Amazon discriminating Irish customers?

L1011

TimHorton wrote: »

Same here , 12 day lead time , Only plausible reason is AnPost are taking 8 to 10 days to pick up Irish Shipments , It been getting gradually worse since Covid started.

Amazon drop the shipments to Dublin themselves. Have done so for a decade or more.

A more plausible reason is Amazon don't want to pay for more capacity to Dublin. An Post are not having problems of that scale.

Amazon CS would also be publicly blaming them rather than making up stuff about priority products.

TimHorton

L1011 wrote: »

Amazon drop the shipments to Dublin themselves. Have done so for a decade or more.

A more plausible reason is Amazon don't want to pay for more capacity to Dublin. An Post are not having problems of that scale.

Amazon CS would also be publicly blaming them rather than making up stuff about priority products.

Amazon a decade ago compared to now is not comparable, Why would cost come into it , They are cash rich , Why would they piss Irish Customers off for the sake of a short term cost increase.

Panrich

TimHorton wrote: »

Amazon a decade ago compared to now is not comparable, Why would cost come into it , They are cash rich , Why would they piss Irish Customers off for the sake of a short term cost increase.

I reckon they don’t really value Irish customers as we are small fry in international terms.

The fact that we still have to buy stuff from Amazon.co.uk in Sterling is testament to that. More of us need to vote with our euros on this before they will change.

L1011

TimHorton wrote: »

Amazon a decade ago compared to now is not comparable, Why would cost come into it , They are cash rich , Why would they piss Irish Customers off for the sake of a short term cost increase.

Because we're a tiny market they have never properly served.

rock22

Panrich wrote: »

I reckon they don’t really value Irish customers as we are small fry in international terms.

The fact that we still have to buy stuff from Amazon.co.uk in Sterling is testament to that. More of us need to vote with our euros on this before they will change.

Agree.
Even when we enter Amazon.ie we are redirected to the UK site.
I wonder is there a regulatory issue here? I am in EU, attempt to purchase in EU (an .ie website) but am been taken outside the EU for the purchase therefore losing out on the consumer protection I usually have. Many customers may not notice the change in the web address,

djsim101

Just off a chat with an Amazon rep - really frustrating experience. Its not the reps fault to be fair. Ordered a PC case which was in stock (7 units) on the 29th of May. ETA was June 11th. Its now showing out of stock with no ETA. I received an apology and 5 quid credit. :rolleyes: If that is a 2 finger salute to the Irish market I don't know what is. Obviously fulfilled the English orders before my own. This is only one example of the many issues I had with them. I know the C19 is impacting orders etc, but no way can an item be delivered to N.IRE in 2 days and I switch to Ireland and it goes up 7 - 12 working days.

TimHorton

djsim101 wrote: »

Just off a chat with an Amazon rep - really frustrating experience. Its not the reps fault to be fair. Ordered a PC case which was in stock (7 units) on the 29th of May. ETA was June 11th. Its now showing out of stock with no ETA. I received an apology and 5 quid credit. :rolleyes: If that is a 2 finger salute to the Irish market I don't know what is. Obviously fulfilled the English orders before my own. This is only one example of the many issues I had with them. I know the C19 is impacting orders etc, but no way can an item be delivered to N.IRE in 2 days and I switch to Ireland and it goes up 7 - 12 working days.

They don't care , I was onto CS via chat yesterday , I am a customer since 1998 and had 198 orders last year via prime, When I complained about the slow dispatch the agent told me I was free to cancel Prime if I wanted.

donnyvegas

Just received an item, originally due for delivery on 29th May, however it went out of stock when my dispatch came (it was in stock in mid-May when I ordered). Finally dispatched by Amazon late on Wednesday night, received by An Post last night (8:59pm). Delivered at 10:30am this morning. I seriously doubt An Post are having backlog issues.

Wheety

So the item I ordered yesterday evening is already in the North and will be delivered to Parcel motel soon. If I had used my own address in Dublin it wouldn't even be dispatched.

I ordered a few other things yesterday, with no rush, and it still says arriving 23rd June.

donnyvegas

Wheety wrote: »

So the item I ordered yesterday evening is already in the North and will be delivered to Parcel motel soon. If I had used my own address in Dublin it wouldn't even be dispatched.

I ordered a few other things yesterday, with no rush, and it still says arriving 23rd June.

