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Comment by thefourthchime | Hacker News Reader

Not exactly related, but I recently canceled my Amazon Prime membership after 19 years of using it. Amazon used to model itself after Nordstrom and Costco, with exceptional customer service and great prices. Now it seems to be wish.com with faster shipping, shady anti-pattern advertising, 90% fake reviews, and TERRIBLE customer service.

It started because a few weeks ago I had a billing question and was forwarded to 6 different reps, also while being told lies about my issue. Finally, the rep asked if he could call. I got a call and it was an offshore guy who had no idea what was going on.

In its place I've been using Walmart+, there are times when Amazon is cheaper, most often though Walmart+ is cheaper, also I can get groceries delivered with rock-bottom prices. If you get the poorly named in-home service you can get as many free (no tip) deliveries to your house with groceries as you want.

As long as it's over $35.

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I will be canceling in May. The $3/mo to remove commercials was the last straw. I don't know exactly how long I've had Prime, but probably around the same number of years. I've been using Amazon since 1997, according to my order history. Books on May 27, 1997. It will be 27 years this May. Wow.

You can cancel today and get refunded, I thought I would be waiting as well, but I'm happy to get the $40 back.

Not if you "used" the services you want a refund for. And I have, for sure. I had a long discussion with a rep and she said if I canceled I might not get a refund and I'd be out of luck.

I cancelled my Amazon account a few years ago for very similar reasons. But instead of seeking out a different amazon-like marketplace. I just started ordering the things I need directly from the manufacturer's websites.

Usually, the pricing is about the same it's about the same amount of time from placing the order to receiving it. Much of the time, shipping is still free. But even if it isn't that's a small price to pay, considering that I'm certain to get what I thought I was ordering rather than a counterfeit or substitution, and if there's a problem then it's much easier to get it resolved.

I also found that I was going back to physical stores more often, which seems weird, but makes some sense too: I stopped feeling like I could trust the quality of things I was getting delivered and there are few substitutes for actually seeing goods on shelves before you buy and buying exactly the item that you looked at.

For me the "drop Prime" realization hit just after 2020 when I realized that even with everything that went on in 2020 I had nothing actually Prime "Next Day" shipped and had visited more physical stores than I had Amazon orders. In 2020. That certainly seemed a sign that I wasn't getting much value from Prime anymore on the shipping side and pushed me to re-evaluate all the other Prime benefits.

It felt interesting canceling Prime because I was an early adopter and it was a key resource for things like text books for me at that time. I realized one of the things I missed from that Amazon was how much better the eBay-like "Marketplace" orders were differentiated back then (I certainly made quite a few intentionally and it was nice knowing it was a choice between options) and it how much Amazon intentionally fuzzied and then wiped that border away and the UI treats almost all sellers the same now whether first/second party, large automated third party drop shipper, or even small "hobbiest" eBay-like shipper. In this world, physical stores seem safest again and I can see the difference between a major retailer, an overstock warehouse, a thrift store, and a flea market so much better that trying to guess based on what few tea leaves are left in the Amazon shopping experience. (Even Walmart and Target's websites aren't safe as both try to keep up with Amazon and both now have weird second and third-party relationships that are kept intentionally blurry on the websites themselves.) It's almost funny because solving that trust problem of who the seller was was one of the reasons of Amazon and Prime's early success to make online shopping feel nearly as safe as physical shopping. I appreciate the irony that I've returned to physical shopping because it is the only thing that feels safe.

> I also found that I was going back to physical stores more often

I would have mentioned this myself except that I never stopped going to physical stores. They always were, and remain, my first stop. I only go online if I can't find what I need from a local shop.

Amazon delivery drivers inconsistently refused to deliver packages professionally to a secured area or would instead steal or discard them by marking them as "delivered" without a photograph. Customer service was powerless and made no tangible effort to remedy the situation except a refund or replacement that would often also not arrive, so I canceled Prime and stopped using Amazon. It's faster, cheaper, and easier for me to go a brick and mortar store for most things or to use another platform with professional delivery services.

How does the no tip aspect work? Does it mean no tip is required, but is optional... So you open yourself up to the risk of some angry delivery person complaining or exacting revenge on your items during the next delivery? Ideally I would like it to be "no tip possible" meaning even if I wanted to tip, I can't.

No tip is allowed. They are Walmart employees in a van doing it.

I just looked up recent orders I placed on Amazon on wish.com... I gotta say, the results were quite disappointing. I don't think wish.com is anywhere near Amazon.

I would compare to Walmart, my wish.com comment was more about it being a store front for cheap no brand chinese junk.

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