Grumble, grumble, Amazon, grumble, grumble

[Anomnomnomaly]

Time for a little grumble about Amazon's continued ineptitude here in the UK.

 

I bought 2 items in the Prime day sales... the first was a new memory foam mattress from a UK based company called Eve. Their mattresses come highly recommended by both my sister and a friend... and they got the Which mattress of the year award.

 

They're not cheap... almost £600... so when I saw them on sale for £369.99... I grabbed one.

 

Now I have a spinal condition, so a good mattress is essential. My old memory foam mattress is 11yrs old, and I'd prolonged it's life with a 2" mem foam topper a few years ago.

 

So I bought the new one, it arrived and I unpacked it, left it for 30+ hrs to fully expand before putting it on the bed.... It looked no different to my old one height wise, in spite of being 20% deeper... So I dig out the tape measure and find it's not 25cm deep but only a fraction over 20cm.  Roughly 18% under size.  After a nights sleep on it... it's damn uncomfortable and far, far too firm... It's supposed to be a medium not a firm.

 

Tried to chat with 'support' with Amazon today.. the chat function wouldn't work and the call me function kept terminating their end before I ever got a call.

 

Then the doorbell goes, with my second delivery... a Corsair RGB mechanical keyboard.... I open it up, peel of the cover and plug it in... also gave my desk a good clean and polish.  I test the keys and they're not clicky at all... it feels like a membrane keyboard.  I go back and double check the product page... Yup, says it's a mechanical one right there in the blurb... I've had corsair KB's before and know they're ok... But I paid almost £90 for this mechanical KB... if I wanted a membrane one they're cheap as chips... So I start looking through reviews and start seeing a few comments/reviews from people saying they ordered it because it was mechanical and it's not.... GRRRRRRRRR.

 

Then to top it all off... it's a F*CKING AZERTY LAYOUT instead of the qwerty one on their page... DOUBLE GRRRRRR!!!!

 

So now I have to make a 40 min round trip to drop of the keyboard for return, wasting both my time and money because Amazon f*cked up yet again... and I'm awaiting a response from Eve as I emailed them directly about getting the mattress issue resolved. If I can't actually speak to Amazon about it, my only option is to simply return it... I can't find out if they sent the wrong one, or it's defective in some way if I can't actually speak to anyone... and if I return it, I won't be getting another one as the price has gone back up £200... I'll shop elsewhere instead and Amazon and Eve lose another sale.

 

Now why am I grumbling you may be wondering... because this is becoming a very common thing with Amazon... their ability to deliver exactly what you order seems to have gone to shit. This year alone, I'd say roughly 1 in 4 items has to be returned because they fucked it up and sent something wrong, broken or of such shitty quality that there's no way I'd accept it.

 

Before you say... oh that's probably 3rd party sellers peddling crap. I actually try my utmost to make sure that I only buy from Prime sellers and/or fullfilled by Amazon... been caught out in the past by dodgy Chinese scammers flogging a load of bollocks that either never arrives, or breaks within a few uses and you have to resort to doing a chargeback on your card because they won't respond to returns... or demand you ship it back to China at your expense before they'll refund... because they know that shipping something to China from the UK is really expensive and most likely more than the cost of the item... they're planning that you can't be bothered... Hence it's easier to do a chargeback on your card... and why I try my absolute best to avoid those wankers at all costs.

 

This is Amazon being unable to carry out the very thing they are in business for... delivering what you order and they're success rate at the moment is around 60% with me.

 

 

No wonder I'm having a grumble.

[dalekphalm]

For that keyboard, have you popped off one of the keycaps and looked underneath? It'll be immediately obvious if it's a membrane or a mech. I would check that (post the pic here and we'll be able to tell), and also check the listed Model Number on the keyboard itself - does that match the box? If it has the correct model number on the keyboard itself, and the picture you're going to send us shows a mech switch, it's probably just a shitty keyboard in general. Just because Corsair made it, doesn't mean it can't be a bad product. There are also several kinds of Mech Switches. And they don't all feel the same. Perhaps you bought the wrong kind of switch?

 

Also why are you driving anywhere to return the keyboard? Get a return label from Amazon and just send it back (either for return or exchange).

 

In terms of the mattress, you might have gotten a dud, or perhaps the wrong one was sent (or even packaged incorrectly).

 

For your issues with communication, no idea why you keep getting disconnected, but you need to keep trying to contact them. Try Chat again. Try a different browser if it's not working.

