Hey Cheapy, Wombat, and Shipwreck,
What do you guys think of Amazon's change in customer service of late where if you don't have an Amazon Prime subscription or pay for shipping on your orders, you basically get second-rate service from them now? I've been a big fan of their service for the past five years that I've been using them, especially how quickly I got my Black Friday orders in the past few years despite getting free shipping, but this year has changed quite a bit. I made most of my orders on Thursday and only one shipped before today, almost a week later. I've seen responses from Prime members about their stuff shipping right away and sometimes even getting their stuff by Saturday, which is a big difference compared to how it used to be. To add to this, they increased the minimum amount needed to even qualify for Free Saver Shipping to $35 instead of $25, so my desire to add a cheap filler Blu-ray, DVD, or game is shrinking. It seems like Amazon's so hell bent on getting every customer to join Amazon Prime that they're now downgrading what was great service for us cheapskates to the level that I'm looking to other retailers like Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Walmart, etc. for better basic service. Doesn't this seem like the sort of tactics that you'd expect from your cable/internet/phone provider and not Amazon? Why would they do this to encourage people to join Prime instead of making Prime a better experience than what was already great service?
If you just want a shorter version to read on the podcast: It seems that Amazon's basic service is being downgraded for those without an Amazon Prime sub with an increase to the minimum amount needed for Free Super Saver Shipping and delayed shipping for non-Prime customers. Doesn't this seem like the sort of tactics that you'd expect from your cable/internet/phone provider and not Amazon? Shouldn't they be making sure that Prime is that much better than the already great basic service that you'd feel dumb not to sign up instead of downgrading the basic service to frustrate their cheaper customers that could easily go elsewhere for deals?