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Amazon Incompetence...amazing what a few hours can change...

5K views 77 replies 50 participants last post by  ssnvet 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I ordered my SawStop from Amazon this past weekend …in stock and ready to ship…and received a shipping confirmation from Amazon that it will be delivered this Thursday and I was very excited. I put an ad on Craigslist for my Grizzly Cabinet Saw and in a little over 30 minutes later it was sold….Great…out of the way for setting up the Saw Stop..
I got a call earlier today from the shipping company saying they will deliver my package Friday afternoon…..what?

I already made arrangements to have help Thursday to carry it to the barn so I asked if the delivery company would be able to help me carry it in…The lady on the phone said it only weighs 45 pounds and is one package…What exactly are they shipping me that weighs 45 lbs. and is not a SawStop????

I called Amazon and was now told by a customer Service rep who had a "I Couldn't Give A Crap Attitude" that it would ship sometime after May 25th….because it wasn't in stock….absolutely no concern on their part about getting this corrected and getting me a saw that has already been charged to My MasterCard…even at $100 higher than the SawStop listed price…I just earlier sold my saw and have a ton of work to do and no SawStop being delivered.

Their response was you can get a refund and buy it somewhere else…oh yeah, by the way, the free SawStop accessory offer ends today.
Amazon's pathetic customer service and incompetence has really caused me problems, loss of shop time and $$$$ and this is one person who will never do business with them again…
 
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#5 ·
I hate to ask, but I'm not sure. If I understand correctly, when you buy from Amazon you're dealing with a third party, not purchasing from Amazon itself. The sellers/shippers get the sale, give Amazon a commission or whatever, and ship the product to you. And Amazon doesn't really get their hands dirty. Is this correct? Please set me straight on this, I've only bought books and DVDs with no problem thru Amazon, but I'd be hesitant on larger purchases because of the structure behind the sale. Oh, and sorry to hear of your difficulties, Greg!
 
#7 ·
It depends on what you buy. Amazon has its own warehouses selling things and there are thousands of "affiliates" who also sell stuff. You have to look at the seller name on each item.
 
#11 ·
That really does suck.
I've been buying from amazon for years, and any time I had an issue they took care of it in my favor.

About your situation, I would call them and cancel the order and order from highland hardware.
 
#12 ·
That does suck. I have bought hundreds of items from Amazon going back over ten years and on the rare occasion there was a problem, they always took care of me, even when the item wasn't sold directly by them. I'd call them back, speak to a manager, and I bet they will make the effort to make it right. Sometimes, the frontline CS grunts can be… less than stellar. And that goes for every company.
 
#13 ·
Really sorry to hear about your problems with Amazon. I've ordered a few things from them that had to be delivered via freight and haven't had a problem. In fact, I'd say a rather sizable chunk (I'd guess maybe a third?) of my yearly discretionary spending goes to them (love the convenience) and I rarely have a problem. I think if I had an issue like you did I would have to really rethink that.

I will say this though - in the instances where I did have problems, persistence pays off. Their customer service has usually been decent with me (actually pretty good if you want to compare with companies that offshore their CS…. AT&T, I'm, looking at you), but in the instances where it didn't work out for me, try again. You'll get someone different. I know they've wronged you but try to remain courteous (not saying you haven't) and above all, remain persistent.

It stinks that the saw is out of stock too since there's not a whole lot that can be done about that until they get some. I see that the 30" PCS (both 3hp and 1.75) are out of stock on their website; is either one of those the model you ordered? You could try to get them to gve you a free upgrade to another model, but that might screw things up with getting your rebate processed. In the past when Amazon has screwed up parts of my order, I've been able to get them to give me a store credit, usually about $20 or so, so you might want to try that as well. Usually their CSR's don't offer that up, but they have it to me if I "suggested" they owed me. Might also want to mention that you were treated poorly by a previous CSR. Maybe you'll get lucky and find someone that's the opposite and really does care (they're out there).

One other thing I can say though, is that unless SawStop doesn't have any of the saws available immediately in their supply chain, you're likely looking at a much shorter wait than that. In my experience, they've tended err on the long side with backordered delivery dates. Might also want to do what comicsniper recommended and give SawStop a call directly to see if they can help out. I had a problem when I ordered mine (Rockler screwed up part of the order) and the SawStop people were wonderful and even called the local store on my behalf to straighten everything out for me.

Good luck with getting this squared away, really hope you're not out a saw for that long.
 
#14 ·
The SawStop was advertised as IN STOCK and SOLD by Amazon. They even sent me a email saying it was shipped and it had a confirmation # and would be delivered May 2nd. I have bought many things from Amazon for years but apparently they were not interested in doing anything to do what they promised and had no concern that it would cause me to not be able to work because of their screw-up. The offered me a $100 credit…I guess the think 3+ weeks of down time in my shop is only worth $100…I went on their website and cancelled the order.
 
