Ok, unless something goes wrong. Update - it's worse!
Written: Jan 24 '02 (Updated Nov 28 '02)
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This is an updated review. Addendum at end.
I've shopped for years and spent $1000s with Amazon.com. More than once I've received soiled or damaged books; more than once there have been order snafus. While in the beginning, i.e. Amazon's earlier years, the aim of customer service was to rectify the mistake to the customer's satisfaction, now their aim is to "get rid of the nuisance," i.e. the complaining customer.
My latest fiasco with Amazon is a case in point. I placed an order for books and videos. Because availability differed among the items, the order was split. Despite the Amazon claim that orders that split orders do not incur additional shipping charges, the parts of my split order were indeed charged as if they had been separate orders. Trying to explain this to Amazon.com was like talking to a stone wall. Finally, I was tossed a coupon for my unspecified "inconvenience".
Meanwhile, I had received a notice that one of the items was no longer available and that that portion of the order had been canceled. I checked for the item on the site, saw that it was indeed in stock, and re-ordered the item. The net effect of this mess was, that my order was delayed because of an out-of-stock item that really wasn't out of stock, was overcharged for shipping (split order handled like separate order) and, to top everything, the order arrived late, so I was cheated out of expedited handling, for which I had paid extra. Complaints regarding this were met with what must be the online equivalent of a recorded message.
I have tried to explain and rectify other problems with Amazon and have experienced the same Alice-in-Wonderland customer service. Odds are, that any given order with Amazon.com will be completed as agreed. As is the case with any online retailer, however, if you become a regular shopper at Amazon, you will probably experience a glitch in the system. So be forewarned: the least bit of complexity will probably fall on deaf ears, for the policy toward customers these days at Amazon seems to be "Move 'em on, head 'em out!"
In his megalomaniacal quest to take over on-line retailing, Jeff Bezos has apparently abandoned integrity in favor of the bottom line. At the behest of Wall St. and the bean counters, customer service staff, always a harried lot at Amazon, have been cut, and the result shows. Instead of spending his time being important (a phenomenon which tends to occur once one makes the cover of TIME), Mr. Bezos should spend more of his time minding the store.
Update:
Things have become only worse. I said orders are usually ok at Amazon. Now they usually are not. I used to attribute this to incompetence and unresponsiveness. Now, I attribute this to a deliberate effort by Amazon, in designing their automated system, to lure the customer into making an order, then changing information, usually shipping times. It's a kind of bait and switch scam, except in Amazon's case, you don't know about the switch until AFTER the transaction. I call this fraud. There are alternatives to Amazon out there - use them!
Recommended:
No
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