Dr.Jeff
True Classic
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.
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.