Online shoppers furious as zip code glitch curtails Amazon purchases
Published:Wednesday | March 2, 2022 | 12:07 AM
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Local freight forwarders have been providing their customers with an alternate US shipping address, while trying to find a workaround to error messages popping up on the screen of customers shopping on Amazon’s website. Four of the companies known...
Local freight forwarders have been providing their customers with an alternate US shipping address, while trying to find a workaround to error messages popping up on the screen of customers shopping on Amazon’s website.
Four of the companies known to be affected by the issue are ShipMe, MD Courier, IPC Courier and Rocketship, all of which have either responded with an alternate shipping address for customers to input in the checkout process, or asked for time for the issue to be resolved.
In an email to customers on Tuesday, MD Courier, which recently relocated its office to 3 Winchester Road, pointed the finger at Amazon, but said customers should be able to complete shopping transactions within a matter of days, following assurances from the American e-commerce giant.
“We are aware of the error messages being received by customers whenever trying to place an order through Amazon. We were notified by our overseas counterparts, who are in continuous dialogue with Amazon, that the issue is because of a zip code extension being generated,” said a message from MD Courier, apologising for the inconveniences.
Amazon has asked for two to three business days to have the issue resolved, the freight forwarder said.
ShipMe, the largest and most established player among the businesses affected, quickly responded to the challenges with a secondary shipping address for its warehouse in the United States which, it said, “is currently working as a solution for everyone affected by the recent Amazon restrictions”.
Amazon remains one of the preferred online shopping websites for Jamaicans, most of whom use the service of local courier companies/freight forwarders to get their goods to Jamaica.
The purchase of goods online has been on the rise in Jamaica over the past five years, and in line with that the growth of freight-forwarding companies. Google lists some 30 freight forwarders in Jamaica that operate in a global industry valued at US$156.7 billion.
The most exponential growth in e-commerce sales was seen during the outbreak of COVID-19, largely as a result of travel restrictions and limitations on face-to-face contact.