Comment on Ordered 20+ groceries from Amazon on Prime Day. Today my order arrived with each item packaged separately.

• Schmuppes@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Yeah, and warehouse workers piss into bottles and cannot unionize.

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  • Brokensilence410@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    As an ex-warehouse employee, I will go out of my way of I have to get something just to not buy something online. The conditions of most warehouses I’ve seen, especially in this heat, should be illegal.

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  • InternetTubes@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    They can’t do this in Europe, plus they actually have decent refund policies where normal stores shit on you after purchase. Getting groceries from them is also a great convenience for the same reasons. Part of the order got missing? Free refund or same day delivery. Plus, some local stores charge even more for products without delivering them to your door.

    So at least in Europe, where they can unionize and can and do protest for their rights, I don’t see them as any worse than many other multinational chains that do the same. And if they had to stop operations in my country, there aren’t going to be a proportional number of stores that are going to start opening up. If the number of their employees does increase, it’s going to be for worse paying jobs.

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    • zzz@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      So at least in Europe, where they can unionize and can and do protest for their rights, I don’t see them as any worse than many other multinational chains that do the same.

      Do you happen to know whether they actually are unionized in EU countries though, or just could? Genuine question, as I couldn’t tell you (as a German citizen)

      Aside from that though, even if warehouse and delivery workers’ conditions were absolutely fine, their monopolistic tendencies are still somewhat of an issue. I’ll try not to turn this into a full essay, because this topic can get real philosophical REAL fast (we’re about 3 winded sentences away, I’d guesstimate).

      But: AWS aka Amazon’s cloud business prints SO incredibly much money that they can perhaps unfairly undercut a grocery competitor like Kroger’s, Aldi, and whatnot are their names, that they can start to have a really, really good advantage quite quickly (as hinted to by OP’s order above: not plastics, not electronics, not household goods – food). In case any reader isn’t aware, grocery chains’ margins are absurdly, comically low.

      The firm policies/microeconomics philosophy comes in here: how much cross-subsidizing should an undertaking actually be allowed to do? Europeans will perhaps see this a bit more strictly, whereas Americans might be inclined to answer close to unlimited here, but keep in mind, this can lead to Mega-everything-corp faster than you realize or like.

      I didn’t make all of this up on the spot just now, BTW (some first further “readings”). This has been a somewhat well known issue for some years now, and people knew there could be a day coming where we as a (global) society have to ask ourselves: How many areas can a company dominate in before it becomes too dangerous?

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      • InternetTubes@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_worker_organization#…

        Here’s some more info about unions in Europe.

        Amazon may be monopolistic, but I have access to more products through from different brand names than I do through the rest of the local multinational chains. I see your point, but it’s also pretty hard to address without favoring other potential mega-corporations nowadays. The core problem is that there is one country that can realistic regulate it, and it is profit driven. Individually, each country can try to compete by subsidizing the competition in the areas those companies succeed in, by say putting decent refund and customer care into the law, subsidizing insurance to that extent, and making distribution networks accessible to small business. Once those standards are in place, it becomes easier to prosecute Amazon for anti-competitive monopolistic practices if they don’t stick to them. The problem is, each country usually has their own interests that don’t care for that either, and it wouldn’t be international.

        Amazon should be divided into different businesses, but if US telecoms have proved anything, it’s that they usually end up working themselves back into the same group. But I see that as a separate more overarching issue than the rights of the workers it employs and the quality of their employment in their distribution warehouses.

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  • Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    As long as you weren’t buying empty bottles, that’s probably OK.

    And I thought it was the drivers that have to piss in bottles.

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  • fidelacchius@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    No one’s forcing them to work there 🤷‍♂️. Start your own amazon.

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    • owsei@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      yeah, minimum wage worker, just beat one the biggest companies of human history

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      • fidelacchius@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        People said the same thing about Walmart but the great Jeff bezos worked hard and did it.

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  • Sarsaparilla@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    SDA is the union that represents Amazon workers in Australia.

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• hup@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  And they have virtually no consumer safeguards to ensure the knockoff product you buy is not going to break in a month or two. Or set your house on fire if you leave it plugged in.

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  • fidelacchius@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Really cuz I have returned tons of stuff without even being questioned. Amazon doesn’t make most the products they sell?

    My house isn’t on fire.

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    • hup@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Oh thabks for clarifying I guess since the problem hasn’t happened to you in particular its not actually a problem. /s

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      • AustralianSimon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        I’ve returned so much stuff to Amazon without query, just a refund. I’d be surprised if you got any pushback.

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  • Flaky@iusearchlinux.fyi ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    If you know exactly what you’re looking for and you know the seller, Amazon can be alright. I just bought an album CD there from MusicMagpie who’s set up shop on Amazon.

    But if what you want is vague, be prepared to be bombarded with a bunch of Chinese sellers with weird brand names going through shittier couriers than Amazon themselves. It’s getting worse than AliExpress at this point.

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    • Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      You mean you don’t want the Zhrmgdtech USB C Charger Cable 2M 2Pack Type C Charger Fast Charging 3A Lead Nylon Braided for Samsung Galaxy S21 S20 S10 S9 S8 A12 A20e A21s A40 A51 A70,Huawei P30 P20 P40,Google Pixel,Xiaomi,Sony Xperia,Switch?

      Weirdo.

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    • hup@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      It’s a catch 22 because if you already know the seller but are opting for their Amazon vendor e-commerce channel you’re undercutting their business by taking Amazon’s promo discount today and focing the seller to make up the difference in vendor fees. Then when they get squeezed out of business by cheap knockoffs competing on the same platform in 1-5 years you’ll wonder why you can’t quality products of that type anymore except from niche boutique merchants who have to charge even more for quality than they used to.

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  • AustralianSimon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Not exactly true for Australian consumer laws. The retailer has to resolve a and b. C manufacturers and sellers need to adhere to standards but Amazon would be liable for selling dangerous products. Also get insurance.

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