Prime Day 2023

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks for the rec, but I'm only interested in getting a BT speaker that doesn't use batteries. I want to leave it plugged into the wall 24/7.

You can leave it plugged in 24/7 even though it has a battery. That's what I've done with the free one Comcast gave me a few years back. The only time it's not got power is if the power's out. Think of it as a bonus feature: if the power goes out, the speaker will still work without needing to be plugged into a UPS.

Originally Posted by Catlady

Oh wow, for some reason I was thinking that the 7 percent mentioned was a separate rebate for no-rush shipping, on top of any credit card cash back. Which seemed like a pretty good deal, so I was puzzled by the complaints!

That was how I read it, too, but it still didn't sound as generous as a flat $2 credit, depending on your order of course. For smaller orders the $2 credit could be significantly more than 7% of the total.

On deliveries: I had an online friend years ago that was a UPS delivery driver, so I learned a fair bit about how things work from their end. They have to keep working until everything's delivered, so time is of the essence. That leads to them knocking on the door, but not waiting to see if anyone answers. Or at least they're supposed to knock, but some of them don't bother. I know the guy on my route doesn't, because I had a package arrive while I was in the kitchen and would have heard it. My experience with FedEx is they never knock, unless the package requires a signature. And maybe not even then.

I don't have many problems with deliveries. The biggest is the mail carrier cramming something in the mailbox that's a bit too big for it. I ordered some CD storage boxes recently and they managed to shove them in the mailbox. The packaging was ripped to shreds, but fortunately the storage boxes themselves were fine. I need a new mailbox, and I'll probably try getting a larger one, since I get so many deliveries.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Manabi

You can leave it plugged in 24/7 even though it has a battery. That's what I've done with the free one Comcast gave me a few years back. The only time it's not got power is if the power's out. Think of it as a bonus feature: if the power goes out, the speaker will still work without needing to be plugged into a UPS.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

That was how I read it, too, but it still didn't sound as generous as a flat $2 credit, depending on your order of course. For smaller orders the $2 credit could be significantly more than 7% of the total.

If you didn't take Prime delivery, you still got 6% back for using Prime Visa. What Amazon was doing was offering you an extra 1% for no-rush shipping. You'd have to spend $200 for that 1% to equal a $2 digital credit.

Amazon was pulling a fast one with that 7% offer (in reality, an extra 1% over the guaranteed 6%). In my case, Amazon was telling me that it would be cheaper for them to ship it no-rush and for the longer delay in getting it, they were going to give me an extra $0.19.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks, I'll check it out.



If you didn't take Prime delivery, you still got 6% back for using Prime Visa. What Amazon was doing was offering you an extra 1% for no-rush shipping. You'd have to spend $200 for that 1% to equal a $2 digital credit.

Amazon was pulling a fast one with that 7% offer (in reality, an extra 1% over the guaranteed 6%). In my case, Amazon was telling me that it would be cheaper for them to ship it no-rush and for the longer delay in getting it, they were going to give me an extra $0.19.

It's just like the sales tax holidays. People rush out to save 8% here. Most stores aren't having big sales events because they know people will be out buying. They are better off waiting for the stores to actually have things on sale, usually a couple of weeks after the sales tax holiday.
Apache

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Manabi

On deliveries: I had an online friend years ago that was a UPS delivery driver, so I learned a fair bit about how things work from their end. They have to keep working until everything's delivered, so time is of the essence. That leads to them knocking on the door, but not waiting to see if anyone answers. Or at least they're supposed to knock, but some of them don't bother. I know the guy on my route doesn't, because I had a package arrive while I was in the kitchen and would have heard it. My experience with FedEx is they never knock, unless the package requires a signature. And maybe not even then.

I used to have a problem with UPS Friday deliveries, especially--I'd be home waiting for the expected package and checking the tracking online, and in the evening I'd suddenly see that the driver reported an attempted delivery. Which I knew was completely untrue, and which meant waiting till Monday for my stuff. It was pretty obvious to me that the driver was running late and just didn't bother, pretending that no one was home.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks for the rec, but I'm only interested in getting a BT speaker that doesn't use batteries. I want to leave it plugged into the wall 24/7.

