Amazon and Huge Delivery Window

I just noticed the same thing for certain items I purchased, while other items that were also in stock got to me next business day. Both sold and ships from Amazon. Not sure what is going on other than it could be COVID related.

starchoice wrote: ↑ This one has me a bit perplexed. Ordered two items from Amazon today and subscribed to a free Prime trial for what I expected to be speedier shipping. Both items are listed as "in stock". One of the items was just "fulfilled by Amazon". So the one Amazon item ships today with delivery scheduled for June 9th. The other item has an estimated delivery date of June 9th - July 10th. What gives? Why would there be a one month window for an "in stock" item possibly getting it as early as Wednesday but as late as July 10th. Anybody have experience with this or know the reasons?

Who cares lol? I've seen this manyt times, it probably depends how busy they are esp during covid.

radeonboy wrote: ↑ I just noticed the same thing for certain items I purchased, while other items that were also in stock got to me next business day. Both sold and ships from Amazon. Not sure what is going on other than it could be COVID related.

I think that you are right. Noticed that there were some Ontario fulfillment centers closed or partially closed so if an item is only stocked in one fulfillment centre, that would account for the delay. Would be helpful if they noted this for applicable items.

Same here in BC. Delivery times have gone up drastically for Amazon

It looks like Amazon is not even allowing cancellation of orders. I tried to cancel but got ran automated response that the order is being prepared for shipment. How can that be? The order tracker in the app has not moved from "order" status and there is definitely no update stating that it is preparing for shipment.

Update: was going to contact customer service but when the order pulls up, it shows "shipping now" but that is the only place where it shows it.

starchoice wrote: ↑ It looks like Amazon is not even allowing cancellation of orders. I tried to cancel but got ran automated response that the order is being prepared for shipment. How can that be? The order tracker in the app has not moved from "order" status and there is definitely no update stating that it is preparing for shipment.

Update: was going to contact customer service but when the order pulls up, it shows "shipping now" but that is the only place where it shows it.

I had the same thing happen this week. Ordered an item 2 weeks ago and waiting for it to ship/delivery. I ordered a second one on Thursday with a delivery day 10+ days out. A few hours later I went to cancel that second unit I had ordered and said it was being prepared for shipment and then 10 minutes later said it was shipped…before the first one I ordered. I contacted support and they told me to refuse package. Fine. Delivery expected for Wednesday and then not even 12 hours later it’s delivered and left at my door. Wasn’t expecting it so wasn’t watching out for the delivery guy.

Fishy how item is suddenly being prepared/shipped when trying to cancel….

It's pretty routine for a large delivery window when the item is coming from China or the US. Sometimes they don't even tell you that it's coming from out of the country.

My whole order last time came from Kentucky. Took 2 weeks before I got all the items (non-prime, Free shipping). I'm reading that "Prime" doesn't save you much time anymore.

starchoice wrote: ↑ It looks like Amazon is not even allowing cancellation of orders. I tried to cancel but got ran automated response that the order is being prepared for shipment. How can that be? The order tracker in the app has not moved from "order" status and there is definitely no update stating that it is preparing for shipment.

Update: was going to contact customer service but when the order pulls up, it shows "shipping now" but that is the only place where it shows it.

If your item starts moving within their internal logistics system from warehouse to warehouse they will marked it as shipped even though it has not gotten to the point where it has a tracking label for whoever is going to do the last-mile delivery. Since they already have it on the move for you, they will not let you cancel it. Because it is internal, it is affected by whatever COVID issues they are experiencing in their logistics network, so they give themselves a bunch of leeway. That is because if it late you can file for a refund & keep it. You should take the later date with a grain of salt & expect it closer to the earlier date.

starchoice wrote: ↑ It looks like Amazon is not even allowing cancellation of orders. I tried to cancel but got ran automated response that the order is being prepared for shipment. How can that be? The order tracker in the app has not moved from "order" status and there is definitely no update stating that it is preparing for shipment.

Update: was going to contact customer service but when the order pulls up, it shows "shipping now" but that is the only place where it shows it.

Usually means the item is in another warehouse and has already been pulled for transfer.

starchoice wrote: ↑ This one has me a bit perplexed. Ordered two items from Amazon today and subscribed to a free Prime trial for what I expected to be speedier shipping. Both items are listed as "in stock". One of the items was just "fulfilled by Amazon". So the one Amazon item ships today with delivery scheduled for June 9th. The other item has an estimated delivery date of June 9th - July 10th. What gives? Why would there be a one month window for an "in stock" item possibly getting it as early as Wednesday but as late as July 10th. Anybody have experience with this or know the reasons?

