Amazon's funny: A few weeks ago, I ordered a 50 lb. item on a Sunday night. It arrived on Tuesday! Yet, I can order a DVD and have it take 2 weeks to arrive!

And (Just in case Jeff Bozos is reading) Amazon should really specify what shipping service is being used- especially with 3rd-party sellers- as I find services like "Smart Post" to be ridiculously slow, and will avoid any seller who uses such- but the thing is, on Amazon, you have no idea what service a seller is using (I have mentioned this to Amazon customer service).

Likely that someone ordered a new tire and returned that POS, it got re-binned by someone that didn't know the difference and re-picked and sent to you by the same.

Like my wife said, I wonder how many people would just throw the ruined tire away, rather then bother with return.
Regardless---there is no excuse!
After this, I now have a different outlook for Amazon.

At least you didn't order a 4-piece brifters and derailleurs groupset and get only one left brifter from a different group, like I did last year.

Another possible advantage to an Amazon Prime subscription (not an officially documented policy) is that they seem fairly relaxed about returns and/or refunds for some items. A couple of times when a shipment of pet food was unusually late -- due to the post office, not Amazon's fault -- Amazon sent a replacement. In both instances the replacement arrived promptly, followed by the original shipment a few days or a week later. I offered to return the original but they said don't worry about it.

They probably factor in the cost of shipping for heavy items that aren't particularly expensive, such as a 15 lb bag of pet food that cost $25, or 40 lbs of clumping cat litter than cost only $10-$15. That stuff would be outrageously expensive for me to ship as a one-time thing, so I'm guessing the logistics for Amazon must include a daily, perhaps hourly, calculation of the least expensive shipping.

And I see now that Amazon Prime's free standard shipping is no longer 2 days, but 3-5 days, although some items still arrive within 2 days (if the USPS isn't involved).

The main challenge to the trend away from local shopping at physical locations, toward online shopping, is shipping that's cost effective and timely. I'd like to do more online orders for groceries and routine household items, but it isn't practical because of the cost or timing. I've wasted entire days waiting for deliveries of non-perishable items, so it wouldn't make sense to order groceries when stores can't master the basic logistics that pizza and Chinese restaurants solved decades ago.

Fwiw, I dont do prime. I play a game with Amazon. I order, and at most pay for standard shipping. If it doesn't ship by the end of the next day, I cancel the order. When I do this a couple of times, they start getting it out the door allot quicker for a few weeks. Then we play the game again. Amazon is trying to tric you into paying them for what they should already be doing. I refuse to play rheir game. Way too much competition out there.

Never had Prime, never have a problem. Amazon is about the only vendor that ships to Hawaii without a ripoff. Very common for other places to charge a minimum of $25 for FedEx 2d day, gets here no faster than USPS. USPS flat rate from Hawaii is the best thing going. E-bay? Don't make me laugh. Was looking at a stem, seller says "will not ship to AK or HI". Like this is some 3rd world place or something.

scott s.
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But ask your LBS of the availability of items.

For some items, it might be less trouble for you to order online, and then pay them to put the part on the bike, then for them to order the part themselves. Because they often need a certain order amount to their distributor to get the part at a reasonable cost, and in a reasonable time.

GH

That's the problem I run into, IF the LBS they can get it, it can take up to 2 weeks, they only do orders once a week on Friday, and I can only pick up on weekends. On line there's a almost limitless selection, prices are lower, usually no sales tax, and the item is often at my door in 2 to 3 days.

Standard consumables items like chains, tires, tubes, brake pads ect. I'll typically get local, the rest I get on line, especially since much of what I want and need is only available from European sources.

The dirty little secret is that it may cost you LBS more than it's worth to them to order some of those things that you order online. The owner may be secretly happy that you're ordering those things online.

GH

I am not sure that ordering tires online is a good idea... Clinchers with wire bead anyway. I have ordered a Schwalbe Marathon Plus, and two Gatorskins and they seem to have some kinks in the wire, although they were shipped in oversized pizza boxes without being folded.

For the Gatorskins the deformation is almost imperceptible, I am sure that once inflated they will be ok.

The Schwalbe is another story... The kink was quite prominent, looked like it was caused from hanging by the label (!). This tire was a replacement for another one which was stolen (or not delivered anyway), and in the meantime I chose to downsize to 700 x 28c. I am not sure whether I will ever go back to 700 x 35c. I might get a wheelset to experiment with...

In any case, I don't feel very comfortable riding the tire with the kinked wire straightened out by force. It has gone through two instances of plastic deformation and it is not worth risking for $50...

