HCHTech
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 4,157
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA - USA
I try to avoid Amazon for client stuff, but have to admit I've ended up using it frequently over the pandemic just because they were the only vendor showing the thing I was after in stock. And generally, I've had very little issues. A couple of damaged items due to poor packaging or mishandling, which were refunded and/or replaced without much pain - otherwise, it's been a positive experience.
However, I bought a thing last month - an impulse buy really, something I came across looking for something else. Not expensive, not really needed, just a "Hey, that would be nice to have" deal. It was a third-party seller, but shipped by Amazon. Ordered 3/18. No status update for a few days, then 3/24, "Carrier picked up the package", with a tracking number for USPS. Ok, a week to ship seems kind of long, but whatever. I check on the USPS site, and it shows "Label created, not yet in system". A few more days go by and I decide to check again. This time, I see another update on Amazon, "Carrier picked up the package" on 3/31. That's weird - why would the pick it up twice? I check USPS again - it's the same tracking number. USPS says "Label created, not yet in system".
Well, we got busy and I forgot about this for a bit. I looked again on April 12th, there was a new update by Amazon "4/12 - Carrier received the package" Ok, well, it's finally moving so ok. I check USPS again, same old status from them "Label created, not yet in system". Hmmm.
Next update on Amazon was 4/14 - "Package left carrier facility" Now finally has an expected delivery date of 4/16. Great. I check USPS again, no updates from them, they still show "label created, not yet in system". Well, 4/16 comes and goes, no package. I check again on 4/17, there is a new update on Amazon at 4/17 showing "Package left carrier facility". USPS still shows "Label created, not yet in system".
On Monday this week (4/18) - I check again, Amazon says "Your package may be lost". Ummm, yeah - I'd say, since USPS never got it. So I open up a chat, and the guy on the other end offers a refund right away. I don't want to let them off that easy, so i press him about the mismatched status updates. How can Amazon status show "package has left carrier facility" when the carrier status never showed that they received it, let alone sent it on it's way? I get double talk for a bit, but finally he says "You can ignore those status updates, they were created by the system." Now, we're getting somewhere. "Created by the 'system'?" I ask - "Using what information, exactly?". Long period of no response that you get normally from vendor chat support when they don't want to answer an uncomfortable question, hoping you'll say something else so they an ignore the uncomfortable question altogether.
Finally, I ask "You mean the "system" just makes up status updates when something goes wrong?". A pause of a couple minutes again, and then I get his one-word response: "Yes".
What!? Amazon's algorithms just flat out create status updates out of thin air when no information is received from the shipper? W.T.F. This is new information as far as I'm concerned. So somewhere deep inside Amazon, there was a meeting about how best to placate buyers when an order is late, and the agreed-upon answer was to just LIE to them? Wow.
As if it would help, the chat dude closed by stating "Feel free to order again if you are still needed (sic) the item." Yeah, and why would I do that? What part of our little exchange would give me any confidence that my experience would be different if I ordered it again. Unfortunately, when the chat closes it evaporates before I can take a screen shot. I was so dumbfounded that I didn't think to copy & paste it before. Normally, support chats are emailed to you by most vendors - but not this time - as if that's a surprise.
However, I bought a thing last month - an impulse buy really, something I came across looking for something else. Not expensive, not really needed, just a "Hey, that would be nice to have" deal. It was a third-party seller, but shipped by Amazon. Ordered 3/18. No status update for a few days, then 3/24, "Carrier picked up the package", with a tracking number for USPS. Ok, a week to ship seems kind of long, but whatever. I check on the USPS site, and it shows "Label created, not yet in system". A few more days go by and I decide to check again. This time, I see another update on Amazon, "Carrier picked up the package" on 3/31. That's weird - why would the pick it up twice? I check USPS again - it's the same tracking number. USPS says "Label created, not yet in system".
Well, we got busy and I forgot about this for a bit. I looked again on April 12th, there was a new update by Amazon "4/12 - Carrier received the package" Ok, well, it's finally moving so ok. I check USPS again, same old status from them "Label created, not yet in system". Hmmm.
Next update on Amazon was 4/14 - "Package left carrier facility" Now finally has an expected delivery date of 4/16. Great. I check USPS again, no updates from them, they still show "label created, not yet in system". Well, 4/16 comes and goes, no package. I check again on 4/17, there is a new update on Amazon at 4/17 showing "Package left carrier facility". USPS still shows "Label created, not yet in system".
On Monday this week (4/18) - I check again, Amazon says "Your package may be lost". Ummm, yeah - I'd say, since USPS never got it. So I open up a chat, and the guy on the other end offers a refund right away. I don't want to let them off that easy, so i press him about the mismatched status updates. How can Amazon status show "package has left carrier facility" when the carrier status never showed that they received it, let alone sent it on it's way? I get double talk for a bit, but finally he says "You can ignore those status updates, they were created by the system." Now, we're getting somewhere. "Created by the 'system'?" I ask - "Using what information, exactly?". Long period of no response that you get normally from vendor chat support when they don't want to answer an uncomfortable question, hoping you'll say something else so they an ignore the uncomfortable question altogether.
Finally, I ask "You mean the "system" just makes up status updates when something goes wrong?". A pause of a couple minutes again, and then I get his one-word response: "Yes".
What!? Amazon's algorithms just flat out create status updates out of thin air when no information is received from the shipper? W.T.F. This is new information as far as I'm concerned. So somewhere deep inside Amazon, there was a meeting about how best to placate buyers when an order is late, and the agreed-upon answer was to just LIE to them? Wow.
As if it would help, the chat dude closed by stating "Feel free to order again if you are still needed (sic) the item." Yeah, and why would I do that? What part of our little exchange would give me any confidence that my experience would be different if I ordered it again. Unfortunately, when the chat closes it evaporates before I can take a screen shot. I was so dumbfounded that I didn't think to copy & paste it before. Normally, support chats are emailed to you by most vendors - but not this time - as if that's a surprise.
