By Noah Manskar March 23, 2020 | 9:50am | Updated
Amazon Prime is taking as long as a month to deliver some items that usually arrive in two days as the coronavirus pandemic slams the e-commerce titan.
Items such as NutriBullet blenders, computer cables and best-selling books would not be delivered until at least April 21 if ordered on Monday, Amazon listings showed. Shoppers could normally get those products within two days with an Amazon Prime subscription, which offers free express shipping for a monthly fee.
Amazon customers and merchants alike flagged the delays on social media Sunday as the company grappled with massive demand from shoppers during the coronavirus crisis, according to the tech news website Recode, which first reported the issue.
“Did amazon change delivery date for everything to April 21? Or are they just punishing me?” Andy Grewal wrote on Twitter.
“Amazon has really got to stop playing because if the stupid/random things I order to take the misery out of quarantine can’t arrive within 2 days, I’m not going to make it,” another Twitter user said.
Amazon indicated that the long delivery times stemmed from its decision to prioritize essential items. The Seattle-based company told merchants last week that its warehouses would only accept “household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products” for three weeks.
“To serve our customers in need while also helping to ensure the safety of our associates, we’ve changed our logistics, transportation, supply chain, purchasing, and third-party seller processes to prioritize stocking and delivering items that are a higher priority for our customers,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “This has resulted in some of our delivery promises being longer than usual.”
Amazon has pledged to hire 100,000 full- and part-time workers for fulfillment and delivery jobs in the US in response to surging demand during the coronavirus crisis. The company is also boosting wages by $2 per hour through April, it said last week.
Source: The New York Post