Something I noticed
29I just finished reading (most of) the TrackR Pixel thread. A ton of new members signed up with Meh to buy these devices, presumably having seen the deal on social media after CNET picked up on it. But to get to the point of my post: I was rather disappointed at the sheer number of replies in the TrackR thread from new users who were very disgruntled with their experience, and, among other things, vowed to never order from Meh again, report Meh to the BBB, and/or complain to others about their poor experience. While I do realize and acknowledge that the TrackR sale (much like the Quip toothbrush sale) experienced technical difficulties, I feel that it is unfair to judge the entire site, and the behavior and efficiency of its staff, based on one slightly subpar ordering experience…which brings me to my second point. Most orders for the TrackR were not lost or wrong (though a few did report missing pieces, and at least one person apparently received an empty package), but simply delayed, and by only a couple weeks…which is within the average order time window for most online retailers. I saw people complaining that they hadn’t received their orders after 3 or 4 days! I understand that a lack of tracking or updates can be frustrating, but ranting angrily about something never makes it better, and just reveals to others unflattering aspects of your character. Also keep in mind that many of these orders were for one dollar, and EVERY order, even with shipping, totaled less than $10. I may have been a bit more understanding if it’d been a $200 blender or something…nobody is losing tons of money on this one, and in the end, the orders made it to their destinations anyway, with an apology letter to boot. I hope at least a few of these new users decided to stick around and try Meh again in the future.
I have been a Mehmber for a comparatively long time, placing dozens of orders, and the worst thing that’s ever happened was when my hoverboard stopped working…customer service was polite, prompt, and sent me a brand new hoverboard in less than a week. Problems happen; nobody is perfect…but so far, I feel Meh has gone above and beyond when it comes to making things right and offering fun products at fire sale prices.
TL;DR - People really shouldn’t be so quick to judge, based on one experience.
- 11 comments, 88 replies
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Yer preachin’ to the choir kid. The people that need to see this won’t. But FWIW (I hate using FWIW) I completely agree.
@therealjrn FWIW, it doesn’t bother me at all whether you do or don’t use FWIW!
@UncleVinny IAE, YOLO, IMHO.
@therealjrn TBH, IOBID FFS, &YCTYMSGFABJs.
@therealjrn @UncleVinny look, look! I’m cool and hip, not old at all! I can do those all cap random strings, too!
HIJKL ZXCVBNM
[slinks off to google 4 of the 8 acronyms used by above]
@mollama @UncleVinny LOL
@mollama @therealjrn TROLOLOLOLAMFAO
@mollama @therealjrn @UncleVinny
OMGWTFBBQ.
psst, @UncleVinny, I still can’t find “YCTYMSGFABJ” what am I missing? I want to be in on the joke. Don’t tell anyone I didn’t know, please. And this is how you send a whisper, right?
@mollama @UncleVinny nope
@mollama @UncleVinny TBH, IDK either…I’m guessing it starts with “You Can('t?) Take Your”
So if UV is cussing us, he can GDIAF.
@mollama @therealjrn people would be really fucking disappointed (in me) if they figured out what that makeshift abbreviation stood for.
@mollama @therealjrn @UncleVinny @carl669
@therealjrn …and FEITCTAJ. [Fuck 'em if they can’t take a joke…]
On a scale of
what
tothe fuck
- how many email notifications is @carl669 getting for these?I’ve placed dozens of orders and have never had a bad experience. I’ve received DOA items and after one email, all was made right. I have sent emails during mehrathons asking dumb questions and have recieved responses, polite responses even though I am an idiot, in quick fashion. Has shipment been delayed on occasion, yes. But shipment had also been delayed on almost every other site I’ve shopped. It happened to me just today… it took almost two weeks to receive shoes from a puma order. It really doesn’t need to be said, but meh you are alright in my book.
@jimmyd103 Yes my experiences with customer service, as limited as they have been, has always been good.
Well said. The ones that read this and actually consider it are the ones we want to stay. The ones that don’t, or because their $9 order was delayed or wrong (and ultimately fixed) read it and go “pfffft!”, will leave which is probably better anyway.
@ybmuG Exactly- we few proud REAL Mehtizens are a select [and selective] bunch…
It’s the nature of the beast. I browse a handful of discount and daily deal sites frequently. The majority of those people vowing never to buy again are mostly users who were never really planning on being repeat customers to begin with. They chase deals when advertised on specific sites, then complain as if they were frequent customers the second the first thing bad happens.
