Great Customer Service may kill Amazon

[jsharr ★]

My doc wants me to track my blood pressure for a month to see how a change in medications is working.  So last week I ordered a BP monitor from Amazon.  Got home from a Scouting event and had an email saying it was delivered.  No package in sight on my front porch or any of my neighbors.

So I call Amazon.  Since it was a medical device, they tell me if I order a new one, they will rush the shipping at no charge and refund me for the lost one.

So I order up a new one, select one day shipping, and while I am on the phone the agent refunds the shipping charges.

Saturday at 9:30, the new monitor arrives.  Later in the day, a neighbor comes over with a package from Amazon that was delivered incorrectly.....

So this AM, I call Amazon because their online system would not let me return the package. The agent explains that medical devices cannot be returned and offers to refund my money.  I explain to her that I have already received a refund and I want to return to them in their unopened package the one that was delivered.  Nope, she says I cannot return.  So now I have two blood pressure monitors.  I think I will leave one at the office and keep one at home.

[jsharr ★]

Discus your best and or worst Amazon experience.  I would have to say this may be my best for overall I have nothing but positive things to say about Amazon.

[Green Grass]

4 minutes ago, jsharr said:

My doc wants me to track my blood pressure for a month to see how a change in medications is working.  So last week I ordered a BP monitor from Amazon.  Got home from a Scouting event and had an email saying it was delivered.  No package in sight on my front porch or any of my neighbors.

So I call Amazon.  Since it was a medical device, they tell me if I order a new one, they will rush the shipping at no charge and refund me for the lost one.

So I order up a new one, select one day shipping, and while I am on the phone the agent refunds the shipping charges.

Saturday at 9:30, the new monitor arrives.  Later in the day, a neighbor comes over with a package from Amazon that was delivered incorrectly.....

So this AM, I call Amazon because their online system would not let me return the package. The agent explains that medical devices cannot be returned and offers to refund my money.  I explain to her that I have already received a refund and I want to return to them in their unopened package the one that was delivered.  Nope, she says I cannot return.  So now I have two blood pressure monitors.  I think I will leave one at the office and keep one at home.

Amazon will be fine.  The reality is that the manufacturer of the monitor will bear the cost of this.  As soon as you were given a refund a charge was placed against the manufacturer's account.  Things like this and their no questions asked return policy all are charges against the manufacturer.  Every year our supply agreement with Amazon is renewed/renegotiated.  Every year they dig a little deeper into our pockets.  About 5% of my total sales go through Amazon.  About 95% of my customer problems are from Amazon.  They are a headache.

[Randomguy]

I agree with the customer service being excellent.  I ordered a dutch oven from them, and the color was pretty off from the color pictured online.  I called and said that the color was way off, and that I wanted to get a different color.  They put me on hold for a while, then came on and offered a refund of $30 if I kept the $70 item with the different color, and they also said that they would do the return/exchange thing if that is what I really wanted.  I am as picky as the next guy, but getting an item like that for $40 was too good to pass up.

I am sure this kind of thing happens all the time, and they just do the math.  It was pretty nice, actually, and you have confidence that what you buy from them will generally make you happy or they will do something about it.

[jsharr ★]

1 minute ago, Goat Geddah said:

Amazon will be fine.  The reality is that the manufacturer of the monitor will bear the cost of this.  As soon as you were given a refund a charge was placed against the manufacturer's account.  Things like this and their no questions asked return policy all are charges against the manufacturer.  Every year our supply agreement with Amazon is renewed/renegotiated.  Every year they dig a little deeper into our pockets.  About 5% of my total sales go through Amazon.  About 95% of my customer problems are from Amazon.  They are a headache.

That sucks.  I tried to return it.  I am going to call my local Boy Scout District Executive and see if they need a BP monitor for the mobile med kit that is taken to district events.

[Green Grass]

5 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Discus your best and or worst Amazon experience.  I would have to say this may be my best for overall I have nothing but positive things to say about Amazon.

I look at Amazon 3 ways.  1. As a supplier.  You can gather from my prior post just how I feel about that relationship.  2.  As a customer.  Their web site, for such a large etailer is pretty lame.  The convenience and service is unbeatable.  Especially if you are a Prime customer.  3.  As a shareholder.  I'm actually not a shareholder, but I do look at their financial performance as if I were one.  They don't make any money.  Their stock price makes no sense.  The stock is propped up by large institutional investors that have too much to lose to let it tank.  They have the belief that Amazon will be the last retailer standing and profits will grow into the stock price.  I have no respect or admiration for that.  

