A rant about online shopping issues

[Dr.Jeff]

Over the past year I've been experiencing a LOT of problems with various online purchases. Especially from the major internet retailers like Amazon, eBay, and AliExpress. Part of the issues involve shipping delays, but most of the time it has to do with the retailer not processing orders in a timely manner or screwing it up completely. This was rare in the past. I get that online shopping has experienced a large increase since everyone had to stay at home (COVID), but you would think with the increase in business - and therefore increased revenues - they would hire more personnel to handle the demand. After all there are a multitude of people out of work that could fill that need. Same with the shippers; hire extra help to get the job done.

Often I have to keep sending multiple inquiries and requesting cancellations/refunds before anything even begins to happen. Then after a extremely long delay, if the package ever shows up at all, I see the return address was from the major warehouse here in Vegas. It took 6 weeks to go a couple of miles. WTF?!

Sadly not all of the problems are with those big retail "processing" outfits. I've also had a lot of problems with the sellers themselves. Inaccurate product descriptions, missing or misleading details, poor communications, errors with filling orders, items out of stock, etc. All much more common than in the past. I'm of the impression there must be a lot of sellers trying to take advantage of the increased online shopping by any means possible. At the cost of the customer.

Prices have also escalated exponentially, for many products but even more so for shipping. Especially when you consider the reduced overhead of internet selling vs a brick and mortar store. We're paying a lot more and receiving a lot less. I'm getting fed up with it. Sadly I fear it may not improve as the virus situation begins to slow down. I suspect the bad habits that have developed will stay with us - profit is a big motivator in our culture. Once it is realized they can get away with doing things this way they will continue to do so. Sometimes there's no going back.

 

[Mxgrds]

Can’t relate. I buy a lot from AliExpress but I hardly have any problems. Takes a while for it to arrive from China but that is all in the game. Quality is fine. And is case of a problem I have always received my money back and was allowed to keep the goods. No, not complaining.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

I agree that AliExpress is usually better than Amazon or eBay. However lately I have had more problems than normal with AE. Might just be coincidence. Partly with orders not being processed by the seller, but also the longer than usual shipping time as you mention (which really isn't AE's fault). AE does offer great customer support with refunds, but only after the "expected shipping date" has expired - and lately the sellers have been claiming that to be several months. So you have to wait until then, despite your payment having been processed immediately when the order was placed.

The issues I've had with eBay have mostly been with the sellers not representing the items accurately. Again, might just be coincidence but it has become significantly worse in recent months. The eBay system to process any issues is fully automated. That system offers few options which usually don't fully match your needs. And if you happen to select certain reasons from the menu then they pretty much do nothing. I've learned to select particular reasons that generate better responses by their system....even if it isn't accurate.

Amazon is a completely different story. LOTS of horrible service from them this past year. Orders never getting processed despite it being confirmed and payment processed. No response to inquiries. Extreme delays in shipping - and they do most of their own shipping so that falls directly on them in most cases. They are the one that has a few major warehouses locally (we are one of their primary west coast facilities), yet it takes several weeks to get it from there to here - a couple of miles across town. Eventually they do give decent customer service once things finally get sorted. But just so many problems getting to that point, which should not happen in the first place. And the prices on Amazon seem to have gone up more than the others. I suspect due to them charging sellers more to use their site? I've actually stopped using Amazon completely.

 

[Lowtechprime]

Seems like I can no longer buy from Italy in general.. Unless it's shipped by carrier ( FedEx,DHL,etc.. which costs a fortune) . If it's sent from their local post to our USPS, it never arrives.. The last 3 things I bought, from 3 different sellers, never arrived.. Cue PayPal dispute, etc, etc.... It could be them, but it's probably our recently @$#&*¢ up Postal service....

 

[dragonsgate]

I guess I have been living a charmed life when it comes to online shopping. At the beginning of the plague I ordered a hand pump for my well and everything made it via FedEx except two 11" sections of pipe. Called the dealer and they shipped two more right away and I got them in a short while. About a month later FedEx shows up with the other two lost pipes. I have done a lot of online shopping in the past 16 months with only one vender taking what I consider a long time to process and fill but did get the part in reasonable time once UPS got hold of it. USPS had been pretty reliable up until a certain person got in charge, then it became more sporadic but still get the stuff. I have a rural mail box and mail theft has become an issue. Lost some VA. meds around Feb. 2020 and lost an outgoing package we were mailing out a month later. Normally the postman would give me a call it he had a package too big for the box but I started driving up to the mailboxes every morning and waiting for the mail. Have got in a lot of reading in these past months and my yellow X19 has pretty much become a landmark.

 

[bjwhite]

I haven't had any problems with shipping either, except for when the Postal Service was being threatened with budgets and decommissioning automated sorting machines and upcoming holidays--that little period of time I had a Priority Mail package take 12 days or so when it should have been 2-3.

Other than that, no issues...not even internationally. I've sent car stuff recently to people in France and it showed up within about a week.

