Amazon.com delivery issues

[didi-5]

I hope it is OK to ask this question in this particular forum (I can't find another one that's relevant).



I order a lot of DVDs, including boxsets, from amazon.com and have done for many years. However the service has become poorer and poorer with regards to the time it takes items to appear (expedited shipping can take 5-6 weeks) where it used to be 1-2 weeks at most. Is anyone else experiencing this?



I have ordered from other places such as Australia and received much quicker delivery times. Just wondering if it is an amazon.com thing (and actually considering stopping ordering anything from them in the future). It could also be a Royal Mail thing or something different with HM Customs - if anyone else is having the same issues I'd be interested to hear about them.



Thanks.

[batman]

Stuff that I order from the States usually takes 2-3 weeks, although sometimes they are much quicker. Australian deliveries are generally quicker, often less than a week.

[jaycad]

i've had the opposite experience-when i first started buying region 1 it took around 3 weeks to arrive from amazon.com but i've since been using their other sellers ('cayman' are very good) and it generally takes 1-2 weeks

[darrenburnfan]

I've been buying from amazon.com for nine years and never had any trouble with them. Expedited International Shipping for DVD's has always taken, on average, nine days...although sometimes they arrive a lot faster because, according to the post mark, some of them can come from Scotland, even though I ordered them from America.



Items from amazon.co.uk usually take between one and two days...usually one day after they posted it.



Caiman is slightly unreliable. Most of their DVD's arrive within a week, but one I ordered last year took seven weeks to turn up after they said they posted it. Their DVD's are postmarked Greenford, Middlesex.

[Edward G]

Beware of my occasional experience on this.

Customs & Excise target Amazon.com shipments into the UK or Ireland. They know the customers have usually escaped paying duty/VAT on these goods and they seem to operate (at least here in Ireland) to a rule of thumb that means anything they find above $80 approx(including the shipping charge) is worth intercepting. Then when the postal service deliver before they hand it over you have to pay (via a cheque) duty/ VAT and a handling charge for their trouble. Even with this extra cost it can often be worth ordering from Amazon.com but it seriously delays delivery and is a disincentive to use them.

[Steve Crook]

name='Edward G']Beware of my occasional experience on this.

Customs & Excise target Amazon.com shipments into the UK or Ireland. They know the customers have usually escaped paying duty/VAT on these goods and they seem to operate (at least here in Ireland) to a rule of thumb that means anything they find above $80 approx(including the shipping charge) is worth intercepting. Then when the postal service deliver before they hand it over you have to pay (via a cheque) duty/ VAT and a handling charge for their trouble. Even with this extra cost it can often be worth ordering from Amazon.com but it seriously delays delivery and is a disincentive to use them.

I find that they only open about 1 in 5 or even 1 in 10 of all parcels above the customs limit that I get sent from the States or anywhere else. Many of them are from Amazon.com and I don't see those getting targeted more than any others.



As for delivery times, it depends on which delivery method you use. The very cheapest is to have it sent by surface mail. That can take some time. The slow boat can be very slow, sometimes many weeks. And because it takes so long the crew have a long time to play "kick the parcel". I've had quite a few items damaged when they were sent by surface mail so now I always pay the extra for airmail and usually get it delivered in a few days. I don't often bother with the very highest rates. That offers extra insurance and tracking facilities but it doesn't get it to you any faster. And when I've used airmail I've had very few parcels go astray so it's not really worth paying the extra for extra insurance



Steve

[orpheum]

I have one dvd which i ordered from caiman usa on 16th march which has not arrived.and another 2 weeks later whose latest delivery date is hown to be April 23rd which has not shown up yet.2 emails to them to ask for date and method of delivery have elicited the response"your item should have been delivered by now"Very helpful and i dont think.Looks like i am going to have to claim the cost of these items.

[johng]

I have ordered many items from Caimen and have always found their delivery times and responses to emails to be first class. Maybe it depends on whether you order from Caiman through Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. ??different departments.



Caiman have a depot in England and also one in Germany and most of the videos from Amazon.co.uk come from either of these 2 places.



If you can order via UK Amazon it also means that you only have to pay the standard UK posge.

[sippog]

name='johng']I have ordered many items from Caimen and have always found their delivery times and responses to emails to be first class. Maybe it depends on whether you order from Caiman through Amazon.com.

I've also found Caiman to be good - fast delivery and generally reliable. On the few occasions things have gone missing, they've replaced them without a fuss. Understandably they make you wait first to see if they turn up but most mail order companies do.



What specially recommends them is that their packaging allows the Postman to deliver through an ordinary letterbox

[daveoc]

While reading this thread I answered the front door and took in a parcel with a box set I ordered from Caiman, via the UK site, last Friday.



Now that's quick!

[penfold]

Amazon.Co.Uk are trialling a subscribed delivery service; you pay a subscription - about £50 a year - and all your deliveries are next day and free. Currently on Free Trial, I have made two orders using it thus far; an Ealing set took five days, the Lean Set was ordered five days back and has not been sent yet. I will not be taking them up on the service.....

[johng]

I once was sent the wrong DVD by Caiman, they replaced it immediately and told me in accordance with their normal practice I should just keep thother DVD.



The delay in replacing items when something has gone missing is I understand because the Post Office insist on a waiting period of 10 days before they will take any action.



Mind you unless the item was really expensive I think most firms feel that it is not worth the hassle to pursue matters with the PO and just write it off. The number of packages actually going missing as against the number sent out must be very small indeed.

[batman]

I have always found Caiman to be excellent. Their delivery time is good and their after sales service is first class. I used to exchange emails with one of their sales girls who was based in Florida. Very nice girl .... she left unfortunately.

[orpheum]

I have just received a message from caiman saying that this item is "in back order" and do i wish them still to ship it in another 2 to3 weeks time.pity they didnt give me a correct answer in the first place.

[Lord Brett]

The only problem I've had is when CDs come from their Indigo Starfish subsiduary in Jersey, as they never come in adequate packaging. It's a lottery - I recently ordered three CDs, two of which came from the UK in strong cardboard packaging and were in perfect condirion, but the third was a a jiffy bag and arrived with the jewel case cracked.

[jaycad]

i'm surprised at some of the negative experiences people have had with caiman-i've made 20+ orders with them and have never had to wait more than 12days and found their customer service helpful,i've always ordered through amazon co.uk rather than amazon.com

[Mr. Denning]

name='jaycad']i'm surprised at some of the negative experiences people have had with caiman-i've made 20+ orders with them and have never had to wait more than 12days and found their customer service helpful,i've always ordered through amazon co.uk rather than amazon.com

Caiman, Yes I've used them a lot. No complaints from me.



Mr. D.

[Steve Crook]

I don't think I've ever used this Caiman, what is it? A dealer in the Amazon marketplace?



There's a page full of complaints about it on an Amazon forum

Amazon.com: Customer Discussions: caiman.com



Steve

[Mr. Denning]

name='Steve Crook']I don't think I've ever used this Caiman, what is it? A dealer in the Amazon marketplace?



There's a page full of complaints about it on an Amazon forum

Amazon.com: Customer Discussions: caiman.com



Steve

I think that Caiman are one of the largest US distributors, who use the Amazon market place. As regards the number of complaints this will always be exponential to the size of the operation, and anyway more people post a complaint rather than a compliment.



Mr. D.

[batman]

name='Steve Crook']I don't think I've ever used this Caiman, what is it? A dealer in the Amazon marketplace?

I have been using Caiman for years, both via Amazon and their own website and have never had less than 100% customer satisfaction.