Easy QBP, J & B, BTI can be checked online for availability in no time. J+B and BTI can be checked without an account (price free of course) and QBP requires you to go to your shop and talk to other people who like bikes (ouch, sounds like a bad time)

Getting to a grand for a few shops in the winter isn't super hard but yes sometimes it can be hard if your shop is trying to get the rebates or if you are a single shop. If you literally cannot wait on your shop and you need it in such a huge rush and you actually know exactly what you need and can order exactly what you need, sure go online otherwise just get it through the shop. It is better if we order the part and install it so we can get the right one or find one that will work.

So many times people have gotten the wrong thing because they had to order online because they were going to save 73¢ and that was important so their work gets delayed and delayed and sometimes they can get it right and sometimes we end up ordering the part anyway.

Generally though if you keep up on maintaining parts and don't wait till the crucial last second to get your bike worked on for a race or a tour or commute, you can get everything through the shop and build a great relationship, which will help you in the end. You may not save right away on those parts but you might get cheaper labor or get little stuff that might cost you on down the road if you had just been a random pop in.

They knew what you needed.

Agreed on the bike shops, but realize not all of us have one close by. My closest one is an hour trip, and you better want Bontrager because that is all they have.

I have never had an issue with Amazon (fingers crossed) and I use it for just about everything.

I did have a similar issue ordering tires from Nashbar once. I ordered 2 of their streetwise tires. I got one of those, and one knobby mountain tire. Completely opposite types of tires. Don't know how anyone with half a brain would think they are the same thing, even if a tag was miss marked on one of them.

Ditto. Nearest LBS to me is over an hour away, one way. I've never set foot in the place in the 14 years that I've lived here. Back when I kived in the 'burbs, where there were local LBS's close-by, I quickly became disgusted with those shops, as they seemed to be bothered by people such as i who'd just go in to buy a cable or tire, and not one of their shiny new $2600 (at the time) Cannondales.

I haven't set foot in an LBS in over 25 years. I order all of my stuff on the interwebz, and do all of my own work. Life is good. The LBS is an obsolete retail model. They could be somewhat relevant, due to convenience and service, in some markets- but those aspects are out-stripped by the fact that the LBS retail supply chain is seriously out-dated. I mean, in this day and age, who is going to pay full retail and wait two weeks or more for an ordered item, when you can have it in three days and for half the price from the interwebz?

If the bike industry doesn't adopt, and do it fast, LBS's are goin to be more rare than corded phones. The big bike manufacturers had better relent and start allowing sales of their bikes online, or they're going to lose serious market share, as the LBS field dries up, and as fewer people want to (or need to) use an LBS.

This is a classic example of an industry which has failed to adapt to modern conditions, and which is just lumbering along towards extinction, because no one seems to want to upset the apple cart by adapting...so instead, they'll let the apples rot. My condolences to anyone who owns an LBS- They're on life-support.

UPDATE to my OP--
I shipped both tires back and Amazon took SIX days, after they received them, to issue my refund, but I did receive it.
They also issued me a $10.00 credit, of some sort, to apply to future purchase.
AGAIN---these were bought through Amazon Prime with no mention of "warehouse Deals" ? ?
I guess someone just screwed up my order.

There should be a "sold by" listed under the item description. You can still buy them through Amazon Prime, but they're being sold from another retailer.

Seriously though, it's not a big deal, ship it back, get a refund, and move on with life.

I don't think that's a secret. I've had bike shop owners tell me exactly that. If they don't have it in stock. It's better for me and them for me to buy it online. The problem with that model is that now that I'm in the habit of looking online first, I frequently fill my basket with consumables like tires, tubes, chains, etc. to get free shipping. Stuff I used to get at the bike shop.

I make purchases from Amazon all the time. I try to stick with Prime items. Rarely have had a problem and when I have I find their customer service is second to none.
But then I can also say the same about Nashbar and performance.

Special orders may be a pain, and may not earn a lot of money.

But, many of those little purchases have to make someone money.

Derailleur Cables... $1 value, $5 cost... do they really make $4 profit on each one?

And those little incidental purchases add up, at least when they can leave customers in browse mode, and not hold their hands the entire time in the shop.

One of the issues may be whether or not Shimano and other suppliers are giving the small shops their best rate. Or, perhaps those shops are too lazy, and are buying parts from a middle-man who in turn buys them from a different middle-man. At least the bottom dollar bulk rate on parts from Shimano can be significantly below Ribble or other prices, but it might not be the thing one could expect overnight service with either.

One of the things that is hard to account for is whether good service actually equates to more repeat service. So, say you bring in some obscure brake pad. If the shop takes the time to track it down and order it, then they might barely break even on that purchase. But, the shop may learn something in the process, and if that customer comes back to buy a bunch more stuff (either little or big ticket items), then the shop may actually make money.

Turn away customers, or direct them to E-Bay, and they loose the customers, and loose the repeat purchases.