Is the "in stock" item sold and shipped by amazon or 3rd party? For 3rd parties in stock may not necessarily mean it is at one of fulfillment centres.

If my orders are processed and shipped by 5 working days nowadays (Free Shipping option), that's fast.

Before Covid I was getting on average, 2 working days "in my hands" from order to delivery. This was the Free Shipping service as well. Things change, more people are ordering things online. Never thought the Prime was worth it as I'm just a few hours from their Hubs.

The problem is caused by the "partial/full" shutdown of the fulfillment center due to Covid-19. There is nothing Amazon can do in this case. I don't have Prime, but I experience some similar situations. The item has no delivery date after I place the order even the item is in stock. Seldomly, I also experience the item still hasn't shipped even I have the expected delivery date.

Gibsons wrote: ↑It's pretty routine for a large delivery window when the item is coming from China or the US. Sometimes they don't even tell you that it's coming from out of the country.

Really? Every item not shipped domestically always has:
This item is shipped from a distant location.
in the buy box for me.

The delivery dates are also quite a bit longer than a couple days.

starchoice wrote: ↑ It looks like Amazon is not even allowing cancellation of orders. I tried to cancel but got ran automated response that the order is being prepared for shipment. How can that be? The order tracker in the app has not moved from "order" status and there is definitely no update stating that it is preparing for shipment.

Update: was going to contact customer service but when the order pulls up, it shows "shipping now" but that is the only place where it shows it.

I was able to cancel something yesterday - I had ordered it the day before, put in a cancellation request the next day (first time I've ever done this) and first I got something saying they were looking into it, but may be too late to cancel, but then within 15 minutes got an email saying it was successfully cancelled. must really depend how far into the process your order is I guess?

The bigger window generally means the item isn't shipped/fulfilled by amazon or at least not in a local warehouse (in canada). In those cases, the windows are always huge and it could take a while. For example if you order something from china (say aliexpress), it could get here in 3 weeks if you are lucky but it could sometime take 3 months. I had orders there where 1 part of the order came in 3 weeks and the 2nd half didn't come until 2 months later.

For amazon, if its shipped from china (or really anything international) the shipping time varies a lot and honestly unless you pay for express shipping, its pretty random when it gets here. More so with covid impacting shipping. As far as prime shipping goes, since covid it has always been slow. You pretty much can expect it to arrive in the same week instead of next day (pre covid except during holiday season, most of the time i get something 1-2 days after ordering if its fulfilled by amazon).

death_hawk wrote: ↑ Really? Every item not shipped domestically always has:
This item is shipped from a distant location.
in the buy box for me.

The delivery dates are also quite a bit longer than a couple days.

I've never seen that before. I've ordered many things because it says "Shipping from Amazon.ca" and I get tracking from Kentucky or Michigan. I guess it's still from Amazon, but definitely the US Amazon.

Gibsons wrote: ↑ I've never seen that before. I've ordered many things because it says "Shipping from Amazon.ca" and I get tracking from Kentucky or Michigan. I guess it's still from Amazon, but definitely the US Amazon.

It shows up for Fulfilled by Amazon items from 3rd party sellers coming from the US/Mexico. This item is promised in 19 days but it came in 10 when I bought it. They allow some leeway around stock issues, I guess. Most made-by-Amazon clothing ships through Amazon logistics from the US & across the border before being handed over to the last mile carrier here. There is no warning on those items.

Gibsons wrote: ↑ I've never seen that before. I've ordered many things because it says "Shipping from Amazon.ca" and I get tracking from Kentucky or Michigan. I guess it's still from Amazon, but definitely the US Amazon.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B089FV33QX/

Actually come to think of it, here's an item that's sold by .ca that was shipped from the US for me. But IIRC the shipping time definitely wasn't 2 days. It also had a long ETA of a couple weeks due to being not in stock.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B001GPZ5LM/

lecale wrote: ↑ It shows up for Fulfilled by Amazon items from 3rd party sellers coming from the US/Mexico. This item is promised in 19 days but it came in 10 when I bought it. They allow some leeway around stock issues, I guess. Most made-by-Amazon clothing ships through Amazon logistics from the US & across the border before being handed over to the last mile carrier here. There is no warning on those items.


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I don't pay for shipping or fees. I only buy Free Shipping items so I don't go ahead with those purchases. Like you said, many domestic purchases are routed through the US and you are not told, which makes shipping a little longer.

When the border opens up again I'll start shopping in the US and picking up items in my US postal box if it's a good deal. Wish it was open now... our dollar is strong.