Strange Amazon Experience


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
I buy a lot of things through Amazon. Occasionally (VERY occasionally) over the many years I have had to return/exchange an item. So recently I purchased a new blood pressure monitor (due to another bout of pretty high BP) and now Dr wants me testing 2X or 3X per day, charting it and sending it to her weekly so she can monitor my meds and make adjustments if or as needed.
So I bought a smart monitor from Omron. Their top of the line "Platinum". https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RX8WQ4K/?tag=tvwb-20 though I still have my trusty old Panasonic (not smart) monitor I bought years ago that traveled all over the place with me got tossed in my flight bag (no case just tossed it), thrown around, basically followed me everywhere.
Dr wanted me in last week to coordinate my own monitor with readings in her office. Well this thing was all over the map. Reading as much as 35 points different than hers. My old Panasonic? Right on the nose every time. So I knew the Panasonic was the "gold standard" :D
So I ordered up another unit from Amazon (different company). Small, light, simple display https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NK1XYSQ/?tag=tvwb-20
So this morning I set in motion returning the Omron due to it's "faulty" nature. Much to my surprise Amazon refunded my $$$ but to my "shopping account" not to my credit card (which actually has already been paid off). And said to not bother returning the item to them! So I keep the item, get a refund (different form of payment) and no physical return of the actual item! Still SMH on this one.
Admittedly I have only returned something to Amazon MAYBE 3x over the years (this being the 3rd). But, I still find this crazy. I get it though. It's like the "rebates" at Menards. They send you a gift certificate to be used only in their store. So sure you buy a $200 item, get 15% "rebate" get a coupon and spend yet more $$$ in their store because what are the odds you will spend exactly $30? Of course you will find MANY things to buy at Menards. Maybe it's genius?
 
Yeah, that’s relatively new, I had to return something and it was just credited to my Amazon account, makes a lot of sense to me, I’ll spend that money there soon enough. Initially I was in the “Huh?” Camp too but, it is simple accounting, move the money once rather than from their account to a credit card and so on. I get it and see no concern, they will get money one way or another.
As for the whole “Rebate” foolishness at Menards? Phooey! It’s a pain unless you’re buying a ton of stuff, it’s just not worth it to me.
 
Amazon shipped a case of coffee pods (4x12 units) in the original carton, then inside a corrugated Amazon box. It was to be french vanilla, but they sent cafe bustelo. Asked for a return, they told us to keep it they'll reship. It was a $35 item, likely $6 bucks to send back, all it would have needed was tape and a label. I guess Jeff Bezos can afford it.
 
We've had similar experiences with Amazon. Some with items that just aren't worth the cost of return shipping and processing and others that make you scratch your head. I'm sure Amazon has arrangements with many of their suppliers that allow a certain percentage of warranties without returning the merchandise. Having worked for Amazon for several years, I can tell you that they sell a ton of Omron products and likely have this sort of arrangement with them.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
As for the whole “Rebate” foolishness at Menards? Phooey! It’s a pain unless you’re buying a ton of stuff, it’s just not worth it to me
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If I am just going in there to buy a few things I don't bother. But I do spend some pretty hefty $$$ there many times. We do then fill out the forms. And I save up the coupons and use them to buy things again.
 
Barry Karnes said:
Amazon shipped a case of coffee pods (4x12 units) in the original carton, then inside a corrugated Amazon box. It was to be french vanilla, but they sent cafe bustelo. Asked for a return, they told us to keep it they'll reship. It was a $35 item, likely $6 bucks to send back, all it would have needed was tape and a label. I guess Jeff Bezos can afford it.
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It's not just tape and a label. The returned package has to be received by someone, checked for damage (okay, this is Amazon, I kill myself....) and routed back into a warehouse, along with eating the shipping charge. Adds up, and I'm willing to bet that Amazon has that factored into their customer service applications, i.e. one criteria for a return is that Amazon has to see a profit on the returned item. FTM, food items may not be returnable at all.

I have to admit that the couple of times I've had to return something to Amazon it's been relatively painless (knocks wood.)

@LMichaels, I'm rather surprised that the Omron isn't returning consistent readings. I'd call Omron's customer service department. Those probably are also under the FDA's purview as home diagnostic devices, they might be interested in your experience as well.
 
I've noticed that for some returns, Amazon gives you a choice of how you want the credit. Of course, the default is a credit and it is sometimes easy to miss if you're moving quickly. But you can choose to have it refunded to the original form of payment.
 
JKalchik said:
I'm rather surprised that the Omron isn't returning consistent readings. I'd call Omron's customer service department. Those probably are also under the FDA's purview as home diagnostic devices, they might be interested in your experience as well.
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Well, I guess I could. So far the Wellvue one seems to be right there with the Panasonic. I really had better hopes for the Omron because how ubiquitous the brand is and the claims made in their sales literature of how accurate they are. But, even with my Dr herself operating it we could not get readings consistent enough. So she figured just use the Panasonic and then hand write everything in a chart.
But at least knowing now the Panasonic can be relied upon for accuracy and consistency (even after close to 15 years) I can then use it as my tool to coordinate the Welvue one I just got. I do like the Welvue better as well. It has a very simple easy to read and comprehend display, it seems quite consistent with readings on par with the Panasonic, the bluetooth is fast and simple (even if their interface is a little "clunky").
But now I still have the Omron as well LOL
 
JKalchik said:
It's not just tape and a label. The returned package has to be received by someone, checked for damage (okay, this is Amazon, I kill myself....) and routed back into a warehouse, along with eating the shipping charge. Adds up, and I'm willing to bet that Amazon has that factored into their customer service applications, i.e. one criteria for a return is that Amazon has to see a profit on the returned item. FTM, food items may not be returnable at all.

