[wapz]

> you'll have normal merchandise commingled on shelves side-by-side with third party supplied garbage

I don't think this is fair or even reasonable to say. It's going to be in a B&M store. You can inspect the item. The FDA/whatever organization will be inspecting food on the shelves. As for reputation, Amazon has the best customer service (tied with companies like REI) in my opinion.

I mostly agree that I don't see any positives for the customers at this point, but I don't think it's going the way of 3rd party counterfeit goods.

[PhantomGremlin]

As for reputation, Amazon has the best customer service (tied with companies like REI) in my opinion.

Sorry, I very very strongly disagree. I buy very little from them any more because I don't trust the provenance.

The saying is that a fish rots from the head down. Bezos and Amazon have proven time and time again that they don't really give a fuck about quality. Their one and only goal for the last 23 years has been to increase revenue, no matter the cost.

Here's this gem: Amazon's Chinese counterfeit problem is getting worse[1]. Here's some choice quotes from that article that illustrate exactly what I'm saying:

Always a problem, the counterfeiting issue has exploded this year, sellers say, following Amazon's effort to openly court Chinese manufacturers, weaving them intimately into the company's expansive logistics operation.

To unsuspecting consumers, fake products can appear legitimate because of the Fulfillment by Amazon program, which lets manufacturers send their goods to Amazon's fulfillment centers and hand over a bigger commission, gaining the stamp of approval that comes with an FBA tag.

Furthermore, Amazon's commingled inventory option bundles together products from different sellers, meaning that a counterfeit jacket could be sent to an Amazon facility by one merchant and actually sold by another.

It's almost inevitable that the Amazon corporate culture that has allowed crap like that to get worse and worse over the years will eventually take over Whole Foods.

[1] http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/08/amazons-chinese-counterfeit-p...

[wapz]

Why are you tying customer service to quality of goods? If you don't like their quality of goods that is a fine reason to not buy from them, but I don't see anything in your argument disputing their customer service (the only part you quoted). If you receive a counterfeit item from Amazon (in my experience), they will 100% refund you the money instantly with almost no questions asked. They have also been refunding nexus 5x phones that die out of warranty (bootloop problem).

> Their one and only goal for the last 23 years has been to increase revenue, no matter the cost.

How can that be remotely true? Amazon has spent millions on R&D for the future, not for the current.