Amazon - the worst possible experience!

[bbrks]

So guys, I just badly need to tell you about my last experience with amazon.com...

On 13th of January I have ordered an item (vinyl record) and despite the fact that they have confirmed my order and put it into so called "advanced shipment" status, after 42 days of waiting the item is still not shipped. I have tried several times to get an explanation, chatted probably with 10 different agents, supervisors, so called concerned specialists, to no avail. No one was able to help me. I can't get the item, I can't cancel it, nothing....I can just wait and hope, that one day I will get the shipment confirmation. Of course, all of them told me, that they are pushing very hard and that this is probably the worst case they ever had.......apologizing ......... Well, all together a huge pile of crap

An explanation I got at the beginning, from one of the supervisors was actually very interesting!
When an item you want to buy is in limited stock, saying only a certain number is in stock and more are on the way, like for example here:
https://www.amazon.com/Texas-Flood-...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1488021147&sr=8-3
that means, they will accept your order, but will not ship the item, before the new stock arrives.
So, 42 days is a result so far and who knows for how long I will have to wait for new stock to arrive.
Does anyone else has the same experience with Amazon?
I am a vinyl freak and there are many excellent records on Amazon, but a majority of records is also in the same status (only a few left in stock) and I don't want to repeat this dreadful experience like with my present order.
Also any advice you have would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[AlliFlowers]

Have you tried contacting the vendor directly?

 

[bbrks]

Its Amazon.com directly...so I was talking to their staff

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

At that point, since I wasn't getting anywhere with Amazon, I would call my credit card company and contest the charge.

 

[ucfgrad93]

At that point, since I wasn't getting anywhere with Amazon, I would call my credit card company and contest the charge.

Agreed. No way would I wait that long.

 

[C DM]

Its Amazon.com directly...so I was talking to their staff

And they can't even simply cancel the order (it's not even an option that appears online for such an order that hasn't shipped)? That seems quite odd.

 

[bbrks]

Agree with all of you, but the thing is they don't charge before the shipment. I guess, that is their way to stay safe, when they don't deliver...
[doublepost=1488036351][/doublepost]

And they can't even simply cancel the order (it's not even an option that appears online for such an order that hasn't shipped)? That seems quite odd.

The moment the ordered item enters advanced shipment status, which is couple of days after initial order, there is no way to cancel it.

 

[C DM]

Agree with all of you, but the thing is they don't charge before the shipment. I guess, that is their way to stay safe, when they don't deliver...
[doublepost=1488036351][/doublepost]

The moment the ordered item enters advanced shipment status, which is couple of days after initial order, there is no way to cancel it.

There should certainly be a way for them to do it even if somehow the option doesn't appear online. It would simply be silly if they couldn't do a simple thing like that. That is certainly an odd situation for them to put you in.

 

[bbrks]

I am telling you....yes, there is a button for cancellation, but you can try it as many times you wish, if the item is in advanced shipment status, there is no effect whatsoever. They even confirmed me that in our chat sessions several times.

 

[C DM]

I am telling you....yes, there is a button for cancellation, but you can try it as many times you wish, if the item is in advanced shipment status, there is no effect whatsoever. They even confirmed me that in our chat sessions several times.

I understand that. I'm just saying how silly it is on their part to say that they can't do anything about it given the situation.

 

[Mlrollin91]

I am telling you....yes, there is a button for cancellation, but you can try it as many times you wish, if the item is in advanced shipment status, there is no effect whatsoever. They even confirmed me that in our chat sessions several times.

Email: ecr@amazon.com

Fully explain your situation to them. This is Executive Customer Relations. I have had to contact them a few times and they usually get back to me in 2-3 days. It goes straight to the office of Bezos. I have never not received a response.

 

[steve knight]

is there a c

At that point, since I wasn't getting anywhere with Amazon, I would call my credit card company and contest the charge.

Charge? amazon does not usually charge your card till it is ready to ship.

 

[bbrks]

I ordered today another two records and yesterday one of the supervisors promised me that the item I ordered on 13th of January will be shipped by Monday......lets see what happens

In any case their business policy stinks big time.....

 

[shyam09]

That's perfectly normal. My experience with those types of items (I actually have one order that's not scheduled to ship for another month or two and have gone through multiple similar items) is that it will never go into any shipping state until they are close to shipment, and they won't charge you until shipped.

