Amazon has become sleazy like the Sellers who use their platform

I can remember when Amazon was a genuinely good company that trusted and believed in their customers. Just like Nordstrom's department store and many others like them, consumers have exploited them with false returns and lies about shipping mishaps and quality control. Sellers have responded by raising prices and adding exorbitant shipping costs to deter returns and make the process as unappealing and difficult as possible. They make false promises about guarantees and easy returns, no questions asked. They know they walk a fine line with us. So, they over-promise and under-deliver, hoping we'll get used to being treated so poorly.

It's a tough task to persuade customers to try you out for the first time and even more difficult to get them to stay when there are so many sites to choose from online. We turn to the worst possible resources for reassurance...other people. We rely heavily on reviews. Amazon is infamous for posting fake reviews claiming they had no idea it wasn't real. You have to question every aspect of the shopping experience, and reviews are the hardest. You are left to wonder if they're true or if they're just trying to tarnish the company's reputation because they are the competition?

Once again, Amazon plays the game well. It's a perfect example of this anomaly. They have lost control of their sellers' marketplace, and the sellers are running amok! Their products are junk, and their prices are high. The part that bothers me the most is the false advertising and the tricky wording they use to pull you in and fool you into buying their product. They put a picture of the high-end merchandise and the price of the low-end merchandise. So when you look at the picture, you think you're getting that for this price that they have listed. Then when you click on it, it's a whole different scenario. This used to only happen with sellers who used Amazon as a platform. Now it's happening more and more with Amazon itself. Amazon is using the same tricky marketing strategies as their lazy sellers. They have stooped to new lows, and I wish I had more options for places to find everything I need or want. I shopped eBay for years before I found Amazon. Now, I'm beginning to venture out to Temu, since most of the Temu sellers also sell on Amazon for twice the price for the same product.

People who shop on Amazon are willing to pay a little bit more for the convenience Amazon offers. The prime membership includes free shipping and most of the time you receive your order within three days. Temu, on the other hand, can take weeks to receive. Your order will usually come in several different shipments. Returns on Temu are horrible. I returned several items that were beyond bad for whatever reason, and I have yet to receive any money back. It's been months. Instead, they want to dangle a bunch of coupons, saying you have credit towards your next purchase. In reality, I've never seen that credit either! I get the same discounted price whether I returned something or not.

I've only been using the site for a couple of months now, and it's tricky. There are lots of crafty sellers who have learned and mastered the art of retail deception. The hardest part about shopping with Amazon or other websites like Temu and even eBay is that when something goes wrong, the consumer is always the one left paying for it. It used to be the company taking the hit and chalking it up to the cost of doing business. Not anymore! They make returning a product so miserable and complicated that you give up on trying to ensure the return of your money (NOT AS CREDIT!) by looking at bank statements and cross-referencing the website that sold you the bad merchandise. It is time-consuming and most of the time an ineffective effort. Websites like Amazon don't keep their information current to real-time, so we can't confirm receipt or process your return since you sent it. Rarely does it say it's complete!

It's almost always just hanging there open, waiting for a concerned consumer to bring it to their attention and demand their money back. This is a way for Amazon to hold onto your money as long as possible, hoping you'll get too distracted or busy with your life and forget about it altogether. We have become lazy, and they make it more energy-consuming. If the price is not worth it, we just throw the item away and hence, the money we spent on it gets tossed into the vast pit of wasted money and bad decisions, never to be seen, reclaimed, or used again.

We read reviews, but they don't work as we had hoped. Moody humans with all their motives can rarely be considered accurate or applicable as intended. Often, we are faced with lies as they are usually bribed by the company, offering the consumer free merchandise if only they post a rave review complete with pictures. We have YouTube to thank for much of this manipulation. Where is this all heading? I have no idea!

All I know is that I spend too much for products that are not worth it. Quality is a thing of the past unless you are buying authenticated luxury products. And even they are starting to get tainted. I feel terrible most of the time I shop now when before it made me feel excited about receiving my order. Now, it's a necessary evil that I'm forced to buy three of the same type of item to find one that works. Then I get to return the other two items and wait for my money to be accessible to me once again. This can take days, maybe weeks to happen if at all.

We are all messed up. I suggest making it, growing it, and using the barter system to put our unique talents to practical use. Unfortunately, most people are subject to lethargy, being too lazy to put in the required effort needed to do anything for themselves that is of high enough quality to be proud to share with others. So where does that leave us all? Dependent. Angry. We have to face the fact we are reliant and forced to trust others (people, companies, AI, and websites) with our money based on their word, which in reality is unreliable, knowing they refuse to trust us.

We must do as they want us to, even though it may not always be the right choice. But we must trust them. It's truly a dilemma for me, and I know I'm not alone. I don't know if it can be fixed. As a consumer in the prime of her money-spending life, I have stopped dead in my tracks to evaluate and renegotiate the terms. I need to understand what I'm up against before I can move past it in any victorious way. I'd like to have some products and devices that show where my money went at least. Right now, I have very little to show for the money I've spent. It's confusing if I actually ordered something or just put it in a basket somewhere, never to return to complete the purchase. Or sometimes, I order the same thing twice from different websites! I have become the queen of returns, and stores hate me.

Too bad, I say! Do they look at my returns to spending ratio? Because if they did, they would be better at customer service solutions and offer a smile knowing I have choices. I am being forced to comply and to accept whatever sub-standard products they are selling or go without. I must change the way I buy, since they have changed the way they sell. AI is our customer service representative so the company can stay out of any bad light their products cast. They hide from us behind websites, chats, and outrageous hold times and language barriers we can't wait to experience. It can take literally hours on a customer service call, that could yield a couple of hundred bucks if you are lucky, and then allow them to just credit your account with them since it's faster for you to see some money back in your control. Well, kind of. Money they already received just gets reused.

And so it turns. With awareness reaching new levels, I can detect now what was never before there to detect in most sales environments beyond the used car lot. We battle the bait and switch, tricky wording, and we now must out-master the sellers and companies in the art of deception and false promises. Over-promising and under-delivering doesn't work for me anymore. Resources are becoming less while the wants and needs are increasing. Something has to change, and it has to be the consumers who drive the change. We need to get our act together, be on the same page, and take a stand! I hope this website will encourage that.

This is my very first post, and it feels good to get this off my chest!