[Anomnomnomaly]

14 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

For that keyboard, have you popped off one of the keycaps and looked underneath? It'll be immediately obvious if it's a membrane or a mech. I would check that (post the pic here and we'll be able to tell), and also check the listed Model Number on the keyboard itself - does that match the box? If it has the correct model number on the keyboard itself, and the picture you're going to send us shows a mech switch, it's probably just a shitty keyboard in general. Just because Corsair made it, doesn't mean it can't be a bad product. There are also several kinds of Mech Switches. And they don't all feel the same. Perhaps you bought the wrong kind of switch?

 

Also why are you driving anywhere to return the keyboard? Get a return label from Amazon and just send it back (either for return or exchange).

 

In terms of the mattress, you might have gotten a dud, or perhaps the wrong one was sent (or even packaged incorrectly).

 

For your issues with communication, no idea why you keep getting disconnected, but you need to keep trying to contact them. Try Chat again. Try a different browser if it's not working.

 

No it's a membrane keyboard... the K55... it was listed as mechanical switches on Amazon... and it's already been returned now.

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

 

No it's a membrane keyboard... the K55... it was listed as mechanical switches on Amazon... and it's already been returned now.

Yep you're right, the K55 uses rubber domes. That was either Corsair's fault for providing incorrect info, or Amazon's fault for putting the wrong thing in the info.

 

Either way, you're 100% right to return it.

[Anomnomnomaly]

Now I need to find a decent one when the refund comes in... I'd lean towards corsair simply because I already use their CUE software for my Mouse and AIO, so anything I get needs to be compatible with that rather than needing yet another piece of crappy, buggy software to limit the RGB... I'm not an RGB fan you see, but a limited colour scheme is ok for when I'm gaming or typing at night.

 

Also.. the K55 I bought was being touted as a Prime sale, mechanical and so forth for £88.66... Yet it's now available for £49.99 and marked as a retail price of £54.99

 

So fuck Amazon and their bullshit

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

Now I need to find a decent one when the refund comes in... I'd lean towards corsair simply because I already use their CUE software for my Mouse and AIO, so anything I get needs to be compatible with that rather than needing yet another piece of crappy, buggy software to limit the RGB... I'm not an RGB fan you see, but a limited colour scheme is ok for when I'm gaming or typing at night.

Do you need adjustable lighting at all? Corsair as a crap-ton of mech keyboards to choose from, so it ultimately comes down to what features you want out of it.

 

You could look at the more entry level ones like the K63 or K68 or K70 - these are non-RGB, non-Wireless.

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Gaming-Keyboards/c/Cor_Products_Keyboards?q=%3Arelevance%3AproductCategories%3ACor_Products_Keyboards_MechanicalGamingKeyboards&text=#rotatingText

 

They also make some RGB variants of the same keyboard too:

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Gaming-Keyboards/c/Cor_Products_Keyboards?q=%3Arelevance%3AproductCategories%3ACor_Products_Keyboards_RGBMechanicalGamingKeyboards&text=#rotatingText

 

I'd check Amazon and see which ones fit your budget the best.

[Anomnomnomaly]

15 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Do you need adjustable lighting at all? Corsair as a crap-ton of mech keyboards to choose from, so it ultimately comes down to what features you want out of it.

 

You could look at the more entry level ones like the K63 or K68 or K70 - these are non-RGB, non-Wireless.

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Gaming-Keyboards/c/Cor_Products_Keyboards?q=%3Arelevance%3AproductCategories%3ACor_Products_Keyboards_MechanicalGamingKeyboards&text=#rotatingText

 

They also make some RGB variants of the same keyboard too:

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Gaming-Keyboards/c/Cor_Products_Keyboards?q=%3Arelevance%3AproductCategories%3ACor_Products_Keyboards_RGBMechanicalGamingKeyboards&text=#rotatingText

 

I'd check Amazon and see which ones fit your budget the best.

Most of them are priced ridiculously high in the UK... we're talking £130-150

 

I found a Corsair Strafe (Mk1 not Mk2 which is £137) for just under £80... the K63 is 10 keyless and £110 which is no good for me whilst the K68 is £120 and the K70 is £127 for the Mk1 whilst the Mk2 version is £40-50 more

 

Also comparing prices on a few other UK sites... and no better.

[Anomnomnomaly]

17 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Also why are you driving anywhere to return the keyboard? Get a return label from Amazon and just send it back (either for return or exchange).

