Amazon No Longer Offers 2-Day Prime Shipping (Here’s What To Do About It)
Have you noticed that Amazon doesn’t deliver on their 2-day Prime Shipping anymore? It’s actually not even close for my address and I’ve had to return stuff to Amazon as I don’t need it by the time the package shows up. Anything that I want to buy today (a Monday) won’t be delivered until Sunday at the earliest. I tested this on a bunch of different shopping categories and made sure it was all products sold and shipped directly by Amazon, and none could be delivered before Sunday, 6 days from NOW. But alas, not all hope is lost, here’s what you should do to hold Amazon’s feet to the fire. It’ll only take a few minutes and put an extra $10 or $20 in your pocket.
Call Them Up and Ask For a 1-Month Refund
When I have a problem with Amazon I usually start a live chat session as it’s easier to say exactly what I want to say.
BUT…for the first time ever, I recommend actually calling them at 1-(888) 280-4331 and say, “Why don’t I get 2-day Prime shipping anymore?”
I tried doing this via Live Chat and it just went in circles due to what I’m guessing was a language barrier.
At this point, give them your zip code and ask them to run it through their system to find out for sure whether your address qualifies for 2-day shipping.
Most addresses do indeed qualify for 2-day Prime shipping.
See Also: 5 Reasons Why Amazon Prime Is a Terrible Buy
If your address does qualify, then you probably already know the EXACT reason why you’re not getting your packages within 2 days.
It’s because Amazon can’t hold up their end of the bargain and they should pay for it.
This is when you politely ask for a 1-month refund on your Prime membership (approximately $10) because Amazon can’t hold up their end of the bargain.
I did this recently via a phone call to their customer service department and it took me all of about 5 minutes to score the $10 refund.
There was ZERO hesitation from the rep I talked with and I think they are trained to hand out this refund for those who politely ask for it.
Note: My family orders from Amazon at least 1-2 times per week and I’m not sure if that played a role in getting the 1-month refund, but in either case, it’s definitely worth a shot.
PRO TIP: AIM HIGH & ASK FOR EVEN MORE
From the comments section, several Amazon Prime members were actually given a $20 “inconvenience credit”.
Since we we know that a $20 credit is on the table, you might as well ask for it. You stand a decent chance of them giving it to you, and if they don’t just try again later with a different CSR.
Hold Amazon’s Feet to the Fire
I realize Amazon’s been hit by unprecedented demand in recent months, but let’s not forget they are one of the richest companies in the world.
Now that the economy and stores have opened back up in most of the country, the demand for online shopping has been greatly reduced.
Yet Amazon still can’t figure it out and solve their order backlog issues.
Originally, Amazon wanted to blame it on the pandemic and now they claim it’s 2-days from when the order leaves the warehouse giving them the green light to blame delivery services and bad weather.
I’d have no problem buying that argument back in 2021…BUT NOT NOW.
It’s my opinion that Amazon was losing money on the 2-day shipping guarantee and is using the current situation as a handy way to get rid of the fast shipping guarantee altogether.
PRO TIP: TIME TO LOOK AT OTHER OPTIONS
Fortunately Amazon is the not the only company offering free shipping with guaranteed 2-day delivery.
Notably, take a close look at a Walmart+ membership. For $98 a year (30-day free trial), you get free shipping with no minimum and most items are either next day delivery or 2-day. You also get free delivery from your local Walmart with a $35 minimum along with 10¢ cents/gallon savings at gas stations including Exxon and Mobil.
And it’s no surprise that the prices at Walmart are typically better than Amazon.
Sidenote: My wife is a Kindergarten teacher and she came home the other day telling me that many of her colleagues have stitched from Prime to Walmart+ and they couldn’t be happier. Very anecdotal I realize, but I think the momentum is building.
See Also: Not Getting Amazon Delivery on Sunday? Here’s Why
I’d be SHOCKED if 2-Day Prime shipping ever came back at this point.
