the last five years or more, and between work and personal I'd estimate that at over 600 orders. During this time Amazon went from all third-party shippers to using their own in most cases (for me) and adding next-day Prime at no cost for many items. I picked five years only because of the great growth occurring in on-line sales as it went main-stream.
However, I buy from a number of other vendors. Almost every one offers tracking once your order is shipped. Some companies will take a day or two to ship, which seems odd once you are used to seeing same-day shipping, but some of these companies are business or industry focused, where ASAP shipping is not an expectation. The rest of the third party vendors I've used in the last five years have been very responsive with most shipping same or next day, tracking, and either free shipping, or free above a purchase amount threshold. I've found return policies are very acceptable, with most 100% provided items are in as-new resalable condition.
With the incredible increase in on-line sales since March due to the plague, I've been impressed with how companies - especially Amazon - have scaled up for both the increased demand, and the virus' impact on their staff. YMMV.
pglaves
#13338
"3 or 4 business days to arrive" he says about a package.
A recent test mailing of 100 FIRST CLASS letters mailed in San Francisco took 3 to 4 days to California addresses and up to 9 days to Atlanta or Washington D.C.
p.s. No seller is always cheaper. No seller is always faster. No seller is always best in customer service. Life is not always fair.
A recent test mailing of 100 FIRST CLASS letters mailed in San Francisco took 3 to 4 days to California addresses and up to 9 days to Atlanta or Washington D.C.
p.s. No seller is always cheaper. No seller is always faster. No seller is always best in customer service. Life is not always fair.
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
Perhaps mail is one thing and packages may be another, but I'm just relating what my experiences have been. I ordered a new helmet from Klim yesterday before noon and it will be here tomorrow. No charge for shipping.
pglaves
#13338
Perhaps mail is one thing and packages may be another, but I'm just relating what my experiences have been. I ordered a new helmet from Klim yesterday before noon and it will be here tomorrow. No charge for shipping.
Here in the Texas outback UPS is gold plated, the mail is OK, Fedex is a disaster, DHS is a total no-show. If somebody ships something DHS I immediately request my money back because I know it will never arrive. One time it did. Three months after the seller had reshipped by UPS the item showed up, in the postal mail,drop shipped by DHS. I did all the paperwork for a DHS return. DHS never showed up to pick it up, of course. I still have the item.
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
I have a good friend in Montana and either UPS or FedEx (can't remember) never gets his deliveries on time, and occasionally to the wrong house. The other one is as you say, "gold plated". Very important to figure out who can do the job and who cant. Where I live I get good service from all of them, including DHL and OnTrack. Maybe it's bad luck to say that out loud?
Interesting story, a couple years ago I sent a seat to BMS for a custom mod
FedEx ground Costa Mesa to Ojai 100 miles
Seat went to San Diego first, then Oakland back to Los Angeles and finally to Ventura where they said they couldn’t find the address, never mind BMS gets multiple UPS/fedex packages every day
I finally got to speak to Ventura manager for FedEx asked him to hold onto seat and UPS would pickup for shipment, that didn’t settle well to say the least, he personally drove the seat to Rockys shop and called when he was there
Never a problem with regular FedEx or UPS nor with USPS
FedEx ground Costa Mesa to Ojai 100 miles
Seat went to San Diego first, then Oakland back to Los Angeles and finally to Ventura where they said they couldn’t find the address, never mind BMS gets multiple UPS/fedex packages every day
I finally got to speak to Ventura manager for FedEx asked him to hold onto seat and UPS would pickup for shipment, that didn’t settle well to say the least, he personally drove the seat to Rockys shop and called when he was there
Never a problem with regular FedEx or UPS nor with USPS
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
Well played, sir!
The delivery companies have had to “adjust” to what “the other guys” are doing. Sorta like the first place in town that started delivering pizza. Soon all the pizza shops had to follow suit.
Remember 10 years ago when seeing UPS, FedEx, or the post office out on a Sunday, even a Saturday was a big deal?
I don’t take delivery problems personal. I know which works best and try to work around it. I do specifically try to skip the budget delivery services that “ hand-off” to the post office.
OM
Remember 10 years ago when seeing UPS, FedEx, or the post office out on a Sunday, even a Saturday was a big deal?
I don’t take delivery problems personal. I know which works best and try to work around it. I do specifically try to skip the budget delivery services that “ hand-off” to the post office.