Yup. The orders for June 23rd won't be dispatched until a day or two before. Hopefully they will still be in stock at that time. It is possible that someone in the UK will order it first and will be given priority.

SPDUB

L1011 wrote: »

Amazon drop the shipments to Dublin themselves. Have done so for a decade or more.

.

An Post extended the time for Amazon to drop items at the Mail Centre in Dublin from 10pm to 1am IIRC from last October

RasTa

Ireland not big enough to have a FC, hence the delay.

Hurrache

RasTa wrote: »

Ireland not big enough to have a FC, hence the delay.

The delay is not because Ireland is too small for a fulfilment centre, and Amazon are/were looking for a location to build such a centre in Ireland anyway as an arm of their UK warehouses. Actually, they opened a delivery centre near Clondalkin to fullfill goods shipped from the UK, and are looking for more space.

corsav6

Mav11 wrote: »

Use Parcel Motel or Address Pal.

Thanks, I do use addresspal for certain items but I'm just trying to point out the difference for Irish customers.

rock22

Hurrache wrote: »

The delay is not because Ireland is too small for a fulfilment centre, and Amazon are/were looking for a location to build such a centre in Ireland anyway as an arm of their UK warehouses. Actually, they opened a delivery centre near Clondalkin to fullfill goods shipped from the UK, and are looking for more space.

Why would they consider Ireland an arm of their UK warehouses?

At the end of the year, it seems UK will definitely be completely out of EU transition period and tariffs will probably apply.
You would also lose EU costumer protection

richardw001

rock22 wrote: »

Why would they consider Ireland an arm of their UK warehouses?

At the end of the year, it seems UK will definitely be completely out of EU transition period and tariffs will probably apply.
You would also lose EU costumer protection

Not sure about all the theories on the thread - all I know is I'm not getting orders in a timely manner to a Republic of Ireland delivery address. But that the equivalent service is being provided to UK Addresses. I have asked them three times and I have got the vaguest of replies each time.

Throwing a couple of pounds credit to the people who notice and not giving an explanation seems to be their approach to dealing with this. Very fustrating for people who just want a pretty standard Amazon service they paid for or some indication of when this will be resolved.

There's probably lots of people that have put this down to Cornavirus or don't realise that Amazon offers 2 day delivery to the Republic of Ireland as part of their Prime Member ship.

From their website: Unlimited, fast Two-Day Delivery on millions of items to the Republic of Ireland

But the wording in the Delivery page is interesting

Priority (Two-Day) Delivery
Selected items sold or Fulfilled by Amazon.co.uk.

Items which are not in stock at a Fulfilment Centre in the UK but which are available from another Fulfilment Centre.

Republic of Ireland addresses.


Makes me wonder whether they will ever fix this unless there is enough noise made about it.

Car99

rock22 wrote: »

Why would they consider Ireland an arm of their UK warehouses?

At the end of the year, it seems UK will definitely be completely out of EU transition period and tariffs will probably apply.
You would also lose EU costumer protection

Then we'll have to use Amazon.de or .es or .fr.

Panrich

Car99 wrote: »

Then we'll have to use Amazon.de or .es or .fr.

And your uk prime account does not work on those. I had to pay for shipping from .de recently and they were offering me a trial for prime.

I’m not sure how it would work if you had a .de prime account for shopping on .Fr or .es or what sort of prime video you’d get.

Mav11

Ok for info, order placed on 5th June for delivery on the 16th June. Item dispatched yesterday, text from An Post this morning to say it will be delivered within the next 2 days.

Happy enough with that, I am a Prime member.

GinSoaked

Mav11 wrote: »

Ok for info, order placed on 5th June for delivery on the 16th June. Item dispatched yesterday, text from An Post this morning to say it will be delivered within the next 2 days.

Happy enough with that, I am a Prime member.

Why? Thats five times slower than a Prime member should be getting in Ireland and probably ten times slower than to a UK address? Its also the same you'd get if you weren't a Prime member.

RasTa

Hurrache wrote: »

The delay is not because Ireland is too small for a fulfilment centre, and Amazon are/were looking for a location to build such a centre in Ireland anyway as an arm of their UK warehouses. Actually, they opened a delivery centre near Clondalkin to fullfill goods shipped from the UK, and are looking for more space.

That's because anpost can't handle it. Be easier to open one in Belfast then Dublin as an arm of their UK stuff.

