Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
Ordered an iPod touch with a promotional coupon. The promotional coupon had a 12 month contract associated with it and I NEVER saw anything about a contract. Went to cancel the service and they said, "Nope, sorry." I suggested that I pay the difference (basically that they take away the promotion) and after listening to 1 1/2 hours of classical music and accents from 5000 miles away, I was told there was nothing they could do.
For such a large company and me being an avid online shopper, I was extremely dissappointed.
Ordered a Nintendo DS Lite from Amazon for Christmas, was told they had them in stock, and that I could expect delivery before Christmas.
Only this was not the case, as 2 days later, i receive an email from Amazon informing me that they were unable to deliver the product due to an unexpected delay!
If at the time I placed my order, and the DS was in stock, then surely it would be a first-come first-serve basis.
Ordered a physically very small & light item(1 printer cartridge)on Sunday a'noon,which was advertised alongside bold lettering which stated 'Free delivery on this item',but as you've no doubt guessed I was informed within 10 minutes that not only was the order now 'in progress'(their way of preventing any sort of cancellation)but I'd also been charged £5.01 p&p,and despite 3 emails to them trying to cancel,the only reply I've received so far appeared to come from what I can only assume is a 'bot' named Michelle at an addy that can't be replied to,which unsurprisingly failed dismally to address the issue at hand.So I immediately emailed them yet again,only to find that they've now completed the blag by dispatching the item along with aforementioned £5.01 p&p with no mention whatsoever of my previous complaints.So,it seems the only options I now have are to submissively pay their extortion rates,or send the thing back,which it seems will also make me liable to the same extortion.At the moment I despise them with every bone,but guess I'll feel better when that soon turns to complete indifference...hehehe
Even when paying for same-day courier delivery Amazon can't be trusted. I placed an order for MS Vista for an important client and coughed up the "guaranteed" delivery charge. The order did not arrive, no options were presented to track the item, and customer support do not respond by any mechanism. I've been made to look like a complete prat by Amazon, and will do my best to spread my extreme dissatisfaction as far and wide as possible. Avoid this company like the plague - if anything goes wrong you're on your own.
I have used Amazon quite a few times. Only once did I have cause to complain when my book arrived in soggy cardboard, and they sent me a refund without quibble. Apart from this incident the products I ordered direct from Amazon (not Marketplace) arrived well packaged and on time. I have even made use of the slower Free Super Saver Delivery Option and the items arrived well before the estimated dates. I will continue to buy from Amazon until they disappoint.
I started using amazon last xmas and was very pleased with the service I received.
All my items arrived on time and in perfect condition and I have had no customer service issues whatsoever.
They might not be the cheapest place to buy but they are competative and rarely more expensive than a high street retailer (apart from the delivery charge but hey nothing thesedays is free) a good company
Fantastic Company - always willing to deal with queries. I have never had an item not sent out on time, when items have gone missing in the post they have always been happy to send out a replacement. I believe they are a model company and that other Internet companies should strive to meet their customer service.
I have been using Amazon for about five years and had no problems with them until around 18 months ago. I don't know if their UK arm has been bought out or taken over or what, but they have done nothing but irritate me and let me down in the aforementioned time period. The only way I have found of getting a response from them is to send them wordy, litigious-looking emails and even then I get a reply from a bot. I have also used both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.jp (both of which have been absolutely brilliant), but Amazon UK seems to be steadfastly dedicated to making people angry. There has surely got ot be an ombudsman somewhere within whose remit it is to give these people a hard time about their atrocious customer service.
I ordered an item through Amazon. Their automated message indicated despatch 16 Dec for delivery 20-22 Dec. Money was debited 15 Dec. It is now 23 Jan . No delivery, no response to 5 e-mails so far asking where it is. No other apparent way of contacting them. Any ideas? I don't think I shall be ordering anything from Amazon again.
After a number of attempts to get a "Wish List" to be visible to others, I posted the following into their on-line form:
.........................