 

[Fiataccompli]

I was clued in to this thread via my FS/W post. I have to say that I have usually had pretty decent luck with shipping & receiving packages of all shapes, sizes & geographies. In the late 1990s i was co-owner of a parts business & started learning how to do all aspects of shipping somewhat efficiently. Later we shuttered that business, but I continued doing shipping as part of a large car hobby & then with collecting/building vintage & current racing bicycles along with all of the other stuff that looks shiny & interesting along the way (electronics, musical equipment, tools, whatever). I've had DHL, Fedex, & UPS commercial accounts & currently have a Fedex & UPS account. I am rarely bested by the logistics of shipping anything, but my recent attempt to send a trunk spoiler to Canada did get the best of me. These days, a lot of stuff I ship is via ebay, so I'm probably using their accounts for shipping, which is convenient. For bicycles, there are a few bike-specific shipping resellers (bikeflights & shipbike) who often have even better discounts. What those companies do would be a cool thing for a car club to do for members, but every time I've mentioned that to people, they've interpreted it as someone paying for part of shipping or for vendors to discount shipping. I've also had good luck on the receiving end, including large parts (124 wagon rear hatch & bumpers) from Italy & multiple large body-bag looking crazy packages from Ukraine for Lada/124 Sedan parts. Our local carriers are great. The UPS driver gives our dog treats & once stayed to watch as I opened a bike box that looked like it might be damaged. The USPS carrier told me I get so may strange overseas packages that need a signature that she'd leave a form to sign & henceforth whenever I get something that needs a signature, it's covered & I don't have to go pick it up at the Post Office. I've got no complaints and my hat is mostly still deeply tipped to the people who make it happen, especially over the last year when even more of the world realized that it's a lot more convenient to have stuff ordered than to drive.

 

[Fiataccompli]

oh yeah, as much as I hate many aspects of it, I tend to use ebay a good bit. I suppose their shipping & customer service is okay. I have had some people on the receiving in try to pull some either really dishonest or really stupid stuff (can't tell which & not worth the time to figure it out) and was surprised that when I rather professionally explained that the buyer didn't know WTF he was talking about (in one case, confused the manufacturing marks on a set of bicycle rims for cracks....my comment was that someone so stupid probably should not be trying to buy & assemble his own bicycle...which is why I don't work retail!). Sadly, among most enthusiast worlds, I find that FB marketplace & forums generate interesting comments & conversation, but people actually buy things when they are listed on ebay. Thus, I rarely sell Fiat stuff, though I am parting out a few cars at the moment, so I might make some exceptions in the next couple of months.

 

[tvmaster]

Essentially, Amazon Prime has ruined it for every other delivery service. Maybe if we paid USPS and eBay a $125 yearly subscription fee, they’d do three-day delivery too

 

[Fiataccompli]

Meh, I see the Amazon style (it's <3 day for a lot of stuff for me) delivery as completely non-essential. That is to the extent I tend to almost be embarrassed for people complaining about shipping, at least in our world of hobby car stuff or the like. I think people lived full & rich lives in times when shipping meant mailing a check and 4-6 weeks delivery.

 

[tvmaster]

Meh, I see the Amazon style (it's <3 day for a lot of stuff for me) delivery as completely non-essential. That is to the extent I tend to almost be embarrassed for people complaining about shipping, at least in our world of hobby car stuff or the like. I think people lived full & rich lives in times when shipping meant mailing a check and 4-6 weeks delivery.

When I could go to Radio Shack the day I needed something, I didn’t need shipping. Times change...

 

[Fiataccompli]

I get that and I've been there (whether it's quality auto parts, small electronics, radio shack stuff, building materials, or what) many times. It sort of sucks for a second, but I still see the whole gamut as serious luxury problems so I tend to focus on the fact that I actually have the luxury of enjoying hobbies, a home, lack of crazy warlords stealing our food or whatever, if that makes any sense. If shipping is something I really feel like I need to spending time complaining about, my life is pretty good!

 

[tvmaster]

I get that and I've been there (whether it's quality auto parts, small electronics, radio shack stuff, building materials, or what) many times. It sort of sucks for a second, but I still see the whole gamut as serious luxury problems so I tend to focus on the fact that I actually have the luxury of enjoying hobbies, a home, lack of crazy warlords stealing our food or whatever, if that makes any sense. If shipping is something I really feel like I need to spending time complaining about, my life is pretty good!

exactly. It is what it is. I fought it until all the stores were gone (Good Guys, CompUSA, Tower Records, Fry’s, Radio Shack, etc.). I still choose to pay more at the local hardware, and buy CD’s at Target while they still sell them. But when you need a 3.5” speaker grill, there’s no where left to go BUT Amazon. But I also use USPS whenever I can, ‘cause I like my postman. Nice guy. I‘ve been lucky enough to travel the world. We’re pretty lucky in North America. If shipping’s my biggest problem, life is good

 

[Greg (in Conn)]

I get that online shopping has experienced a large increase since everyone had to stay at home (COVID), but you would think with the increase in business - and therefore increased revenues - they would hire more personnel to handle the demand. After all there are a multitude of people out of work that could fill that need. Same with the shippers; hire extra help to get the job done.