 

I live in a smallish town... the only options available to return stuff to Amazon are to print of a label and drop it off a local store... There are 2 drop off points near to me... Neither is that local. One is at the other side of the town furthest away from me and traffic is always a nightmare due to a stupid one way system that directs you around and through a choke point (it's easier to go in the opposite direction to a major router and drive around the town and back in the other end)... and the other is the next town... which is actually the quickest option usually, if it's not rush hour or the school run time of day..

 

It's also worth noting that today I also discovered that one of the drop off points only takes parcels that you have already printed out the label whilst the other accepts the QR code you can display on your phone to print a label in store (handy if not near a printer of your own)... Meaning that I had to visit both locations and it actually took me 58 mins in total.

 

Amazon used to pick up their crap, now they dump that on the buyer at their expense. So buying broken stuff costs you time and money rather than being Amazon's problem... Instead of fixing the problem, pass the cost on to the consumer.

[dalekphalm]

5 minutes ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

I live in a smallish town... the only options available to return stuff to Amazon are to print of a label and drop it off a local store... There are 2 drop off points near to me... Neither is that local. One is at the other side of the town furthest away from me and traffic is always a nightmare due to a stupid one way system that directs you around and through a choke point (it's easier to go in the opposite direction to a major router and drive around the town and back in the other end)... and the other is the next town... which is actually the quickest option usually, if it's not rush hour or the school run time of day..

Ohhh I see - that royally sucks.

5 minutes ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

It's also worth noting that today I also discovered that one of the drop off points only takes parcels that you have already printed out the label whilst the other accepts the QR code you can display on your phone to print a label in store (handy if not near a printer of your own)... Meaning that I had to visit both locations and it actually took me 58 mins in total.

Damn son - well now you know for next time to print off the label in advance.

5 minutes ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

Amazon used to pick up their crap, now they dump that on the buyer at their expense. So buying broken stuff costs you time and money rather than being Amazon's problem... Instead of fixing the problem, pass the cost on to the consumer.

It's one of their "cost savings" measures. For me, I live in a city with ~half a million people, so we have local drop off depots for basically every major courier that's in use in Canada.

 

18 minutes ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

Most of them are priced ridiculously high in the UK... we're talking £130-150

 

I found a Corsair Strafe (Mk1 not Mk2 which is £137) for just under £80... the K63 is 10 keyless and £110 which is no good for me whilst the K68 is £120 and the K70 is £127 for the Mk1 whilst the Mk2 version is £40-50 more

I'd opt for the Mk1 - you might want to look up the feature difference between Mk1 vs Mk2 though.

 

Another important thing is to look at the key switch options (if there are options - some keyboards only come with one type of mech switch) and decide which one you want. The different mech switches can be very different. I typically go with Brown switches, because they're a bit of a mix between all of them. They have a medium amount of actuating force (how much force you need to press with your finger), and they don't "click" when the switch is actuated (though they'll still make a clacking sound when you bottom them out). They are described as "tactile, non-clickly" - tactile means that while it doesn't make a click sound when the switch actuates, it does make a tactile sensation (you can feel the switch engaging), which means you can quickly and accurately press the key down and know it's been pressed.

 

Other common types are Blues. These are similar to Browns, except that they make an audible "click" sound deliberately when the switch actuates.

 

Here's a handy guide with animated images to help make a choice:

https://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2012/12/an-introduction-to-cherry-mx-mechanical-switches/

 

Unfortunately, even with that guide, you still won't really know what you like for sure until you try them in person.

[Anomnomnomaly]

Yeah

3 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I'd opt for the Mk1 - you might want to look up the feature difference between Mk1 vs Mk2 though.

 

Another important thing is to look at the key switch options (if there are options - some keyboards only come with one type of mech switch) and decide which one you want. The different mech switches can be very different. I typically go with Brown switches, because they're a bit of a mix between all of them. They have a medium amount of actuating force (how much force you need to press with your finger), and they don't "click" when the switch is actuated (though they'll still make a clacking sound when you bottom them out). They are described as "tactile, non-clickly" - tactile means that while it doesn't make a click sound when the switch actuates, it does make a tactile sensation (you can feel the switch engaging), which means you can quickly and accurately press the key down and know it's been pressed.

 

The Mk1 is only £79.95 with the Cherry MX silent switches... if you want browns or reds it's another £50 or so.

[Anomnomnomaly]

Just ordered the Mk1 Stafe with Silent switches for £69.99... it's brand new but with slightly damaged packaging through Amazon warehouse deals.

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

Yeah

The Mk1 is only £79.95 with the Cherry MX silent switches... if you want browns or reds it's another £50 or so.