Not for the first time, you have recommended the following sequence of actions to me. I quote:
-----------
Dear Customer
Thank you for contacting Amazon.co.uk.
We are sorry for the issue that you have faced whilst using our website. To make your Wish List searchable, simply enter your Wish List page at the following URL:
To the right of the page, below the heading "About This List", click on the "Edit this information" link, then sign in with your e- mail address and password. On the next page you'll be given the options to change the searchability of the list and update any other Wish List settings.
If it's been more than one business day since you created your Wish List and you are unable to find it on our website, it could be that you did not make the Wish List searchable. To protect customer privacy, we let you choose whether to make your list searchable to anyone on the Web, or whether to restrict access to a group of friends and family that you select.
If this does not work please let us know.
V Vimalan
Customer Service
-------------------------
So, I said ....
Not for the first time let me explain ...
It does NOT work! I am sick of doing it! I have set the list to all of the options in turn (and waited 24 hours between changes) and nothing changes.
Please stop treating me like some kid who can't walk. I teach others how to use computers; set up and configure networks to CCNA level (look it up) and teach computing science to degree level. I design and build web sites and understand how to integrate database back-ends with the bits you see.
Your front-end doesn't know how to address your database, or the setting to make my wish-list visible isn't being updated / recorded in your database, or there's something wrong with your SQL statements (depending on how your front-end is implemented).
My son-in-law and others I know have suffered from this problem, too, and simply given up in disgust and gone elsewhere.
Perhaps your CEO should be informed so that he can make those responsible aware that customers make a business viable. You will eventually annoy me enough so that you lose me.
Please copy this to your CEO and ask that he responds. I trust that is not too much to ask?
Thank you,
...............
Apparently, it was ...
..................
Dear Customer
Thank you for contacting Amazon.co.uk.
If you choose to make your Wish List searchable, any visitor to Amazon.co.uk can access your list by searching for your name or your e-mail address.
If you choose not to make your Wish List searchable, only those people to whom you send notice of your Wish List will be able to access it.
When you create your Wish List, you can enter the e-mail addresses of those people, and we will send them an e-mail on your behalf containing a link to your list.
When you share your list with others, we won't share your address or phone number with them. We display only your name, your town, and the county in which you live, and your optional self-description.
If you change your mind, you can make your list either searchable or non-searchable after it has been created.
Simply enter your Wish List page at the following URL:
To the right of the page, below the heading "About This List", click on the "Edit this information" link, then sign in with your e- mail address and password. On the next page you'll be given the options to change the searchability of the list and update any other Wish List settings.
To try and make it easier for you, I thought I would just post the numbers here. (My other post earlier can be deleted.)
UK Customer Service
Freephone (only from within the UK): 0800 279 6620
Phone (outside the UK): +44 20 8636 9451
Fax (free from within the UK): 0800 279 6630
Fax (outside the UK): +44 20 8636 9401
I have recently opend an account with Amazon to sell textbooks. The process was smooth. After 7 days of selling I have sold over 78 books equating to nearly £2000 in my amazon account. The break down works like this I advertise a book for £30. Amzon charge me £5 to sell the book as well as me paying for the P & P which is also £5.
As you can imagine 78 books worth of P & P does add up. So what do they do? quote'Congratulations on your success, we will now with hold your money for 45 days, and when we release it it will take 6-10 business days! and they orginally ( when I signed up) said that i can transfer funds in to my account after 14 days. This is criminal as all they want to do is earn interest on what I have earned. I should have stuck to ebay. To dat they have charged me over £450 in fees to sell these books. There is no way to call them, but I have sent them 21 emails to tranfer the money in to my account but no reply! What do I do????
I ordered three books on the 30th of May from Amazon.com. I got an email on the first of June telling me that my items had been dispatched and sent. It is now the 9th of June and nothing has arrived.(I was expecting them on atleast the 5th of June and the delay has caused me a lot of trouble.)
