Loren
12-20-2007, 02:41 PM
What a disappointment.
I ordered a Kindle today on Amazon and the site clearly said “in stock.” So I asked for over night shipping so I could play with it over the holiday.
But wait.
Tonight, however,*Amazon’s tracking service says*the Kindle*won’t ship until next week. Clearly the device is out of stock.*In addition to the fact that I feel like this is a bait and switch in terms of availability, I’m disappointed that Amazon won’t let me change the shipping at this time.
The Amazon site informs me: “We are preparing these items for shipment and this portion of your order cannot be canceled or changed.” Yeah, right. If it was shipping tomorrow I might buy this. But next week? It’s more likely the device is still to be manufactured. “We” aren’t preparing the device. The manufacturer is.
Yeah, I’m bummed out.
Update: I emailed Amazon. I’m none too happy.
According to this thread on Amazon the Kindle sold out in 5-1/2 hours (http://www.amazon.com/First-Batch-SOLD-OUT-/forum/FxBVKST06PWP9B/Tx3QXV6EJSDILGY/1/ref=cm_cd_ef_tft_tp?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdItems=25&cdAnchor=B000FI73MA&asin=B000FI73MA). Who knows if we’re talking about 200 units or 1,000. All I know is that I clicked on the button to purchase and it said in stock and then a couple hours later it said my order had been delayed. (I just re-read my oreder confirmation and it had the delayed date too. So maybe I should have refreshed the main order page before ordering and it might have said out of stock. I didn’t think I was that long on it though.) If I can count right I placed my order somewhere around the 5+ hour mark. I’m not sure when the clock started though. So my guess is the website hadn’t been updated yet when I made my purchase to indicate that it was sold out. If I’d seen that I would have waited to purchase one. I know how these manufacturing dates can slip and no way I want to play that*game. Why do I keep having these shipping problems with Amazon?
Update: Amazon emailed me and apologized for the ordering problem. They mentioned that during a short time that the product availability listed on their order page lagged the actual availability. Sounds like a programming problem to me–and one that should be addressed. I don’t think it’s acceptable. They can track their numbers. And when the numbers get low they can put a “limited availability” warning on the page. Simple as that.
More... (http://www.lorenheiny.com/2007/11/19/my-in-stock-kindle-wont-ship-for-another-week/)
I ordered a Kindle today on Amazon and the site clearly said “in stock.” So I asked for over night shipping so I could play with it over the holiday.
But wait.
Tonight, however,*Amazon’s tracking service says*the Kindle*won’t ship until next week. Clearly the device is out of stock.*In addition to the fact that I feel like this is a bait and switch in terms of availability, I’m disappointed that Amazon won’t let me change the shipping at this time.
The Amazon site informs me: “We are preparing these items for shipment and this portion of your order cannot be canceled or changed.” Yeah, right. If it was shipping tomorrow I might buy this. But next week? It’s more likely the device is still to be manufactured. “We” aren’t preparing the device. The manufacturer is.
Yeah, I’m bummed out.
Update: I emailed Amazon. I’m none too happy.
According to this thread on Amazon the Kindle sold out in 5-1/2 hours (http://www.amazon.com/First-Batch-SOLD-OUT-/forum/FxBVKST06PWP9B/Tx3QXV6EJSDILGY/1/ref=cm_cd_ef_tft_tp?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdItems=25&cdAnchor=B000FI73MA&asin=B000FI73MA). Who knows if we’re talking about 200 units or 1,000. All I know is that I clicked on the button to purchase and it said in stock and then a couple hours later it said my order had been delayed. (I just re-read my oreder confirmation and it had the delayed date too. So maybe I should have refreshed the main order page before ordering and it might have said out of stock. I didn’t think I was that long on it though.) If I can count right I placed my order somewhere around the 5+ hour mark. I’m not sure when the clock started though. So my guess is the website hadn’t been updated yet when I made my purchase to indicate that it was sold out. If I’d seen that I would have waited to purchase one. I know how these manufacturing dates can slip and no way I want to play that*game. Why do I keep having these shipping problems with Amazon?
Update: Amazon emailed me and apologized for the ordering problem. They mentioned that during a short time that the product availability listed on their order page lagged the actual availability. Sounds like a programming problem to me–and one that should be addressed. I don’t think it’s acceptable. They can track their numbers. And when the numbers get low they can put a “limited availability” warning on the page. Simple as that.
More... (http://www.lorenheiny.com/2007/11/19/my-in-stock-kindle-wont-ship-for-another-week/)