I remember reading a complaint because a customer received a package where the item’s packaging was damaged. The item inside was completely fine and fully functional.
This is why I tend to go out of my way TO leave positive feedback wherever possible. That way the pointless and undeserved negative feedback is observed next to a more sensible (hopefully) positive review. Sadly at the end of the day, those leaving frivolous negative reviews and remarks will continue to do so, alongside their threats of vowing never to repeat business there again.
@theonlybuster Similarly, one of the biggest problems with life in general is that people are predisposed to talk about bad experiences much more often, and more vigorously, than good ones.
@PooltoyWolf Are you being intentionally ironic or was it just serendipity? (Either way, it gave me a chuckle.)
@macromeh Ironic? That statement was meant to be taken literally. People rarely commend others for good actions, and talk all the time about bad experiences.
Forgive me, I’m not sure how one would take that statement ironically?
Those who purchase from amazon are kinda conditioned to think that every internet store site now does automatic free 2-5 day shipping.
Without checking the site policies. Without thinking about whether that makes economic sense for a particular internet store.
I agree that most of these “deal-chaser” purchasers never intend to be repeat customers.
It’s too bad that they feel they must loudmouth their poorly thought out opinions in public tho.
@f00l Yeah, but Amazon keeps missing their one or two day shipping guarantees for me, and their customer service, which used to be decent, is now close to useless. And I’m paying for them to deliver quickly.
For example, I got an email that my guaranteed delivery date, that day, was going to be missed. Since this kept happening, I called to have them give me another month of Prime or give me a few bucks of credit, just because they need to suffer some consequences.
The customer service rep kept saying that because it was six pm, and the guaranteed delivery wasn’t until eight pm, that the package would still arrive in time. Never mind my email that said it wouldn’t. Never mind that the tracking showed that it hadn’t reached my city yet. No, it was going to be there, she was certain.
So, anyway, I don’t expect Meh stuff to show up soon. I really do expect Amazon stuff to, since I’m a paid Prime member.
@craigthom @f00l Well don’t forget when Prime cost $79 (I think it was), that service was pretty damn good! Including 1-day on virtually everything for $3.99 extra. I had a LCD TV (not huge, but 32" I think), and a DeWalt drill shipped overnight for $3.99 each. I didn’t take advantage of it that often but in both of those cases it actually was helpful because I was on a short time schedule to fix up a rental.
Lately with the new local drivers (I call them teenagers with their dad’s vans) it’s very bad: drop stuff off all hours of the day and night, at various places around my house (found one under a tree, and one on my side deck I almost never go to). I had to check tracking on something I was waiting for and it said “delivered to back porch” and I was thinking “where is that?”
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin yeah, I have an account with FedEx with specific instructions as to where to leave packages. I can count on 0 fingers how many times that has happened.
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin @ybmuG
TL;DR Delivery sometimes is painfully bad.
My local FedEx uses contract drivers. I found this out the hard way from a supervisor when a delivery went awry. I was literally sitting in the office waiting for the delivery and had left specific instructions about the gate and where the office is located. Never saw the truck, and never got my cabinet. FedEx never did find where the cabinet was delivered and AMZN refunded my purchase. But apparently “my” driver then decided to screw with all my deliveries since the incident. There was no telling where the packages would end up. “Somewhere in the vicinity of the residence” is about as good as it got for a while. I haven’t seen him in a couple of years though.
UPS seems (at least here) to have better drivers. But I had one asshole who was running late and dropped my package off at a “UPS Access Point” saying that I wasn’t available for delivery. I had to get on the horn with some poor CS person who could see that my instructions are to leave the packages at the door, and the shipper didn’t require a signature. grrr Again, I was here, waiting for the truck and my cameras showed he never ever came on my block.
Coinciding with the construction of an AMZN warehouse here we now have local contractors delivering some things. A wide variety of people and vehicles. I guess it’s part of the “gig economy” now. But for the most part, they are efficient and take pictures of my box(s) sitting there on the porch…THEN they ring the bell and run away. haha
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin @therealjrn I’ve definitely seem more of the personal/rental vehicle thing here. I first thought it was a volume issue and they didn’t have enough trucks so they either rented some from U-haul or allowed drivers to use their own. The question I have with contact drivers is what oversight is there? Are they bonded?
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin @ybmuG Good question. It wouldn’t surprise me if my errant FedEx guy was helping the packages fall off the truck.
