[borkt]

You can typically get an extension of prime for a month in this situation if you chat with amazon. I end up paying every 18 months for 1 year of service, basically getting 6 months free. As a frequent user of prime, I have no idea how this isn't losing them money.

[bocklund]

People have told me this, but it seems fruitless for me to get free months for a service I am unhappy with. Instead I recently cancelled my subscription.

[ryanianian]

Your alternative is competitor sites which usually don't even offer 2-day shipping or will charge you expedited shipping costs if they do. And even then they usually defer responsibility for delays to the carriers.

IMHO prime is worth it even if I have to spend a few minutes on chat to get it extended by 50%. What is truly frustrating is their "guarantee" that isn't a guarantee.

This lack of transparency and continual missing of their promises erodes my trust in them. Most of the time it's fine - whatever - I don't need those AA batteries on a Sunday....

But the fact that they guaranteed that they would be there, didn't tell me they'd be late, and didn't proactively offer anything to back up their guarantee is super shady. Either don't guarantee a date, or proactively offer recourse when you don't meet your own self-imposed guarantees.

[majormajor]

> Your alternative is competitor sites which usually don't even offer 2-day shipping or will charge you expedited shipping costs if they do.

This is a lot less true than it used to be. I had to buy a few things from other sites recently (not carried on Amazon, or the sort of thing that attracts counterfeits or such shenanigans) and was surprised to discover how much other places have caught up in the shipping game.

Even a small-volume niche-market foreign company like B&W shipped me a pair of headphones with free two-day shipping recently.

[cdubzzz]

Over the past few years I have ordered largely from retailers like Walgreens, CVS, Target, Home Depot, B&H, Microcenter, etc. and in most cases shipping has been free or cheap and just as fast or faster than Amazon ever was (or I’ve purchased things in retail stores).

Avoiding Amazon has actually been easier than I expected and if anything I’ve found purchasing more convenient overall.

[suresk]

The last time I tried to do that, they wouldn't do it. They just said "sorry, sometimes we don't get stuff out in time".

It's getting to the point I'm about to cancel - they are late more often than not, and customer service responses are really poor.

[dawnerd]

Not always true. I’ve tried it every time and they go “it’s weather related” when it’s obviously not.