Monday, November 20, 2006
Amazon.co.uk your customer service sucks
My conversation ended this way with the nice man from Amazon.co.uk.
"You know Amazon customer service sucks," I said. "No really, it is quite shocking how bad it is."
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" he said.
"Yes," I said "your customer services!"
He laughed, I hung up... he was a nice fellow, just paying the bills, I am sure.
It all started back in October with the purchase of a digital photo frame; a try out to see if it would be a good option as a gift for a family member.
It arrived in good time, as things do from Amazon and I opened it up, hooked up my camera via the USB cable and thought, hmmm yeah that'll do just nicely.
I knew before ordering my frame that I had a spare XD memory card which I planned to donate to the cause as part of the gift. And besides I might have a frame for myself.
But the XD card didn't fit... I thought nothing of it for a day or two, I may have been tired. Then I remembered that I HAD planned to use the card with this frame, so I went back to Amazon.co.uk, checked the specs, there it was XD card was in the list... I took a screen shot... not that I don't trust big corporations or anything but y'know, they suck!
I emailed customer services told them of the error; they emailed back asking me what they wanted them to do?
I suggested that they help my find out if I have the wrong product or if the specs on the site were wrong.
Cutsomer services emailed me back and told me that they had read the specs on the site (they kindly emailed them to me) and that they were dispatching the product.
I mailed back saying NO NO NO, wait let's get this clear first.
My second digital frame duly arrived; it was the same as the first. I went back and checked the specs, XD card compatible.
I emailed customer services and suggested they, first and foremost, change the specs on the site.
Customer services emailed back and told me they would need a three days to work things out... even though the specs had changed on the site quite rapidly... why did they need a few days to sort things out I wondered? Maybe they'll be arranging a nice surprise because they value my custom.
On the end of the third day I emailed to ask how it was going... they told me they would need seven days to work things I out. I emailed customer services and told them exactly how I felt about that. Customer services emailed me back and said they needed three days to work things out.
After about the fourth day I emailed Amazon.co.uk customer services and told them that if they didn't do something within the next 24 hours I would take the matter to Trading Standards.
The next day a nice man called James called me, at around 9am, before I'd even had a coffee. We talked, I liked him, he seemed like a nice chap. Eventually he found another frame for me that took the XD card, it was £30 more than my original purchase. James left me on hold, thankfully for him it wasn't Coldplay I had to listen to, else he would have ruined my day completely and I might have ruined his right back.
The nice man called James said that the postman would be around today to pick up the unwanted frames and that he could offer me £15 of gift certificates as an apology... no further mention of the frame we had both looked at and discussed.
Now at this stage I hadn't had coffee, maybe Amazon.co.uk customer services knew that. If I had had a coffee, I might have suggested that I bought an item in good faith and that the specs had been incorrect and that THEY should sort it out; after all I had an email from Amazon.co.uk customer services saying that I was wrong and that the specs on the site were correct (specs copied into the email). I had two frames too, plenty of proof -- as it were. In other words maybe they should have just sorted it out, given me the frame that was £30 more and be done with it. But it was early so I went with the £15, hell I can buy a book or two with that I thought.
This morning, I went to buy an item on Amazon.co.uk and went to use my gift certificate, which told me I had £8.58 of credit to spend... ERRRRR?
So I called Amazon.co.uk customer services, on principal not because I need the money, and got through to a nice lady, possibly in America, possibly somewhere else. The line was bad we tried, she re-sent the email with the credit details. I entered the code the credit had already been applied, apparently.
So, I phoned back, on principal, because by this stage I am a little tired of Amazon.co.uk's customer service.
The nice man tried to tell me I had used part of my gift certificate as payment; I asked him to show me where that took place, y'know on my statement. He told me that it would happen automagically. I asked him why my Credit Card had been debited for the full amounts on all recent purchases then? The nice man put me on hold, twice... thankfully no Coldplay.
Finally, the nice man from Amazon.co.uk customer services told me that the system was showing that I had £15 credit on my account. I refreshed my browser, "still £8.58 this end," I said. "Well it's showing as £15 here," he said. So what will we do? I asked. The nice man told me to check back this evening, it should be fine.
"You know Amazon customer service sucks," I said. "No really, it is quite shocking how bad it is."
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" he said.
"Yes," I said "your customer services!"
Now, my next task is simple, I just need to find out when they might be refunding the money I am owed for the digital photo frame I bought.