@ybmuG
I bet they’re not. AMZ does such volume they will just eat the packages and reship or refund for losses, and use all their data to determine at what point a driver has failed to meet a delivery accuracy metric and terminate their relationship. Maybe if they show a consistent pattern of missing deliveries they will try to prosecute for theft. They will rely on contractors being scared of termination to make them adhere to ever increasing metrics just like the workers in all the stories that come out of their fulfillment centers.
Someone else mentioned the drivers taking pictures of the packages on the porch. I bet this is a reporting requirement for every delivery to prove it was done - the picture is both timestamped and geotagged so it puts that package definitely at the reported place at the reported time.
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin @therealjrn @ybmuG I remember the first time I saw a contracted Amazon delivery vehicle and drivers. It was a champagne colored Toyota Camry filled to brimming with boxes…no company markings on the vehicle, and no uniform or identification on either of the occupants. At that time, I had no idea what it was, so my first thought was they were stealing packages!! I think these vehicles and drivers should be required, at a minimum, to display company identification on the vehicles and clothing, so people don’t wig out and report them for suspicious activity like I nearly did.
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin @PooltoyWolf @therealjrn you’d think Amazon would want to provide at least a magnetic sign just to advertise that they are delivering stuff to your neighborhood. I agree, it does come off as a little sketchy.
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin @PooltoyWolf @therealjrn @ybmuG I live in an apartment building. There is someone at the front desk which is about 6’ from the entrance. You have to pass it to get to the elevator. I wasn’t home. They left the package in the middle of the hall. It was stolen before I got back. FedEx claimed since they delivered it not their problem. I fought back and won. Yes their problem. In what universe is the middle of the hall in an apartment building a safe place to leave something - especially when there is a manned front desk? USP and USPS both deliver packages to the front desk.
@craigthom @f00l @Kidsandliz @pmarin @PooltoyWolf @therealjrn FedEx, when it absolutely, positively, has to be…ah…forget it.
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin @therealjrn @ybmuG My initial suspicion as to why they don’t label the vehicles is that Amazon doesn’t want to paint a target on themselves when a driver inevitably gets in a wreck or something, and someone tries to sue.
@craigthom @f00l @Kidsandliz @pmarin @therealjrn @ybmuG That’s unreal…
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin @PooltoyWolf @therealjrn hadn’t thought about the liability thing, though a little digging and they would find out and any lawyer would look for the deepest pocket available.
@craigthom @f00l @pmarin @PooltoyWolf @ybmuG It looks like his octopus swim trunks don’t have any pockets.
@f00l Hey, I resemble that remark [as far as buying from Amazon frequently is concerned- but not where the unrealistic shipping expectations is concerned.]
@craigthom Agree 100% with all of your comments and have been having similar experiences. In addition, it is nearly impossible to get a straight or sensible answer from the alleged Amazon “customer service” people.
@craigthom @PhysAssist Amazon customer service did do something amazing though. 2 years ago someone’s textbooks arrived at my apt. I called them and told them to contact the person who ordered by phone and tell them their books are at their old place. About an hour or so later the owner of the books showed up.
@Kidsandliz @PhysAssist But your good experience was two years ago. A lot has changed.
When Amazon started doing their own deliveries here they were just random people in cars. I’m pretty sure it’s like Uber for package delivery, with people hanging out and getting paid by the delivery, responsible for their own cars and insurance and gas and the like.
Lately, though, I’ve seen Amazon painted (or probably wrapped) delivery vans. I don’t know if the drivers are employees or not, or if they are still using per-job gig labor. I’ve just seen the vans.
Usually I don’t know I’ve gotten a delivery until Alexa makes a BONG noise and her ring turns yellow.
I had one delivery that said it was handed to a resident, which was bullshit, since I’m the only resident of this house. When I got home it was on the front porch. I guess maybe the delivery person tapped the wrong button.
As much of a pain in the ass as it is sometimes, I’ve only had one package disappear from my front porch, and I’m not sure USPS actually delivered it the way they say they did. Sometimes they say a package has been delivered, but they deliver it the next day. But USPS doesn’t deliver my Amazon packages any more; just my Meh ones. Amazon is occasionally UPS, when they are reshipping something, but usually their own delivery.
There are probably a half dozen Amazon warehouses within a half hour of me and another five within two hours, so that may skew my results.
