Over here in Germany overnight shipping is pretty much the norm unless you get supremely unlucky and both source and destination addresses are in the boondonks. DHL also offers guaranteed overnight, but, as said, it's usually not any faster especially since online retailers build their warehouses directly next to DHL hubs. So to sell prime, they started artificially delaying shipping -- you can see that in tracking, they're simply waiting until they hand stuff over to DHL, which then operates as fast as usual.

DHL is not the only shipping company in Germany, amazon has contracts with pretty much all of them, and in my case the nearest pickup location happens to be Hermes. Which Amazon apparently hates as they're delaying packages for a good two weeks.

The result? I'm pretty much done ordering from Amazon: Other shops ship faster and aren't more expensive. What amazon still has going for it is a ludicrously large selection so very occasionally (once in a year or so) I order there and, what do you know, they're trying to get me with a free month of prime and actually ship on time, then.

Truly, late-stage enshittification.

I'm surprised that you have had bad experiences.

Evil corporation and all that and I am uncomfortable defending it, but I have had a drastically different experience.

I frequently get stuff next day or within 2 days and always get refunds without having to jump through hoops or anything and there are multiple places to choose from for dropping off a return. Also, the price is almost always cheaper or within a dollar of where I can find it elsewhere.

I've had some things take longer to arrive but they are clear about them not being prime and are up front about the delayed arrival time before I submit the order so I know what I'm getting into and if it's something that I need quicker I just pick a different similar product that is prime eligible. There's almost always an alternative that is a similar price with faster shipping. I've never had an order not show up either. In fact, I've never had to even call them or contact support at all.

It's too consistent to be good luck. Hell, it's so convenient that I feel guilty for buying stuff that I could get locally for a comparable price but would require me to fight traffic and stand in line to pay.

Maybe the difference is regional? Or maybe a rural area vs city thing? I don't know. I guess the bright side for you is that you're spreading your money around? Regardless, it sucks that you've had so many issues!

Yes, their service has gotten way worse over the last few years. But there's also no obligation for you to stay subscribed to prime.

Honestly, I have received stuff in 2 days even without having Prime. They tell you it's taking a week, but the package arrives much earlier. I don't really order that much tho, so maybe I just got lucky.

Amazon is US-based Temu at this point. Scam products, fake reviews, trash generics, non-existent service, and egregious privacy violations just using the site....

(Not to mention directly competing and undercutting their own merchants out of business with "Amazon basics" trash)

... And people are so quick to give them eyes and ears into their homes. Yeeeesh!

And it doesn't matter what crimes they commit at this point because AWS has basically cemented them into global infrastructure. The store is an afterthought by comparison.

Sorry you've experienced that but I've had pretty consistent next-day or 2-day shipping whenever I've ordered anything with prime.

I actually just got something yesterday, that I had ordered the day before. I didn't even have to pay more to get it delivered overnight. I do agree that Prime Video sucks, and I do have other issues with Amazon, but as far as shipping, the items I want are usually delivered in a couple of days.