Ordering from the big on-line bookstores and free shipping

[hedgehog]

Last year I ordered in late November from on of the big on-line bookstores. It was about $500 (my family reads a lot) and got free shipping. After waiting a few weeks, I broke down, changed the shipping to expedite, and got my order the next day. This year I went to a different company, got free expedited shipping, everything on the list was supposed to ship in 2-3 days, and nothing came. Finally I called, and was told that two items were holding up the entire order. I told them to go ahead and ship everything as it arrived. Guess what? Now that I'm paying for shipping, everything left the warehouse today in one shipment> Hmmm...

[Aristus]

1. I don't know if this will help you with the shipping duration problems,

hedge; but I usually order from Alibris, instead of the big on-line stores like Amazon. The reason is because Alibris is more of a book-finder than a simple retailer. They scout for requested books at thousands of little Mom-and-Pop bookstores around the country. If you order from Alibris, you are helping to support small businesses.

And their shipping rates are reasonable.

[hedgehog]

2. They're on my list for next year.

The funny thing is that last year I was working as a supervisor in a shipping warehouse trying to keep other people's orders from getting screwed up!

[Love Bug]

3. I like Alibris

They found an out of print book for me that was going for $50+ on Ebay (no way) and I paid the cover price of $20. Neener.

[pscot]

4. I use Barnes and Noble from time to time

They are dead slow, but they will ship gifts directly to the recipient.

[ET Awful]

5. I've ordered from some places where there's a checkbox in fine print

that says something to the effect of "Ship items separately in event of backorder" or something of the sort.

If that's not the case here, sounds like a freakin' scam, or at the very least underhanded.

[Beaverhausen]

6. I ordered on Dec. 5th from Amazon - order arrived on the 14th

It was only 3 things but it shipped for free.

What you have to watch for is anything that says it won't ship within 24 hours...that is a red flag. I had a few on my order that I took off for that reason.

And I know Amazon is red. sorry. I know I'm bad.

[OKNancy]

9. FYI, Amazon is not "red"

Corporations can not give money to political campaigns. When you see listings that mention who gives it means the employees perhaps give more to Repubs than Dems. As far as the Amazon PAC is concerned, it's about 50/50.

In fact their House member donations are 100% Dem
-----------------------

Amazon.com
PAC Contributions to Federal Candidates
2006 Cycle
House Candidate Total Contribs
Boucher, Rick (D-VA) $1,500

Chandler, Ben (D-KY) $500

Larsen, Rick (D-WA) $500

Pomeroy, Earl (D-ND) $1,000

Total to Democratic House Candidates: $3,500
Total to Republican House Candidates: $0



Senate Candidate Total Contribs
Allen, George (R-VA) $2,000

Burns, Conrad (R-MT) $1,000

Carper, Tom (D-DE) $2,000

Conrad, Kent (D-ND) $3,500

Ensign, John (R-NV) $2,500

Snowe, Olympia J (R-ME) $1,000

Total to Democratic Senate Candidates: $5,500
Total to Republican Senate Candidates: $6,500


Based on data released by the FEC on Monday, October 31, 2005. Figures in parentheses denote negative numbers, and may indicate returned contributions or bounced checks.
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.asp?strID=C00360354&Cycle=2006

[RobinA]

7. I've Had Zero Trouble

with Amazon. I almost always get the stuff immediately and well before they say I will get them. Most of the time the shipping is free, sometimes not due to one technicality or another. I don't get too upset about that. Order before a certain date get a discount, I ain't complaining. Barnes and Noble I've never tried.

[hedgehog]

8. I have to admit

I don't think they're set up for large orders. The computer just goes on its merry way. They should flag this to a real person, though, to stop this kind of glitch.