Caranica

Mav11 wrote: »

Ok for info, order placed on 5th June for delivery on the 16th June. Item dispatched yesterday, text from An Post this morning to say it will be delivered within the next 2 days.

Happy enough with that, I am a Prime member.

I got similar dispatch and An Post notifications this weekend. Except my Prime order was placed on 26 May!!

Mav11

GinSoaked wrote: »

Why? Thats five times slower than a Prime member should be getting in Ireland and probably ten times slower than to a UK address? Its also the same you'd get if you weren't a Prime member.

Because I have a choice to use Amazon or not. To me, it represents good value, at a level that I cannot find elsewhere. Simples.

Exclamation Marc

Mav11 wrote: »

Because I have a choice to use Amazon or not. To me, it represents good value, at a level that I cannot find elsewhere. Simples.

Whilst I agree with you on the value side as I use it a lot myself, consumers shouldn't just roll over and accept a significant degradation of service with no explanation or no lowering of costs. I've seen theories here as to capacity to Ireland which if true are somewhat out of their hands.

The equivalent is buying a 500ml coffee every day at €5 and then after a while the seller changes it to 300ml for you but keeps it at 500ml for its other customers without acknowledging that you're getting less. You wouldn't take it. If they explained why, you might accept it. We're paying for relatively the same thing as the UK are but getting shafted.

By all means keep using it but don't just roll over and accept crappier service without question.

Mav11

By all means keep using it but don't just roll over and accept crappier service without question.[/QUOTE]

Not a matter of rolling over, far from it. I will do what any consumer should do if they are unhappy with a service, walk!! Take your business elsewhere.

mixed up

I have just cancelled my prime account. I was just on to the live chat about delivery being so bad to Ireland.I was told i could cancel but i wasn't going to be refunded, it's a joke, i wasn't looking for a refund or never mentioned it, i was simply looking for the service i was paying for.

Mav11

mixed up wrote: »

I have just cancelled my prime account. I was just on to the live chat about delivery being so bad to Ireland.I was told i could cancel but i wasn't going to be refunded, it's a joke, i wasn't looking for a refund or never mentioned it, i was simply looking for the service i was paying for.

I agree, that's the way to do it. Amazon UK will pay very little attention to Irish customers, as it is after all, a core UK not an Irish setup. If however Irish customers begin to drop their prime accounts, then this is far more likely to get the poor service issue addressed than complaints to Customer service.

I'm holding onto prime for the moment, as I like the video and movies, but if it wasn't for that I would also be cancelling!!

ED E

Car99 wrote: »

Then we'll have to use Amazon.de or .es or .fr.

We won't.

They'll open a DS here (see headlines) and handle the import internally en masse. Probably have some sort of virtual bonded warehousing for the goods, who knows.

Flickerfusion

rock22 wrote: »

Why would they consider Ireland an arm of their UK warehouses?

At the end of the year, it seems UK will definitely be completely out of EU transition period and tariffs will probably apply.
You would also lose EU costumer protection

I would suspect Brexit could be holding this up. They’re unlikely to want to build out infrastructure if it’s going to need to be reoriented towards the continent in 2021.

I would say they’re just sitting on the fence until Brexit is more certain.

You could well end up with the whole island being run from a future Amazon.ie, with linkage to the continent, rather than the U.K. or mixing both to avoid tariffs.

Bear in mind that U.K. sellers will have to complete customs declarations to export to the EU, so it will potentially be as complicated as shopping to and from the USA for them and nothing is clear yet due to the British Government being utterly unrealistic. So anyone telling you what will happen with Brexit is just speculating.

sgarvan

Was onto Amazon chat again to day over this as an item I have in basket has 10 day difference between UK & ROI.

Ireland Delivery Date - FREE delivery: Friday, June 26 Details
Northern Ireland Delivery Date - FREE delivery: Thursday, June 18
UK Delivery Date - FREE delivery: Tomorrow

These are some of the comments from the customer service agent.

I just confirmed from one of the concerned teams and this is definitely due to the pandemic itself. We have to arrange the AnPost carrier for which we require an approval from UK and the Ireland which takes time.

However, it is for all the items getting shipped outside. The approvals are coming into picture which takes time. It is the pandemic which is affecting the delivery speed.

The intensity of the slow down cannot be controlled by Amazon.