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Amazon Accused of Misrepresenting Fast Prime Delivery

Amazon PrimeRecently, two California consumers filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon claiming that the company misrepresents how fast it delivers products when you have a Prime membership.

On their website, Amazon promises free same-day or one-day delivery on millions of items. In other places, they promise two-day shipping.

The lawsuit contends that in many cases the company does not deliver on the promise.

*MOUSE PRINT:

… in opting to purchase [Prime] and pay a monthly $12.99 monthly fee for the Product, Plaintiff Brittain relied on the expedited shipping speed attributes, which are undoubtedly material to the reasonable consumer. During the time span when Plaintiff Brittain paid for [Prime], on at least three occasions, Defendant Amazon failed to provide her with the advertised benefits of [Prime]. and deliver her ordered goods within the marketed shipping speed of two days or less.

The suit contends that the plaintiffs would not have bought the membership or would have paid less than the current $139 a year or $12.99 a month had they known of the longer delivery times that they would experience.

In claiming misrepresentation and unfair practices, the lawyers are seeking restitution and damages for all affected California Prime members.

So what has your experience been with Prime? Do you typically get the same day, next day, or 2-day delivery that the company promises?

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99 thoughts on “Amazon Accused of Misrepresenting Fast Prime Delivery”

  1. I live in Knoxville and in the past year and a half, I have received my packages maybe 4 times out 40, within stated 2 day delivery. I’m canceling prime next year, it’s not worth it. And no not once have received the 5$ which is not what I’m paying for. Even on prime video you have to pay extra to rent new stuff.

  2. At least half or more of my many orders a week to Alabama do not arrive in the time specified, some of them not even close. Several times over past months did not arrive at all. Have subscribed to Prime for many years but may not again due to broken promises..not once or twice but routinely. Have tried to be understanding of supply and transport issues but as Amazon service has gotten more unreliable they continue to raise price of Prime. Not customer friendly, Amazon!

  3. I haven’t found the delivery TIMES too bad actually.
    What I did find was the delivery LOCATION!
    I live in a 12 unit apt complex and I’m in #5.
    I can’t even keep track of how many times they delivered it to #9 and visa-versa.
    One time it was left at #4 so that was just careless delivery but I’m lucky to have honest neighbors as I was out of town.
    I LOVE the fact they take pics so I always knew where to pick up my incorrect delivery site!!
    SO, my apt. # is no longer #5.
    It is #FIVE which has helped 100% of the time.

  4. In California, my Amazon Prime orders rarely arrive within two days. Delivery times average about 1 week. Kinda like the old days, before we had to pay for Prime.

    I wonder how long it takes non Prime members to receive their items…

      • About the same amount of time. I’m not a Prime member but Amazon is constantly trying to trick me into getting Prime by pre-clicking the “Free Prime Trial” box for me. Another sleazy trick is to pre-click the “pay for shipping” box when I qualify for free shipping. Anything to scam a few extra bucks out of the unsuspecting customer.
        Anyhow, I digress…when I place an order it shows only one extra day shipping time for non-Prime members. I usually get my packages ahead of schedule.

  5. In Georgia, most items arrive at day 3, 4 or more. Even with Prime, same day costs extra or requires a minimum purchase.

  6. I’ve had almost NO problem with deliveries from Amazon – even receiving a very heavy exercise bike in rural Leelanau County, MI – WITHIN TWO DAYS! I was amazed.

    There are occasional skips of a day – sometimes two days – but I usually get a notification if deliveries will be later than planned.

    I order a LOT of stuff from Amazon!! So what I save in delivery fees is WAY more than Prime membership costs. Plus I get LOTS of video and music as a Prime member – at NO charge.

  7. In the past year I have ordered around 70 items from Amazon and figure the savings in postage must cover the cost of Prime membership. Of my last 15 orders that were Prime eligible, 4 arrived in 3 days, 4 arrived in 4 days, and the rest took longer, up to 15 days. UPS often fails to deliver on the promised date.
    But clearly, Amazon is not shipping things out as quickly as promoted in their advertising. I think the requirement to choose a Prime delivery day is also a tactic to give them more time.

  8. No I don’t. I live in TN. More often than not items are taking days and sometimes up to a month arrive – resulting in me canceling orders. Definitely not the prime service I signed up for!