I ordered a USB headset from Amazon on the 22 April, based on the fact the item would be available within 48 hours for dispatch. Well, we are now the June 2nd and they finally managed to dispatch it today, which means i will receive it after 43 days - at best!
1/ Amazon has not taken any active step to tell me the goods would not be dispatched according to schedule. You have to extract every shred of information from them. If they can send you an automatic email when the goods are about to be dispatched, why can't they keep you informed in the same way when there is a delay?
2/ When they don't deliever on time - we are talking 43 days delivery time in this case! - they do not have the courtesy of calling you. I emailed to them 6 times at least about this issue and spoke twice wth their reps. The usual "we are very sorry that due to an unforeseen technical problem...." It is never their fault. It's the aalways the wrong kind of snow.
3/ After several emails and calls, they offered me a paltry £3 gift voucher. The item I was interested in was available everywhere on the high street. A grand gesture.
So far, i was pretty happy with Amazon, but this is it. Never again. As far as this company is concerned, this website makes a very interesting reading.
On a more positive note, this headset from Amazon really has a difference: on the "My account" section of their website, my headset will be dispatched the 2 June with an estimated delivery date of 24-25 May. Cool headset: it can even travel back in time!
Bought on amazon.com a film camera + book, said they sent all in 1 package, debited my account and i only received the book, never got the camera.
Do like me, call your bank and ask for chargeback due to illegal transaction from Amazon. (you have many rights to chargeback what you buy on the internet), this is pretty efficient to get a call from them and to have things sorted out + amazon bank sure hate chargebacks !
yes . amazon has sold its third party sellers to the poor house.
thier a-z claim program is being paid for by third party sellers. even when the seller says hey I have proof I mailed it, they debit the seller. great huh and all you get is an email address. they may or may not answer it. some sellers have tried contacting the attorneys in seattle , who did not return their calls. I say report amazon for this theft to the Federal Trade commission or get a class action suit going. in the meantime , buyers have turned into such a bunch of mean -spirited crooks and cheats it's not funny. amazon had a nice image, but the underbelly is creepy and cynical. and their site rarely works... all the time like its broke but they always get the 39.95 a month out of your account.
Amazon's "A-Z Guarantee" provides no protection to sellers, and in essence means that any unethical person with a credit card can get anything they want for free!
After I sold a CD on Amazon.com, the buyer filed am "A-Z Guarantee Claim" saying that he did not get the CD.
The buyer then sent me a number of obscene, insulting and harassing e-mails gloating about the fact that he could get his money back from me.
I contacted amazon.com within their required amount of time, giving them all the details on the transaction, including the fact that I had sent the CD, when I sent the CD, and transcripts of the buyer's obscene e-mails.
Amazon.com CLAIMS that if the seller responds within this amount of time, they will not remove funds from the seller's account. However, they did remove the funds from my account.
When I contacted customer service again, first they claimed I had never sent an e-mail, then later they admitted that I had sent it, but that since it was not a specific "response to Guarantee Claim Form e-mail" they were going to keep their decision to take my money as it stands, and that no further e-mails from me will be answered.
The amazon site does not provide any form or address to respond to "A-Z Guarantee Claims," so it is hard to see how my e-mail to customer service could have been a more specific "response to Guarantee Claim Form."
The buyer in question has recently done this to another seller as well, but Amazon.com does not care. They say "we will apply our policies equally to all customers."
Therefore, all sellers are vulnerable to this scam!
have found amazon to be amaz-ing-on all occasions during the past five years... but have a minor niggle regarding their use of dispatch and estimated delivery dates. i received notification that an ordered item had been dispatched at 21:41GMT 30 December 2004 with an estimated delivery of 31 December 2004. needless to say it wasn't delivered on that date not by royal mail, courier or even jeff bozo himself... oh well!
