I use Amazon a fair bit. The simplicity of seeking what I want and ordering it coupled with the swift delivery makes them a supplier of choice. However…
By analysing a wealth of user data including wish-lists, shopping cart contents, previous orders and even how long a mouse cursor pauses over an item, Amazon is confident it could figure out what you’re going to buy before you do.
Items that had been successfully identified would then begin to star down Amazon’s shipping process and may even be “speculatively shipped to a physical address”.
No, no, no, no! Absolutely not! If they ever pull this stunt on me, not only will any packages be returned forthwith, but I’ll close my account and I will never use them again. I decide what I will order, when and from whom, not the supplier. Sometimes, I’ll check out a number of online suppliers – including Amazon – before making a purchase. The choice may or may not be Amazon. If it ain’t, I don’t expect them to ship anyway. Fuck off already.
The patent – first spotted by The Wall Street Journal – acknowledges that “anticipatory shipping” might have a number of teething problems. Not least of all would be shipping a customer something that they decide not to order.
Well, I never. Whodathunkit?
In these scenarios Amazon has said that they might consider giving customers discounts or the items, or even simply giving it to them for nothing. “Delivering the package to the given customer as a promotional gift may be used to build goodwill,” the patent reads.
They have an odd idea of what generates goodwill. I will certainly never pay for something supplied that I have not specifically ordered and I won’t keep it either – it will go back, because I don’t want it under those circumstances. Goodwill is the last thing it will build.
Yes, I realise that this is only a patent at this stage, but it is such a spectacularly bad idea, that I wonder at the mindset that even gave it a moment’s thought, let alone decided to patent the idea.
XX In these scenarios Amazon has said that they might consider ….. or even simply giving it to them for nothing. “Delivering the package to the given customer as a promotional gift may be used to build goodwill,” the patent reads.XX
Now, I am about to go and leave my curser hovering over that nice €8K Nikon, that I have been drooling over for months, all night…. Maybe a couple of lenses to go with it…… 😈
And any way, are they REALLY that desperate for sales?
Or is it a power struggle to prove who has more customers, regardless? 🙄
I can see an upside here – spend your day pretending buy stuff and see what gifts appear at your door. Their mistake, their problem!
This tactic is old, and similar to the street stall vendor’s technique in large Asian cities, watching for where your eyes linger – “You wan’ sir? Best plice, best plice. I give you, you buy more”.
Having random shit show up would be a little disconcerting, but if I’m not paying for it, I don’t really care.
I know that E***er is watching me watch their SSDs. Come on, you bitches, get that 256GB baby down to £100, I’ll take two.
They must be going nuts with me putting things into the basket and then ‘forgetting’.
I understand that you do not have to return unsolicited goods.
Instead you should advise the “vendor” that you have received unsolicited goods from them and that they can be collected from wherever at some specified dates and times; if they have not been collected by the latest of these then you will dispose of them without further notice. Send the letter by recorded delivery (or whatever it is called these days) or if using a comment form on the company’s website, take a screenshot of the text and save it on your system and then do it again the next day and attach both to a recorded delivery letter o the registered office.
If they send unsolicited goods addressed to me and is unsigned for I would simply not acknowledge receipt.
“Nah, never seen it. Must have got lost in the post, mate”
I agree – anything Amazon send to me without an order & payment they will just lose it.
“Thanks for the gift, that was lovely of you” will be my polite response.
Refuse to return any unsolicited goods and, instead, bung them on eBay. Or return them and send an invoice for your time and hassle involved with the processing (£80/hour, 1 hour minimum charge, obviously). The latter is how I’ll be dealing with the latest harrassment from “TV Licensing” who,. yet again, want me to phone a non-free number on my own time to tell them I still don’t have a TV.
Letters from TV Licensing go into the bin.
I would refuse delivery of any parcel requiring a signature that I wasn’t expecting, so if Amazon wants to send me something by untracked post, they will have no proof I received anything.
Did you know that they have FINALLY put up a web-link where you can register that you don’t have TV?
And that they will then eff off & leave you alone?
I found out about half-way through last year ….
Worked so far!
They’ll presumably eff off and leave you alone for somewhere between a year and 18 months, as they do if you tell them by any other means. I object to having to tell them again, even if it costs nothing, since (a) it still costs my time and (b) it goes completely against “innocent until proven guilty”. Imagine having to go down to the police station every year to sign a form and tell them “I still haven’t committed any crimes since last year.” Sounds silly but it’s not that far removed. Not only that but I *really* object to the assumption they make that not having a TV is somehow “abnormal”.
If they receive enough bills from people then they might start to get the message.
Charging them (exorbitant) storage & holding costs is another, perfectly legal way out of this problem,
Ideally, couple this with Strawbrick’s remedy.
They’ll soon learn.
“And even how long a mouse cursor pauses over an item”
This bothers me more than the main jist of the article. I initially thought of spyware / keylogging type software, but from a quick search I see there are many website-installed ways of doing this. One site I tried to visit wouldn’t load, but I found that blocked in the MVPS hosts file I use. Another claimed to have “live” demonstrations, but they showed nothing. Having said that, I have Adblock Edge installed with 3 filter sets, so hopefully most, if not all, of these intrusive attempts at monitoring my activity will be blocked. But how can one be sure?
“I decide what I will order, when and from whom, not the supplier”
I trust you are aware of “The Internet of Things”? Many domestic appliances already have the capability of ordering fresh supplies, or calling the service engineer. Now the first instance of a botnet of “Smart” appliances sending out mass spam emails has been reported!
http://www.proofpoint.com/about-us/press-releases/01162014.php
Be afraid, be VERY afraid….
The account I read said Amazon’s proposal could include sending unaddressed packages to holding points, such as an apartment, or local warehouse, kept aboard delivery van, so it could be delivered same morning, afternoon or even within a few minutes.
It said nothing about despatching addressed goods to customers on the assumption they might order.
Best always to separate fact from speculation or mis-reporting before getting skirts all aswish.
I’ve seen both sotries John, here’s the one about preemptive deliveries I read. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/20/amazon-preemptive-deliver_n_4630438.html
It costs a few dollars to register a patent. The publicity that they’ve got from registering this patent is huge; well worth the few dollars it cost.
They aren’t stupid enough to actually do it.
They pulled the same stunt with “deliveries via drones”. And next week they’ll dream up another daft idea, patent it, and get loads more free publicity.
You’re probably right.