Patience is a Virtue (amazon.co.uk)

Member Name: Good_Guy

Product:	amazon.co.uk
Date:	01/04/09 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some of the best prices on the net.

Disadvantages: None, problems sotred before they become problems!

I am not going to go into a diatribe about what Amazon do or what they sell, their reputation as an online merchant, and more, is well established. Some of my thoughts on my experience with using Amazon will suffice for the purposes of this review.

Most of my interest has focused on electronic stuff; memory for a computer or camera, cameras & accessories and, maybe, the odd book or two. I'll relate a tale of a reasonably major success or, at least, one of my best purchases in the recent past.

An Olympus camera had caught my eye having come onto the market at around £350 RRP and packed with many attractive features but being a canny buyer I researched the net and Amazon certainly was a contender in the "best value stakes". If you are patient and bide your time Amazon prices will fall and rise as, I assume, they cycle through "deals of the week" and are thus featured at very keen prices for relatively short periods of time. You will actually see an item listed at a price higher than "the previously sold at" price which is a bit peculiar but perhaps honest.

Amazingly my longed for Olympus appeared at the unbelievable price of £115 with free delivery!!! Much too good to miss especially as I had £30 in Amazon vouchers so, not unnaturally I jumped at the chance. Before I had received my camera (standard delivery takes a few days) the Amazon price had returned to something closer to £240 which, by the way was still the best available to the net. I still can't believe my luck, I have a fantastic bit of kit for £85, patience pays, every thing comes to he who waits and all that stuff.

The nearest thing to a bad experience with Amazon was when I ordered a memory card (for my beloved camera) and a book giving a total order value over £15 which was the threshold for free delivery at that time. Amazon emailed after a week or two, the memory card was not in stock and was being discontinued, however, this meant they were intending to dispatch my book and, as a result, charge me the delivery cost. This I thought a little peculiar as it was their fault that my order could not be filled.

To their credit, communication was first class I was kept informed and, thus, made an informed decision to cancel the whole order so no harm was done. This is what I have found with Amazon generally communication is great you know what's happening as they respond to queries in an expeditious manner. Definitely no complaints from me on either goods supplied or service levels experienced.

Summary: Good online prices, worth patient research