I have to admit that the couple of times I've had to return something to Amazon it's been relatively painless (knocks wood.)

@LMichaels, I'm rather surprised that the Omron isn't returning consistent readings. I'd call Omron's customer service department. Those probably are also under the FDA's purview as home diagnostic devices, they might be interested in your experience as well.
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I think too it was because of being a food item. I ordered a pack of 2 tail light bulbs and both were crushed (they were sent in a padded envelope). I got a label to return even though I said they were crushed and included a picture. The re-ship was in a small box.
 
I had the same experience I ordered a power strip with a quick phone charger from Amazon, Amazon sent me an email that it had shipped along with the tracking #. On the day they said it would arrive it showed delivered. Went down to the cluster mail boxes and no power strip.
I waited a couple of days and notified Amazon that I never received it. They immediately sent out a replacement.
Well, our not so bright mail person put the power strip in the wrong mailbox. The person who received it brought it to me. I contacted Amazon and told them to hold off shipping the replacement, but it already had been shipped. They told me I could just keep the replacement or donate it, but they didn't want it back.
 
I ordered socks from Amazon. Wrong ones were delivered. They resent and I got the wrong socks again. Turns out they had stocked the wrong socks in the picking slot. On the third attempt, I got what I wanted...but my wife was the lucky recipient of the first two batches of wrong socks for free! :D
 
Chris Allingham said:
I ordered socks from Amazon. Wrong ones were delivered. They resent and I got the wrong socks again. Turns out they had stocked the wrong socks in the picking slot. On the third attempt, I got what I wanted...but my wife was the lucky recipient of the first two batches of wrong socks for free! :D
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That's a perpetual problem in warehousing, especially high turn over warehousing. Gotta wonder if the item pickers actually have a part description displayed on their screens or it's just "pick <n> items from aisle <x>, bay <y>, tier <z>, space <s>." I'd bet there's a back end job running that tracks returns to discover this particular condition.
 
JKalchik said:
That's a perpetual problem in warehousing, especially high turn over warehousing. Gotta wonder if the item pickers actually have a part description displayed on their screens or it's just "pick <n> items from aisle <x>, bay <y>, tier <z>, space <s>." I'd bet there's a back end job running that tracks returns to discover this particular condition.
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I ordered New Balance Quarter Ankle Socks but they shipped New Balance Crew Socks that go well up the calf. I can see how someone not familiar with socks sees "socks" on the order and "socks" in the picking bin and assumes they're correct because 999 out of 1000 times it is correct!
 
Chris Allingham said:
I ordered New Balance Quarter Ankle Socks but they shipped New Balance Crew Socks that go well up the calf. I can see how someone not familiar with socks sees "socks" on the order and "socks" in the picking bin and assumes they're correct because 999 out of 1000 times it is correct!
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And, in the pickers' defense...... Amazon just buries them with metrics about efficiencies. I'd be surprised if they have the wherewithal to either report the mis-stocked items, or even care to. For sure, they are not going to be searching the stacks for the right item.
 
JKalchik said:
That's a perpetual problem in warehousing, especially high turn over warehousing. Gotta wonder if the item pickers actually have a part description displayed on their screens or it's just "pick <n> items from aisle <x>, bay <y>, tier <z>, space <s>." I'd bet there's a back end job running that tracks returns to discover this particular condition.
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At Amazon pickers have a short description of the item on their scanner. This is needed because most pickable bins have at least 3 different products in them. Also, bar codes are scanned when an item is picked and again during the sorting process. Most of the items that are shipped in error are due to receiving errors or improper assignment of ASINs (Amazon standard item number) An ASIN may be the UPC or, in cases where no UPC is included on the item, an Amazon assigned label with an identifier that starts with B00.
Amazon also stores and ships products for various sellers in their FBA (facilitated by Amazon) program. These products are labeled with identifiers that begin with X00. It's not rare for FBA sellers to ship mismarked products or even to misrepresent products.

I worked for Amazon for 7 years. Most of that time, my job was finding and correcting these problems and a slew of others. To say I was kept busy would be an understatement.
 
With defective items, they're likely just going to throw it away so it's cheaper for them to let the customer do that. Nobody's going to want a defective blood pressure meter so they might as well let you bear the cost of disposing of it.

I've had the same thing happen with a few things. Bought a wire crimper/cutter once where they had a design flaw and absolutely would not work. Amazon said to keep the defective ones. It wasn't even a bonus of any kind because all they're good for is a paper weight and scrap metal.
 
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