Something like this?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insigni...?skuId=5283401

I bought this pair of powered bookshelf bluetooth speakers for my mom. And I got her an Alexa device (Echo Dot). I paired the Echo Dot with these speakers via bluetooth. So she would just say "Alexa, play Christmas music" (or whatever) and away she went. They sounded quite good (but obviously not high-end discriminating audiophile quality, not at this price) Much better than music coming out of the miniature Echo Dot built-in speaker and also much better than one of those portable bluetooth carry-around speakers, that's for sure.

Here's another pair of powered bluetooth speakers with similar functionality (I have not used this other brand/model so I can't comment on them specifically):

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/edifier...?skuId=6506622

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by Apache

It's just like the sales tax holidays. People rush out to save 8% here. Most stores aren't having big sales events because they know people will be out buying. They are better off waiting for the stores to actually have things on sale, usually a couple of weeks after the sales tax holiday.
Apache

Here in Tennessee they do that at the end of July and it's targeted at stuff for school, covering clothing, school supplies and computers. Since it is back-to-school season, there's larger than normal multipacks of socks & underwear that save you money as well. Add in no tax, and it's a great deal. It makes a lot of sense to do your back-to-school shopping on tax free weekend. Sales tax is 9.25% here, so you can save a lot on a computer.

But don't try to go to Sevierville with the outlet malls on tax free weekend unless you can go on Friday. I had to do that one year on a Saturday and it took us nearly an hour to get from the interstate to the outlet mall. Normally that's no more than ten to fifteen minutes.

[sufue]

And granted that MR participants are not a random selection of Amazon customers, but you kind of wonder if anyone at Amazon reads **any** of the various sites that do customer reviews, even if MR is too small/specialized for them to find their way to. For me, Prime still pays, for the shipping, for some of the music, and for my husband, who likes watching some (enough) of their videos to make it worthwhile. But I totally get folks for whom it doesn't work, especially as the price creeps up-and-up. And the "not-so-Prime" Prime Day definitely isn't what's making me keep my membership...

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It kinda turned into the Amazon rant thread

Prime Day purchases using a Prime Visa got you 6% back in rewards instead of the usual 5%. But if you went with no-rush shipping, you got 7% back. OMG, the riches you'd receive by going that route. So for adding an additional 5 days shipping to my $19 order, Amazon was offering me $0.19 in compensation. Who could pass up a deal like that?

Call me stupid, but I said no. I want the Prime shipping I already paid for. But like I explained above, Amazon changed my Prime shipping to no-rush shipping without my permission. So I called them up and demanded they change it back, which they eventually did after arguing with them for 9 minutes.

Amazon shouldn't be playing games with their Prime Visa customers.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Manabi

Here in Tennessee they do that at the end of July and it's targeted at stuff for school, covering clothing, school supplies and computers. Since it is back-to-school season, there's larger than normal multipacks of socks & underwear that save you money as well. Add in no tax, and it's a great deal. It makes a lot of sense to do your back-to-school shopping on tax free weekend. Sales tax is 9.25% here, so you can save a lot on a computer.

Washington doesn't have an income tax, but we do have high sales taxes. For the larger cities in the Seattle Metro area, sales taxes range from 10.1~10.3%. Every now and then we have a sales tax holiday, but nothing scheduled this year.

Wanna swap taxes? That way, you'll save even more on a computer

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by haertig

Something like this?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insigni...?skuId=5283401

Thanks for the suggestions, but what I'm wanting is a single speaker to replace the Echo Show 5 I'm currently using for my laptop. All I need it for is voice. For music, I'm using an Echo Show 8. That provides plenty of volume and stereo for my needs.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks for the suggestions, but what I'm wanting is a single speaker to replace the Echo Show 5 I'm currently using for my laptop. All I need it for is voice. For music, I'm using an Echo Show 8. That provides plenty of volume and stereo for my needs.

