If you had asked me five years ago if I'd be regularly ordering from walmart.com instead of amazon.com, I'd have thought it unlikely. But here I am -- I don't have to worry about counterfeits as long as it's sold & shipped by Walmart, and I can get same-day delivery (usually within an hour or two) for the cost of a tip. Their inventory is different (many more consumer staples, at better prices; many fewer random long-tail products), but it's replaced maybe 1/4 of my Amazon purchases. I also order from target.com once in a while; I never ever used to.
Amazon has not lost, but it is definitely losing its unique edge.
I bought and returned:
- Meta Quest headset / it arrived in a shipping box that was dented, with the quests product box damaged, and when I went to try it the system wouldn’t launch apps
- a usb memory card reader that advertised support for older Sony memory sticks but wouldn’t read them
- an electric kettle that burned my hand to pour water out of at a normal angle for use and despite high reviews on the product page
Those are three examples in the last couple of months…
Worth noting that the comment you reply to calls out buying only "sold & shipped by Walmart" items, as opposed to those from other vendors like your case.
Fair. When I bought the item I wrote about, I had no idea it wasn't direct from Walmart. IMO, as bad as Amazon does, they make who you are buying from very clear.
I am on a watch-list too because of a recent problem with a broken package with only one item out of two inside. It was clearly a too light packaging for a heavy item with sharp corners.
The only other problem I had was a warranty claim 5 years ago.
My account is not closed (but they "reserve the right to close it" anytime). I am glad I have no kindle or DRM stuff...
I tried to get an explanation, but just got a robot email.
I will never buy there anymore. Even if some stuff are hard to find elsewhere
My bet: Statistically, and adjusted for Amazon's relentless enshittification of the products they sell, he has not done that. But since Amazon's optimal strategy - short-term - is to just keep dialing up their shit, and dialing down their tolerance for people returning their shit...
>they told me I’m on a watch list for returns and could have my account terminated
Do they actually use such direct language? I received a passive-aggressive message from Amazon implying I was returning things too frequently (which was unfair IMHO; I had just returned three items that I had purchased as part of a bundle, but which might have made my return stats for the year look bad). But they haven't escalated it yet for me with more direct language.
I have had so many issues with orders from Amazon recently that they told me I’m on a watch list for returns and could have my account terminated.
I’ve been a customer for about 20 years with this account.
I’ll be shopping at other retailers now.