And therein lies the problem.

Folks that are actually soldiering to work everyday since March 2020 and ensuring that the mountain on mountain of packages/mail are getting delivered deserve the gratitude and thank you.

Severe labor shortages everywhere and you cannot find help. Still too many incentives for people to stay home getting checks and unemployment.

Just because many are out of work doesn’t necessarily mean they are looking to work.

lalaland for sure.

 

[tvmaster]

And therein lies the problem.

Folks that are actually soldiering to work everyday since March 2020 and ensuring that the mountain on mountain of packages/mail are getting delivered deserve the gratitude and thank you.

Severe labor shortages everywhere and you cannot find help. Still too many incentives for people to stay home getting checks and unemployment.

Just because many are out of work doesn’t necessarily mean they are looking to work.

lalaland for sure.

Sorry, don‘t buy the CNBC argument about people staying at home. Now maybe, if the job only pays slave wages of $7 hour, well, that’s a whole other narrative. There isn’t a single business or restaurant we visit that can’t find employees to keep doors open. I don’t know who started that rubbish, but I assume it was someone with ties to very large corporations, looking for a reason why their share price was dropping. But if you’re right, and businesses near you can’t function because people make more staying home, I guess I‘m lucky to live where I do

 

[Fiataccompli]

This thread did remind me of, what was it 20 years ago?, when stores were all running at 24hrs/day hours. Back then, I was 20 years younger & had a different set of young kids & I recall it being sort of nifty to be able to run to home depot at 1am to get project supplies or whatever. That's a change also.

 

[Fiataccompli]

I wonder how many of the shipping complaints are related to user error anyway.

I'd figure a LOT. In fact, one could argue fairly well that my own recent Fedex "issues" that prompted me to notice this thread were of my own creation. I'd even argue that most people's problems & how they impact them are significantly constructed by their own actions & energy....but, that's another topic/thread & probably one I'd ignore anyway

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Just for the record...
I am retired so having to stay at home means nothing to me. Nor does time in general for that matter.
The shipping issues are only a portion of my complaints, the other issues I described in my original post are more annoying. However the significant increase in shipping costs (at least in my experiences) is another aspect to it that I don't get.
It isn't about the convenience - or inconvenience - but about the errors by the sellers (not the buyer) that I've experienced in recent times. Definitely much more than ever before. Might just be coincidence as I said, but it did parallel the virus timing.

 

[lookforjoe]

I've been hesitant to throw in my 2 cents - don't want to jinx myself. Overall, besides the nasty increases in shipping costs, I've not had significant issues with orders besides those coming from Eu/ Eastern EU. I've also been shipping many parts this past few weeks, and have not had issues with either USPS or UPS - besides the fact that the UPS Quotes SUCK, as Jeff pointed out. I ALWAYS pay more than the online quotes.

As for ppl not wanting to accept jobs that pay shite & have horrible working conditions, I can see that. We have a problem paying people a living wage in this country, but that's really a topic for elsewhere.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

I had to bring this thread back up because I continue to have significant problems with online sellers. The comments in most posts here have been mainly about shipping issues, but I will repeat my earlier statement - that is only a small aspect of my complaint. In my experiences there has been a significant increase in the number of seller problems, aside from shipping issues. Inaccurate/incorrect descriptions, poor communications, failure to send out paid orders, extremely slow processing of orders that do get sent, wrong products received, lack of customer support after issues happen, etc, etc. It is becoming ridiculous how often things get screwed up....like maybe 30% (perhaps more) of my total purchases? And this is not confined to any one online selling source, I have had problems with pretty much all of them (although I admit some more than others).

In another thread someone discussed his discontent as a seller on eBay. Saying he has experienced a significant increase in problems with buyers. I do not sell so I have no reference on that side of things. Perhaps that has contributed to the difficulties I've encountered with sellers? Disgruntled sellers are now retaliating against all buyers? Or perhaps there is another relation between the two; both sellers and buyers are facing such a huge increase in demand in online transactions that the "supply cannot keep up with the demand" so to speak? In other words, things are so overloaded that sellers cannot keep up?

Several people posted that they have not noticed this as much as I have. Perhaps I make considerably more purchases than them? Or am I doing something wrong? I pay up front in full by trusted means for every purchase at the time of my orders. I am careful to read every description thoroughly and send questions before buying. I double check each order before submitting them. I follow all rules and regulations for the selling sites, and I follow up on each order in a timely manner. So what am I doing wrong? All of this is exactly as I have always done and I very rarely had any issues in the pre-pandemic days. I still contend it must have something to do with a lack of workforce to support the increased demand. Which makes me think sellers are making a killing by selling much more volume with no increase in overhead. But I do not know...all I can say is I am really getting sick of online buying in general.