As a rule I have found Amazon good but this Christmas they have let me down big time!! Iriver MP3/CD hasn't shown up despite having been ordered in ample time. I wasnt notified that it wasn't going to be here for Christmas until it was too late to do anything about it....But WOW! they've given me a £5 gift voucher to use before the end of Feb.....that should just about cover postage on something I don't need!
I ordered a book mid November intended to be a Christmas present.
It was in stock and the site said it would be dispatched in 24 hours, 20 days later it hadnâÂ?Â?t arrived so I logged onto the website.
I checked the details and the estimated despatch date for my item was 30th December thatâÂ?Â?s a month and a half after my order date, which is a pretty long time to send out an item thatâÂ?Â?s in stock.
But saying that I have ordered a few things from them before and the service has been fine, just this one time they let me down.
To add my voice to a couple of other people's above.
When amazon get it right, they are very good. But when they get it wrong, they are horrid.
It was extremely important that I receive my items by a particular date, so placed a pre-order for them well before they were due to be released. Still two weeks after the release, I don't have them. To add insult to injury, I know a fair number of people who ordered the game AFTER me, who have already received their order. Contrary to their claims, amazon do not ship on a first-come-first-served basis.
Customer support is totally unwilling to help. 15 calls later, 4 emails and one letter of complaint and I failed to receive even an apology from the company. Frequent promises to come back with solutions are forgotten. Bah.
Don't ever, ever deal with this company if you need to receive something for a particular deadline.
Amazon used to be great, but over the years their attitude to their customers has been going downhill. Years ago, if I had a problem, I got a prompt, on-the-ball response, and they sorted things out fast. But now?
In the past month, I've had two fairly serious problems with them - one involved non-delivery of goods. The other was the appearance of a strange address in my on-line address book. I find it hard not to assume that the two are related, and can only assume that the appearance of the unknown address means either that someone has been trying to fraudulently access my account (thankfully with no success), or that the Amazon software has gone seriously wrong somewhere.
The point is, you would imagine that Amazon customer services would take this sort of thing seriously. But no. Many, many emails later, I'm still mostly getting what appear to be pre-written 'form' letters, none of which address the relevant issues - the non-delivery of my goods, or the appearence of the strange address.
The issue is still totally unresolved, and I'm just about to give up, delete my details from Amazon, and see if I can find a company that doen't just regard customers as a nuisance. I'm quite sad about this - For years now, I've been buying from them several times per month, and it's a pity that they've gone into such a decline.
Add a comment about this blagger
Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
For such a large company and me being an avid online shopper, I was extremely dissappointed.
Only this was not the case, as 2 days later, i receive an email from Amazon informing me that they were unable to deliver the product due to an unexpected delay!
If at the time I placed my order, and the DS was in stock, then surely it would be a first-come first-serve basis.
Someone please clarify. I was hopping mad!!
All my items arrived on time and in perfect condition and I have had no customer service issues whatsoever.
They might not be the cheapest place to buy but they are competative and rarely more expensive than a high street retailer (apart from the delivery charge but hey nothing thesedays is free) a good company
Some of the Blaggers should be more realistic when ordering around Xmas!
After a number of attempts to get a "Wish List" to be visible to others, I posted the following into their on-line form:
.........................
Not for the first time, you have recommended the following sequence of actions to me. I quote:
-----------
Dear Customer
Thank you for contacting Amazon.co.uk.
We are sorry for the issue that you have faced whilst using our website. To make your Wish List searchable, simply enter your Wish List page at the following URL:
To the right of the page, below the heading "About This List", click on the "Edit this information" link, then sign in with your e- mail address and password. On the next page you'll be given the options to change the searchability of the list and update any other Wish List settings.
If it's been more than one business day since you created your Wish List and you are unable to find it on our website, it could be that you did not make the Wish List searchable. To protect customer privacy, we let you choose whether to make your list searchable to anyone on the Web, or whether to restrict access to a group of friends and family that you select.
If this does not work please let us know.
V Vimalan
Customer Service
-------------------------
So, I said ....
