parias1126 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I ordered about 25 books from Amazon last Friday. I don't have a Prime membership any longer. It ran out and I never felt I wanted to spend the $79/year since then. I feel as though, in a way, it enables me to spend more money with Amazon since I get my things so quickly. Anyway, I ordered these books on Friday. Usually, even without having Prime, I get my things pretty quickly. They have already taken the funds from my debit card and the books are still sitting and haven't been shipped yet. I even have the button where I can request to cancel. I have ordered plenty of things since I haven't had Prime and this has never happened. I decided to contact Amazon today and question this. I was told that my debit card had not been charged yet and only an authorization had been sent through (my bank shows otherwise). There are actually two charges (one being the authorization for $1 and the other being the full charge for the 25 books). I was told by the representative that on the super saver free shipping, they hold the books for four days. :confused: They have NEVER held my books before. Is this a new policy or something that has been recently changed? My thinking is it is their way of getting consumers to spend the $79/year so they can receive their books in two business days. :mad: Oh, and to top it off, I was told that where it states on my order, "Estimated Delivery Date March 22-March 27", actually means a SHIPPING DATE??? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Their shipping times have always been generally longer for free shipping than for expedited, BUT sometimes things come quickly. It's inconsistent. But it's nothing personal against you because you dropped Prime. That's the potential downside for free shipping. I live with it. If you have been charged for 25 books that haven't been shipped, do complain. I've only been charged when they ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 (edited) Hm, I've not heard of that. We had prime, but had to let it lapse over a year ago. I've never had them hold my books. In fact the I've been getting things quicker with free shipping that I expected. I've never had a hold for 4 days. ETA: An order I placed late on the 15th for 3 items has them shipped the 16th, 17th, and 19th. I wonder if this is a distribution issue. The item that shipped on the 19th was in a Vegas warehouse, normally my items ship from KY or therabouts. Edited March 20, 2012 by elegantlion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Their shipping times have always been generally longer for free shipping than for expedited, BUT sometimes things come quickly. It's inconsistent. But it's nothing personal against you because you dropped Prime. That's the potential downside for free shipping. I live with it. If you have been charged for 25 books that haven't been shipped, do complain. I've only been charged when they ship. I didn't mean to sound like I thought it was personal against me particularly because I never renewed my Prime membership. I just meant I wondered if they had changed things so that the general public would consider paying the $79/year so they didn't have to wait so long for their shipments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I did once have a book sit for a while when out of stock and I saw it was listed as back in stock but mine didn't ship. Finally I inquired and the customer service person expedited the shipping as it was due to a mistake, apparently. I think all these companies deliberately have two tiers (fast/slow) so those who want it fast will pay $$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Hm, I've not heard of that. We had prime, but had to let it lapse over a year ago. I've never had them hold my books. In fact the I've been getting things quicker with free shipping that I expected. I've never had a hold for 4 days. This is exactly it! I still do order from them maybe once a month or so and my things have all come pretty quick. They have NEVER held anything for any length of time. They are usually pretty persistent in getting my things out even though I don't pay for Prime. Their customer service has always been amazing, but today I am not happy. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 If you're not happy, click the "no" at the end of the email and try again, or do the request for a phone call thing. Some books are slow, or they initially pretend they will hold all your books to be shipped together, but then eventually they'll break up the order and ship separately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 If you're not happy, click the "no" at the end of the email and try again, or do the request for a phone call thing. Some books are slow, or they initially pretend they will hold all your books to be shipped together, but then eventually they'll break up the order and ship separately. The "no" at the end of the email? Which email would that be? They haven't sent me an email stating not all my items are in stock if that's what you mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyz Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Without prime, it can take 5 - 7 days to receive your items. They prioritize shipping those who pay more for quicker shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 It sounds like regular, old super-saver shipping to me. Of course they might hold it. They're paying your shipping tab. Now, if you didn't choose super-saver, I'd complain, as that is the level of service you are getting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 The "no" at the end of the email? Which email would that be? They haven't sent me an email stating not all my items are in stock if that's what you mean. Sorry, I thought you'd emailed them not spoken with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssavings Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 