I guess Amazon has to dumb down their marketing for some people but it's always meant, and I've always understood it to be, two _business_ days. If the shipper doesn't deliver on the weekend, that's not Amazons fault.
Also disagree, Amazon Prime has changed the way I approach ecommerce where I will actually order stuff that I need by a certain date. Many third-party ecommerce vendors, even if I pick 2-day shipping, it might be 2-3 days before the package is even packed and dropped off with the shipping service.
I thought shipping and handling have been different since the dawn of e-commerce. Not that I like it, but I don't ever read "2-day shipping" and ever assume it means the seller will mail the item on the same day. There's handling involved before the mailman can even do anything. (If they say it is delivered by a certain day then of course I take it at face value.) Is this really a surprise at this day and age?
It's free 2 business day shipping. Some items/places can be shipped with a carrier that delivers on weekends, but many can't with the carrier's 2-day option. You (Amazon) might have to pay for the carrier's next-day shipping to get weekend delivery, so it can be impossible to get something delivered on a Saturday when ordering on a Thursday.<p>The annoying thing with Amazon shipping is that sometimes you can't order an expedited shipping option if needed, even for prime items. This tends to be due to third-party sellers that participate in the prime program, but for some reason don't offer any other option but the free 2-day. There have been times when I've paid the extra for next-day air for some things, though it tends to be very expensive.
The article is kind of stupid. He has a point in that it isn't really "2-day" shipping, it's 2 <i>business</i> day shipping. Nobody who understands shipping in the US expects Saturday delivery without an extra charge. However, Amazon probably should adjust their advertising copy.<p>The larger issue is that I simply no trust Amazon to actually deliver. Between Amazon "accidentally" switching my purchases to something non-Prime and not actually having something in stock in spite of their claims to the contrary, I cannot count on any delivery date promised by Amazon.<p>If I need computer parts, for example, I'm going to Newegg because they will <i>actually</i> have the part and <i>actually</i> deliver when they say they will.
On one had they should adhere to what they advertise, on the other hand I am looking at people complain that a product they ordered from their asses took 3 days instead of 2 to arrive. Not sure how to feel about this.
Prime 2-day shipping has been a godsend to me. Only rarely has it taken 3 days for something, and even in an emergency I was able to get one day delivery also for free.