Ultimately what kind of switch you want is up to you. For me? I'd look elsewhere because I'm very fond of Browns, but if you read up on the MX Silent, and you like what you read? Go for it and save the money.

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

Just ordered the Mk1 Stafe with Silent switches for £69.99... it's brand new but with slightly damaged packaging through Amazon warehouse deals.

Make sure to thoroughly examine the package when it arrives, and check for physical damage. It should still come with the full factory warranty though, which is good.

[Anomnomnomaly]

9 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Ultimately what kind of switch you want is up to you. For me? I'd look elsewhere because I'm very fond of Browns, but if you read up on the MX Silent, and you like what you read? Go for it and save the money.

I've not really used any of them that I'm aware off... my current KB is a crappy tecknet mechanical and whilst it's nice and clicky...the response isn't great and I'm always hitting t he wrong keys when punctuation words... so instead of ' I hit ; and I think that's down to the spacing. The only reason I got it was A: it was really cheap and B: my old Corsair had a broken space bar after 4-5yrs.

[Anomnomnomaly]

The Strafe arrived today and so far I like it... the keys are almost silent much like a membrane one, but feel very responsive and the spacing is how  I like it. So far not mistakes when typing words like don't where the ' gets replaced with ; because of the way the individual keys are spaced.

 

It's solid, got some weight to it and as a bonus has a USB hub built in which I didn't realise. Which will probably be handy at some point... but my case has a plethora of ports (4 on the front) and the rear IO has another 4 USB 3, 2 USB 2 and 2x USB C

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

The Strafe arrived today and so far I like it... the keys are almost silent much like a membrane one, but feel very responsive and the spacing is how  I like it. So far not mistakes when typing words like don't where the ' gets replaced with ; because of the way the individual keys are spaced.

 

It's solid, got some weight to it and as a bonus has a USB hub built in which I didn't realise. Which will probably be handy at some point... but my case has a plethora of ports (4 on the front) and the rear IO has another 4 USB 3, 2 USB 2 and 2x USB C

Noice! Glad you got one you like. 

 

I personally had a Logitech G710+ which I absolutely loved - but I spilled something on the keyboard (coke I think) and it was never the same after. I ended up recycling it recently. 

[Anomnomnomaly]

31 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Noice! Glad you got one you like. 

 

I personally had a Logitech G710+ which I absolutely loved - but I spilled something on the keyboard (coke I think) and it was never the same after. I ended up recycling it recently. 

I've still got a microsoft media 1.0A keyboard from the early 2000's that works fine... Every now and then I strip the top panel off and run it through the shower to clean all the crap out of the keys.

[00100000]

That's what I hate about mechanical keyboards. They get dirty so easily so I have to remove all the keycaps and wash it and then let it dry

[Anomnomnomaly]

9 minutes ago, Keith W said:

 

I would guess you have a post office near where you live? 

 

Amazon will give you a label and you just drop it off at the local post office

 

There's a tiny post office in a corner shop on the other side of town... it's the same shop that's the drop off point for Hermes and so forth.

[Mug]

On 7/18/2019 at 10:46 PM, Anomnomnomaly said:

I can't find out if they sent the wrong one, or it's defective in some way if I can't actually speak to anyone... and if I return it, I won't be getting another one as the price has gone back up £200... I'll shop elsewhere instead and Amazon and Eve lose another sale.

You're entitled to a replacement under UK law, even if the price has gone up.

[TetraSky]

For the keyboard... That's exactly the reason why I always double check elsewhere to see if the product is right and don't just believe the info Amazon provide. (Not to mention, more often than not, Amazon barely provide any info on the products being sold here in Canada... so I don't really have much choice but to look it up elsewhere for info)

Though I've looked up the K55 on Amazon.co.uk and I'm not seeing any mention of it being mechanical anywhere while clearly stating it's a Membrane keyboard right in the product name? And it's £49.99 with free shipping  ? Which amazon did you shop on for it to cost £90 ? £40 in taxes?

 

As for the mattress, I'm guessing it's one of those Mattress in a box? That sort of things can happen unfortunately with that kind of mattresses and is a risk that you take ordering one. Return it if possible.

They might direct you to some donation center since it's near impossible to repackage those mattresses that were compressed and sealed up by heavy machinery.

 

Also, you living in a small town, costing you time and money to return items, isn't exactly Amazon's fault. Yes it sucks that they fuck up sometimes, but it's not their fault if the mattress didn't form up properly. Nor is it their entire fault if the K55 isn't mechanical.