Not for the first time let me explain ...
It does NOT work! I am sick of doing it! I have set the list to all of the options in turn (and waited 24 hours between changes) and nothing changes.
Please stop treating me like some kid who can't walk. I teach others how to use computers; set up and configure networks to CCNA level (look it up) and teach computing science to degree level. I design and build web sites and understand how to integrate database back-ends with the bits you see.
Your front-end doesn't know how to address your database, or the setting to make my wish-list visible isn't being updated / recorded in your database, or there's something wrong with your SQL statements (depending on how your front-end is implemented).
My son-in-law and others I know have suffered from this problem, too, and simply given up in disgust and gone elsewhere.
Perhaps your CEO should be informed so that he can make those responsible aware that customers make a business viable. You will eventually annoy me enough so that you lose me.
Please copy this to your CEO and ask that he responds. I trust that is not too much to ask?
Thank you,
...............
Apparently, it was ...
..................
Dear Customer
Thank you for contacting Amazon.co.uk.
If you choose to make your Wish List searchable, any visitor to Amazon.co.uk can access your list by searching for your name or your e-mail address.
If you choose not to make your Wish List searchable, only those people to whom you send notice of your Wish List will be able to access it.
When you create your Wish List, you can enter the e-mail addresses of those people, and we will send them an e-mail on your behalf containing a link to your list.
When you share your list with others, we won't share your address or phone number with them. We display only your name, your town, and the county in which you live, and your optional self-description.
If you change your mind, you can make your list either searchable or non-searchable after it has been created.
Simply enter your Wish List page at the following URL:
To the right of the page, below the heading "About This List", click on the "Edit this information" link, then sign in with your e- mail address and password. On the next page you'll be given the options to change the searchability of the list and update any other Wish List settings.
Thank you for choosing Amazon.co.uk.
Warmest regards
Arun kumar chhetri
Customer Service
Amazon.co.uk
I wonder what I'll get next?
UK Customer Service
Freephone (only from within the UK): 0800 279 6620
Phone (outside the UK): +44 20 8636 9451
Fax (free from within the UK): 0800 279 6630
Fax (outside the UK): +44 20 8636 9401
Hope this helps anybody in difficuilty.
coolmark18 at 2nd Nov 2005, 10:58PM
As you can imagine 78 books worth of P & P does add up. So what do they do? quote'Congratulations on your success, we will now with hold your money for 45 days, and when we release it it will take 6-10 business days! and they orginally ( when I signed up) said that i can transfer funds in to my account after 14 days. This is criminal as all they want to do is earn interest on what I have earned. I should have stuck to ebay. To dat they have charged me over £450 in fees to sell these books. There is no way to call them, but I have sent them 21 emails to tranfer the money in to my account but no reply! What do I do????
I ordered a USB headset from Amazon on the 22 April, based on the fact the item would be available within 48 hours for dispatch. Well, we are now the June 2nd and they finally managed to dispatch it today, which means i will receive it after 43 days - at best!
1/ Amazon has not taken any active step to tell me the goods would not be dispatched according to schedule. You have to extract every shred of information from them. If they can send you an automatic email when the goods are about to be dispatched, why can't they keep you informed in the same way when there is a delay?
2/ When they don't deliever on time - we are talking 43 days delivery time in this case! - they do not have the courtesy of calling you. I emailed to them 6 times at least about this issue and spoke twice wth their reps. The usual "we are very sorry that due to an unforeseen technical problem...." It is never their fault. It's the aalways the wrong kind of snow.
3/ After several emails and calls, they offered me a paltry £3 gift voucher. The item I was interested in was available everywhere on the high street. A grand gesture.
So far, i was pretty happy with Amazon, but this is it. Never again. As far as this company is concerned, this website makes a very interesting reading.
On a more positive note, this headset from Amazon really has a difference: on the "My account" section of their website, my headset will be dispatched the 2 June with an estimated delivery date of 24-25 May. Cool headset: it can even travel back in time!
