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Old 02-03-2016, 12:05 AM   #1
Doppleganger
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Amazon could be better

There's little denying that Amazon.com is a great website for buying stuff. Amazon's guarantees mean that one is unlikely to be fleeced by an online seller, so sans the non-trivial shipping cost there's a chance you'd recover almost all your money on a purchase.

But it's not 100% fool-proof, because there's still the problem of how it's organized. Amazon registers vendors, who contract out to suppliers. While vendors, who interact with the customer, are kind of at the mercy of suppliers.

The vendor can't go to a different supplier for their goods, most likely - the manufacturer sells a limited number of items to the supplier and then stops production. The reduced supply and no way to negotiate down prices means vendors just have to swallow the bad behaviour of the supplier and hope the manufacturer doesn't do business with them again in the future.

Case in point - for almost a year, I've been trying to buy a smartphone with Android 4.3 or older. Almost every phone I've obtained since had 4.4.+ Kitkat, despite vendors telling me otherwise. They've been forced to take back the phones and absorb the cost of shipping (sometimes I do as well), because the supplier does not give a fudge about what the customer wants.

It's to the point that I've been sending emails ahead of purchases, because I don't want to waste time and money sending back a phone.

I'd taken an interest in this phone and contracted the vendor, hoping to get an idea of the products details.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger
Hello, I am interested in a phone you have for sale, the Samsung Galaxy S3 SGH-T999, SIN B008A9CZCY.

I am looking for a phone that has the Android 4.3 or lower operating system (4.2, 4.1), not Kitkat (4.4)+. Your description says that it is tested so I would infer that you have looked at the phones and can verify the operating system.

I will only purchase the phone if I know it has 4.3 or lower. Previous vendors have sent me products not advertised (such as S3 Neo) that all have 4.4+. Thank you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Increased Mobility
I am sorry but we don't have the phones on hand they are shipped directly from the carrier so I am unable to see which it utilizes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger
Can you contact the carrier and ask what the phones ship with? As said, I'd really like to purchase this phone, but given your return policy I'm hesitant to buy it and end up returning it if the Android version isn't what I'm looking for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Increased Mobility
I am sorry they stated they randomly choose the model and it may not have the same platform.
Okay, just knowing that Lolipop exists for the Samsung Galaxy S3 is a good enough reason for me to not take a chance on this phone. Even though these guys are the only vendor in town who deal in this model. Increased Mobility has something like a 30% restocking fee if I decide to return the phone. This is a major deterrent from me wanting to do business with them - there's a high chance the phone isn't what I want, and I have a penalty if it's not what I want.

It looks bad on the vendor's side that they know so little about their product. Random platform and random model (meaning, chance of a S3 Neo) might be fun if this were a gumball or claw machine, but when I'm purchasing something online, I expect to get what I was purchasing.
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Old 02-03-2016, 12:16 AM   #2
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I find Amazon quite useful.
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Old 02-03-2016, 01:02 AM   #3
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I mean to be fair if you're looking for something that has specifications that aren't awfully common Amazon isn't fantastic for it. I do agree though that on the off-chance I do use Amazon to look for something more specific that examples like the one you gave occur and are annoying. The relationship between vendors and suppliers definitely should be improved so that vendors aren't screwed over by the supplier's interests being different from their own. Of course, the main problem is that this affects a very small portion of the people using Amazon. Could this system be improved? Probably. Does it really apply to the general users of Amazon who search for and purchase general items that aren't incredibly specific? No.
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Old 02-03-2016, 07:22 AM   #4
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Amazon have always been mostly reliable...except they're literally hitler to their own staff.

And by hitler I mean 'late by one minute = fired' hitler. Very long hours, poor conditions, strict as shit schedules, all for a mediocre wage...the difference between them and a sweatshop is that Amazon don't hire children.
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Old 02-03-2016, 03:42 PM   #5
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People should stop cutting it down.
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Old 02-03-2016, 03:55 PM   #6
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wayyyyyyyyyy
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Old 08-10-2017, 10:54 AM   #7
Doppleganger
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>mfw I have two day shipping
>it takes two days to arrive
>takes one week to ship
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