  9. I am a long-time Amazon Prime user. I have not experienced any delays. Perhaps in other areas of the country, there could be delay reasons that are caused by things other than Amazon.

  10. I think they have a legitimate argument. Most of my parents’ prime deliveries take at least 3 days when they advertise for 2. Regardless of how much the pandemic, the global supply chain and logistics, and the amount of employees Amazon has at any given time, it does seem like false advertisement. Maybe they should change the entire guarantee to “2 days minimum” lol.

  11. Almost never a 2-day delivery. Usually 5. Sometimes up to 2 weeks. And lest you think I’m in the boonies: no. I’m in the heart of Miami.

  12. I agree Amazon scamming people to sign up for Prime. I took a trial membership and never got items in two days. One item was delayed then CANCELLED!! To cancel the trial membership was NEAR IMPOSSIBLE!

  13. I am less than pleased with the deliveries this year. I don’t know if it’s USPS causing the problem or Amazon itself. I also believe they hold orders in order to ship them in one box which also delays orders. Additionally, I’ve had to return two packages this year that arrived damaged due to poor packaging, Whatever the issue, Amazon is responsible to the consumers for the current shipping situation. I intend to drop Amazon Prime and shop at other services like Walmart, Target, ebay etc. I’ll re-visit that decision if Amazon fixes the issues.

  14. I am in Southern California, and it appears to me that a majority of shipping delays is the fault of the shippers themselves, be it UPS, Fedex, etc. When I track items I have ordered, I frequently see that they arrive at a shipping facility and then are delayed, or lost, etc. At that point if I do not receive the order by a specific date Amazon offers me a refund for the entire cost of the order.

    • I agree. I track every package that I order and more times than not after the package has been picked up by the shipper it sits and sits and sits and there’s no movement for several days. Not that I don’t think Amazon isn’t partly to blame for things not going as they used to but I believe that the shippers are as much if not more to blame for this problem.

  15. I am not renewing my Prime subscription due to the increase in price and the lack of actual delivery time frame promised. This along with the poor selection of movies and shows with the membership and the constant “buy or rent” policy of the more interesting shows that Amazon provide. I can get better service from Walmart and other streaming channels.

  16. I live in Fresno, CA and have no problems with Amazon’s delivery of ordered goods. I get them when promised. There have been a couple of times when I have received updates with an apology for a delayed delivery but overall, I have no complaints. I really like when you can track the driver so you know when your package will be arriving, thus thwarting porch pirates.

  17. I live in rural Ontario and I have found no reason to complain. Nearly everything arrives within the one or two day shipping speed they promise. I even get twice a day delivery during the holidays. That’s fantastic. Perhaps it’s their courier ASL that’s responsible for Amazon keeping it’s promises. None the less I like Prime.

  18. Is there a class action for fraud and nonrefund? Amazon will not refund items received stating that item was not received in there processing center. Items dropped off at UPS, Kohl’s, and Amazon hubs were all affected. They insist that you go deal with the carrier despite having proof item was drop off. At time the customer rep will say item track received at processing but then you will receive a charge for non-return. I am a prime member and not sure where I can go with this.

  19. In New York, in the past, our Amazon Prime orders were delivered within 1-2 days. Now, we wait a week or longer. Where is the benefit?

    • Exactly, where is the benefit. But then I’ve never seen the benefit for Amazon Prime to begin with. To watch good movies you have to pay extra if you’re willing to make sure and Order over $35 which in this day and age isn’t hard to do you’re shipping is free anyway especially if you check the box that you’re willing to wait a few days more and I’ve never ordered anything that was an emergency that I couldn’t wait a few days more for. So personally I don’t get what the whole Amazon Prime thing gives people anyway. And now Walmart is doing the same thing and you can bet they’ll be a lot of people signing up for that one too. Never thought I’d see the day when you’d have to pay a subscription fee to shop at a store of course it’s not mandatory, yet.

  20. I live in a small town in rural Iowa an hour from the nearest city. You would think my experience would be worse than most. But not so. Most of my deliveries are either 2 or 3 days.
    In our area 1 or same day delivery isn’t an option.
    I order well over 100 items per year.
    Rarely is an order not delivered on the specified day. If it says 2 day delivery when I order then it almost always delivers in 2 days. Less than 10 pct of orders deliver later than specified.
    Deliveries are done by US Mail and Amazon, not UPS or FedX.

