Buying things from Amazon

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#656733 16-Jul-2012 22:11

I do like the concept of Amazon, But I'm way too impatient to order most things off them and everything I have been willing to order from them has been consistently unavailable to be shipped to NZ.

Elpie

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#656782 17-Jul-2012 01:03

lucky015: I do like the concept of Amazon, But I'm way too impatient to order most things off them and everything I have been willing to order from them has been consistently unavailable to be shipped to NZ.

I'm impatient too so usually end up paying for the most expensive shipping, which isn't an issue if the saving is great enough. 2-4 days delivery isn't too shabby. Although now that NZ Post has bought DHL that 2-4 days is likely to be 2-4 weeks.

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#656819 17-Jul-2012 07:56

SaltyNZ: I wouldn't buy anything that expensive from Amazon, If it's faulty, then returning it is a real pain in the butt.

It's interesting that you should say that. I've had one faulty item from Amazon and the replacement process was the best I'd ever experienced:

1. Amazon sent a new product immediately.
2. I returned the faulty one and Amazon paid the return delivery.
3. Once Amazon received the faulty product, I got a $50 gift certificate for my trouble.

Having said that, it was only a DVD box set, and not something hugely expensive.

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#656824 17-Jul-2012 08:04

Behodar:
SaltyNZ: I wouldn't buy anything that expensive from Amazon, If it's faulty, then returning it is a real pain in the butt.

It's interesting that you should say that. I've had one faulty item from Amazon and the replacement process was the best I'd ever experienced:

1. Amazon sent a new product immediately.
2. I returned the faulty one and Amazon paid the return delivery.
3. Once Amazon received the faulty product, I got a $50 gift certificate for my trouble.

Having said that, it was only a DVD box set, and not something hugely expensive.

I bought a phone. One of the Doro ones with big buttons, screen & hearing aid compatibility, for my father in law. The phone was about $30 US; shipping was about $60*. Unfortunately these ones don't come in quad-band, they only come in dual-band, and there are two versions - the US version (GSM 850/1900) and international (GSM 900/1800).

I ordered the international version. The order confirmation said the international version. The packing slip in the carton said the international version. The actual phone... was the US version. Return on shipping would have been at my expense (both ways) thus turning this into something like a $500 phone.

I argued with them and got $15 US back without returning the phone. No-one was happy.

Admittedly that was not Amazon as such - it was one of the third parties they front - but still. This is what can happen if you need to return an item to the US.

*Thanks, explody Lithium batteries!

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

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#656829 17-Jul-2012 08:12

Ahh yes, I try to avoid the third party sellers on there. I've had nothing but good experiences with Amazon itself, but I've had third parties mess things up a couple of times.

SaltyNZ

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#656833 17-Jul-2012 08:24

Behodar: Ahh yes, I try to avoid the third party sellers on there. I've had nothing but good experiences with Amazon itself, but I've had third parties mess things up a couple of times.

Yeah, never again for me. I have bought tons of stuff from Amazon - books, DVDs and CDs (remember them? Yeah...) and had nothing but good service, so I'm with you there.

But I think that even though the service is good it's simply a hassle to buy something and then have to send it back. So from now on, only purchasing stuff that I can afford to write off.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

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#656840 17-Jul-2012 08:42

Behodar: Ahh yes, I try to avoid the third party sellers on there. I've had nothing but good experiences with Amazon itself, but I've had third parties mess things up a couple of times.

They're not all bad. Once I bought a book from a third party seller there who I noticed after the fact was in the Hutt - they offered to refund the difference between Amazon's calculated shipping and the actual shipping cost (since for third parties, Amazon prices shipping as if Amazon itself has to send the item).

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#656852 17-Jul-2012 09:05

SaltyNZ:
Behodar: Ahh yes, I try to avoid the third party sellers on there. I've had nothing but good experiences with Amazon itself, but I've had third parties mess things up a couple of times.

Yeah, never again for me. I have bought tons of stuff from Amazon - books, DVDs and CDs (remember them? Yeah...) and had nothing but good service, so I'm with you there.

