Ask Clark: Why are my Amazon Prime orders showing up late?

Michael Timmermann | July 3rd, 2018

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The main perk of an Amazon Prime membership is unlimited free two-day shipping on more than 100 million items, but what happens when your packages don’t show up on time?

Clark.com has been hearing from customers who say they’re not getting the two-day shipping that they paid for.

Is your Amazon Prime delivery late again? Here’s why it may take longer than 2 days

We’ve been monitoring isolated reports about this issue for months, but people really started to chime in when Amazon announced that it was increasing the annual cost of Prime from $99 to $119.

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why 43% of people who took our Facebook poll said they won’t renew at the higher rate.

“They’re rarely on time with 2-day shipping, which is already a higher price for being Prime eligible,” Melissa White wrote on Clark’s Facebook page — and she wasn’t alone.

When I started looking into the problem, I discovered one possible explanation for all of the late deliveries.

Amazon says on its website that when you select two-day shipping, it can take up to two business days after an item ships — not when it’s ordered — to arrive at your door.

For items that take longer to prepare for shipment, this can explain why packages take additional time to be delivered.

Amazon’s policy:

“If the item you’re ordering is out of stock or unavailable to ship immediately, you may not receive the item in two business days. Selecting One-Day or Two-Day shipping will reduce the transit time to one or two business days after we’ve shipped your order, but it won’t impact how long it takes us to obtain the item or prepare it for shipment. The shipping method time starts when the item ships. For example, it will take up to two business days after an item ships to reach you with Two-Day Shipping.”

After your order is placed, you can always track it by navigating to the “Your Orders” page.

If your order has a guaranteed delivery date and your package still doesn’t show up on time, you can contact Amazon’s customer service to request compensation.