A little annoyed with Amazon Prime

This is going to sound incredibly petty, but first things first: it’s about the principle. I’m a member of Amazon Prime. I pay $79 a year to get free two-day or $3.99 overnight shipping on everything that Amazon itself sells (this does not include resellers.) It’s not a good deal if you buy something once a month, but it’s great if most of your, say, music buying is done via Amazon, and you buy, say, a lot of music. How much is a lot? A UPS truck stops at my house typically once a week. Often more. I know, I’m a freak, okay?

The principle here is that I paid this money up front and Amazon ships stuff out fast. Say a new release is coming out on Tuesday that I want. It’s typically in my hands Wednesday. It ships Monday from one of the many Amazon wherehouses (one of which just opened here in south Phoenix – AWESOME – and provides basically ONE day shipping when it has what I want.) You have to give some time for a package to move from their wherehouse to a truck, but once it’s in a truck, that’s the start of the first 24 hours. Day two should have it in my hands, right?

Well, a shipment went out Monday with my eagerly awaited copy of Iron Maiden’s classic live concert video, now finally on DVD, Live After Death. I, and many fans, have been waiting to see this again since I was about 16 or 17 years old. A long time coming for something long out of print, especially given its legendary status. I’m just real anxious to have the thing in my hands, okay? I’m impatient, and my inner 17 year old just wants.

So it went on a truck Monday, traveled Tuesday, and should be here today, right? But it’s not. It’ll be here tomorrow. So isn’t that three-day delivery? I know this sounds like splitting hairs, but you have to understand, this is a service I paid extra for, and it’s kind of cheating on their part. Like I said, it’s the principle. I wasn’t going to watch it tonight. I will live waiting an extra day. I just don’t like feeling like I’m being cheated, even a little bit, when I’m paying so much extra for a special service. If Amazon didn’t have the selection I need, and local stores did, this wouldn’t be an issue – I’d be buying locally. Unfortunately, I have unique and ever-shifting tastes in music that only a place like Amazon can suit.

Now go on and laugh at the nitpicky son of a bitch that I sound like here. YOU pay this much and see how you feel when shipping and arrival dates slip . . .