Amazon going under?

[dogstar]

Used to order from DVDEXPRESS.COM, then they closed. Then went to Amazon.com, but now I think they are having problems.

1. Now ships with USPS instead of UPS which is cheaper (and takes longer)

2. Two months ago I ordered Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels with Snatch to be sent and the same time. Suddenly last week they shipped Lock, Stock without Snatch which comes out last week and charged my account for it. Why didn't hey wait, unless they need money now.

3. Pre ordered Herzog's Fata Morgana and Little Dieter which streeted last Tuesday and their website now says 4-6 weeks for delivery - just like DVDEXPRESS did just before it went down.

[clortho]

Actually in a lot of cases, Priority Mail is faster than UPS--they have really gone downhill since that strike business, I make a point to never use them and only USPS Priority of FedEx now. Nearly every package I've gotten from UPS in the last year has either been smashed, or severely delayed/lost because they don't scan at every point as they are supposed to.

As far as your other concerns, you may want to drop them an email or give them a call as to why that happened.

Clortho

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I am the Keymaster
clortho@hotmail.com

[Chris in OC]

I agree. I haven't dealt with them for a little while, but their service has always been excellent, and I imagine they'd want to know if your order got screwed up. As for their choice of shipping company, it may just be that USPS offered them a better discount. Also, as Clortho noted, they're frequently faster -- anything over a certain amount of postage ($2 give or take) automatically goes by Express Mail.

BTW, Amazon is currently floating a trial balloon on shipping -- two books, DVDs, CDs, etc., or more will ship for free. The catch is that they've raised some prices, I'm guessing on slower selling items. The Superman I DVD, for example, is still discounted 20% (not great, but standard for them), but the Twilight Zone TV series DVDs are now going for full list. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out.

[This message has been edited by Chris in OC (edited 06-28-2001).]

[Blade]

Originally posted by dogstar:
Used to order from DVDEXPRESS.COM, then they closed. Then went to Amazon.com, but now I think they are having problems.

1. Now ships with USPS instead of UPS which is cheaper (and takes longer)

2. Two months ago I ordered Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels with Snatch to be sent and the same time. Suddenly last week they shipped Lock, Stock without Snatch which comes out last week and charged my account for it. Why didn't hey wait, unless they need money now.

3. Pre ordered Herzog's Fata Morgana and Little Dieter which streeted last Tuesday and their website now says 4-6 weeks for delivery - just like DVDEXPRESS did just before it went down.

1. "Now?" They've always shipped via USPS. I've been buying from these guys since early '97. Here's part of the shipping email:

We thought you'd like to know that the following books have been
shipped to:

David Jones
*** ******* Street
Honolulu HI 96819

using US Priority (comp. upgrade) shipment.


Your order #0602-0116161-840532 (received March 28 1997 12:12 PST)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ordered Title Price Shipped Subtotal
------------------------------------------------------------------
1 The Hunt for Red October 22.46 1 22.46
1 The Firm 22.46 1 22.46
------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal: 44.92
Shipping: 4.90
Total: 49.82

2. Sometimes they will change your shipping method to "as available" at no extra charge to you as a courtesy. When your copy of Snatch does ship, the shipping charges for both orders should be the same as if it had come in one shipment. If this is not the case, just email or call their customer service number. I've had shipping problems with them as well, but they've always resolved the situation fairly and to my satisfaction. And I usually get a GC for my trouble too.

3. I had this happen to me once. Again, call them up and ask them to give you a complimentary upgrade to next day air shipping. Keep in mind, however, that there might have been a problem with their distributor not getting the movie. Also, this is probably not a high demand title so they may be having trouble getting ahold of it, or there might even have been a delay on the release of the disc. (Not familiar with the title, but it wouldn't be the first time.)

Their 800 phone number: 1-800-201-7575

Now, I'm not saying that Amazon doesn't have problems, but I haven't seen a significant change in thier operations over the last half year, so I'm not worrying yet.

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-David
My DVDs and HT

[Dave Bean]

I have also experienced partial shipments. They don't charge for 2 shipments, just for one.

As for their financial health, they are ok. They have slowed their cash burn rate down significantly since the first half of last year. The analysts have pressured the company to the point where Jeff Bezos had to give a breakeven/profitability target (I believe it's 3rd or 4th quarter this year)

The company has also shifted their businees model and spread their risks with other traditional brick and mortar retailers (the partnership with Toys R Us come to mind). Also, keep in mind that Amazon has an extremely diversified product line, not just selling DVD's like some of these other websites.

Let's put it this way. There are a few internet pure plays that looks like they will survive in the short term...abet with lower profiles since the great dot.com implosion. Amazon, Yahoo and some of the travel websites are among them. Believe me, if I saw something coming, I wouldn't order from them anymore.

Dave Bean

[egman]

Are you sure those Herzog titles streeted last Tuesday? I've been trying to check Anchor Bay to confirm that, and it looks like those should be coming in late summer/fall. Amazon sometimes makes mistakes on their website, so I would have to agree with others on the thread that Amazon is probably still in good condition.

[This message has been edited by egman (edited 06-29-2001).]

[tomdkat]

I thought at one point, Amazon.com was on the verge of bankruptcy.... like 1.5 to 2 years ago..... or am I mistaken?

If this *WAS* true, it looks like they've bounced back with a vengeance!

Peace....

[Eye]

Amazon has enough burnable cash for about 1 to 2 years depending upon which "analyst" you listen to.

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Moderator | Eye ::..

"Frank Burns eats worms."