https://www.mic.com/p/coronavirus-has-d ... d-22821434

A good article. I'm of the persuasion to either get discounts on any item ordered (within reason) or a refund prorated during the crisis.

Thoughts?

I am in the chill pill camp for the time being, although some “no rush shipping” digital credits would not be unwelcome.

agreed. minor in the scheme of things.

very, very minor.

Insignificant. It's not important. Anyone who didn't know what was important before hopefully does now.

More and more, we're seeing examples of people who still don't.

Some digital credits would be nice, but whatever. I had quite a few shipments that were delayed (not new releases that ran out of stock, just normal shipments) before all this. Naturally, as soon as I started to track them, they all came on time.

As long as the stuff gets here, I'm good.

Not a problem for me either.

Just got my Amazon shipment of Bounty delayed 2 weeks, that was ok.

I completely, totally, 100% disagree with people who act like this isn't a big deal. Everytime I order something from Amazon, when I am in the check-out process I get pimped with a full-screen ad saying buy Prime and get free 2-day delivery shipping. It's a major selling point for the service and they absolutely should be held accountable if they cannot hold up their end of the bargain.

At least two insurance companies have been sending their customers checks with the explanation that, since traffic will be down due to the stay-at-home orders, they figure claims will be down so they are just refunding part of the auto insurance policy. Out of the goodness of their hearts! Insurance companies?!?!?!?! No kidding, I just got a $50 check from my insurance company right out of the blue.

IMO the Amazon Prime thing should go to the legal system where it can be figured out. It's totally inappropriate that a company that had a net profit of 11.5+ billion in 2018 should be given a free pass. And it's a real slap in the face to customers, probably their best customers, to provide an excuse like "just stream more stuff." Ridiculous.

This is the camp I'm in. I spend an ungodly amount of money with Amazon each year along with the fee to use Prime. Sure, I get everything in 2 days for the most part (there are exceptions). But..... I pay for that service.

Do I expect there to be hand sanitizer available? Face masks? No. The latest music release by xxxx to be delivered in 2 days if it's in stock? Yes.

I'm not being selfish. I'm paying for a service.

No, I don't stream.

If it's been in stock they have been on time with me. Shake that stick it if you feel you must.

I would normally ask for the $5 credit; but right now safety is what matters.

I get where people in the "there are more important things to worry about" camp are coming from. Right now, we have to make priorities. Nobody's going to give a f*** if you're the first on the block to have the newest hit album because all their f***s are earmarked for dealing with the COVID-19.

There ARE more important things to worry about. So loosen up.

Loosen up... but don't let go.

Because when this is all over and we can resume a normal life, or whatever passes for one, the fact of the matter is that special services that were paid for were not provided. And I agree with what JosephC said. Amazon, and other companies who were paid for services they never provided because of the COVID-19, have to do right by their customers.

Im solidly in the "there are more important things to worry about" camp, except...

My daughter had a school trip to Washington DC scheduled for next week, which was of course cancelled. The tour company is not reimbursing us, even those of us (like me) who bought travel insurance. So we are all out $1,000. They are already facing one class-action suit, and I suspect that there will be others.

That’s a different ballgame entirely!

Note the racket that professional sports teams are running right now. MLB teams are not refunding money for ticket packages, they are still saying that games are merely postponed so they can sit on people's money (like there is any chance they play 162 games in front of live audiences this year). The irony in this is that they are screwing the season ticket holders, their best customers, but holding that money. I've also seen on message boards where the Packers (and no doubt, probably every other NFL team as well) have sent out e-mails to season ticket holders within the last couple of weeks demanding payment or risk losing your seats.

I really don't see why Amazon should be treated any differently. If a local business owner, the person that ran a small company on a shoe-string budget and employed 3 people, ran into financial woes I certainly would not look to squeeze that person if they couldn't hold up their end of a bargain. But Amazon, come on. They certainly have the means to make right with their best customers and failing to do so is a massive disappointment. MLB is at another level, what they are doing is a complete embarrassment and a complete slap-in-the-face to the entire concept of proper ethics.

Amazon does have the money. I believe Bezos is on the 3 wealthiest people in the world list.

Amazon should probably shut down physical orders entirely for the duration. They aren’t an essential business.

I'm not going to suffer if most things that I get from Amazon are delayed. I get it and I try to be reasonable about almost everything in these crazy days. That being said though, Amazon asked for this a bit by spending years advertising their two-day delivery, clearly trying to crush their competition, not to mention making money off of people like me by charging a decent amount of money for among other things, getting that two-day delivery when shipping things to me. Is it fair for them to keep their (theoretical) contractual promise and give me what I've paid for? I think so. As others have already said, there are companies out there that are sending me money, like insurance companies and such, when I haven't even asked for this money. It would be nice if Amazon would pay attention to that and think of something to do from their part. I like the idea of offering me something, even small things like streaming discounts and the like. As long as they're saying the right things and attempting to offer a little something for the delay, I'd be fine with that. What I wouldn't be fine with is if Amazon said, "Pound sand! You're going to get what we're going to give you and you're going to like it!" I would have a problem with that attitude. Thankfully, it hasn't gone there yet, at least not in my mind.

Apart from medical services and law enforcement, Amazon and Walmart and food deliverers are the primary essential businesses in a quarantined "stay at home" situation.

Amazon hasn't said anything one way or the other regarding Prime membership fees, so accusations are premature. I agree with Mark, it would be appropriate to prorate the fees or extend their expiration dates a little. It would be a nice gesture, like the car insurance companies. But I haven't personally been put out because I didn't get Prime for fast shipping (I'm always ten albums behind in my "to be listened to" stack anyway), I got it so I could jump on any deal immediately and not have to search for additional items to reach the free shipping threshold.

In any case, complaining about it in this thread might reduce your blood pressure (or increase it), but won't affect what Amazon plans to do.

I was surprised, I was considering purchasing a couple items today. Prime on the cd's I checked has jumped from 5 days delivery to 16 days. That's a no even without a monthly fee.

I’ve never ordered food from Amazon, but if they have replaced the grocery stores and farmers markets in a lot of areas, then I guess that portion of the business should be considered essential.