‘Prime Day’ sale angers some

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Amazon aimed for Christmas in July with its much-hyped “Prime Day” sale. But some shoppers found a lump of coal instead.

The online retailer said Prime Day would offer bigger sales than those during the winter holiday shopping season. The goal was to boost $99 annual Prime loyalty program memberships during the sluggish summer. The sale gained so much attention other retailers, including Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s and Best Buy, had sales of their own.

But some Amazon customers were disappointed by Prime Day. Some thought the discounts weren’t deep enough. Others didn’t like that the deals were available for a limited time and in limited quantities. Other Amazon customers criticized the types of products that were marked down.

By midday Wednesday, Amazon was offering a Kindle Fire marked down to $79 from $139, a GoPro camera bundle marked down from $691 to $500 and a Blu-Ray “Lord of the Rings” trilogy set marked down from $120 to $28. But there also were markdowns on more mundane household items like detergent and baby wipes, causing some shoppers to compare Prime Day to a garage sale.

“The biggest disappointment is that Prime Day seems to focus more on quantity over quality,” said Emily Wienberg, 24, from Boston, who was looking for a Bluetooth speaker or printer on sale.

Doug Messer, 21, from Westchester, New York, was disappointed in the sale too.

“I was frustrated to see that only a certain amount of users could claim each deal,” he said. “We found a TV we wanted and when we went to claim it, we were added to a waitlist. Not really a deal if only a certain percentage of visitors can take advantage of it.”

Larry Chiagouris, Pace University marketing professor, said if people get disillusioned with Amazon’s sales they won’t trust future sales. “They haven’t damaged the trust people have in the overall Amazon brand, but they have done major damage to the credibility of sales announcements going forward,” he said.

Early data showed the promotion boosted sales, though. ChannelAdvisor said sales jumped 80 percent in the U.S. compared with the same day a year ago.