Tag Archives: bezos

Lou DeJoy of No Man’s Desiring 8-11-20

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Clearly I like this title, so I’ve made a new category for it. Here’s today’s update. The problem is worse than I’d thought/hoped.

When it looked like the tires were lost in transit, I felt compelled to try a third time so I would be able to go on bike rides with my fiancee again, and it turned out that Amazon itself–not just third-party sellers–had tires in stock. Amazon’s delivery service is pretty reliable, and USPS has been garbage (by recent policy), so there shouldn’t be those problems. As the saying goes: Happy fiancee, happy liancee(?)

Amazon set estimated delivery at August 10.

I got shipping confirmation from Amazon. To my horror, tracking indicated shipping through USPS. Totally screwed, I thought. But on the contrary. The tires from Amazon arrived yesterday. They were delivered by USPS without exception. No delays, no misdeliveries, no missing tracking information.

Here is the timeline since the front tire flat on July 5.

Attempt 1 (Third-party seller through Amazon):
July 6: Two bicycle tires ordered through Amazon from third-party seller.
July 8: Seller shipped package Priority Mail from Orange County, FL to residential address in Los Angeles.
Package never scanned by post office. No new information.

Attempt 2 (Third-party seller through Amazon):
July 29: Two bicycle tires ordered through Amazon from different third-party seller.
July 29: Seller shipped package Priority Mail from San Diego, CA to residential address in Los Angeles.
July 29: USPS reported package entered system.
July 30: USPS advised that package will be delivered to residential address in Los Angeles August 1.
July 31: USPS advised that package will arrive on time (i.e. August 1).
August 1: USPS advised that package will arrive late but is on its way.
August 2: USPS advised that package will arrive late bus is on its way.
No new information since then.

-BUT-

Attempt 3 (Direct purchase from Amazon):
August 7: Two bicycle tires ordered directly from Amazon.
August 9: Amazon shipped bicycle tires and advises delivery date of August 10. USPS tracking number provided.
August 10: Bicycle tires delivered to residential address in Los Angeles without exception.

Less than two weeks ago Jeff Bezos appeared in front of the House Judiciary. He was accused of engaging in anticompetitive practices. He denied it because what else was he going to do? It’s unjust that the little guys in Florida and in San Diego can’t get USPS to deliver their goods, but Amazon hasn’t faced such problems. This is abuse by Amazon and abuse by USPS.

This behavior by USPS and the stranglehold Amazon has on it are unconscionable. This cannot go unchallenged.

I abhor unnecessary legislation and unnecessary regulation. I think there are better ways to spend public money. It should be saved for stuff like this. Because this has gotten out of hand. This is hurting small business. This is hurting the consumer. This is hurting confidence. This is hurting America.

And this is the case when it comes to commerce!

The election is 12 weeks away. In California we will get our ballots at the beginning of October. We must have a system in place that delivers our votes and packages on time.

Get rid of Louis DeJoy. Reach out to your elected officials:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
https://www.senate.gov/senators/index.htm

Tell them: Enough with Make America Late Again.

WSJ Crossword 7-29-20 Complete

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Another day, another hearing. I’m watching the testimony of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, and Tim Cook in front of the House Judiciary Committee, so I’m not going for time today. Also if prosecution for perjury is on the table, these guys are only going to avoid jail time due to covid concerns.

Hang on, I gotta write something about what I’m hearing right now in this hearing.

Congresswoman Jayapal asked Jeff Bezos about an Amazon employee’s prior testimony that Amazon does not “use any specific seller data when creating its own private brand product.” To me, that sounds like they’re seeing what sellers are doing in aggregate, so what does it matter if it’s not specific to a seller? Like if Lou Bega’s wife asked him if he’s faithful to her and he said, “I am not seeing one girl outside this relationship.” But he’s seeing many girls, so that would make Lou Bega still unfaithful, right?

Congresswoman Jayapal asked if Amazon ever accesses third-party seller data when making decisions. Jeff Bezos just said, “Uh… I can’t answer that question yes or no. What I can tell you is: We have a policy against using seller-specific data… but I can’t say that’s never been violated.” Jayapal cited a Wall Street Journal (Hey! that’s the paper whose puzzle I’m supposed to be writing about! I’ll get to it soon. Don’t worry.) that says that they do look at popular sellers and then aggregate the data to figure out what Amazon should do on their own. Bezos says that they’re looking into it, which Jayapal said that clearly he’s not denying it.

She continues. A former employee testified to the committee: “There’s a rule, but there’s nobody enforcing or spot-checking. They just say, ‘Don’t help yourself to the data.’ It’s a candy shop. Anybody can have access to anything they want.” She asks if category managers have access to nonpublic data about third-party sellers and their stuff.

Bezos’s reply is what follows:

“Uh, I–here’s what I can tell you: I–uh, we do have certain safeguards in place… it’s a voluntary policy [not to look at third-party seller data].” Congresswoman Jayapal clarified that observance of their safeguard policy voluntary and there’s no enforcement of the policy? Bezos, still stammering: “Sorry! I, uh, may have mispoke (sic). I was trying to say that Amazon’s–the fact that we have a policy is voluntary.”

Jayapal concludes that whatever policy they have isn’t working, so shenanigans.

Also they’re using aggregate data even if there’s only seller of a thing, so aggregate=specific in those cases, and Amazon is screwing the seller. Hooray.

OK back to what you likely came here to read.

Oh, Steube just said pundint several times when he meant pundit. Good times.

Now back for real (unless something else is notable).

What’s cool about this hearing (don’t worry, this is about the crossword) is that everyone in this committee is mad at these fellows, and the theme of this puzzle the answer to 37A The start of a Lincoln line, and a hint to the circled letters: AHOUSEDIVIDED. This committee is united in its ire, though not necessarily in its arguments. The clues related to the theme:
17A Cry from Michelangelo & 19A Humble: COWA(BUNGA■LOW)LY
23A “Jabberwocky” word for four o’clock in the afternoon & 26A Purchasable grab bag in a video game: BRILL(IG■LOO)TBOX
49A Land agent Charles who was collectively shunned for not reducing rents 52A Lists for chairs: BOY(COTT■AGE)NDAS
57A Barista’s creation & 60A Sluggish: MO(CHA■LET)HARGIC

I didn’t know that boycott was named after “Capt.” Chuck, who seemingly was as much a captain as Dr. Phil is allowed to practice medicine. Fun reading https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/captain-boycott-man-and-myth/