  21. I am a prime member and order items several times per month and have not received an item in 2 days for several months. Very unhappy.

  22. I’m canceling my Prime Membership for this very reason, it all started with the Pandemic and yes, I gave them a pass, after all, there was a pandemic going on but ever since it has taken at least a week to get a package. I am using Walmart + and the nice thing about it is that they might quote 2 days’ delivery, but I often receive the item the same day as they just deliver it from one of their many stores. I also love Walmart’s United States BASED customer service department! They are lovely to work with and very easy to understand. Outsourced customer service is something I will never understand, I feel sorry for the person trying to help and understand me and I feel sorry for me trying to understand them! In any case, Walmart Plus truly delivers, unlike Amazon Prime!

    • Give them time. Amazon from what I understand was great when it first started too. But once they get everybody sucked into signing on they’ll be skimping here and there to make more money from everybody. CS will be shipped overseas just like everybody else . It’s called shrinklation/skimpflation

  23. The reader is wrong. The 1 or two-day delivery is ONLY for “So’d and shipped by Amazon” items. Further, if you order, say, at 11 PM. there is NO guaranteed delivery of 1 or two days because you place an order unreasonably late in the day. Plus, you can’t expect a product from China to be delivered quickly, UNLESS Amazon stocks it in one of their local warehouses.

    I have been a Prime member for 14 years. I know how it works.

    READ Amazon’s terms, or contact their Customer Service.

  24. Our prime delivery has gotten ridiculous here in North Georgia. 95% of our stuff came UPS until about the past month, now almost everything is coming USPS, in which I have to drive to post office to get as the subdivision has cluster mailboxes. If have let several things just sit at the post office and refuse to pick it up & after two weeks USPS has to take it back to Amazon. Takes about a month for this to all go thru and they issue a credit, so if you do this, keep an eye on your credit card. If you get tried of waiting from them to credit it back, get in a chat and ask what the deal is, and if it would be easier for you to just dispute the charge as with USPS returning it, you have tracking of it going back.

    Here is the new thing we have found the last two weeks and urge everyone here to try it & report back. I will make this simple. We have prime and several times I have ordered or put an item in the cart, selecting only things “shipped by Amazon” and shows delivery will be about 7-10 days out, with the Prime shipping option. My wife created a brand new Amazon account, without prime of course, and when she selects the identical item, the delivery date is 2-3 days sooner. Nine out of ten times. So I pay for Prime, get USPS shipping now and have to wait longer than the non-prime, “buy $25 & get free shipping people”

    Please try that above and post your results and another way to check without creating an account is open a new/private browser, put the item in the cart and enter the shipping zip code. It works the same, as we only had her create an account to verify it. I don’t us renewing as if it takes longer to get and 45 minute trip to post office, I can just go to a brick & mortar store to buy. I hope the lawsuit goes through.

    I am bookmarking this site & want to see if anyone else is getting the same results.

  25. We reside in 2 locations, one in New York City and one in Somers, NY. We have a an Amazon Prime account. Our Prime deliveries are invariably made on time. Late deliveries are rare, and when occurring, we receive an apologetic email from Amazon preceding the targeted delivery date advising us of it and giving a plausible explanation of why the delivery will be late (ie. inclement weather, shipment problems to Amazon and/or the supplier or whatever). Being a prime member also gives us streaming Prime Video, additional Amazon discounts and virtually free deliveries. We also receive a 5% across the board discount on almost everything coming from Amazon on our Prime card. Amazon’s prices are usually the lowest around, although you may be able to snag a marginally lower price elsewhere after spending half a day searching for it on your computer or smart phone. And when you use a lower priced supplier, that’s usually when your late delivery and other problems really begin. Lawsuits like this against Amazon can only make our purchases from it cost us more.

  26. I don’t get anything before at least a 5 day window it seems these days. I noticed it just before the holidays. However, the $150 (after taxes) for the Prime membership is far less than the shipping costs I would otherwise pay for all the items I order on Amazon. Is this deceptive marketing? Yes. Is the value still there for me to pay for Prime? Yes.

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