enigma1 - 11:42 am on Jun 15, 2010 (gmt 0)

I think Amazon gets as much competition as it creates. Not sure why a merchant who includes the store's catalog in a box and ships it to the customer, will be any different than someone who sells his own book via Amazon and prints his URL in the front cover, is any different.

Isn't the same argument whether to buy a product from a distributor or directly from the manufacturer (since a brand is typically printed on the product)? Or if you buy a product from Amazon next time, you will buy it from the manufacturer because you now know his name?

Anyways regarding communication I remember I did communicate once for an item ordered but never arrived, never directly with the merchant but via Amazon and was nobody's fault as the post office was on strike at the time. Wasted a month waiting for it.