So the bottom line is get your $10 refund NOW before they aren’t so generous.
The customer service rep also told me that MANY people are calling to cancel Prime, she said she had already cancelled over 50 memberships in the past couple days.
Here’s what a chat rep told me when I asked him if Prime members were complaining about the issue:
PRO TIP: TRY AN AMAZON BUSINESS ACCOUNT
Thanks to reader Joseph, who commented recently letting us know that his Amazon Business account has been delivering in 2-days since last September. The interesting part is that his “regular Prime account” is stuck at 4-7 days for delivery.
Since an Amazon business account is FREE to join, and also gives you quantity discounts, setting up an account could be worth a shot. Also, in case you were wondering, he said his business is not COVID related in the slightest.
Prime 2-Day Shipping Has Turned Into 5-Day Delivery
The reason that 2-day Prime shipping has turned into 5, 6, or even 7-day shipping has nothing to do with UPS or the USPS.
It falls 100% on Amazon as they now say that the “2-day shipping guarantee” is from when they actually process your order and get it in the mail.
So if it takes them a couple days to box it up and ship it out, then you’ll get it delivered to your home in about 5 days on average.
See Also: Amazon Package Arriving Late? Here’s How to Score a Refund
If you’re like me, the main reason you joined Prime and paid $139/year was for the 2-day shipping, so this is KIND OF A BIG DEAL.
Ask the Reader: Are you a Prime member? If so, when was the last time Amazon delivered something to you in 2 days?
By Kyle James
I started Rather-Be-Shopping.com in 2000 and have become a consumer expert and advocate writing about out-of-the-box ways to save at stores like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco to name a few. I’ve been featured on FOX News, Good Morning America, and the NY Times talking about my savings tips. (Learn more)
They say that they are prioritizing “essential” items because of the pandemic and the growth of people ordering necessities from home rather than shopping. But shampoo, deodorant, gatorade mix, paper goods, etc all take 5+ days to be delivered to me. They are just using it as an excuse to use their own logistics as much as possible. People who live in areas where Amazon handles the entire order from fulfillment center to delivery are not experiencing these delays. My sister lives in a metro area in North Carolina and she gets items in 1-2 days, because Amazon delivers the majority of items to her door, no usps, ups.
I live 15 minutes from a fulfillment center and everything lately has been 5+ days. I ordered a stroller on Saturday and it is supposed to be coming this Friday….
Just got off of chat and then phone with Amazon. Items I ordered 5 days ago have not arrived on the scheduled date and were moved up FOUR more days. These are in stock items and if I ordered today they say delivered in 3 days!?! They only refunded me the cost of one of my items. Aargh!!! The chatter gave me the two-day “shipping” spiel but I explained that their point of purchase says “delivery” – delivery means delivered.
I spoke to customer service this morning, and the person kept telling me that this is two day shipping. I repeated to tell him my past order and delivery dates, and compared him to the current one, which is 6 days. He said that the two days actually start from the day its shipped from the warehouse, not from when its order. My poor kid had to calm me down and get me off the phone after listening to his excuse.
I cancelled for this very reason and I had been a customer for a long time. I could see no benefit in paying $119 yearly.
2 days? 3 weeks for a fire tablet I ordered 3 days ago..expected delivery June Delivery estimate: Monday, June 14, 2021 by 8:00pm
I did a similar test and found that if you live in an urban area, two day shipping has been largely restored. So, if you live in the city, you can get two, one, or even same day delivery. But, if you live in a rural area your package won’t even ship from Amazon for 2-3 days. Effectively, rural customers are not subsidizing urban customers. Same $120 cost, VERY different level of service.
I spoke to an Amazon exec who explained that they are trying hard to move to Amazon delivery. So, in urban areas your package will likely be delivered by Amazon. If not, they still rely on UPS and USPS and blame the delays on them. But its really easy to track packages and see that the delay is all on Amazon.
