Amazon Prime Deliveries Now Facing Month-Long Delays As Coronavirus Pandemic Expands
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to expand, it has been reported that Amazon Prime deliveries [...]
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to expand, it has been reported that Amazon Prime deliveries are now facing month-long delays. According to Recode, many customers began seeing delivery dates of April 21 reflecting on non-essential items, even though many of the products show as being in-stock and eligible for Amazon's Prime express shipping. The company has since confirmed that they are prioritizing "in-demand essential items" at this time.
"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." The company is currently only stocking its warehouses with items that fall into one of six categories: baby products, health and household, beauty and personal care, grocery, industrial and scientific, and pet supplies
Amazon Prime is now showing April 21 delivery dates for many non-essential items, as the company prioritizes the most in-demand goods during this global health crisis.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed these are real delivery dates and not an error.
— Jason Del Rey (@DelRey) March 23, 2020
In a previous statement to Recode, an Amazon spokesperson alluded to the non-essential items issue, saying, "We are seeing increased online shopping, and as a result, some products, such as household staples and medical supplies, are out of stock. We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding as we temporarily prioritize these products for customers."
Many social media users have been commenting on the situation, with one sharing, "The times are all wonky. I was told an Amazon Pantry order was showing up on April 1st; it came on March 18th. On the other hand, a thing I ordered from China (costume fairy wings) is now 2 weeks late. And I ordered an iron, was told it'd come in May, & now it says next Friday."
As frustrating as this is, online grocery shopping is as difficult as a service to offer as anything during this time. Extremely high demand, stores handcuffed by rush and out of stocks, short staffed and still offering e-grocery for anything other a week out is insane.
— Dheeraj (@THE_RAJ14) March 23, 2020
At this time, there is no word on if the Amazon non-essential items delivery times could be moved up.