On 20/04/17 14:36, Tim Watts wrote:
On 20/04/17 11:19, tim... wrote:
Not for the first time, nor for the second, do I find that my (from a
very limited sample) recent purchase is either CFU or fails within a few
months of buying it.

Why do people swear by this means of shopping

Things may be cheap(er) but if they are useless and you have limited
(practical) means to get redress, what's the point?

Gimme the pound shop any day, at least I can take things back :-)

tim




I buy from Amazon (direct - as in I almost always choose the "despatched
by Amazon" items) because:

1) The delivery is bullet proof. If I'm out, they leave the product
where I tell them to;

Not always.

I was expecting a delivery. It was suppposed to be left in the porch if
I was out. This is a sort of room thing, stuck on the front of the house
with a door clearly marked 'sliding door' Mr amazon delivery man.
Unfortunately I don't think many of them read english.


After the parcel failed to arrive, I contacted them and they said they
would dispatch a replacement (book) and refund the (TV tongle) because
it was out of stock.

a few weeks later I had occasion to look out of the garden door and saw
bits of wet brown cardboard blowing in the gale force winds.

Yes, it was what was left of the original amazon parcel, with a sodden
book that was, after drying out, almost readable and a TV dongle that
actually worked. So I kept that. IT had been thrown or dumped in the
garden. The driver MUST have walked right past the porch to do it.

Amusingly, a parcel recently was flagged online as 'left with
receptions, M Cook' which I thought was odd, because I live in a cottage
and am currently in the middle of two building sites, so I asked the
brickies 'Is one of you M Cook?' and 'yes mate' 'Did some **** leave a
package' - 'yes some **** did, it's on the wastetebin' .




2) Or I can choose locker or one of the collection points;

3) I can read the reviews. I've not been let down much but doing it that
way - I've had more duff purchases from bricks and mortar stores;

4) Returns are simple for the first month;

5) They sell things that would be impossible to get in my nearest large
town and I don't have to waste all day driving and parking.

This of course does not apply to Amazon market place sellers, only stuff
dispatched by Amazon. Nor ebay - who I do use for the odd weird and
small thing.


Big purchases like TVs and washing machines, I do tend to go to John
Lewis or a specialist Miele place as the price is usually better and I
can have a good look at it first - so fair's fair.


Well yes, but even then..

"Cant I see the menu on this TV - have you got a remote for it' 'no -
its probably been nicked' .

Ijn fact I gave up on the store altogether. Going online I found
pictures of the menu system and a ton of feedback on the TV.
It was fora technically illiterate mate, and in the end we bought a
refurbed one via amazon. Tatty packaging but works perfectly and not a
blemish on it.



Amazon, with Prime is very hard to beat. I do believe, once you've got
it sussed, it is far more pleasant than battling through the town.

Amazon, without Prime, beats it hands down.

80 quid a year for what? Nothing I want.


--
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as
foolish, and by the rulers as useful.

(Seneca the Younger, 65 AD)