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Good

48 (84.2%)

OK / Average

4 (7%)

Not too good

1 (1.8%)

Not good at all

0 (0%)

Don't shop there, don't have an opinion

4 (7%)

Total Members Voted: 56

[JimH]

I started a poll on Best Buy a few days ago and thought it would be interesting to compare it with how you feel about Amazon.

[Mr ChriZ]

That's a very broad question but:
Here's my recent story of Amazon UK/EU

My cheap ASUS graphics card packed in the other day after 1 1/2 years.  It has a 3 year warranty with ASUS.  The product was purchased from Amazon.
I contacted ASUS who told me I had to go through the retailer and that under UK law the retailer must support this.  They also gave me a number for what we call Consumer direct over here which is a public service that will tell you all your rights in these situations.  I felt this was a bit strange that they'd given me this number without my asking for it.

I then contacted Amazon.  Amazons representative told me that ASUS was completley wrong and they would only support the device for 12 months - END OF.
So I rang the consumer direct help line that ASUS had so kindly provided.
Sure enough Consumer Direct informed me that I was not only protected by UK Law but also European law and that Amazon had to support me for a reasonable amount of time on the product - and that the 3 year warranty with ASUS proved that I was well within the reasonable period of time.  (Amazon Europe has it's HQ based in Luxembourg)

I've never had a problem with Amazon before and over time I've spent a lot of money with them - but I do feel betrayed this time as they have outright lied to me.
After researching the matter further it turns out I'm not the only one - plenty of people are running into this - and the European Consumer Center has looked into this previously.  I consider it quite bad that they as such a large company can continue to get away with this.

I was about to spend £1k on Canon EOS hardware through Amazon.  This has made me think twice before clicking the one click buy button!  I shall now be revisiting my local camera stores!

[BryanC]

There should be an "excellent."

If you have a problem with a purchase it seems that their policy is to just send you a new one via 1-day shipping, for free.

[Hendrik]

I never had a single problem with Amazon.
Of course, German laws make Internet shopping a breeze anyway, full return rights for 14 days, no questions asked (as long as you don't break it) - also never had an issue with this with Amazon (but i don't abuse it like some people seem to do)
Shipping is usually within 24 hours (next day delivery if ordered before 6pm). With their "Prime" program even for free.

Short of some expensive Hardware (which can be gotten cheaper elsewhere) i really buy basically anything and everything at Amazon.

So yes, i would give it an "Excellent" as well.

[jgreen]

"Excellent" barely describes the experience--it is the gold standard for all retail.

Probably two thirds of my Amazon purchases are through the "marketplace" of partner vendors, and those have been similarly excellent, even if they are "spare bedroom" operations.  It has gotten so that I will not make ANY hard goods purchace--local or online--without first checking Amazon.  It is also a good way to "meet" new vendors, and several times I have begun commercial relationships drectly with vendors I have discovered and tested through Amazon.

Since I talked about partner vendors, I might as well mention ebay.  While I have made purchases there that worked out well, I now reallize it was only beginner's luck.  Having been victimized by a seller, I now get to see how slow ebay's case resolution process is.  Yes, your purchase cost is protected, but you have to wait 2 weeks before complaining, another 10 days before it gets upgraded (waiting on that right now), and then I don't know how long before you finally get your refund.  Glad it was play money!

Again, Amazon does it right!

[jmone]

I'm with the others.  I buy almost all me content from them (UK store) and they even till recently hadfree shipping to Australia.  There is a few thingsthat could be a bit better for us OS customers but they are the Gold Std

[NickF]

Again,excellent in my opinion.  I have never had a problem with Amazon themselves or with Marketplace traders.  Their scope of products is huge.  For media, it is either them or Play who are also excellent and with Play, postage is always free.

Nick.

[Magic_Randy]

I said good only because there is no excellent in the poll. I have shipments from Amazon almost every week.  Service is excellent, price is excellent, shipment speed is excellent, choice of products is excellent, and return policy is excellent.

I should point out that I rarely buy anything from the Amazon re-sellers.

[DarkPenguin]

Love em.

Amazon Prime is the greatest thing in the history of ever.  Don't ask them to match a price, tho.

[Magic_Randy]

...Don't ask them to match a price, tho.

They don't do price matching, however, they do adjust their prices on a constant basis to be competitive with current market prices. And I've had luck going back to them after purchasing at a higher Amazon price and they usually agree to give me a credit from my original purchase price to their newer lower prices.

[Alex B]

I voted OK/average.

I have ordered from Amazon UK and DE a few times - stuff like audio CDs, NiMH batteries, hard drives, an electric shaver, an all-in-one laser printer, etc. Amazon's service has worked as expected. I have nothing to complain, but Amazon has not been somehow significantly better than the other online shops I have used.

Probably my most "risky" purchase was a Dell monitor about a year ago. I was a bit afraid about dead pixels and the possible return cost if I would need to return it (for any reason), but the price at amazon.de was quite a bit lower than the prices at local stores in Finland, even including the delivery. So far it has been fine.

[Listener]

"Excellent" barely describes the experience--it is the gold standard for all retail.

Probably two thirds of my Amazon purchases are through the "marketplace" of partner vendors, and those have been similarly excellent,
...
Again, Amazon does it right!

I agree completely.

Bill

[mark_h]

Amazon UK are great - best customer service, bar none.  But the couriers they use to ship their goods, not so much, which for me undermines their value significantly.  I've complained many times to them and always feedback when there are problems so that they can log issues, but my heart still sinks when I get a shipping notice and see that it's carried by one of the poorer couriers.

When things go wrong they generally respond promptly and satisfactorily, although there's a certain level of canned response, so it always helps to know your rights so that you can nudge them in the right direction when you don't get the response you want, but that's true for all companies.