Amazon.com

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Kaneohe HI.
:huh:Just looking for feedback on the Amazon .com. Has anyone purchased large items like a lathe, power tools etc.. Is there any guarantee with them or just the manufacturer? seems like you can buy power tools at a discounted price (+) free shipping in some cases............Any comments to their reliability?:dunno:
 
I've spent tens of thousands of dollars with Amazon over the years. A lot of tools. My biggest purchase was a PM2000 tablesaw that I got for a great price with free shipping. Whenever I've had any sort of issue (which is very infrequent), they've made it right. Amazon's the first place I look for just about anything.

Put a question like this out there and you're guaranteed to have someone with a negative experience but they're an A+ in my book.
 
+1 also!! I just spent $400 more there today. I've only had a couple issues and they were resolved quickly. BTW, the only ones I ever had were from vendors other than Amazon.

Randy
 
Table saw, clamps, compressor and nail guns. No problems whatsoever. But I always made sure they were actually being sold by Amazon, not by another vendor through Amazon in order to get the free shipping.

Cheers,
 
I ordered my new lathe through Amazon. Here is my experience.

I ordered on Dec. 14. It was promised before Christmas with free shipping.

I live in the mountains of Arizona, not exactly on daily shipping routes. And therein laid the fly in the ointment.

The lathe was shipped from CPO. CPO gave me a tracking number for the trucking company, Eustes. Amazon also gave me a tracking number from FedEx. Eustes acknowledged the order and I tracked it to the delivering terminal, which was Phoenix. The lathe was there by the 24th. The FedEx tracking number was never valid. When, by the Tuesday following Christmas, I had heard nothing from the trucking company about arranging delivery, I emailed Amazon. They were back within 2 hours with a phone number to call. That went to customer service at CPO. The were very nice, calling the trucking company and then telling me the trucking company would call me within the hour, and giving me a toll -free number for the trucking company.

I had other obligations that filled out the rest of Tuesday, so Wednesday morning I called the trucking company. They told me they only come to my part on Arizona on Fridays. Well, duh, Christmas was a Friday, and New Year's Day was a Friday, so I could expect it this coming Friday. NOT! They then offered to make a special delivery on Thursday, the 31st. Not having been told in a timely fashion from the trucking company about their delivery schedules, i had them put it in will-call and I went and got it. You can see the pictures of teh pick-up on the lathe tool forum.

So here is the deal on a large piece of equipment and living out in the sticks, relatively speaking. You are dealing with Amazon, who has the most clout and their customer service is excellent. You have the vending company, in this case CPO. Their customer service was excellent, as I expect their contract with Amazon would demand. Then you have the trucking company. Depending on where you live, that could be anybody. My lathe shipped out of Dallas, TX. When I finally got to them, they were helpful as I expect they didn't want to jeopardize their relationship with CPO. However, their lack of forthrightness in keeping me informed as to their delivery schedules was sorely lacking.

So if ordering through Amazon is causing you some angst, fear not. Go for it. Just keep in mind their are more people in the loop.

HTH.
 
I have also ordered many times from Amazon. I also got the Amazon Credit Card and every time I spend 2500 on the card I get a coupon for $25.00. Not a lot but it has helped pay for a few things and with the free shipping I have bought smaller things for no out of pocket money. Go for it Amazon is great to do business with.
When you use the card on Amazon you get 3 times the points.
Dennis
 
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John,

I may be wrong, but I don't think we qualify for Amazon's "free shipping" offers.

Better do some serious checking before ordering.

Talk to you later.

Aloha, Tony
 
IT DEPENDS. No, really, it DOES.

Ya see... some vendors work fully through Amazon; stuff gets billed through Amazon, stuff gets shipped through Amazon, everything's under Amazon control. Other vendors only list stuff on Amazon's Website but ship directly & Amazon manages their billing.

When you "visit" an item on Amazon, there's a fairly clear indication right up at the top of how the vendor works things, who ships & all that. Generally, in my experience, the items that qualify for SuperSaver shipping are fully under Amazon's control... while those that don't aren't.

I've had much better fortune dealing with full-up Amazon "partners" than with vendors who ship direct. I've bought a ton of stuff both ways over the years.
 
+1 on favorable. We had issues with a couple of things over the years and Amazon handled them immediately and effectively. Other than that, we've bought tons of stuff without any problem.
 
Amazon

:) Lots of positive feedback on Amazon. Carol seems like you had a little trouble with your order. Tony, I will look further into it . We're very far from their office in Washington. Might be safer to just deal with vendors in Hawaii. Hopefully I can get a good deal in February at Woodcraft! See you at next weeks meeting. :wave:
 
I bought my JET JWL-1220VS Lathe via Amazon - good price and free shipping.

I ordered the lathe on 08/25/09. I received a shipment notice from CEVA Logistics at JFK Airport on 08/30/09. They delivered the package per my instructions on 09/02/09.

This is the largest item I ever bought from Amazon. I bought 100's of smaller items from them, and only had a problem on 1 item. They packed the wrong item. They had me return the item, and pronptly sent the right one. The paid all of the shipping.
 
I fully understand the good service and free shipping given by Amazon.com, but you folks have to understand that John and I are in the Hawaiian Islands. Many sellers consider us not a part of the USA. Some even refuse to ship to us altogether. Others outright state that their shipping rates to Hawaii are "different", even for USPS.

I was just advising John to check further, to be sure. I am sure you folks in the mainland US are getting taken care of well by Amazon.

Aloha, Tony
 
I fully understand the good service and free shipping given by Amazon.com, but you folks have to understand that John and I are in the Hawaiian Islands. Many sellers consider us not a part of the USA. Some even refuse to ship to us altogether. Others outright state that their shipping rates to Hawaii are "different", even for USPS.

Aloha, Tony

As soon as they get that bridge built, it will be just another matter of which trucking company to use... :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Chuck,

Have you seen the footers those bridge guys are building? Look a lot like little undersea volcanoes. :rofl::rofl::rofl:

If only. But, there would have to be plenty gas stations along the way.

Aloha, Tony
 
theres always a price to pay to live in paradise. Not paradise PA, but real paradise.
Id imagine shipping over to Hawaiin islands would bring a bit more cost.
There are only a limited number of flights and things, and as of now, I dont know of any direct roads or trains from the west coast.
I bet even prices in the local borg stores are a bit higher due to shipping costs.
 
It's been a while since I checked into this so my numbers may be way way out of line, but I had an occasion to ship a container from Los Angeles to Honolulu a few years back. There aren't a lot of lines running ocean containers between mainland and Hawaii... only one I know of is Matson.... A 20' container from LA to HNL was about $1200.

I had a customer that used to ship to the seaport for Beijing.. Tianjin, and his shipments were almost always in a 40' container. I could ship a 40' container from almost any port on the eastern seaboard to Tianjin, China for $1400 or $1500.
 
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