Amazon

[flyingscot68]

I've been using Amazon quite a lot for sometime now. So much so that I've got an Amazon Prime account that can give you free next day delivery on many items, you can also share it with family and friend so quite a few family members use my account too.
It costs £50 per year, that cost more than covered itself over Christmas never mind the rest of the year.
We use Amazon to purchase all kinds of stuff, from cans of organic cola that are hard to find in the shops to bits 'n' bobs for the cars, bikes and taxis. It's amazing what you can find on there.
Anyway, the point of my post is that I've just had my first problem with an item. It's a CREE cycling light and the charger has stopped working.
Got in touch with Amazon today through their online chat system and within two minutes I had a free returns label and the full cost refunded even though I've not sent the item back. That means I can go and order a replacement without being out of pocket.

I must say I think the service is fantastic and I'd recommend Amazon to anyone.
Just got to get over the feeling that I'm contributing to the demise of the high street retailer, every silver lining has a cloud I suppose :-/

Cheers

Kenny

[chris_c201]

Kenny, I've dealt with them for aftersales stuff a few times and always had the same experience, clever business model as for every one person that rips them off with it they'll have 10 returning customers who rave about their service to friends (like this thread).

Chris

[Corranga]

I've had similar experiences too, and know of some close family members who had good replaced FOC outside the warranty period!

On the flip side, for some balance, they aren't perfect at everything.

They failed to deliver my 3DS on launch day, which for a serial video gamer is akin to theft (or something...)
Worse than that, 3 days prior to launch day, the moved my order to procurement (or similar) which prevented me from cancelling and ordering elsewhere. Their customer services were very unhelpful, and actually quite rude, and clearly no understanding that when a gamer purchases a launch day product, getting it to them on that day is part of what they purchased - and that it shouldn't take a week to pick up a box..
It turned up a week later.

Not sure if they've improved since, but I don't use them for launch day purchases any more..!

I've had bad experiences with their video game trade in scheme - though that is operated by a 3rd party.

[Andy G]

Amazon is a very complex animal and a nightmare to deal with from a supplier side when these returns pop up in your warehouse unlaballed, without fault codes etc. Great deal for the consumer - everyone else in the chain though has a challenge.

They are good until you need to speak to a person for the most part though, and everyone tends to use them to some extent.

[woody]

I've given up on them now to be honest. Hate their website, but hate the constant pestering of emails from them after checking something on their site when signed in. Also, think they now use Yodel for their own deliveries who may be by some margin the worst courier.

[flyingscot68]

I thought my post might open a can of worms.
So far so good for me, maybe I've just been lucky, must be all the staying up all night I do

If I were a vendor though I wouldn't like to deal with such a monster of a company, I assume they're like the supermarkets are to the farmers.

[rossybee]

Another fan here, including excellent back up when something wasn't right.

I got some vouchers for my birthday at the weekend - oh what to spend them on

[vet111s]

Another for amazon here. With prime membership I even by nappies etc from them. If something doesn't arrive on time they extend my prime membership by a month for free!

[graeme]

We're saving tons on nappies by using Amazon. Half the price of the best Tesco special offers.

Didn't know they extended the Prime membership for late items... I don't think I'd ever have to pay again, as nothing has yet arrived next day in Abzshire, despite our postcode being in their list of next day areas. Does that happen automatically or do you have to request it every time?

I boycotted Amazon for a while when I first found out about the alleged corporation tax dodging, but on digging deeper they're doing nothing wrong at all.

[vet111s]

I just email them as soon as the deadline has passed with the order number and explain politely that I had been guaranteed and paid for next day delivery and that hadn't happened. Have only let me down 2 or 3 times in last year so not bad but still good to get an extension on my membership.

[robin]

I boycotted Amazon for a while when I first found out about the alleged corporation tax dodging, but on digging deeper they're doing nothing wrong at all.

I agree they are doing nothing illegal, however the exodus of [taxation on] profits from the UK is a real issue. The government should implement some form of "online sales tax" and reduce corporation tax for this class of business so as to (a) make sure HMRC gets its share of £££ spent and (b) that the profits stay in the UK. It's always easy to say this sort of thing and much more complex to implement; yet it still makes sense to do ... or reduce corporation tax to a level below Luxembourg and watch how all of a sudden the profits are made here and not there - despite no actual change in business model

Cheers,
Robin

[graeme]

reduce corporation tax to a level below Luxembourg and watch how all of a sudden the profits are made here and not there - despite no actual change in business model

That's my preferred solution. Devolved taxes for Scotland, and very low Corp Tax rates and, in my ideal dream country, very high consumption taxes too.

[RDH]

I boycotted Amazon for a while when I first found out about the alleged corporation tax dodging, but on digging deeper they're doing nothing wrong at all.

I agree they are doing nothing illegal, however the exodus of [taxation on] profits from the UK is a real issue. The government should implement some form of "online sales tax" and reduce corporation tax for this class of business so as to (a) make sure HMRC gets its share of £££ spent and (b) that the profits stay in the UK. It's always easy to say this sort of thing and much more complex to implement; yet it still makes sense to do ... or reduce corporation tax to a level below Luxembourg and watch how all of a sudden the profits are made here and not there - despite no actual change in business model

Cheers,
Robin

I'm in the fortunate position to work for a successful Scottish manufacturer, who exports 90% of it products abroad. Part of my remit is to ensure that we "transfer price" the majority of our profits back to the UK, where the corporation tax rates are amongst the lowest of the territories we operate in, why pay nearly 40% CT in places like India/China/France etc when you can legitimately have the profits in the UK? There are very complex Transfer Pricing rules throughout the world, and as long as you stick to the rules, you can effectively manage the profits round the world.

I agree that this isn't always the most "fair" practice, especially when the motivation to have a Luxembourg or Netherlands company is purely for this reason. Where a company manufactures all it's product or makes all it Strategic corporate decisions in a location, I think it's perfectly legitimate and "fair" to transfer the profit to that place.

Cheers
Rob ( currently in Mexico City, trying to work out how we legally do all the above for our Mexican operation)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Andy G]

The Amazon model though is a weird one. Given breaks, govt grants etc that home grown traders dont have, its hard for anyone at a small size to compete with them.

Expect to see more small stores vanish from the highstreet.

Too many manufacturers have gone for short term gain with Amazon vs long term strategy, especially where people want to see, touch and feel the products.

They are a clever set of barstewards, in every respect, and have most angles covered.

A nightmare to deal with at times on the B2B side.

[robin]

Hi Rob,

I have no issue with your approach to transfer pricing, because your client ends up paying tax here

Were I in one of the other territories I might feel differently

My concern with Amazon in particular is the combination of aggressive growth in market share & aggressive tax optimization - it's a double or triple loss for the UK HMRC.

Cheers,
Robin