[jsharr ★]

Just now, Goat Geddah said:

I look at Amazon 3 ways.  1. As a supplier.  You can gather from my prior post just how I feel about that relationship.  2.  As a customer.  Their web site, for such a large etailer is pretty lame.  The convenience and service is unbeatable.  Especially if you are a Prime customer.  3.  As a shareholder.  I'm actually not a shareholder, but I do look at their financial performance as if I were one.  They don't make any money.  Their stock price makes no sense.  The stock is propped up by large institutional investors that have too much to lose to let it tank.  They have the belief that Amazon will be the last retailer standing and profits will grow into the stock price.  I have no respect or admiration for that.  

Could you please change your avatar to something more intelligent?  Your posts are too good for such a lame avatar.  

[Green Grass]

4 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Could you please change your avatar to something more intelligent?  Your posts are too good for such a lame avatar.  

Done.

[jsharr ★]

1 minute ago, Goat Geddah said:

Done.

Close, but still a bit dumbed down.

[Wilbur ★]

I ordered a pair of black shoes from amazon. When the box arrived it was labeled black but the shoes were a dark ox blood colour.  Called their customer service and they sent me a black pair the next day at no cost.  I asked how to return the first pair and the service rep just said to hang onto them.  Woo hoo! I like Amazon a lot!

[jsharr ★]

42 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I ordered a pair of black shoes from amazon. When the box arrived it was labeled black but the shoes were a dark ox blood colour.  Called their customer service and they sent me a black pair the next day at no cost.  I asked how to return the first pair and the service rep just said to hang onto them.  Woo hoo! I like Amazon a lot!

So do you wear the black shoes on your front feet or back feet?  Or do you get crazy and wear a black and an oxblood both fron and back?  

Also, how does the ox feel about your shoe color choice?

[Wilbur ★]

3 minutes ago, jsharr said:

So do you wear the black shoes on your front feet or back feet?  Or do you get crazy and wear a black and an oxblood both fron and back?  

Also, how does the ox feel about your shoe color choice?

I like mix and match.  Once the leather is removed, I don't think the ox cares.  

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

2 hours ago, jsharr said:

Nope, she says I cannot return.

So, what did that response do for your blood pressure? 

 

Actually, I would like to commend you on our honesty.  Many people would just keep the second cuff, seeing it as their 'reward' because Amazon messed up, and never even consider trying to return it. 

 

It's a good thing that parodybot didn't get the cuff, because I could see it reworking the cuff into some kind of inflatable adult 'toy' and attempting to sell it on ebay.

[jsharr ★]

4 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

So, what did that response do for your blood pressure? 

 

Actually, I would like to commend you on our honesty.  Many people would just keep the second cuff, seeing it as their 'reward' because Amazon messed up, and never even consider trying to return it. 

 

It's a good thing that parodybot didn't get the cuff, because I could see it reworking the cuff into some kind of inflatable adult 'toy' and attempting to sell it on ebay.

Like that thing @Caretaker is showing off?  He said it is close to a penis warmer

[maddmaxx ★]

Did Amazon address it to your neighbor or are you blaming the wrong company for the mistake?

[jsharr ★]

4 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

Did Amazon address it to your neighbor or are you blaming the wrong company for the mistake?

It was addressed to me.  They use contract drivers in our hood.  On a reacent delivery it was a young couple in an older model economy car.   Guy driving, girl taking packages to doors.  I watched them drive around and look at a few houses before stopping at mine and coming to my door.  I was on the front deck having a cocktail.  

[maddmaxx ★]

My amazon stuff comes UPS or Postal Service.  UPS has "lost" one of my Amazon packages but that wasn't really Amazon's fault.

 

Amazon made up for UPS's mistake however as part of their customer service.

[jsharr ★]

3 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

My amazon stuff comes UPS or Postal Service.  UPS has "lost" one of my Amazon packages but that wasn't really Amazon's fault.

 

Amazon made up for UPS's mistake however as part of their customer service.

This was an AMZL delivery.  Amazon Logistics

[Kzoo]

Similar Customer Service story -  So several years ago we had a customer that ordered one high end laptop.  The cost to us from one of the larger distributors was just a nip over $5k.  By todays standards, physically this thing was a beast - computing power - not so much.  But by then current standards, a top of the line HP laptop.  So we order the thing and it never shows up.  We call the distributor and they can see that it came out of inventory and was labeled for shipment but they can't track any shipping activity.  The thing seemed to disappear.  So they ship us another $5K laptop and it arrives a couple days later and we deliver it to our end user.