@craigthom @Kidsandliz Our Amazon deliveries can be by USPS, UPS, or occasionally Fedex- we have never seen an Amazon delivery vehicle, although to be honest, lately our Fedex deliveries have all been delivered by a sketchy-looking guy in a Ryder rental van- and he has been pretty crappy at handling the packages- we watched him tossing them around in the back of the can [from out of his viewpoint]. We have had a few packages go missing and had to fight with Amazon CS about it. They also reported that they were left at a side-door- and we don’t have a side-door.
If they are threatening to call the bbb you know they are certainly of a certain age bracket that tends to be extremely entitled and infantile. These types will whine about everything and tend to be the most crazy users of certain facebook communities. They don’t matter.
Anyone who would throw a tantrum over a delayed order from a discount site is insane. Its not like they paid 20 dollars for overnight shipping and then their package was delayed a month and when they got it it was the wrong item and customer support refused to help.
Its depressing though, and I feel bad for any support who gets verbally abused by adult babies. They are the vocal minority though, and im sure 90%+ of customers just wait patiently and quietly until support has to be contacted, and then are polite and understanding.
I order a lot. I can only think of one time actually getting mad, but that was amazon and I was more mad at how amazon operates and Jeff Bezos is a baldy 100 billionaire hoarding ass then I was mad about the screwed up order and support policies.
@florgenjorgen Is this the same group that thinks the BBB is a governmental agency too?
@florgenjorgen @narfcake I’m going to report you two to the Chamber of Commerce!
@narfcake they probably think you can only use bureau if its the goverment like a .gov address
@florgenjorgen You talking about boomers or millennials? I can’t tell.
@sammydog01 Its boomers man, its always boomers.
@florgenjorgen That surprises me since boomers grew up filling out order forms in catalogs, mailing them in, and receiving their stuff weeks later. Is this information you picked up on Reddit?
@florgenjorgen @sammydog01 Once they discovered Amazon, they got conditioned to 2-day shipping. The “why, back in my days …” applies only when they remember the old days as simpler, easier, and/or cheaper.
(My folks are evidence of that.)
@sammydog01 totally man, Ive never known a single boomer in my life. I just learn it all from those millenials on reddit.
@florgenjorgen @sammydog01
A person who never had parents! And was raised by internet algorithms!
Cool!
/giphy algorithm
@florgenjorgen @narfcake The youngest boomers are almost 60- sure you’re not thinking of gen-Xers? They’re the ones that I see making fusses in stores.
@florgenjorgen @sammydog01 I think the Baby Boom ran until 1962. You may be surprised to find out that some Mehtizens fall into that age range.
@craigthom @florgenjorgen It wouldn’t surprise me since I’m one of them. If I need something quickly I drive to the store. We have those where I live.
I even use Reddit.
@craigthom @florgenjorgen @sammydog01 Yeah I was bummed, missed 1962 by 3 days, so I was too young to be a Boomer, too young to be a Hippie. Too old for a Gen-X or -Y but do like to buy the same stuff they do: phones and video games.
@pmarin Wikipedia says you’re a boomer. Don’t tell your Reddit buddies.
@sammydog01 Can confirm- NOT Boomers- we’ins knows how to wait fer our-in’s stuff…
@narfcake
/giphy Ba-Da-Boom
Nopers- sorry, but I call BullShit on this, especially since Bezos-prime shipping is virtually never actually 2-day shipping in my extensive personal shopping experience…
BTW, it’s only the Boomers’ parental units that do the ‘back in my day’ rants- many of whom were depression babies, who walked barefoot to school uphill both coming and going in all seasons…
@craigthom Actually every source I found surprised me by citing 1964 as the official end of the post-WWII baby boom- I thought it was sooner- 1962 like you stated…
@sammydog01 …Too right you are!!
@narfcake @PhysAssist maybe it’s because we live in the same area, but 2 days is definitely rarely 2 days. I suppose it depends on how you count.
Order = day -2
Fulfill = day -1
Ship = day 0
On the road = day 1
Delivered = day 2
Conclusion, 5 days equals 2-day delivery
@ybmuG - I know I’ve said this before, but there’s an Amazon warehouse in my area and back in the day I almost always got my orders in two days - until they introduced Prime, whereupon I rarely got them within a week until I GOT Prime, whereupon I started getting them in two or three days.
Now get off my lawn.
