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For me my trust is breaking over a couple pairs of socks, of all things. I ordered some socks from amazon which were a larger than normal size. I was actually excited when they arrived and they actually fit perfectly - something thats difficult when trying to find specific styles of socks.

I enjoy them so much I decide to order 3 packages for the future. They come in the mail - all of them are the smaller size (but have the markings of the larger size). The colors weren't the same - it was clearly from another manufacturer. I go okay, that sucks, I guess I should just return them - Amazon decided that now was the time to make me ship them back rather than taking my word for it. The $20 wasn't really worth the time for me to do so - but that $20 is going to end up being a pretty important one for Amazon as I don't have any trust that what they're selling is what will arrive anymore. They could at least be internally consistent.

Exactly my case. I ordered a couple shirts off the same listing I’ve bought from before. Turns out they used a 3rd party for this color who sent me the wrong shirt (different cotton poly blend). It took a week for them to “approve” the return which they were going to make me pay. Way to lose customer confidence over a $12 order.

It was supposed to be a “Prime” order but it was a terrible experience. What is my Prime membership paying for?

> What is my Prime membership paying for?

a higher price

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/lawsuit-alleges-amazon-...

When is that article from? I can't find a date. Am interested to know if the suit has progressed.

It was published in March 2014. Both lawsuits were filed in February.

This hits too close to home. For years I used Amazon to replenish my sock supply with the exact same ones. Suddenly, one day, they weren't the consistent anymore. Then, a few times I ordered things and they were dropshipped from target or walmart.com where they were %30-40 cheaper! The wool had finally been lifted from my eyes and now I fill my walmart cart first and only order a few things on amazon that I can't find elsewhere.

I pulled my amazon spending report and I used to average a little over $11k/year spent there, this year I've spent less than $1000. No matter what amazon changes, I can't trust them anymore. Walmart doesn't mess around, they just aim for the lowest price all the time, and they have cheap (usually free) shipping with no need to pay for a prime membership.

As soon as amazon has saturated the market with prime subscribers, their growth in shopping will start to slow and eventually stop as everyone sees the light.

No matter what amazon changes, I can't trust them anymore. Walmart doesn't mess around, they just aim for the lowest price all the time

This is something Amazon is going to have to learn if it's serious about brick-and-mortar.

Selling garbage fakes online is one thing. Selling them in a store is another. There are dozens of regulatory agencies from federal down to the city level just for that sort of thing.

Also, Walmart allows 90-day returns whereas Amazon is typically 30. Walmart now gets most of the business that Amazon used to get from me.

Had a very similar issue with socks. Re-ordered after ~4 years of the old socks wearing out. New socks came with the brand stitch in different color, and the new ones are already wearing out in ~4 months.

For me, the worst part was that the socks didn't feel like new socks. They weren't used, they just lacked the delicious new socks feeling.

I have a very similar story with ordering Salbakos towels. I reorder them every so often to keep my linens fresh. However, one of the last reorders was delivered with a completely different brand of towels and they didn't even match the pattern of the Salbakos towels. It's so frustrating.

At least returns are super easy to make

The other comments here along with my own experiences suggest that this is no longer the case.

For me, Amazon is basically the same gamble as ebay. There is a high chance I will get the wrong product, opened boxes, no box (shipping label stuck on vendor package), opened packages, swapped products, used products sold as new.

I would suggest Amazon can't ever be the cheapest, when I factor in the risk factor that I may or may not get what I paid for. The convenience factor goes out the window if I have to return my package.

Just today I received an opened package. I am curious what surprises await me.

I've actually had more luck with ebay recently, in fact I'd say that it's starting to become my go-to for small items.

> There was a long period where I would buy things from Amazon without considering other sources. That's gone now and they can't quickly get it back.

That's probably true, but the truth is that situation was an unstable equilibrium in the first place. There's absolutely no reason in a functioning market to expect (or want!) one provider to be the uniform best option at all things. Eventually everyone else starts competing.

To wit: the situation over the past decade wasn't so much defined by Amazon being better (or "not evil", given the framing I'm saying here), it was that everyone else sucked. Now they don't suck so much, and Amazon is having to compete in ways (like profit!) they used to be able to ignore.

That's a good thing, not a bad thing.

Especially the part about everyone else sucks is ao true. At least in Europe there have a ton of opportunities to compete with Amazon that nobody took advantage of before the window closed.

Jungle.com was pretty big in the UK back in its day. Unfortunately issues with supplier confidence due to the original dotcom bubble burst were its undoing (supposedly).

>That's probably true, but the truth is that situation was an unstable equilibrium in the first place. There's absolutely no reason in a functioning market to expect (or want!) one provider to be the uniform best option at all things. Eventually everyone else starts competing.

I'd say it's somewhat the reverse: Amazon was vastly better for things they sourced and sold themselves. I couldn't get everything there, but things they did have, I could trust.

They tried to expand into absolutely everything, and that's what feels like broke even my trust in the stuff they sell directly (since they also have comingling of third party inventory on that stuff, now).

Or... if they hadn't tried to expand into "absolutely everything", you'd be buying from Walmart right now. Obviously you can second guess any single decision of theirs and try to spin that as "The Reason" Amazon is looking less dominant.

I'm saying that no, that's silly. They're less dominant because they're seeing significant competition, and the stuff you perceive as "worse" is the inevitable result of them having to squeeze on margins or expand into higher-hanging-fruit regions of the market.

And we're all richer for it. Don't buy from Amazon, that's fine. But don't expect to live in a world where you get someone else who can dominate a market like they did, either.

How are we all the richer for shipping being slow and unreliable? Do counterfeit goods make us all richer?

There was no lack of competition before, it's just that everyone loved Amazon... they had no desire to look at the competition. As that love affair wears off, we're looking elsewhere.

> everyone loved Amazon... they had no desire to look at the competition

That's literally the definition of a lack of competition. Everyone loved Amazon because they were cheaper and faster and better. Even inside the tech microcosm, no one makes a purchasing decision based on "love".

There's a saying about trust that's worth remembering anytime a decision is made that prioritizes KPI over all else:

> Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair

> That's gone now and they can't quickly get it back.

It takes a lot longer for a company to build up a good reputation than to lose it. But if a company evaluates its managers on metrics and if good reputation can't easily be measured, it's very easy for them to lose it.