I definitely have had this issue lately and the rep is trying to give me the run around as I type this. But I just asked her for the refund and she put me on hold to “see what can be done” I am done with Amazon Prime, they suck!
I found where you can change delivery speed to 2 days but you have to order the item 1st then look carefully for “change delivery speed ” tap it and it will appear in yellow to change the speed to either 1 or 2 days. Its aggravating to have to go backwards but I just did it and it hasn’t updated the delivery by date yet but it should.
Diane Greenville, SC
LOL, On the phone with Amazon right now. 2 reps have stated that nothing has changed in their shipping policy. They have been telling me that it can depend on availability, time it takes to ship from manufacturer, processing, packaging, etc before they even get it shipped. I picked an amazon basic product (AA batteries) which are in stock and I live less than 7 miles from a fulfillment center and it still lists a minimum of 6 days. 2 weeks ago I would have had it in 2. I’ve been a prime member since 2009 and up until today I have set my membership to auto renew but I am about to change that.
Thanks for sharing this as we are going through the same!! I did the same test & EVERYTHING TAKES MINIMUM 5 DAYS from order to delivery! I got a refund & Jeff Bozos is scamming people & should be ashamed of himself as the richest man on the planet! I now use Walmart as I can actually get better service.
Agreed. I’ve switched to Walmart who has a fairly equal amount of options, and has true 2 day delivery as well as next day delivery. And it’s not costing me anything additional for that service.
Having worked in the DTC shipping biz for over 2 decades, I believe that the issue has compounded with Amazon creating its own delivery service. They took away such a huge chunk of shipping from UPS, now they are stuck without that shipping partner & their extremely streamlined supply chain.
My gut tells me that all the 3rd party delivery groups are probably also getting screwed financially by Amazon Logistics, so there is really no rush for those delivery companaies to get your package to you asap. Amazon’s self shipping idea was clever, but it has clearly led to ALOT of delays given that they are relying 100% on mom & pop 3rd party delivery companies vs. the huge infrastructure of a FedEx or UPS (the later with the original exclusive Amazon contract).
Bottom line, customers are paying $120 for a service that is no longer guaranteed, and the only parthership Amazon has with UPS is on the return side…. yes, their air & long haul fleet can handle restocking warehouses & initial shipping to specific delivery hubs. However, 3rd party delivery companies (who are probably getting squeezed by Amazon financially) have little incentive to truly improve the Amazon supply chain.
You also have to keep in mind that with the volume Amazon shipped daily, I doubt they were paying even $2 for a 1 lb UPS package to ship anywhere to a USA address…. so you kniw they are trying to pay their 3rd party delivery service less….
The last few items I ordered came to me via UPS, although it still took 5 days.
Honestly, I’ve been a prime member for some time now, I pay for the student service, and I haven’t noticed they removed the 2 day delivery service at all. When they say it’ll be delivered in a certain number of days, it’s usually there in that time, the usually ship it that day or the next morning and it get here on time. The problem has, in fact, been with USPS. So, they aren’t wrong, as far as my experience has been. Due to the local USPS workers simply dropping off packages in the mail room, and then leaving. Then they tell Amazon the package was delivered, so, I receive a notification saying “Package delivered” but I hadn’t received anything. The package won’t come until the next the next day or 2 days, if they don’t deliver, Amazon has refunded me the cost of the entire package due to USPS shipping issues. I would imagine USPS has cost Amazon some money due to this.
My pet peeve with Amazon is that I wish they would stop shipping through USPS so much, UPS and FedEx do well, but USPS has been problematic in my area and mail is not being delivered on time, the workers claim that they aren’t allowed to make deliveries after a certain amount of work time, since they won’t be paid overtime. However, whatever is going on with USPS is negatively impacting Amazon’s shipping situation. This is why I don’t like it when Amazon breaks up my shipment by send half of it through UPS and then other half through USPS, or some times they’ll send it through Amazon and USPS. I wish customers had more of a say as to which service we prefer our packages to be sent through. Until USPS does something about what’s going on within it, I’d prefer deliveries to be handled on time. This way I’ll know when to be home to receive them.