OM
pglaves
#13338
Adding to what I wrote above, I would not want to drive for any express service here. We live right on the highway. But within the 225,000 acre "Terlingua Ranch" (development is not the right word, subdivision is not the right word, there really isn't a right word) are a couple of hundred locations. This is Carrol Shelby's former ranch, playground, escape from Los Angeles, run around the desert place. More than 1,000 miles of poorly mapped rock and dirt roads to tracts ranging from 5 acres to hundreds of acres. Some are actual year round homes. Many are seasonal winter homes. Lots are travel trailers under metal roofs with water catchment and solar power. Some are hunting camps. There are lots of dilapidated "Grandpa's broken dreams." The Unabomber's brother used to live in, and still visits a little cabin located 25 miles off the pavement by way of a maze of roads.
For grins use Google Maps to find the Terlingua Ranch Lodge, and then scroll around a bit.
We have been blessed by UPS. When we moved here we had a route driver that knew the territory very well. When Jerry retired we worried but his replacement. But Manny gets it done and gets it done right. He knows the area like the back of his hand. Once a couple of years ago Manny got "bumped" by a driver with more seniority who wanted his route. He lasted three days and Manny was back grinning because the other dude couldn't hack it.
There are actually three distinct Fedex companies: Fedex Express, Fedex Ground, and Fedex Freight. Our Fedex Express service is out of El Paso. They have trouble keeping drivers for this route. They use two or three. It is a five hour drive just to get here. Then run all over delivering packages and overnight in Alpine and return to El Paso the next day. Our Fedex Ground service is provided by a contractor out of Fort Stockton. At our house we get OK service. But on any given day we can find complaints from neighbors or friends who live "off grid" about Fedex service.
DHL won't deliver here. The best they can do is put in the mail at the post office in Alpine.
I had a chat the other day with the Census enumerator trying to make sense of this area. He had addresses and maps and physical descriptions of properties and it was still a massive task. I tried to help as best could.
akbeemer
SURVIVOR
Perhaps mail is one thing and packages may be another, but I'm just relating what my experiences have been. I ordered a new helmet from Klim yesterday before noon and it will be here tomorrow. No charge for shipping.
They are probably sending over someone from Rigby on a bicycle.
We have ridden through Rigby four times in the last six weeks, but their store is not open because of the .... well, you know.
akbeemer
SURVIVOR
I have a good friend in Montana and either UPS or FedEx (can't remember) never gets his deliveries on time, and occasionally to the wrong house. The other one is as you say, "gold plated". Very important to figure out who can do the job and who cant. Where I live I get good service from all of them, including DHL and OnTrack. Maybe it's bad luck to say that out loud?
In this part of Montana both UPS and FedEx do well. UPS always arrives in the evening and the truck, driver and packages are covered in dust. He was a route that is substantially on dirt and looks like he rode drag on a 1000 mile cattle drive. We had our regular driver in for supper when he came during a tech day. The FedEx deliveries come in the late morning. The driver now knows to deliver motorcyle related stuff to the shop and all other to the house. He gets it wrong occasionally, but gets an 'A' for effort.
36654
New member
I've never heard of Ontrack. The DHL depot is somewhere in the state, but they've never been very successful in this area.
My favorite shipper experience was "Amazon White Glove" delivery service on a flat screen TV. 60-plus year old Walmart employee doing a second job. He lived with his mother and really liked cats. The delivery van was an old 2WD Ford Ranger with a cap on the bed. The Ranger was pretty worn and appeared to "ride low" like a VW Rabbit Pick-up. The springs on the cap hatch were busted, so he used a broom handle to prop it open. He had about 8 units packed in the truck for delivery and set-up that day.
My favorite shipper experience was "Amazon White Glove" delivery service on a flat screen TV. 60-plus year old Walmart employee doing a second job. He lived with his mother and really liked cats. The delivery van was an old 2WD Ford Ranger with a cap on the bed. The Ranger was pretty worn and appeared to "ride low" like a VW Rabbit Pick-up. The springs on the cap hatch were busted, so he used a broom handle to prop it open. He had about 8 units packed in the truck for delivery and set-up that day.
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
gregfeeler
Dances With Sheep
They are probably sending over someone from Rigby on a bicycle.
We have ridden through Rigby four times in the last six weeks, but their store is not open because of the .... well, you know.
The customer service person I spoke to was working at home and said the entire office staff has been since March. Apparently there are only two copies of the helmet I want in the entire US. One in Florida, and they had one. Hope it fits!
