How I saw the advantages of Amazon through German online shops
In the last few months you have had one thing above all: time to devote yourself to your private projects. So at the end of 2020 I decided to carry out tasks that had long been postponed and to buy the necessary things: paints and painting accessories to paint walls, as well as decorative objects and a box spring bed to generally enhance the environment. I wanted to do without Amazon, they always say that German retailers should be given preference. Why they can’t always keep up with the American competition, I’ll summarize for you on the basis of an experience report.
Before we start, however, I would like to get rid of one more thing: It is clear that everyone has different experiences with their own online shopping. If you have not had any problems with dealer X or supplier Y so far, then that’s good, but from my perspective this report should underline why we demonize Amazon because of certain things (for example the working conditions) and at the same time cannot do without it.
The orders were all placed on December 31, 2020. The painting accessories were ordered from the provider Hagebaumarkt, the decorative items and the box spring bed from the German online retailer Baur. The delivery times stated were the 2nd week of January (painting items), the 3rd week of January (decorative items) and the 1st week of February (box spring bed). This is where the first problem becomes apparent: the delivery time. Sure, we are in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, but I was amazed that things like mortar, paintbrushes and paint require a delivery time of 2 weeks. If I order painting accessories from Amazon, delivery the next day (with Prime) was promised. A delivery time of 2-3 days was specified for color.
A week goes by and the first e-mails appear in my inbox: The wall paint is delayed by another 2 weeks, Baur also informs me (by LETTER) that the decorative items can only be expected at the beginning of February. Since I was under no time pressure, that didn’t seem like a big problem to me, but a delivery time of 4 weeks is then no longer competitive in my opinion. After 4 weeks, paint, painting accessories and mortar rolled in, and at the beginning of February there was no bed post in sight of the box spring bed.
That was because I received a letter (yes, another letter) from Baur at the end of January. Here I was informed that the bed should be delayed for another two weeks. In mid-February I received another letter that the bed would not be available for another two weeks. The new delivery deadline is February 22-26, until today (February 23) no forwarding company has called. So this deadline will pass again.
The bottom line for me is the following: If I need something quickly and reliably, I will use Amazon more often in the future. Of course there are also other retailers (e.g. Mediamarkt) who keep their delivery times, but I would not have thought that such large companies as Hagebaumarkt and Baur would be so wrong in their planning. As a customer, it is understandable for me as a customer that some products are not available from stock, but then (as in the case of Baur) to inform me by letter about recurring delays no longer really seems appropriate to me. Nowadays delivery times are also a purchase argument on which trust in the retailer depends.
