Buying a ladder from Amazon

[J.A.F.E.]

I had a need for a 10' stepladder and hauling it home was an issue - at present I can't leave the house because of the virus. For some reason I thought maybe Amazon was worth checking - and it was! They were about $10 cheaper than Lowes online price and it included free delivery (at least for Prime).

It took five days but it came as scheduled and I got a call about an hour before just to confirm they would be here at the designated time. It wasn't in a box or container - just a step ladder with the piece of paper taped to it with the delivery number. It may have gotten a scratch or two in transit but it's a ladder and by the time I'm done painting the house those flaws will be invisible.

Lesson learned. Six weeks ago it would never have occurred to me to do anything but drive to the store and strap the thing to the roof rack. I suspect between the need to isolate for the time being and the convenience of having it brought to the door shopping patterns long term are bound to change.

[slip knot]

you get a ladder in <week but it took them 15 days to get me my dog meds. really crazy ship times now.

[bmwrd0]

Yeah, everything right now is messed up. I have found that if I have to order something (which I try to do less and less these days) to order from someone other than Amazon, it is just faster.

Also, the the little mom and pop hardware store over in the college town clued me into that they get next day shipping via TrueValue, as they are part of that network. Just place an order online as ship to store, and it is there the next day. It helps that I like them.

[goodfellow]

Amazon dominates for sure. I ordered some dry-goods (almond flour, coconut flour, keto chocolate chips, some protein powder) on Sunday morning (10:00AM) -- They delivered everything by 3PM. Amazing delivery times when you take into consideration the times we're living in.

I'm not a fan of Bezos, but the Amazon logistics model is second to none.

[DeadNutz]

I take advantage of free shipping to the store whenever I can. The wife did just sign up for Prime as she wanted to order a bunch of stuff.

[torqueman2002]

Funny, I bought one for my son-in-law from Amazon b4 Christmas.

I found out he already had a 16' extension ladder, and needed a good step ladder.

Oh boy, I don't need an extension ladder. At 71, I'm done with climbing extension ladders and getting up on our roof.

I checked with Amazon. Free returns! Yes, free return, just print out the form and take it to UPS.

Local UPS mini-store employees were not happy to see that ladder. Wanted to know where the box was! I explained it arrived just like it was. Some shrink wrap and a shipping label.

They cautioned me the driver might refuse to take it, and they wanted my phone number in case he didn't take it.

I never heard back, and Amazon issued a credit that same day.
 

[highland512]

My wife use the hell out of amazon, but when you have a baby and a toddler I would ship nearly everything as well to avoid going to the store. I use them some but for the most part I still hit up my local hardware, its a top notch hardware that I would hate to see go away. 

[fatfillup]

We lost our local hardware when the owner died at age 50ish.  Really miss him and the store.  Looked like hell, but Jack knew where everything was and he was a good problem solver

[jeffmoss26]

my work is behind a Home Depot. Saw a trailer full of ladders this afternoon!