It always took a while for me to get stuff, before prime. Free shipping can take a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 That's definitely not new. Before I had prime things took really random times, but I couldn't complain too much. The shipping was free and the books were cheaper from Amazon in the first place. The weirdest shipping issues I ever had with Amazon was when I bought some books on the 14th of a month and and then placed a second order on the 18th. BOTH orders went out on the 19th. I even blogged about it - http://www.duklings.net/2008/03/20/i-dont-get-it/ That was in March of 2008! My brother commented on my blog post to explain why things work that way. It all depends on volume of orders on the day you order. My guess is what the person who said they hold them 4 days with super saver shipping actually meant that they put it in line for shipping and if volume is low the books will get shipped earlier, but they'll hold the order no more than 4 days before pushing them through with the prime orders which always get priority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 One of my free shipping orders took almost a week to ship even though the items I bought were in stock. It does take longer now for my Super Saver items than it used to, but it still seems inconsistent and some things are shipped in a day or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I think even with Super Saver Shipping you have the option to have them ship all your things at once, or break it up if some are ready and some are not. Which option did you choose? Usually there is one preselected, but I don't remember which. You did say the email said not everything was in stock. So maybe you had it set to ship all at once? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I was told by the representative that on the super saver free shipping, they hold the books for four days. :confused: They have NEVER held my books before. Is this a new policy or something that has been recently changed? I don't know the official word, but I began noticing this a few years ago. I only get my orders with free shipping, and it now takes a few days longer. I am pretty sure that I have always received my items long before the expected delivery date (although I may be confusing that with the due date for used books). You might google, but I read something about a current promotion (through March) where you can get free two day delivery by using your Discover charge card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenstet Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I pre-ordered a book 2 months ago. I added another book to my order so I would get the super saver shipping. They are not sending my order until the original book is released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 It sounds like regular, old super-saver shipping to me. Of course they might hold it. They're paying your shipping tab. Now, if you didn't choose super-saver, I'd complain, as that is the level of service you are getting. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 One of my free shipping orders took almost a week to ship even though the items I bought were in stock. It does take longer now for my Super Saver items than it used to, but it still seems inconsistent and some things are shipped in a day or two. This is my experience as well. Inconsistent, sometimes quick, sometimes ridiculously long. I just expect that with free shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 This is my experience as well. Inconsistent, sometimes quick, sometimes ridiculously long. I just expect that with free shipping. :iagree: The third party vendors are usually faster than Amazon itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tohru Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 It sounds like regular, old super-saver shipping to me. Of course they might hold it. They're paying your shipping tab. Now, if you didn't choose super-saver, I'd complain, as that is the level of service you are getting. :iagree: And I'm pretty sure they have always authorized the full amount of your order and then charge your card when it ships. Check the date on the authorization, sometimes it is a future date but the bank still holds the funds as spent until the authorization expires (about 4-5 days) or the amount is charged. Maybe your bank changed the way they handled pre-authorizations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyco Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Before we had prime, I once placed a huge order and it took forever to get here. It was waiting on one book and finally I had to cancel the order. I believe it is much faster to "bundle" the orders in lots of $25 so you get the free super saver shipping. That way, if one item is holding up the shipping of one lot, you aren't left waiting for all the books. Of course, it probably means a headache if you are using a debit card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I think even with Super Saver Shipping you have the option to have them ship all your things at once, or break it up if some are ready and some are not. Which option did you choose? Usually there is one preselected, but I don't remember which. You did say the email said not everything was in stock. So maybe you had it set to ship all at once? That was my first thought. OP - Call customer service again tomorrow and see if you get the same information. You may have just been speaking to a clueless person. That's been known to happen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I had this happen recently and did call amazon's csr. They said the free shipping is slower leaving the warehouse and slower in transit. I guess if I want it quicker and trackable, I need to use a faster shipping method Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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