Scam O'Clock

[goflyblind]

finally! it's about damned time.

[stethacantus]

This may be a scam. Here is how Amazon works. Currently they do not charge your account until the item is shipped. Originally it was they would charge your account as soon as you placed the order, and if it turned out they could not ship the item ( such as a pre-sell item being cancelled ) then you would be refunded via a gift certificate. But apparently there were a number of third party sellers who were bad actors who would charge for items they then never shipped. So the policy now is once the seller says the item is shipped, then your account is charged.

Okay, so a couple of weeks ago I ordered the movie Absolutely Anything. This was about the seventh time I have reordered this film from Amazon. Each time ending in disaster. I received a few region locked U.K. versions, or the seller would wait an entire week to then say he could not get the film from his distributor ( in other words, never had it in stock to begin with, ) and apparently Amazon's entire stock of the film was actually a mislabeled Keano Reeves movie, one of which ended up delivered to me. Eighth times a charm, right? So I reordered another copy, and although Amazon claimed it was in stock, it was suddenly being shipped from a third party upon ordering it ( which meant my free shipping suddenly turned into a $5 shipping fee. ) My original delivery estimate was one week, which was OCT 21-24. However, the third party did not send an e-mail saying it was shipped until OCT 24th, and would not arrive until the 20th of NOV the earliest, then provided no tracking #. Then I get an E-mail from Amazon saying the seller was violating a rule of theirs by not providing a tracking number, and unless they provided a tracking number by the end of the week, they would demand a refund. Finally on OCT 27, the seller sent me another e-mail saying the item was "just shipped" and this time provided a tracking number.

However, when I tried to give use the tracking number on the USPS website, I got this:

That means the seller had a label created via the internet, but never actually gave a package to the post office. Which means that "Carrier picked up the package" is a lie. BTW, this screen grab I got today, so in 11 days the seller has not given the package to the post office.

[stethacantus]

So I am trying to get this order cancelled so I can order it from a reputable seller that actually has the item, but the representative on the phone wants me to wait until a day after the late estimate delivery date of December 4th to file a complaint, despite the fact the seller lied about the package being shipped.  Then the representative on the phone starts saying that the seller has a 92% positivity rating.  So I decide to look it up for myself. And here is what I found. See if you find this strange. But apparently, every time this guy gets a bad review, a bunch of four star reviews suddenly show up, and they are not that creative. Here are just the reviews for today.

And the same "Great Seller" "Excellent Seller" reviews go back for months. Somehow the representative didn't think this is any proof that maybe there is a bot providing this seller with positive reviews.