Amex Plat Saves Me Money: Amazon Down, WalMart Up

by Robert McGarvey

In the past month, one of my Amazon orders vanished, the company admitted. In another order the wrong product was shipped, an oximeter instead of the herbal medicine I had bought and I have no idea how a gadget was confused with a bottle of pills. In a third shipment the delivery person claimed there was no access to the building but where I live is a highrise condo with a 24-7 desk attendant.

What I saw was a company spiraling into ineptitude.

Yes, I know there are widespread labor shortages and also that there are global supply chain issues. But in all my cases Amazon failed on its own. It did not meet delivery dates of its own choosing and did not ship the products it said it had in stock.

I found myself pondering my future shopping habits.

I have been an Amazon customer for 20+years, I have a Chase Amazon card that gives me 5% back on Amazon purchases, and it was just six weeks ago that I wrote in this space that I had no interest in the Amex Plat reward that would give me a free WalMart+ membership (kind of Amazon Prime without the videos).

I should have remembered, times do change, very fast and unpredictably.

A headline in Sunday’s London Telegraph caught my eye: It won’t be long before Jeff Bezos returns to rescue Amazon.  The subhead: Founder must retake control to get struggling retail juggernaut back on track.

On Friday, April 29 Amazon reported its first quarter numbers: a loss of $3.84 billion. Its forecast for Q2 also disappointed the street.

And then I remembered I’d sniffed at and ignored WalMart related perks offered to Amex Plat cardholders, what were they again?

I immediately found one: Spend $40 at WalMart, get $10 back. Good for two uses.

I placed two trial orders, just to see how WalMart worked, to explore the product selection, and to get a sense of the efficiency of the operation.

Besides $20 back, in the bargain I got 50+ Rakuten points that credit as Amex Membership Miles. For doing essentially nothing. Shopping at WalMart.com and clicking the activate Rakuten popup when logging in.

As for overall efficiency, WalMart passed which should be no surprise. From the start the company has been built around efficiency (and the resulting cost savings).

Then my mind began to wonder, is that WalMart+ freebie still on for Plat cardholders? It is. I signed up, and within a couple days the monthly fee ($12.95) was covered with a credit.

There’s a dedicated landing page for the WalMart+ deal. The only tricky bit is that only a monthly membership is reimbursed (don’t sign up for an annual membership).

What comes with WalMart+?  Early access to Black Friday deals (four hours before the hoi polloi). Free shipping – no minimum.  Free delivery from stores (including groceries).  Prescription drug discounts.  Member prices on gasoline.  A Scan and Go feature that lets you shop in store and pay with your phone.

Have I abandoned Amazon forever? No.  In fact A few days ago I bought a carbon steel wok from Amazon – I did not see a wok of the same quality at WalMart.  Delivery was as promised.

But I will be putting in more orders with WalMart and, so far, find the product selection generally acceptable (high end woks aside), the pricing very competitive with Amazon, and the delivery – so far – much more consistent and reliable than Amazon.

The bigger point is that Amex Plat indeed does save, even with decidedly not upscale retailers such as WalMart.

Again, I know I preach spending a minimal amount of time studying Amex Plat’s rewards and benefits but, hark, I did not violate my rule.  I fortunately remembered the WalMart+ deal and found it in a few seconds. As for the $10 back on $40 at WalMart, that I did fid in looking at new benefits and, again, seconds were involved.

Incidentally I just now got notification from Amazon that a bag of Earl Grey tea I had ordered on April 24 is scheduled for delivery May 2 and I assume it must have swum here from India.  I had tried to cancel that order at Amazon but the online process was balky and I do not wish calls to Amazon customer service on anyone.

I will probably keep the tea.  We drink a lot of the stuff and and keeping it will save me aggravation with Amazon.

Calling Jeff Bezos, where are you when your company — and its customers! — need you?