[Noctus]

Read reviews, cross check with others sides then triple check before you click buy (or use amazon assistant etc which helps check the web for better pricing over amazon). Doing that i've only ever had one return (original overear parrot Zik wireless headphones) that had one cut basically have the NC fall apart inside it. Few pics of my problem in the refund email (it still worked, just felt like one ear had water blocking it which mute sounds becuase no NC) and i was given the 250 quid i spent on it with no need to return the original. Bought something else with my refund and made do with the originals which i still have in a box collecting dust lol....

 

Can only empathise with your pain at not being looked at as a valued customer. I know at least 1 bad experience is enough to put off ever using a company again and theres a million "fuck them" for every "couldn't be happier" post, but you might of just been unlucky this time. I know that i've had wonderful experiences with products, then went back and looked at the reviews for alot of newr ones saying "BAD BAD DONT BUY!!!oneone11" etc. But the old rule of "content people don't usualy vent/leave feedback in reviews" is strong with amazon. "The shit works, ergo i have no need to return to that page" (and leave a review).

[Anomnomnomaly]

12 hours ago, TetraSky said:

For the keyboard... That's exactly the reason why I always double check elsewhere to see if the product is right and don't just believe the info Amazon provide. (Not to mention, more often than not, Amazon barely provide any info on the products being sold here in Canada... so I don't really have much choice but to look it up elsewhere for info)

Though I've looked up the K55 on Amazon.co.uk and I'm not seeing any mention of it being mechanical anywhere while clearly stating it's a Membrane keyboard right in the product name? And it's £49.99 with free shipping  ? Which amazon did you shop on for it to cost £90 ? £40 in taxes?

 

As for the mattress, I'm guessing it's one of those Mattress in a box? That sort of things can happen unfortunately with that kind of mattresses and is a risk that you take ordering one. Return it if possible.

They might direct you to some donation center since it's near impossible to repackage those mattresses that were compressed and sealed up by heavy machinery.

 

Also, you living in a small town, costing you time and money to return items, isn't exactly Amazon's fault. Yes it sucks that they fuck up sometimes, but it's not their fault if the mattress didn't form up properly. Nor is it their entire fault if the K55 isn't mechanical.

I was searching for mechanical keyboards only, and the one you linked to wasn't showing up in any of my searches...

 

This is the one I ordered  and it clearly states mechanical switches... the price has also dropped by £22 since I ordered.

 

It's partly my fault,.. Given that all of the other corsair mechanical keyboards at the time were over £100, and it was advertised as a Prime Day Deal... I grabbed it... Normally I double check my prices against camelcamelcamel as well as a couple of other sites. I honestly thought the K55 was the mechanical version of the old K30 that I used to have... It looks almost identical.

 

As for the mattress, I spoke with the company who make them and they said that whilst a 1cm deviation is normal... a 4cm one is not and it sounds defective.

 

I finally got hold of Amazon and they've ordered a replacement as of today... Once it's in, they'll arrange delivery and collection of the old one.

 

Just waiting for my refund on the K55, package was sent back on Friday and is currently in transit.

[yolosnail]

26 minutes ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

I was searching for mechanical keyboards only, and the one you linked to wasn't showing up in any of my searches...

 

This is the one I ordered  and it clearly states mechanical switches... the price has also dropped by £22 since I ordered.

 

It's partly my fault,.. Given that all of the other corsair mechanical keyboards at the time were over £100, and it was advertised as a Prime Day Deal... I grabbed it... Normally I double check my prices against camelcamelcamel as well as a couple of other sites. I honestly thought the K55 was the mechanical version of the old K30 that I used to have... It looks almost identical.

 

As for the mattress, I spoke with the company who make them and they said that whilst a 1cm deviation is normal... a 4cm one is not and it sounds defective.

 

I finally got hold of Amazon and they've ordered a replacement as of today... Once it's in, they'll arrange delivery and collection of the old one.

 

Just waiting for my refund on the K55, package was sent back on Friday and is currently in transit.

A bit of advice, if Hermes and Royal Mail drop offs are in the same place, always go Royal Mail as they issue the refund as soon as you drop it off, whereas with Hermes they wait until they receive it, which in my experience takes a good week

[Anomnomnomaly]

3 hours ago, yolosnail said:

A bit of advice, if Hermes and Royal Mail drop offs are in the same place, always go Royal Mail as they issue the refund as soon as you drop it off, whereas with Hermes they wait until they receive it, which in my experience takes a good week

I'll bear that in mind for the next time.