Amazon.co.uk First Class same day dispatch trick...

[evilking]

I think I've discovered a way to get same day dispatch on orders with First Class delivery.

Usually to get same day dispatch (with next day delivery) on Amzon.co.uk you have to order before a certain time (6 or 8pm) and select Express delivery (expensive courier option). The other options are First Class and Super Saver, both with varying dispatch and delivery times (never as good as Express though). They do this so First Class doesn't have a chance of delivering next day, which would make the Express option worthless. There is nothing wrong with this system and I appreciate the choice/price etc.

Last night, at about 2am (

), I ordered five CDs and a DVD off Amazon.co.uk. The Express option wasn't available because of the location of the DVD (sometimes they source from Jersey). I chose First Class, which had a dispatch date of 3rd November and an estimated delivery date of 5-6th November

. Wasn't pleased but there was no other option.

Then I decided to edit my order and cancel the DVD (local store have a sale, buy 2 get x off/free, etc). Now the remaining CDs are all sourced from Amazon's EU depot. I noticed the dispatch/delivery estimates didn't change

. Went to edit delivery option and noticed there were now two First Class options and the missing Express option. The First Class options differed in their delivery times, one said 2-3 days, the other 1-2 days. Mine was the 2-3 day option. I changed to the 1-2 day opton and I got a new dispatch date of 2nd Nov with delivery of 3rd Nov. Same price, 3-4 days faster delivery! Not really a trick, it was probably the Jersey DVD holding things up.

Time for the trick/glitch. I kept editing the delivery option, switching between Express and First Class (the 1-2 day version). Not just alternately clicking the check boxes but finalising the order, exiting, then re-editing. I'm indecisive

. Anyway, I finally decided it wasn't worth the extra 7 pounds or so just to get it Friday instead of Saturday (I'm not that impatient), so I selected First Class again and finalised the order. Then I realised the dispatch date was now 1st Nov with delivery of 2nd Nov. Huh? I double checked the price and details. Everything looked fine but I now had an Express service for the price of First Class.

I wasn't too enthusiastic, Amazon can change dispatch dates randomly and at will, happened plenty of times before. I woke up this morning (well, late morning) expecting an email announcing an "Error", "We are sorry", yadda yadda. Well, there was nothing. Except for a preparation of items update

! Looked very promising, but it could still change during the day before dispatch. Except it didn't.

That's right. Same day dispatch for First Class on Amazon.co.uk. Got the dispatch email couple hours ago. We'll see if I actually recieve them tommorow (Royal Mail is still backed up from the strike), but it looks good so far!

Summary: (The above is long and boring)

There is a possibility of eliminating the Express delivery option on Amazon.co.uk. This could save £6-£7 per order, or, if you never go Express, could get you next day delivery for nothing!

There are some limits on this glitch, prelimary reports suggest an order time between midnight and 9am. More tests are needed to determine the range of products (and their origin) this glitch affects. A list of instructions is also necessary so this isn't just a giant waste of time...


I'll update this thread when I have more data (i.e. when I buy more stuff

).

EK

 

[stewtheking]

Nice little trick. I am far too cheap to go for first class though. Super-saver all the way!

 

[soozieq]

Well, I ordered 2 items at 3.11am and checked them through as super saver (presents for someone's b/day in a few weeks so didn't need 1st class). Then at 3.14am I realised I'd ordered the wrong CD, so I cancelled the item and re-ordered the correct one. But once I'd cancelled one of the items, I was no longer eligible for free delivery, so I had to pick 1st class.

No problem with that as I intended to combine the orders as soon as I ordered the correct CD. But as soon as I'd placed the order and went to combine them, the original order had entered the dispatch process (at 3.14am) and so I couldn't combine them. Amazon added 2 separate lots of postage totalling £4.58 to what was supposed to be a free delivery!!

I rang them the next morning and asked how it was possible that my 'free shipping' order had entered the dispatch process within 3 minutes of cancelling one item and adding another item. She said it was because once the original order had dipped below the 'free' shipping amount, it automatically became 1st class and entered the dispatch process immediately.

Seems stupid to me, the e-mails from Amazon showed the cancellation and re-ordering to be 3 minutes apart. And who's packing at 3am??? I've noticed recently there's very little time to add to, or change an order once it's been placed. For people like me, who always think of something to add within the next hour - it's quite irritating to find it's entered the dispatch process at some ungodly hour of the morning when you think it's 'safe' to make changes!

But they refunded the postage anyway. It would just be better if you had an hours grace to make changes if you needed to. I never remember things entering the dispatch process so quickly in the past.

Having said that, I LOVE Amazon. I ordered a Sony Bravia from them on a Thursday, and it turned up the next day. Really lucky as the old TV had 'died' on the Thursday. I also like being able to return things within 30 days. I don't return that much, but it's nice to know you're not lumbered with something that turns out to be a disappointment.

EDIT: evilking, I generally do all my ordering between midnight and 3am (night owl!), and if it's for me and I want it fast, I always choose first class - and it always gets dispatched later the same day and arrives the day after - not bad eh??

 

[evilking]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif EDIT: evilking, I generally do all my ordering between midnight and 3am (night owl!), and if it's for me and I want it fast, I always choose first class - and it always gets dispatched later the same day and arrives the day after - not bad eh??

Well, this thread is useless then.

EK

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilking /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, this thread is useless then. EK

It's not useless at all!!! I only discovered the same-day thing by accident. I'm sure there are loads of Amazon UK users out there who have no idea about it.

Your thread means they don't have to find out by accident now. . .

Anyway, as you said - it's not guaranteed they'll post the same day. I've just been lucky so far, but I never actually expect dispatch the next day, it's just happened like that in the past few months since I've been ordering so late at night!

 

[Quaddy]

nice one EK, i will be sure to look up this bookmarked thread next time i amazon something.