Sometimes it will go into "preparing for shipment", which means you can't change your order, even if the scheduled delivery date isn't for another month a few days after. With this, you will still be able to submit a request to cancel your order, and while they usually get back to you within 5-10 minutes with the resolution of whether the order was cancelled or not, it might take a bit longer (for some odd reason) for backed up orders.

In your case, this is what I would do next time:

Step 1) Check your CC statement to make sure you weren't charged. [[Per your posts in this thread, it looks like you weren't charged]]

Step 2) Submit a cancellation request on Amazon.com; wait at least one business day, maximum two business days. We know that Amazon will send us an email with the confirmed and estimated delivery date, so we can take a breather for this one. Not very urgent. [[Just do this once. Sending it multiple times does nothing, and for all we know, the system might detect it as a duplicate and delete it]]

Step 3) Check your email / amazon account (both) to see if the order was cancelled, or if you got an email stating that the order cannot be cancelled. [[sometimes they are very quick on this, but again give it at least one business day]]

Step 4) Contact Amazon Chat and tell them that you tried to cancel your order but found it odd that you can't cancel an order that has no estimated arrival date (or one that is in the future). Tell them that you no longer want the item because you ordered it from elsewhere (or some other excuse) and ask them if you will get a full refund for refusing delivery if/when it ships because of this bug. They'll probably tell you yes, at which point you thank them, and keep a copy of the transcript on your PC / cloud.

Step 5) Forget about the order until (unless) you receive a notification that it shipped. Refuse delivery and check back a week later to make sure that you got the full refund. [[ie. Just monitor it every week or so. You'll get charged if the order ships and you've got a transcript that states that Amazon agrees to give a full refund for

Amazon's great to work with and there might be some inconveniences here and there. I think a dispute is unnecessary unless Amazon is completely useless and refuses to refund your payment (which in your case, hasn't even happened).

For the record, I have submitted a request to cancel "Preparing for Shipment" orders (with a 2-day estimated delivery date), and it's a hit or miss. I'm not sure if OP has received a "it's too late to cancel the shipment" email.

 

[blkcadi]

Sorry your having such a bad experience buddy.

 

[bbrks]

I wonder what our friends have to say
[doublepost=1488047266][/doublepost]

That's perfectly normal. My experience with those types of items (I actually have one order that's not scheduled to ship for another month or two and have gone through multiple similar items) is that it will never go into any shipping state until they are close to shipment, and they won't charge you until shipped.

Sometimes it will go into "preparing for shipment", which means you can't change your order, even if the scheduled delivery date isn't for another month a few days after. With this, you will still be able to submit a request to cancel your order, and while they usually get back to you within 5-10 minutes with the resolution of whether the order was cancelled or not, it might take a bit longer (for some odd reason) for backed up orders.

In your case, this is what I would do next time:

Step 1) Check your CC statement to make sure you weren't charged. [[Per your posts in this thread, it looks like you weren't charged]]

Step 2) Submit a cancellation request on Amazon.com; wait at least one business day, maximum two business days. We know that Amazon will send us an email with the confirmed and estimated delivery date, so we can take a breather for this one. Not very urgent. [[Just do this once. Sending it multiple times does nothing, and for all we know, the system might detect it as a duplicate and delete it]]

Step 3) Check your email / amazon account (both) to see if the order was cancelled, or if you got an email stating that the order cannot be cancelled. [[sometimes they are very quick on this, but again give it at least one business day]]

Step 4) Contact Amazon Chat and tell them that you tried to cancel your order but found it odd that you can't cancel an order that has no estimated arrival date (or one that is in the future). Tell them that you no longer want the item because you ordered it from elsewhere (or some other excuse) and ask them if you will get a full refund for refusing delivery if/when it ships because of this bug. They'll probably tell you yes, at which point you thank them, and keep a copy of the transcript on your PC / cloud.

Step 5) Forget about the order until (unless) you receive a notification that it shipped. Refuse delivery and check back a week later to make sure that you got the full refund. [[ie. Just monitor it every week or so. You'll get charged if the order ships and you've got a transcript that states that Amazon agrees to give a full refund for

Amazon's great to work with and there might be some inconveniences here and there. I think a dispute is unnecessary unless Amazon is completely useless and refuses to refund your payment (which in your case, hasn't even happened).

For the record, I have submitted a request to cancel "Preparing for Shipment" orders (with a 2-day estimated delivery date), and it's a hit or miss. I'm not sure if OP has received a "it's too late to cancel the shipment" email.

