Help with Amazon

[kootenay joe]

My 14 yr old daughter wants to buy brand name clothing on Amazon. We have very few 'bricks & mortar' stores locally that carry decent clothing for teenagers. Walmart is the main option here.
Are the stores on Amazon owned by Amazon ? Or is it like ebay and the stores are independent business who pay fees to Amazon ?
We bought a "Champion" sweatshirt from an Amazon site but it has not arrived. I cannot see any option to "ask seller a question". All i see is 'ask other Amazon customers'.
And how do i contact Amazon to report a rip off seller ?
I have lots of ebay experience and asking seller a question and reporting a problem to ebay is easy. Where are these options on Amazon ?
Also i see on Amazon seller does not say where they are or where the item ships from. Some sellers have a name that sounds like a USA address like "Sleepwear N.Y., CA." but after you pay for an item you find out shipping is with "DHL" (or similar name) and it will take 4-6 weeks to arrive. This indicates item is coming from out of country, likely China, but there is no indication of this on the seller's Amazon site.
I will be grateful for help on how to safely use Amazon.
thanks, kj

[Doc B]

KJ...on the upper right side of Amazon, is a "Orders" tab. Click it and you will get "Problems with order" option. Click it and it will give you the choices (order didn't arrive) is one. Yes, most are independent stores...In years of using Amazon, I've never encountered a bad seller (although I guess they could exist for a short period). I'm certain Amazon will back your order up.

[Cletus Awreetus]

"and I'm certain Amazon will back your order up."

it's been my experience that Amazon customer service is 2nd only to American Express.

[dlr110]

If you "Google" "Amazon customer service" you will get their number. I have had very good experiences talking with them and they have always resolved my problems over and above what I expected. The best thing to do is tell the person that answers the phone, "I want to speak to a supervisor please." Be calm and respectful and 99% of the time they will go out of their way to make things right.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

This is why I much prefer to only buy items that say "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com", or if that is not possible, then "Sold by xxxx fulfilled by Amazon". That way I know it is coming from an Amazon distribution point and I'll get it very fast.

This Help page might be useful: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer ... =201910410

[New_Windsor_NY]

I've never had a problem ordering, receiving or, on the VERY RARE occasion, returning an item ordered and fulfilled by Amazon or by someone selling on Amazon. I give them the highest rating.

[kootenay joe]

Thanks for such quick help. I will follow up on all these suggestions after which i will likely understand how to navigate the Amazon site and solve 'issues'.
" "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" " is this the only way to know that the site is an Amazon store not an independent seller ?
kj

[artmcclure]

I have been an Amazon Prime member since 2006. I have no complaints. The one time that merchandise didn't show up the day before Xmas was not their fault. It was the fault of the USPS (not enough manpower). Amazon gave me 2 years of Prime membership for free. What more can you ask for?

[rea1eye]

Have not had any problems with Amazon Prime. Be careful with returns however.
I have read that too many returns ( not sure what the threshold is) will make
Amazon take some action- like making you pay for the returns or cancelling
your Prime membership.

They certainly have their shipping down to an exact science. Be careful when
opening a box that has holes/ crushed sides. Most of the time the content
is still in good shape. I usually take a picture before opening those damaged
boxes.

Bob

[kootenay joe]

Thanks to help here i was able to message the Amazon seller from whom i bought the Champion sweatshirt to ask why shipping says Oct 31-Nov 18 for an item that was 'in stock' and paid for on Oct 7th.
But what i get is an automated reply that they are closed until Oct 24 for "Sukkot" so i still do not know where this seller is located or why shipping is so slow.
I have bought knives from China through ebay and always have received them in under 2 weeks, so if Amazon seller is in China it does not explain the very slow shipping, or more accurately, very long delivery time because it has already been shipped via DHL whose tracking is useless.
I read some reviews of DHL service and they are BAD ! Many more customers reported shipping problems than those who posted 'all o.k.'
Odd that Amazon sticks with a shipper that has given problems to a great many customers.
kj

[kootenay joe]

Quote: "Orders" tab. Click it and you will get "Problems with order" option."
i did this and the only option provided is "contact seller". How do i contact Amazon to report an issue and unresponsive seller ?
I have looked over the entire Amazon web page (a few of them actually) and nowhere do i see any way to contact Amazon. But there must be a way. What is it ?
kj

[kootenay joe]

Part of the problem is my daughter made the purchase. She did not look at seller's FB which is only 85% positive. The last 30 days show many negative FB's. I would have avoided this seller but teenage girls when shopping are easy to fool.
kj

[Doc B]

Here is a link, to customer service, chat...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/contact-us

***also, note that under the start chatting now button...is a link "we can call you".

also, also...I have bought things from China, on Ebay. There must be different ways to ship. I've found that a lot of the really cheap stuff, routinely takes 6-8 weeks, for me to get. I guess it comes on the "Slow boat from China".

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

"Sukkot" is a Jewish holiday, it began on 10/13 and ended 10/20.

When you are searching for items in Amazon, you can narrow your results using selections on the left side (similar to how ebay works). One of the filter selection is the seller, and you can select Amazon.com, which will show you only items sold directly by Amazon. One of the issues is that on a general search, when you click on an item, I think it will typically show you the item from the seller with the lowest total (including shipping) price. Sometimes, that is not Amazon.com. So, you do have to pay attention to the seller.

[kootenay joe]

I bought more tights on Amazon for my daughter. They were in the cart and i clicked 'pay now' and a page shows up 'thank you for your order'. BUT, i had not entered my Visa numbers or expiry date. I have paid for an Amazon item previously and entered my Visa info to make that purchase.
Does Amazon keep your credit card numbers ? If so i am surprised. All other online merchants i have ever dealt with make it clear that your credit card numbers are NOT saved to their computer.
If Amazon is keeping everyone's credit card info what a huge liability they will have when they get hacked !
Perhaps i am not understanding something ?
kj