#15 ·
Call Saw Stop and ask where you can buy one locally. I ordered the contractor saw from Amazon late, around 3am after sleeping on it I woke up 10am and cancelled my order, the rep from Amazon said it was too late and it was being ship out and I would receive the saw in 5 days. I couldn't believe that they couldn't stop the shipment since it didn't even leave the warehouse. I bought the PCS 1.75hr from a dealer 20mins from me and it was cheaper then Amazon.
 
#17 ·
I love Amazon on use it constantly, but there is no way I would buy something like this from them. There is something to be said on dealing locally with someone on a big purchase. Im assuming a similar situation could possibly happen if you purchased through Woodcraft or the like, but at least you would have a relationship w/ the store owner from the purchase and they would work to make it right.

good luck w/ your purchase.
 
#18 ·
I too have bought several dozen items via Amazon. Never had a problem.
I guess what can be learned from this episode is:
1- "In stock" means absolutely nothing. I've actually been burned before by Sears when I ordered a part that was "in stock", only to learn more than a week later that it was actually back-ordered. Grrrr! I wasted a lot of time waiting for a part that was never to arrive.
2- Don't sell your current tools until your new tool physically arrives at your door. Unless you can live without said tool for a few weeks. Delivery estimates are nothing but weak promises.

Regretably, most every e-tailer is guilty of poor CS from time-to-time. Buying products from a brick and mortar is often more expensive, but as this case illustrate, can result in better CS and less frustration. I think I'll avoid large purchases over the internet in the future.
 
#19 ·
I'm actually surprised that you had a bad experience with their customer service. I order a lot from Amazonn, and I've only had to deal with their CS twice, and both times it was not their fault (item damaged in transit) and they had a new one out to me before I even got the damaged item in the mail to return. The priciest thing I've ever ordered from them was my DW734 planer, no problems. That being said, if I was dropping that kind of cash on a saw, I'd want to get it from some place within driving distance (I'd drive the 2.5 hrs to Woodcraft).
 
#21 ·
I'm kind of surprised with your customer service experience too. We buy tons of stuff from amazon and have dealt with their customer service many times without any issue.

Selling your saw before you got your new one is your fault though. Don't put the cart before the horse, especially if you have work that needs to be done. I would have waited until after I got the new saw, set it up, used it for a couple days to make sure everything is as it should be and THEN put the old saw up for sale.

Good luck with your saw, I hope it comes sooner than expected.
 
#22 ·
Greg,
Unfortunately that three weeks of 'down time' is related to your premature sale of your old TS. Yeah, it bites knowing that you could of held on to the old TS just a bit longer. Good luck with the alternative purchase methodology.
 
#23 ·
Ditto on those who have purchased a lot from Amazon without a problem. Of course, a 99.9% satisfaction rating doesn't help if you are in the .1 %.

Maybe the best you can do is make lemonade out of these lemons. It could be a good opportunity to whittle down that honey-do list of tasks that have nothing to do with woodworking.
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
I was also surprised at their lack of doing the right thing when it counted…As I said, I have bought merchandise and tools very many times from Amazon without a problem but these were things that were not really important to me if I did not get them when promised. But the table saw is critical and while it is important to me they could have not cared less that they let me down big time and made no effort to resolve their screw up.

It is real easy for some of you to say it is my error in selling my Grizzly cabinet saw before receiving my new saw but not all of us have all the extra shop floor space needed to do that. Unlike Amazon, at 65 years of age, as a person who has been self employed all of working life… happy clients are a #1 top priority to me and I always do whatever it takes to keep it that way.
 
#26 ·
I actually did a 3 month contract at Amazon as a software developer. You need to understand that the company runs on the thinnest of razor thin margins and hires and pays accordingly. The technical people were top quality, but a lot of the business, customer service, marketing and product people were of random jackass off the street quality. If you have a bad CS experience, just call back and try someone else. It's pretty much the essence of a crapshoot.

Also don't trust them when they say something's in stock, particularly if it says something like "Only 3 left in stock, order soon!" They have fulfillment centers all over the place and it's simply not possible to keep a real time inventory with that kind of setup. It's a race condition if there's low stock of something and you and someone else order at the same time. Also they regularly oversell because they have such strong channels with most of their vendors that they can get the items posthaste if need be. Obviously that wasn't the case with Sawstop, which is unfortunate.

I love Amazon, am a prime member, have an Amazon rewards card and order hundreds of dollars worth of products from them every month. But I am aware of their limitations and shop accordingly. Don't order anything time sensitive from them if you can get it locally. Don't order anything very expensive from them. Of all the thousands I've spent on Amazon over the years, I think the $269 John Deere power wheels tractor I got for my son a month ago is the most expensive thing I've ever bought from them. Don't order books from them any more. Their shipping monkeys see a book and go out of their way to package it in such a way that it gets damaged in transit.
 
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