AMazon Prime Discounts
 

I know this will end up in the Clubhouse but I decided to post it here so folks that are prime members might see it before it goes down the tube.
One of my friends told me that Amazon offered discounts to seniors and veterans so I did an internet search for them.
They do not give seniors nor veterans a discount, but if you are on government assistance you can get it for $6.99 a month, regular price for working people is $14.99.
I think I am going to cancel my membership.

Amazon Military Discount

In the past, Amazon has offered a military and veteran discount on its Amazon Prime service around Veterans Day in November. That perk, first given in 2019, knocked $40 off the regular price of an Amazon Prime annual membership, bringing the total at the time to $79.

While the company did not renew that Veterans Day discount for 2020 or 2021, there's always a chance it will offer it again in the future. For now, however, Amazon.com does not have a military or veteran discount.

Related: Amazon Prime Announces Big Military Discount for Veterans Day

Amazon also offers a Prime discount for students using verified .edu email addresses and verified recipients of some government assistance programs, not including VA disability payments or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients.
https://www.military.com/discounts/a...-discount.html

My prime renewed in June, but I plan to cancel next year. Deliveries that are promised next day or two days out are taking a week. On Sunday, I ordered lawn mower belt that was supposed to be delivered today. I haven't seen it yet. I don't watch Prime Video because the only things of interest force me to sit through commercials. Over the past year or so, I have reduced the amount of stuff I buy from Amazon due to slow shipping and some other reasons. Amazon Prime was convenient during Covid, but I'd rather go to brick and mortar as long as there is no huge premium for doing so.

I only buy online if I can't find what I am looking for locally.

I don't care for amazon and I try to buy local BUT after going to Ace hardware and HDepot for a strainer for my commercial sink...they didn't have it and couldn't get it. I found it on amazon in less that five minutes. I have had a couple things come faster than expected and two things delayed in shipping. One thing (USA made wire wheel for my pedestal grinder) I never received and had to call them twice to get another shipped. It finally came a month later only to find there was two (clearly marked) of them in the box. I guess that was their way of saying sorry. lol I had prime, doesn't seem to be worth it unless you constantly buy stuff. I don't like automatic deductions from my account.

I have to admit I love Amazon. It's a one hour round trip for me to get to a town with a Hardware store or Home Depot etc. At today's gas prices that's a minimum $10 in fuel, plus the time involved, plus a smaller selection. For me, compared to setting at home taking my time looking through a wide selection of products .. just no contest.

But yes the membership has gone up, the shipping times have gone up. The wife likes some of the Prime TV stuff. Last year I bought a set of tires for my truck .. free delivery, that was going to cost me $60 otherwise, tires for my GTO .. free delivery, pretty much pays for the membership right there. I'd say we get 3-4 packages a week from Amazon. I can still try to pick US made products as easy, or easier than in a brick and mortar, I can still try to find small business sources selling on Amazon.

For me, in my logistical situation, saves me a ton of time and shipping and fuel costs ... and during the winter ... forget about it ... WAY easier than driving down the mountain into town.

I do sometimes miss the days of my youth living in town. A good Deli two doors down, a breakfast diner half a block away, grocery store and hardware store in walking distance. But I don't miss the on street parking, the dog constantly barking in the apartment below, the rent, the noise etc.

I will give Amazon credit for one thing. They have always addressed issues in my favor.

I ordered a TV during Black Friday, it arrived broken. I returned it, but they told me the new TV would be at a 25% higher cost. They ended up giving me the new TV at the original cost. The only thing I didn't like was I had two TVs billed to my card for a couple of weeks, but they credited me back for the broken TV.

I ordered some parts for one of my cars, but they never arrived. Amazon said they were delivered, and sent out another shipment that never arrived. I finally got my parts on a third try. Several months later, I get a call from someone the next town over saying they had a couple of Amazon boxes addressed to me. The packages went to the wrong address, but the home owner was out of the country. A neighbor watching the house put the packages inside and didn't look at the name on the package. I called Amazon, they said they had already closed the paperwork out, and due to the original cost, it wasn't worth the headache of returning the parts. They told me to keep them.

I've had a few things damaged in transit, and they usually take care of it.

It is hard to beat Amazon prices. This past weekend I made an order, one item was supposed to be here yesterday, it still shows in transit. Two other items are due Friday, we'll see if they make it or not.

Mike

I use Amazon quite a bit. Free shipping and I have literally ordered a number of things that were actually delivered the same day! Now I know why there are so many one million square foot warehouses around here...which I do hate.
I find that local parts stores often do not have what I need in stock, even on my later model vehicles. They always tell me that they can have it delivered from the warehouse by the next day. I tell them I can do that myself and I don't have to get in my car to come back up here to pick it up.

My amazon use ebbs and flows;
I understand that culturally there is a chasm of a difference between American consumers and Canadian consumers - which lends to why e-commerce is a much bigger deal state-side than it is here;
I always prefer to go to a brick and mortar store to see (and hold) the item in question - for me, that drive is well worth it if I might avoid the hassle of a return.

