Some of the online retailers just have what it takes in that respect. Amazon is definitely one of them. Backcountry/Competitive Cyclist is another. I receive more personalized service from them than I did from local specialty shops. We had a high-end bike shop that shuttered last year and even though they knew me on a first name basis & the gear I like, their service was just awful in every way. Honestly, Competitive felt like they were more personalized and actually cared, so I stopped going to that local shop except for when they'd have a massive sale. I wasn't alone and now they're no longer. (Now we have a really awesome shop that's won me over.)

The places I see doing well are the hyper local businesses that understand the online behemoths can only go so far with customer service and they jump in to fill the void -- offering niche products or a personalized service that goes beyond what an Amazon or Competitive Cyclist could offer. Local booksellers are apparently doing well because there's something people like about getting personalized recommendations and having a conversation about what they've read.

But the mall shops of the world sit somewhere in the middle and still seem confused. Macy's is going to be one of the next to take it on the chin, mark my words.

Easy to return? Ha!

It used to be easy to return, but now it is free to ship to your house and $50 to return. We used to be close to 100% Amazon, but now we are doing more and more at places with physical stores if we need to return. Amazon is great if you know you won't need to return, but if we are not 100% sure (and when you buy online it is much harder to tell sometimes) we do a lot more comparison shopping.

No idea about online, but Walmart B&M stores are ridiculously easy to return stuff around here.

IKEA was an easy return when the item we had already bought (unopened) went on sale at 50% off, even though we were a few days past the return period. They just gave us half our money back (which we then spent on more stuff in the store.

I prefer to buy from B&M, unless it's something that I know exactly what I want it's usually quicker to drive 5 minutes to the store.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

A few years ago, I ordered a new camera lens for a specific job. As I watched the tracking, it was obviously not making it on time (either the Prime delivery date or in time for the job that I needed it for). I contacted Amazon and explained my issue. They immediately shipped out a second lens, next day delivery for no cost to me. I asked what I was supposed to do if the first lens still showed up. They told me I could keep it, sell it, whatever I wanted to do with it, but I was still only going to be billed for one of them since it was their screwup. That was a $1200 lens. She made it sound like I had dropped a penny, really didn't care.

Then I hear that Bezos is worth more than Gates, and it all makes sense now.

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Starting from scratch...

Are you sure it was Amazon or one of their third party vendors?

I have never had to pay for an Amazon return, shipping or otherwise. And I have returned a lot of stuff.

Yup, we learned the lesson the hard way. They changed their return policy a little while ago. Now only items that have the tag "free returns" in their description are free returns. And obviously stuff that arrives broken, so I supposed you could always take a hammer to whatever you don't want.

Free return

Not Free return

So stuff that can't break, free to return. Stuff that can break in shipping, has a fee to return. Scamazon, rhymes with Amazon. Might want to get used to it.

When you order from Amazon, you're ordering from particular vendors who list their items on Amazon. So the company who sent you the lens was a 3rd party.