Amazon Shipping (snicker)

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gtriever

gtriever

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Paducah, Kentucky
Sometimes you just gotta laugh. A few days ago, I ordered (2 ea) coaxial power plug adapters and (2 ea) coaxial jumper cables from Amazon, using Prime Shipping. The length of the adapters is ~ 1 inch; the length of the jumper cables is ~ 6 inches. Amazon, in their infinite wisdom, has shipped all 4 items separately. Not all together, not 2 and 2, but each... individual... item... separately. Way to go, Amazon! :biggrin: :confused: :biggrin:
 
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That happened to me last week also. On Saturday before Christmas, I ordered 6 things on the same order, expecting to get them after Christmas. They showed up on Friday in 6 different packages!
 
gtriever said:
Sometimes you just gotta laugh. A few days ago, I ordered (2 ea) coaxial power plug adapters and (2 ea) coaxial jumper cables from Amazon, using Prime Shipping. The length of the adapters is ~ 1 inch; the length of the jumper cables is ~ 6 inches. Amazon, in their infinite wisdom, has shipped all 4 items separately. Not all together, not 2 and 2, but each... individual... item... separately. Way to go, Amazon! :biggrin: :confused: :biggrin:
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Amazon packaging. They'll put those items in a box for a washing machine with no packing material. The people that pack and ship are not exactly mensa.
 
Do you want stuff fast?

I'm sure they could pull multiple items from several fulfillment centers that might not have every item in correct quantities, ship internally to one center so that they could all be packaged in one box, and then ship to the final destination.

That might take a few extra days, and we just GOTTA HAVE IT NOW!

No need to crack on the intelligence of the line workers.
 
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Brian G said:
No need to crack on the intelligence of the line workers.
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Amen to that! They work hard and many are students seeking to stay out of debt. As a line worker, I, along with many of my co-workers were going to grad school. Quite a number of us now have our doctorates. I am proud to have been a line worker - even though company policies sometimes resulted in things like what have been mentioned here.
 
Gregf said:
Most likely the items came from separate fulfillment centers.
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That's the only thing I could think of, but it seems odd that each center would only have ONE of each item. To clear up the original post, the adapters and the jumpers were each quantity (2) of the same item...
 
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Amazon's business model relies on automation to achieve the highest possible efficiency in filling orders - optimizing both inventory and overhead, and focusing on transaction volume across a distributed network of fulfillment centers. They are also extremely good about customer service, hence their very fast order fulfillment time, and the fact that customers rarely have to wait for a backordered item.

If I had unlimited resources and were challenged to build a system to compete with Amazon, I would think in terms of centralized ordering and inventory tracking, so that any time an order is placed, that centralized system would immediately know which fulfillment center has the items, and in what quantity, and would instantly issue a command that instructs the necessary fulfillment centers to ship the items that have been ordered. And if I were really clever, I would also make that system smart enough to select a fulfillment center that is closest to the customer in order to minimize shipping time and cost, and that would also be able to divert orders in real time to react to temporary, Act-of-God disruptions at specific fulfillment centers.

And I would also probably create a process of tracking the rate at which individual items are ordered, with the objective of trying to maintain enough inventory at the fulfillment centers to meet the typical quantity included in the average order. But having said that, I can understand that when items are packaged individually, all it takes is for the last order for an item to request a non-typical quantity to result in a fulfillment center not having sufficient quantity of an item to meet the next order.

That would fall under the heading of 's--t happens'.
 
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My bet would be that Amazon did it that way to preserve their customer service reputation. We can guess what happened, but we will never know, but on the Amazon end, they shipped everything in a timely manner for a timely delivery, that is their business goal.
 
They just arrived. All four show the same return address on the shipping labels. At least they're delivered to the right address - our not-so-good mail carrier has dropped someone else's packages at our house 3 times in the past week.
 
Perhaps as this is a very busy time for online shopping, they have pre-packed specific items ready for simply just adding a label.
 
SteveJ said:
Brian G said:
No need to crack on the intelligence of the line workers.
Click to expand...

Amen to that! They work hard and many are students seeking to stay out of debt. As a line worker, I, along with many of my co-workers were going to grad school. Quite a number of us now have our doctorates. I am proud to have been a line worker - even though company policies sometimes resulted in things like what have been mentioned here.
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I understand. Maybe the problem originates with the company itself. If something is coming from the same distribution point, it would be logical to pack it all together. I worked for a wholesale sporting goods distributor. They printed off the orders turned in by computer. The warehouse was laid out so the items came in the same order as the printout. The warehouse staff would roll a giant buggy up and down the aisle, pulling the merchandise and marking it on the list. The buggy went to packing and was packed in one shopping package. Items marked as Out Of Stock were re-entered as a Back Order. BTW, had a 98% fill rate. Ran like a well oiled machine.
 
I ordered some paint markers from Amazon a few years ago.
I ordered two. 2. Dos.
They sent me 2 boxes of a dozen each.
They were $6 each. I paid $12 for $144 worth of them.
I called Amazon, they told me to keep them.
They also refunded my money.
I called them again. This time, they gave me a credit for the original shipment, and another refund. They also extended my Prime by a month.
I quit while I was ahead.
:eek:
 
Time and motion studies for efficiency may come into effect. It may actually be cheaper for them to pay for more shipping than pay for the time required to assemble most orders together.

Seems illogical but I expect they not only get significant discounts on their shipping, but rebates for reaching certain milestones in volume.


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I worked for a wholesale sporting goods distributor. They printed off the orders turned in by computer. The warehouse was laid out so the items came in the same order as the printout. The warehouse staff would roll a giant buggy up and down the aisle, pulling the merchandise and marking it on the list. The buggy went to packing and was packed in one shopping package. Items marked as Out Of Stock were re-entered as a Back Order. BTW, had a 98% fill rate. Ran like a well oiled machine.
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I've also done T&M studies for a KY manufacturer. MRDucks2, I see where you are coming from but to ship in four packages- shipping cost would include labor, shipper costs and the package itself. The quote reflects what I consider one of the most efficient systems of pulling merchandise and shipping. Now bar codes figure into inventory with automated systems pulling merchandise. Sign in office- I will never be replaced my a machine. They haven't invented one that drinks as much coffee as me.
Happy New Year to all!
 
I have no issue receiving items in separate shipments. It's the way it packed. Loose and bouncing around in the box or shipped in a thin box. No reflection on the employees,..... It's directly related to management and company policy. But I hold my ground. Worst packaging of any company. I won't buy any electronics, optics, cameras, etc from Amazon. They earned that. 5 stars for poorness.
 
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