Advertiser reporter Robbie Dingeman has a story in today’s newspaper properly warning that shipping charges can make online shopping a headache.
At the end of the story Dingeman quotes attorney Lora Han:
Han said the worst shipping response to get is “No shipping to Hawai’i.”
But although Amazon.com is mentioned positively in the story, even earning a spot in a sidebar for its “supersaver shipping”, it fails to mention that there are large number of items the company refuses to ship to Hawaii. Try to order a box of pasta, or some canned anchovies, or anything from their grocery or food sections, and you’ll get the “We are unable to ship this item to your selected address” message.
The company shouldn’t have been given a free pass on how it services (or refuses to service) its customers in Hawaii.
I was surprised to see the story this past week reporting on a study of house cats that found they spend much less time sleeping than previously believed. I was curious, so went searching for the study, which I eventually found at Friskies.com. They call it the Scratchington Post.
Monday should be interesting. I’m scheduled to spend time after lunch at the offices of HMA/Summerlin, the company that got the best of HMSA in the recent (and controversial) round of contracts public employee health plans. Apparently my blogging had gotten their attention and, when I sat down to talk with their lobbyist, it quickly morphed into an invitation to “hear their side of the story”.
Visicalc is considered by many to be the software that transformed the personal computer from a hobbyists delight to a practical tool. It was a serious spreadsheet at a time when little serious software was available.
In any case, I was interested to see that its creator, Dan Bricklin, has written a little iPhone app, Note Taker, which looks worth checking out. But just back up to Bricklin’s web site and you’ll find it’s full of other good stuff.
It’s the second new iPhone app that caught my attention this week. The other was Airlock, which uses your iPhone to trigger automatically lock your computer when you leave it unattended. Who thinks of these things?
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Ian, you should talk to the folks at The Advertiser. They switched to Summerlin last year and from what I hear….it is not so much.
Expecting a balanced assessment once you meet the HMA/Summerlin camp.
no… the worst is no explicit policy regarding hawaii in its posted shipping policy…. just some general statement about shipping within the u.s. then placing your order. crossing your fingers. waiting, and then getting the “we don’t ship to hawaii” line.
although the food items (and non-food items in their broad category) are not allowed in Super Saver
Amazon has been quite kind in eating shipping expenses to Hawaii — I have ordered many products that have been shipped 2nd day air with Amazon eating the costs
I have no complaints about Amazon and recommend it to anyone who wants the convenience of having an item delivered to the door step
I just ordered a 25lb item from Amazon and was charged $5.00 shipping. But you can’t order deodorant from them
I agree that Amazon is generally great for their free shipping. I guess they get good rates to Hawaii because of their volume. I wonder if the reason that food items are excluded is that they are worried about having excessive volume because their prices are especially attractive compared to local stores? Still, they could offer paid shipping if that was the concern.
I dislike shopping at Costco very much. Recently needed some office supplies and was pleasantly suprised that Costco had by far the best online price (checking also Amazon and Walmart) – and next-to-nothing shipping costs. I’ve placed 3 orders with them recently and shpping was less than a dollar each time. And receipt was timely. Yesterday I ordered some labels – price was $3 or $4 lower than Walmart or Amazon and shipping was an amazing $0.25. Yes, a quarter. Why subject myself to their parking lot and long lines when shipping is only a quarter? I’m wondering how long this will last, but am enjoying it very much for now. (I have no financial interests in any of these companies.)
Thanks for the tip!!
I ordered food items several years ago from Gristede’s storefront on Amazon. Any of the perishable items lived up to the “perishable” descriptor. I did not complain, I was intrigued that I could order veal or fish from New York; it was more of a fun test. The non perishable items were fine, however, as one might expect.
The meat and fish were put into styrofoam containers with some bags of synthetic ice-type substance. Everything was a nice Hawaii room temperature when I opened it – at least they tried.
There is also the Ship To Hawaii service that uses a west coast drop. I use them all the time.