Do like me, call your bank and ask for chargeback due to illegal transaction from Amazon. (you have many rights to chargeback what you buy on the internet), this is pretty efficient to get a call from them and to have things sorted out + amazon bank sure hate chargebacks !
thier a-z claim program is being paid for by third party sellers. even when the seller says hey I have proof I mailed it, they debit the seller. great huh and all you get is an email address. they may or may not answer it. some sellers have tried contacting the attorneys in seattle , who did not return their calls. I say report amazon for this theft to the Federal Trade commission or get a class action suit going. in the meantime , buyers have turned into such a bunch of mean -spirited crooks and cheats it's not funny. amazon had a nice image, but the underbelly is creepy and cynical. and their site rarely works... all the time like its broke but they always get the 39.95 a month out of your account.
After I sold a CD on Amazon.com, the buyer filed am "A-Z Guarantee Claim" saying that he did not get the CD.
The buyer then sent me a number of obscene, insulting and harassing e-mails gloating about the fact that he could get his money back from me.
I contacted amazon.com within their required amount of time, giving them all the details on the transaction, including the fact that I had sent the CD, when I sent the CD, and transcripts of the buyer's obscene e-mails.
Amazon.com CLAIMS that if the seller responds within this amount of time, they will not remove funds from the seller's account. However, they did remove the funds from my account.
When I contacted customer service again, first they claimed I had never sent an e-mail, then later they admitted that I had sent it, but that since it was not a specific "response to Guarantee Claim Form e-mail" they were going to keep their decision to take my money as it stands, and that no further e-mails from me will be answered.
The amazon site does not provide any form or address to respond to "A-Z Guarantee Claims," so it is hard to see how my e-mail to customer service could have been a more specific "response to Guarantee Claim Form."
The buyer in question has recently done this to another seller as well, but Amazon.com does not care. They say "we will apply our policies equally to all customers."
Therefore, all sellers are vulnerable to this scam!
pnoid at 5th Jan 2005, 12:43PM
It was in stock and the site said it would be dispatched in 24 hours, 20 days later it hadnâÂ?Â?t arrived so I logged onto the website.
I checked the details and the estimated despatch date for my item was 30th December thatâÂ?Â?s a month and a half after my order date, which is a pretty long time to send out an item thatâÂ?Â?s in stock.
But saying that I have ordered a few things from them before and the service has been fine, just this one time they let me down.
When amazon get it right, they are very good. But when they get it wrong, they are horrid.
It was extremely important that I receive my items by a particular date, so placed a pre-order for them well before they were due to be released. Still two weeks after the release, I don't have them. To add insult to injury, I know a fair number of people who ordered the game AFTER me, who have already received their order. Contrary to their claims, amazon do not ship on a first-come-first-served basis.
Customer support is totally unwilling to help. 15 calls later, 4 emails and one letter of complaint and I failed to receive even an apology from the company. Frequent promises to come back with solutions are forgotten. Bah.
Don't ever, ever deal with this company if you need to receive something for a particular deadline.
In the past month, I've had two fairly serious problems with them - one involved non-delivery of goods. The other was the appearance of a strange address in my on-line address book. I find it hard not to assume that the two are related, and can only assume that the appearance of the unknown address means either that someone has been trying to fraudulently access my account (thankfully with no success), or that the Amazon software has gone seriously wrong somewhere.
The point is, you would imagine that Amazon customer services would take this sort of thing seriously. But no. Many, many emails later, I'm still mostly getting what appear to be pre-written 'form' letters, none of which address the relevant issues - the non-delivery of my goods, or the appearence of the strange address.
The issue is still totally unresolved, and I'm just about to give up, delete my details from Amazon, and see if I can find a company that doen't just regard customers as a nuisance. I'm quite sad about this - For years now, I've been buying from them several times per month, and it's a pity that they've gone into such a decline.
Add a comment about this blagger