I thought it was just me having this problem. I share an family account with my husband on Prime… when I order, it is taking 6-7 business days for delivery (ex: Today, June 5th : “Expected Delivery: June 14th”), with a message underneath on how its a smaller item, will cut down on shipping costs, etc.) I add the same items to my husband’s cart & TADA! They arrive Monday, June 7th. Same address. Different accounts, but “Family Account”. So, I don’t believe the “nearness to a warehouse/fulfillment center” or “items purchased” has anything to do with the shipping time frame. Is it because I order/ have ordered more items than my husband within the past year using Prime?
Either way, annoying. I wonder the reasoning… algorithms?
Then of course there’s DeJoy intentionally screwing up the Postal Service.It’s not just the Amazon deliveries arriving late.
So I’ve been argued with them about this multiple times. I was successful at getting a refund, but they have yet to answer the question of why my zip code and my father’s 10 min away, for example, are seeing ONE WEEK delivery times on basically everything, yet my sister (who is still only 25 minutes away but further from any warehouses than we are) is still seeing 2 day delivery and even 1 day options! I could essentially order things to her house and go get them before they’ve even finished processing if I shipped them to myself.
I would agree that they seemingly aren’t able to hold up their end of the bargain, but then why is it inconsistent in nearby areas?
$10? Not worth the time to type this
I’m holding Amazon’s feet to the fire by not renewing my prime membership. They can pound sand. I’ll look again when 2-day is back. Maybe.
Why are they still advertising 2 day shipping?? Shouldn’t they be sued for continuing to advertise this when they aren’t even capable of shipping it out in 2 days let alone it reaching you in 2 days.. 🙄
Actually this is false! I sell on Amazon and it is pretty much UPS, USPS and FEDEX not getting the packages out in a timely manner! I get all my orders out within a day and 9/10 USPS takes 7 days even with Express! So, before you blast Amazon, know that us independent sellers do everything in our power to get you your order but constantly lose money thanks to USPS!
The article clearly states they verified items ship directly from the Amazon warehouse. I have 20 or so items I’m waiting on from Amazon that show not shipped, and as soon as they show shipped it usually takes 2 more days to get here. Any items I search for show a delivery date of 7 or more days. So they are estimating correctly. Your issue seems to be unrelated to this article.
Totally agree. My items direct from Amazon same issue. Really beyond annoyed and pissed. They go up on membership then flake on the 2 day shipping. They need to drop the membership back down at this rate. I just ordered two items one is coming tomorrow the other said next week sometimes. Shit’s annoying.
If it’s not Amazon then why does Amazon show packages will be delivered next Tuesday if I order today?? That’s on Amazon! Every item I’ve looked at, the delivery date is Tuesday. Today is Thursday, it should be here Saturday or Sunday if they honored their 2 day delivery. None of these items have been ordered yet, so it can’t be on a delivery service, it’s on Amazon! I get my orders when it says, they are always on time. The delivery companies are doing their part, every single time I’ve ordered! When Amazon actually did what they advertised, I would get my orders in two days without issue. The items would advertise two days and that’s when I got them. Now, it advertises 4-5 days of and that’s when I get them, so how could that be a delivery service issue and not Amazon? No one is blaming the private sellers, so I’m not sure why you’re taking offense to this article and the comments. Amazon should honor the 2 day shipping or stop advertising it and decrease the prime cost by a lot! We pay for prime for the shipping and the shipping only, anything else that comes with prime is just a bonus.
I’m frustrated because when I order and have it shipped to my house it takes at least 6 days. When I send it to my mothers house (she lives 4 miles away from me) the order comes in 2 days. No one at Amazon can tell me why. 😡
I’m having the same experience. Recently, an Amazon supervisor had the chutzpah to tell me that “my order still had the one day shipping, it’s just that it’ll ship on Friday and will be delivered on Saturday” for an order placed on Monday morning.