But I think that even though the service is good it's simply a hassle to buy something and then have to send it back. So from now on, only purchasing stuff that I can afford to write off.

stevenz

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#656883 17-Jul-2012 09:54

Bung:
freitasm: If they ship to New Zealand then you will be responsible for GST. NZ Customs will ask you to pay the GST if the amount owed is over NZ$50.

GST is calculated over the price paid plus shipping costs.

Customs changed the amount to $60 to allow for the change in GST to 15%. The pre GST total then stays at $400.

You have to factor in the Customs "import transaction fee" (was $33.10+GST for a recent eBay purchase) plus a "disbursement fee" (whatever that is) of $10.

Seems awfully expensive to process a single shoebox sized package, but they're a law unto themselves so nothing you can do about it. Their extra fees worked out to be 2/3 of the GST content. :(

I've bought a _lot_ of stuff from Amazon over the years, none of it has been more than say $200 at a time though so I've never had to deal with customs. The only exception has been a Roomba I bought through one of their 3rd-party sellers, just scraped in without incurring GST.

As a general rule, Amazon won't ship things to NZ if they're likely to be expensive enough to incur GST. This isn't always true, but it usually seems to be the case.

@KnightNZ

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#656885 17-Jul-2012 09:58

lucky015: I do like the concept of Amazon, But I'm way too impatient to order most things off them and everything I have been willing to order from them has been consistently unavailable to be shipped to NZ.

I ordered 2 Kindle's via separate orders a couple of months ago. Both turned up within 4 days, and I'd only paid for the "cheap" shipping.

@KnightNZ

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#656897 17-Jul-2012 10:03

I've found Amazon returns and general customer service to be great. Once for a low value item they said don't even bother returning the faulty item, we'll just send you another one.

stevenz

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#656902 17-Jul-2012 10:09

timmmay: I've found Amazon returns and general customer service to be great. Once for a low value item they said don't even bother returning the faulty item, we'll just send you another one.

I ordered some of those 2D glasses. Of the 5 pairs I ordered, 2 were broken. They just asked if I wanted a refund or to be sent some replacements. No issues.

I don't _think_ I've ever had any other issues, and I've bought quite a bit from their 3rd party sellers, some of which has been hard-to-find "fingers crossed that it's the right version" material.

@KnightNZ

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#656907 17-Jul-2012 10:21

i bought a bunch of books for my son, when they arrived the packaging was completely went and the books had some strange liquid on them.

i emailed amazon, they told me to return them, prove the shipping cost via scanning in the receipt. the promptly refunded me my shipping costs and sent out new books.

so refunding small things is easy and i wouldnt be worried about it.

but for anything big/expensive i wouldnt use a 3rd party seller on amazon.

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#656908 17-Jul-2012 10:26

I once bought a book from Amazon. It didn't arrive after three weeks, so they sent a second one, no questions asked. Both arrived on the same day. I asked if they wanted one back and was told to gift it to a friend.

Another case was a problem with a Kindle someone here on Geekzone bought through our Kindle order page. They sent a new one, which arrived in a couple of days, no questions asked, and the customer didn't have to return the old one.

Granted those were SOLD and SHIPPED by Amazon.

Kyanar

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#656963 17-Jul-2012 12:00

Elpie:
lucky015: I do like the concept of Amazon, But I'm way too impatient to order most things off them and everything I have been willing to order from them has been consistently unavailable to be shipped to NZ.

I'm impatient too so usually end up paying for the most expensive shipping, which isn't an issue if the saving is great enough. 2-4 days delivery isn't too shabby. Although now that NZ Post has bought DHL that 2-4 days is likely to be 2-4 weeks.

Er, only just noticed this. NZ Post has not bought DHL - they couldn't afford to if they wanted to. They partner with DHL locally as part of their Express Couriers venture, but ultimately until it hits NZ it's still DHL which apart from the occasional hiccup is pretty good.

I'll tell you what's really fast though - Royal Mail delivery from the UK. I've had stuff arrive in 3 days flat from order to door from Amazon.co.uk.

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