An Echo Dot could work for this use. Dot's are cheaper then Show's. The Echo Dot can send bluetooth signals to a remote speaker, but it can also BE a remote speaker that RECEIVES bluetooth from another device (I assume this is the mode you are using for your Echo Show hooked to your laptop). Dot's are full-time plugged in as you desire. If all's you are wanting is voice, then the little speaker in a Dot works fine for that. Music, not so much, but voice ... good!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by haertig

An Echo Dot could work for this use. Dot's are cheaper then Show's. The Echo Dot can send bluetooth signals to a remote speaker, but it can also BE a remote speaker that RECEIVES bluetooth from another device (I assume this is the mode you are using for your Echo Show hooked to your laptop). Dot's are full-time plugged in as you desire. If all's you are wanting is voice, then the little speaker in a Dot works fine for that. Music, not so much, but voice ... good!

I'm trying to escape Alexa's constant "now connected / disconnected" announcement every time I enable/disable Bluetooth or change sources. If she'd just shut up, I'd be perfectly happy using an Echo as a Bluetooth speaker.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It kinda turned into the Amazon rant thread

Prime Day purchases using a Prime Visa got you 6% back in rewards instead of the usual 5%. But if you went with no-rush shipping, you got 7% back. OMG, the riches you'd receive by going that route. So for adding an additional 5 days shipping to my $19 order, Amazon was offering me $0.19 in compensation. Who could pass up a deal like that?

Call me stupid, but I said no. I want the Prime shipping I already paid for. But like I explained above, Amazon changed my Prime shipping to no-rush shipping without my permission. So I called them up and demanded they change it back, which they eventually did after arguing with them for 9 minutes.

Amazon shouldn't be playing games with their Prime Visa customers.

SUPPOSEDLY, if you paid with gift cards and selected the 7% back offer you should still get the full 7%. I got a few things that way and we will see if they honor it.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

SUPPOSEDLY, if you paid with gift cards and selected the 7% back offer you should still get the full 7%. I got a few things that way and we will see if they honor it.

Interesting

BTW, were these GCs you purchased with a Prime Visa?

[ngrant]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I'm trying to escape Alexa's constant "now connected / disconnected" announcement every time I enable/disable Bluetooth or change sources. If she'd just shut up, I'd be perfectly happy using an Echo as a Bluetooth speaker.

Here are some things to try. Maybe they'll work for you. (I use mostly Google Assistant speakers - they just do a soft beep when they connect/disconnect.)

TL;DR
Turn Off Announcements
Enable Alexa Brief mode
Restart device after changing these settings

AND Turn on Do Not Disturb mode

The long version

Spoiler:

Turn Off Announcements on The Device
Open your Alexa app and go to settings
Choose Device settings
Select the specific Alexa device
Choose settings on that specific device; there is a communication option select it.
Disable the announcements toggle under communication
After disabling the announcements toggle, restart the respective echo device. Perform a power cycle to restart the device. Unplug the device from the power outlet, wait for 10 – 20 seconds, and reconnect the device to power. Let the device restart and connect to your network.

Enable Alexa Brief mode
Enabling the brief mode makes Alexa talk less and play beeps instead of long voice responses. Here is how to go about it;

Open the Alexa app > select More icon
Select Settings
Choose “Voice Responses” under Alexa preferences
Toggle on the “Brief Mode” button. Friendly and easy, your device is in brief mode.

Turn on Do Not Disturb mode.
The DND mode disables all Alexa features and provides a quiet environment to work in. This turns off announcements and blocks notifications. However, it isn’t a permanent solution to the issue at hand. The command, “Alexa, turn on do not disturb mode,” enables the mode. You can also toggle off or on the mode by navigating the Alexa app settings.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Interesting

BTW, were these GCs you purchased with a Prime Visa?

I got the $5 back if you purchased $50 in GC. I had some other GC $ squirreled away as well. Of all the orders I placed between July 9 - July 15 (18 total items) I only paid for one on my credit card.