Pioneer out of business?

[usually_quiet]

BTW, it seems odd that a US based site like Amazon would sell imports that have a high likelihood of not working properly in the US without some big warning alerting buyers to that possibility.

Those are actually being sold by resellers and not by Amazon themselves. They seem to exercise little control over resellers. It's a long story ....... So since then I have been very wary of Amazon resellers for electronics. I do buy from them, but I try to be very sure that the product is really and truly what it says it is because my experience is that Amazon will leave you out to dry if you have problems.

Thanks for the input, jman. Anything Amazon sells, Amazon should be held accountable for, whether it's through a reseller or not. I actually have a very strong confidence when I buy from Amazon, and have a very recent purchase as an example. I bought a very large (over 100 pounds) TV / home theater component stand. It arrived on a Monday with the corner of the wooden tabletop hopelessly crushed in, obviously damaged before packaging for shipment as the box was intact. I called Amazon Customer Service, something I had never heard of before, and was immediately in contact with a very well-spoken woman (no foreign, broken English cubicle dweller at all) who was extremely;y helpful. The end result is I had a new unit shipped to me and arrived at my door that Friday. That's the kind of customer service that builds consumer loyalty. If I'm buying on-line, Amazon is always my first choice.

Amazon takes responsibility for what they sell, but you are not always buying from Amazon. Third parties can pay to use Amazon to list goods for sale.

Sometimes Amazon fulfills the order for the real seller from one of their warehouses, but more often the real seller is just paying Amazon for advertising space and for forwarding the order. However, the actual seller's policies not Amazon's, control what happens if there is a problem with the item, and Amazon can't be held legally responsible, like a newspaper isn't responsible if an advertisement for a product is misleading or the advertiser doesn't treat his customers fairly.

If you want to buy from Amazon, you need to make sure that Amazon is the actually the seller. The listing will tell you who is really selling the merchandise.

[jman98]

[
If you want to buy from Amazon, you need to make sure that Amazon is the actually the seller. The listing will tell you who is really selling the merchandise.

Thank you for that explanation. Unfortunately that means that buying from any reseller is just as much of a crapshoot as doing it through Craigslist or Ebay, but as Ebay MIGHT (under certain circumstances) provide some guarantees, you're truly on your own with an Amazon reseller. I can't say I'm very happy to realize the reality of this.

[Maldez]

Amazon takes responsibility for what they sell, but you are not always buying from Amazon. Third parties can pay to use Amazon to list goods for sale.

Sometimes Amazon fulfills the order for the real seller from one of their warehouses, but more often the real seller is just paying Amazon for advertising space and for forwarding the order. However, the actual seller's policies not Amazon's, control what happens if there is a problem with the item, and Amazon can't be held legally responsible, like a newspaper isn't responsible if an advertisement for a product is misleading or the advertiser doesn't treat his customers fairly.

If you want to buy from Amazon, you need to make sure that Amazon is the actually the seller. The listing will tell you who is really selling the merchandise.

I have to believe that Amazon is doing research and background checks on those products and vendors that are being sold out of its site.

[usually_quiet]

Amazon takes responsibility for what they sell, but you are not always buying from Amazon. Third parties can pay to use Amazon to list goods for sale.

Sometimes Amazon fulfills the order for the real seller from one of their warehouses, but more often the real seller is just paying Amazon for advertising space and for forwarding the order. However, the actual seller's policies not Amazon's, control what happens if there is a problem with the item, and Amazon can't be held legally responsible, like a newspaper isn't responsible if an advertisement for a product is misleading or the advertiser doesn't treat his customers fairly.

If you want to buy from Amazon, you need to make sure that Amazon is the actually the seller. The listing will tell you who is really selling the merchandise.

I have to believe that Amazon is doing research and background checks on those products and vendors that are being sold out of its site.

Although Amazon also operates its own stores, they are much like ebay these days, renting an online storefront to people who need one. Individuals can even sell used items on Amazon. I doubt that Amazon does much beyond making sure that the business/person exists and is able to pay their "rent".