As a side note, when going to a state-side mall, I find them quite literally tear-jerking because these malls are all becoming ghost towns...
We were in the malls in downtown Spokane, and in Great Falls this year, and they were both quite sad (I have to think when I see empty retailer spots about the employment implications) - and wonder how many people think about the implication of buying from an online retailer from another part of the world, and how it prevents money from staying local...

But we all have our proverbial line in the sand, mine is generally auto parts - I use Rockauto a LOT;
The local brick and mortar stores don't seem to even care to try to be reasonable any more (I often get their quotes at roughly 400% of Rockauto - including conversion and shipping) - they all seem to be setup to provide to local auto (service) shops, which in turn don't care about getting the very best price - they quote a job, and either get the job, or don't...
Lordco (A British Columbia, Canada based business) recently moved here - they have a warehouse right beside my community (if not for a river, I could easily walk there) - they seem to simply be out to lunch..

The main problem with Amazon is that a great deal of the items on there are not sold by Amazon, but by an Amazon-seller (eg: private business selling through Amazon);
I have had some hiccups:
This past year I bought brake pads listed as Delco parts, but what arrived (over a month later!) were O'reilly(?) private label parts, which were compatible, but NOTHING like the pads I was expecting. Thankfully I had no problem returning them.
The worst one, and one I got burnt on, was another set of Delco boxed pads - I received the package, saw that it was the Delco box, and I put it away (I often buy the more expensive service parts in advance to needing them), then when I went to use them, I opened the box, to find that what it contained was half of a set of pads... I got screwed on that one.
FYI: the OE brake parts for our 2009 Cobalt SS's are very pricey, and the aftermarket stuff all pales compared to the OE (my wife's daily driver was recently replaced with a 2009 Cobalt SS sedan - which is why I mentioned them plural).

I opted for the 'Prime' membership some years ago, and the wife and I have been contemplating killing it, but so far, we do use the 'Prime video' streaming just enough that it seems worthwhile to keep it for the video and shipping discounts... but who knows...

I forgot to mention that I think returns to Amazon are even easier than a brick and mortar store. They send me a QR code and I don't even have to wrap the package most of the time. I have a month or so to do it and whenever I am out and about I will swing by The UPS store, show them the QR code on my phone, they give me a receipt and I walk out. Period.

Gotta say,Prime user never any problems.
Saves me big time in shipping cost alone.
Tried the 7 day free trial on 4 pairs of shoes and sneakers.
Bought 1 pair (best looking - fitting) sent others back.
Excellent.
Love it.

I also live an hour round trip from any decent size city, so Amazon works for me. I get something from them every other day almost. The Fed ex and UPS guys probably hate me since I buy anything heavy like 70-80 lb bags of dog food, 50 lb bags of potting soil etc. I haven't gone down the cleaning or paper towel asle at the grocery store in 3 yrs. I order that stuff from them too. If I go to town and go to 2-3 different stores to get what I need, I lose almost a whole day of taking care of business around my place.
That's a big deal to me. I just ordered A tank of argon for welding on Amazon. I figure why not save the wear and tear on my back and let them worry about it. Plus at my age time is worth more than money.

I do hate any company that has auto renewal though. Seems underhanded. This year right before renewal was to hit, I tried to remove the card I use for my prime membership. I could not remove it with out replacing it with another one. That pissed me off so I called the cc company, told them I lost the card. They cancelled it and sent a new one with a new card number. Sometimes I'm petty like that. It just feels good.lol. Im not loyal to Amazon or any other woke business. I uses them for my good only.

Last Christmas I got 4 packages delivered from them that were not mine. I called them to let them know and was told to leave them on the porch and if not picked up in 48 hours, I could keep them, donate them or whatever I wanted. I ended up with about 175.00 worth of merchandise. That tells you how much money they're making.

My concern is not with Amazon's delivery or warranty. If they are making so much money why can't they give a working person, military or senior on a fixed income a break instead of offering it, for less than half price, to people on government assistance. It seems that in today's culture those that don't work are rewarded while the working man pays for it.

Those things arent mutually exclusive.

It cant just be assumed that everyone on government assistance doesnt work. Plenty of veterans and seniors would also be part of those programs that would apply.

Our minds always go to the worst possible place, and I get it, Im guilty of it too. But then I take a step back and I just have a hard time being upset that some mom out there who is part of the Women, Infants, and Children program gets a break on Amazon to get free shipping on basic household goods so they doesnt have to go to the store.

When I mention being an Amazon fan I should mention that I'm a fan of online shopping in general and have been for quite some time.
Become a Rock Auto customer when a new person bought out the local NAPA franchises and fired all the old timers I trusted. I used to enjoy going to the local NAPA to get what I needed and visit with the employees I've known for 30 years. Now a bunch of kids that have no knowledge of automobiles.
I also order a lot from Home Depot, mostly free shipping. Walmart at times, Best Buy, huge customer of McMaster Carr, and many other online sources for specialized parts I need ... computer parts, electronics, exotic hardware.

Hated to see the demise of the Mom and Pop ... but it wasn't just the malls, the Big Box and online that killed the Mom and Pop .... Mom and Pop got old, retired and went to Florida and the kids have no interest in the family business.