@aetris And yet poor Bezos still can’t afford new octopus shorts…or ones with pockets…
@ybmuG My last (and may well be THE last) Prime delivery from Amazon took 13 days to arrive. It’s status changed to “shipped” after 3 days, but the tracking code showed “awaiting shipment” at USPS. After another 3 days, it was still “awaiting shipment” at USPS, but Customer Disservice said I could not cancel the order as it “had already shipped” and I could not get a refund until I gave it another 3 days to arrive - because, possibly, an unspecified delay. After another 3 days, I contacted CS and noted that it had then been 9 days and the package had not shipped. I got a reply the next day that the package had shipped, and the tracking showed that, indeed, the Post Office had received the package - albeit 10 days after it had “shipped”. It did, according to Amazon, meet the criteria for Prime, because the “extra day” of shipping was caused by a delay at the USPS sorting center.
I’ve ordered stuff from small companies in Lithuania and Belarus and gotten them faster. I now use Amazon to look up products and reviews before actually buying them elsewhere.
@narfcake @ybmuG Agree, and those are best regarded as minimums.
I also agree with @rockblossom’s notes above- but I also frequently still order from Amazon [if their price is the best], and then defer 2-day Prime shipping in order to get the $1 credit which I use to buy Kindle books or watch non-Prime movies.
@narfcake @PhysAssist @rockblossom Wait - I can get a $1 credit for ignoring Prime shipping?! Dang - another Scapegoat BLAME!
1 2 3 4 get your scapegoat @JnkL on the floor
@narfcake @PhysAssist @rockblossom @ybmuG Yes! It only costs you $12.99 a month to ignore Prime and get a $1 credit!!!
@narfcake @PhysAssist @rockblossom @therealjrn Cool! It’s like the discount store up the road: “We lose money on every item - but we make it up in volume!”
@narfcake @rockblossom @therealjrn @ybmuG Nope- I make sure that we make it up in movies, videos, and e-book deals. For instance, we have binged watched all of these series: Jack Ryan, Burn Notice, Strike Back, The Expanse, Lector, Bosch, and several others that slip my mind.
Now if I could only get SWMBO to ditch Spectrum.
Sometimes meh tries to step up to the big leagues and gets a rightfully deserved smacked down. Keeps them humble.
This thread reminded me to check on my TrackR order. It shows as “shipped” with some tracking number. Maybe mine is lost.
@warpedrotors It shows as “in transit” since September 4. I’ll go wait outside. The truck should be here any minute now.
I’ve only had one issue, and Meh made it right (actually it was Morningsave that did, but close enough).
I’ve seen a 1-star review for a stainless steel microwave and the complaint was because the item they received was turquoise instead of stainless steel. Moran apparently didn’t understand the item was wrapped in blue plastic film to protect it during shipping.
@mike808
@mike808 @narfcake Morans! I think that’s going to be my new word!
@mike808 @ybmuG Also:
/image infromed
@mike808 @narfcake seems to be a trend on both sides…
@mike808 @ybmuG Alas, stupidity is equal opportunity. It doesn’t matter what their race, their gender, their age, their marital status, their religion, or their political affiliation is; anyone can be affected.
@mike808 @narfcake @ybmuG
effected
/sorry pet peeve.
@therealjrn
@mike808 @narfcake @therealjrn @ybmuG your pet peeve is when someone uses the correct word?
@mike808 That about made me fall out of my chair! I once got a free TV set, claimed to be ‘broken’ by the previous owner. “It won’t turn on, no matter what I do!” He never bothered to get up and press the front panel power button. The batteries in the remote control were dead.
@mike808 @narfcake @warpedrotors @ybmuG
you’re
/again, sorry
@mike808 @narfcake @therealjrn @warpedrotors @ybmuG
/giphy sorry not sorry
Your going to be real, real busy if you feel compelled to fix misspelling, grammar; and punctuation on the inter webs, @therealjrn
Do what feels right, tho!
@JnKL @therealjrn Especially when ‘fixing’ correct usage LOL
@JnKL @Kidsandliz @therealjrn
@JnKL
you’re
/come on man, your doing this on porpoise.
@JnKL @therealjrn
/image on porpoise
@mike808 @narfcake @ybmuG
/image go dwags
@craigthom @mike808 @narfcake @ybmuG Okay, that’s funny.
@JnKL @Kidsandliz @narfcake @therealjrn
That’s ME that is “wrong on the internet”.
That’s right. I keep everyone up all night dealing with my worthless and trollish opinions.
/giphy troll opinion
I believe Kanye West said it best when he said, “There’ll always be haters, that’s the way it is,Hater n****s marry hater bitches and have hater kids”
Nuf said Yeezy!
Who needs their twinky millennial bullshit anyway?
@cranky1950
/giphy crank
/giphy cranky