Did already all the steps from 1 to 4. No. 5 I don't like at all.....it is unacceptable to wait for shipment for so long. If that was one or two weeks, OK, but anything more than that is nonsense. I have tried 3 times to cancel that order and every time I got an E-mail that it's not possible. Bottom line, they shouldn't accept any order if they don't have it in stock. Period.

 

[shyam09]

I wonder what our friends have to say
[doublepost=1488047266][/doublepost]

Did already all the steps from 1 to 4. No. 5 I don't like at all.....it is unacceptable to wait for shipment for so long. If that was one or two weeks, OK, but anything more than that is nonsense. I have tried 3 times to cancel that order and every time I got an E-mail that it's not possible. Bottom line, they shouldn't accept any order if they don't have it in stock. Period.

Actually not even one or two weeks is acceptable. *What was the estimated date of delivery on your order confirmation?* That's something not mentioned in your OP (or I might have skipped it). Anyway, 1-2 business days past that is acceptable, anything past that is not.

The good thing about accepting orders when they aren't in stock is that you get locked in to the price. For example, if the vinyl you purchased was on sale, I'd rather take my chances and lock in at the lower price, versus having them close off ordering for that item if it's OOS.

Number 5 isn't waiting for your shipment. You go out and purchase from another place, and then if the Amazon order isn't cancelled / or is shipped, just leave a note on your door stating that you are refusing delivery for tracking # whatever from Amazon. And then you talk to Amazon and you ask for compensation for your troubles.

 

[Septembersrain]

I ordered today another two records and yesterday one of the supervisors promised me that the item I ordered on 13th of January will be shipped by Monday......lets see what happens

In any case their business policy stinks big time.....

If you are upset over the way they are handling things right now, why would you buy more? I'd be blowing them up on social media, boycotting them, etc until I either got my product or my money back.

 

[bbrks]

Well, this is a part of it

 

[Huntn]

So guys, I just badly need to tell you about my last experience with amazon.com...

On 13th of January I have ordered an item (vinyl record) and despite the fact that they have confirmed my order and put it into so called "advanced shipment" status, after 42 days of waiting the item is still not shipped. I have tried several times to get an explanation, chatted probably with 10 different agents, supervisors, so called concerned specialists, to no avail. No one was able to help me. I can't get the item, I can't cancel it, nothing....I can just wait and hope, that one day I will get the shipment confirmation. Of course, all of them told me, that they are pushing very hard and that this is probably the worst case they ever had.......apologizing ......... Well, all together a huge pile of crap

An explanation I got at the beginning, from one of the supervisors was actually very interesting!
When an item you want to buy is in limited stock, saying only a certain number is in stock and more are on the way, like for example here:
https://www.amazon.com/Texas-Flood-...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1488021147&sr=8-3
that means, they will accept your order, but will not ship the item, before the new stock arrives.
So, 42 days is a result so far and who knows for how long I will have to wait for new stock to arrive.
Does anyone else has the same experience with Amazon?
I am a vinyl freak and there are many excellent records on Amazon, but a majority of records is also in the same status (only a few left in stock) and I don't want to repeat this dreadful experience like with my present order.
Also any advice you have would be appreciated. Thanks

My experience in the past is that cancelling an order on Amazon is not hard to accomplish especially one that is back ordered. When you look at your order there is not option to cancel?

 

[bbrks]

Yes there is, but with no effect, because the item is in status of advanced shipment.

 

[Huntn]

Yes there is, but with no effect, because the item is in status of advanced shipment.

That seems really strange and more strange that someone at Amazon can't hit the cancel button for you.

 

[Tomorrow]

Not saying this is okay, but I'm unable to agree that this is "the worst possible experience."

 

[bbrks]

And just half an hour ago, I had another chat with one of the supervisors...He confirmed again that the item can't be canceled and that they will do their best to ship it as fast as possible ...so, it's day 45!
And yes, this is the worst possible experience !!!

 

[C DM]

And just half an hour ago, I had another chat with one of the supervisors...He confirmed again that the item can't be canceled and that they will do their best to ship it as fast as possible ...so, it's day 45!
And yes, this is the worst possible experience !!!

So can't be canceled at the moment, or ever at all? Don't they have a period of when items can be canceled, in particular prior to the order getting fulfilled/shipped?