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Old 04-23-2012, 03:25 PM
 
9,238 posts, read 22,840,492 times
Reputation: 22693

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First off, I don't want this to be a thread about "do you like Amazon or hate Amazon?" I admit I love Amazon, and buy a lot on the site, whether it's from Amazon itself or from small stores that sell on Amazon. I love the convenience and the prices, and the free shipping.

But what I HATE is this:
I buy multiple items at one time, to qualify for free shipping. They give me a total, I put it on my debit card, and dutifully deduct the exact amount in my checkbook register. Yes, I know it's antiquated to use a paper checkbook register, but I like to record every single purchase, debit, and payment, and make sure I know my exact balance in my account at all times. I could probably do it on Excel, but same difference: I subtract the exact amount Amazon tells me they've charged me.

Then when I reconcile my bank account each month, instead of the one amount of, say, $110.98, there are lots of smaller amounts deducted, because Amazon shipped items separately, and charged me item by item. I'm not complaining that they've OVERCHARGED me; it's quite the opposite. Some (rare) times, the individual items showing up on my bank statement do add up to the total I have (that $110.98). But most of the time, they add up to a little less. So now I have 6 items adding up to $108.75, but I've already deducted $110.98. Now I have to go back and enter corrected amounts, and make my balance the correct balance. That extra $2.23 amounts to a big pain in the ass.

Sure, I'm sure some of you would say "hey you've saved $2.23, don't complain!" But I am a stickler for having my bank balance be exactly correct. (I really think that too few people keep up with their bank balances and reconcile their statements properly, and end up overdrawing their accounts--something I've never done. Plus, banks make errors too, and I wouldn't just trust their math or them always hitting the right key. I've caught a few errors over the years, that I've made the bank correct).

Does this annoy anyone else?

I'm not sure what I can do about it.
I could stop using Amazon, but like I said, I love them, despite this one issue.

I could put my amazon purchases on my credit card, and then later pay the credit card bill once all the discrepancies have been worked out. But I hate charging things, and don't want any credit card debt, even for a month.

Is there some nifty way of preventing this problem that I haven't considered? I know there's some choice at some point in the process where I pick putting all items into one shipment vs. having items delievered as they are ready. I wonder if that will keep it all correct? But if the purchases come from multiple sellers, as is often my case, I don't know how it would help.

Similarly, I buy "___ of the month" clubs for several people for Christmas. This is not Amazon. It's beer of the month, cheese of the month, cookie of the month, pasta of the month, etc. It might be like $300 for pie of the month, and I like deducting that total debit amount right then & there. But a few of these "of the month" companies like to not charge me up-front, and instead I get a debit each month every time the person gets a damned pie delivered.

Ugh! You'd think retailers would want to make things as easy as possible for customers, in order to keep customers. Now my bank statements are all messed up, and I have to deal with them calling and saying my card was rejected because it expired. Well, if you had charged me the total amount last December, you wouldn't be dealing with my card expiring in April, idiot!

Are you bothered by this kind of thing too?
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Old 04-25-2012, 02:59 PM
 
Location: The Ranch in Olam Haba
23,707 posts, read 30,662,949 times
Reputation: 9985
Quote:
Are you bothered by this kind of thing too?
Actually its a legal issue. They can't charge you for the item until each item actually ships. What they actually do is put a hold on your acct for the entire amount. This is why sometimes you will see many day seperation between transaction and post days.
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Old 04-25-2012, 03:13 PM
 
Location: Southern New Hampshire
10,039 posts, read 17,995,009 times
Reputation: 35786
I shop a lot at amazon but always charge the items for the rewards (and then pay them off when I get the statement). I agree with the OP that it is a pain in the butt to have to check every single different item since they were charged separately, but I DO check each one as I like to keep my accounts straight too. :-)
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Old 04-25-2012, 03:45 PM
 
1,738 posts, read 766,620 times
Reputation: 3529
I bought stuff from Amazon for the first time this Christmas. What I received was horrible, unusable and did NOT look like the picture..after several attempts to get it resolved with the company..Amazon tried and they ended up giving me a refund..which great..So bought something else a couple months ago..everything going fine...then the other day I got an email...I have to figure out TAXES on the stuff. Should that not have been done at the time? I had heard that Amazon was going to start taxing for our state but I thought it was going to be FUTURE purchases..but apparently they are taking past sales...what a pain...because of the price was one of the reasons why I decided to try Amazon out...now figuring out taxes and paying them separately..don't like that..I paid with a gift card..now I have to write a check or something...what a pain.

I know what you mean about buying enough items to get free shipping. Isn't it calling..super saver or something..anyway...
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Old 04-25-2012, 03:49 PM
 
Location: Tyler, TX
23,661 posts, read 23,982,865 times
Reputation: 14993
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilVA View Post
Actually its a legal issue. They can't charge you for the item until each item actually ships.
This ^^^

If this sort of thing bothers you enough to spend the time to write almost a dozen paragraphs about it, be thankful that you have the TIME to A) notice, and B) write the post.

Don't sweat the small stuff (especially if it works in your favor!! ). Life's too short...
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Old 04-27-2012, 12:36 PM
 
15,632 posts, read 24,358,294 times
Reputation: 22815
Why dont you get Amazon Prime? For $79/year, Amazon will send you anything it has in stock via two-day shipping FOR FREE. I've gotten totally spoiled by the Prime membership. (Prime has other goodies too.)

Of course, Prime doesnt apply to merchandise you buy from outside sellers.
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Old 04-27-2012, 06:30 PM
 
Location: home...finally, home .
8,807 posts, read 21,236,910 times
Reputation: 20066
Similarly, I buy "___ of the month" clubs for several people for Christmas. This is not Amazon. It's beer of the month, cheese of the month, cookie of the month, pasta of the month, etc

That reminds me of the time that Raymond bought "Fruit of the Month" for his parents and they just about went berzerk.
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