Fast forward just a couple days and we get a call from some reseller out in California.  They had received our laptop in with some of their stuff from the distributor and saw our address on a shipping label.  That had already but a new label on it and shipped it to us because they are nice guys.  We get the laptop a couple day later and call the distributor and tell them we found the missing $5k laptop so please tell us how to get it back to them because it's theirs.  We were only invoiced for the one laptop.  Our customer service rep told us that we can't return it because he would need to create a RMA (return material authorization) and since their system never shows it being shipped he can't create an RMA.  We ask if we can just send it back and let their receiving department deal with it and he tells us that their process is to automatically return anything that comes in without an RMA.  So he can't authorize it and since it can't be authorized they can't receive it back.  He told us to enjoy the new found laptop.

I gave it to one of our most worthy employees.

[parodybot]

34 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

Similar Customer Service story -  So several years ago we had a customer that ordered one high end laptop.  The cost to us from one of the larger distributors was just a nip over $5k.  By todays standards, physically this thing was a beast - computing power - not so much.  But by then current standards, a top of the line HP laptop.  So we order the thing and it never shows up.  We call the distributor and they can see that it came out of inventory and was labeled for shipment but they can't track any shipping activity.  The thing seemed to disappear.  So they ship us another $5K laptop and it arrives a couple days later and we deliver it to our end user.

Fast forward just a couple days and we get a call from some reseller out in California.  They had received our laptop in with some of their stuff from the distributor and saw our address on a shipping label.  That had already but a new label on it and shipped it to us because they are nice guys.  We get the laptop a couple day later and call the distributor and tell them we found the missing $5k laptop so please tell us how to get it back to them because it's theirs.  We were only invoiced for the one laptop.  Our customer service rep told us that we can't return it because he would need to create a RMA (return material authorization) and since their system never shows it being shipped he can't create an RMA.  We ask if we can just send it back and let their receiving department deal with it and he tells us that their process is to automatically return anything that comes in without an RMA.  So he can't authorize it and since it can't be authorized they can't receive it back.  He told us to enjoy the new found laptop.

I gave it to one of our most worthy employees.

So do you still have it?

[Green Grass]

30 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

Similar Customer Service story -  So several years ago we had a customer that ordered one high end laptop.  The cost to us from one of the larger distributors was just a nip over $5k.  By todays standards, physically this thing was a beast - computing power - not so much.  But by then current standards, a top of the line HP laptop.  So we order the thing and it never shows up.  We call the distributor and they can see that it came out of inventory and was labeled for shipment but they can't track any shipping activity.  The thing seemed to disappear.  So they ship us another $5K laptop and it arrives a couple days later and we deliver it to our end user.

Fast forward just a couple days and we get a call from some reseller out in California.  They had received our laptop in with some of their stuff from the distributor and saw our address on a shipping label.  That had already but a new label on it and shipped it to us because they are nice guys.  We get the laptop a couple day later and call the distributor and tell them we found the missing $5k laptop so please tell us how to get it back to them because it's theirs.  We were only invoiced for the one laptop.  Our customer service rep told us that we can't return it because he would need to create a RMA (return material authorization) and since their system never shows it being shipped he can't create an RMA.  We ask if we can just send it back and let their receiving department deal with it and he tells us that their process is to automatically return anything that comes in without an RMA.  So he can't authorize it and since it can't be authorized they can't receive it back.  He told us to enjoy the new found laptop.

I gave it to one of our most worthy employees.

This is not great customer service, not that you said it was.   This is laziness.  Infuriating.  The rep has a boss who has a boss, who has a boss.  Somewhere along the way, the system can be overridden to handle an exception.  It's interesting to note that, in such a system driven organization they were able to ship a replacement computer WITHOUT invoicing it.  That's the most fundamental system of any in business.  Ain't nothing leaving my company without being invoiced upon shipment.  Can't happen. 

[Randomguy]

35 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I gave it to one of our most worthy employees.

That is the nicest story I have heard all day!

[Square Wheels]

2 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

That is the nicest story I have heard all day!

You do realize he was the "worthy" employee, no?

[Scrapr ★]

42 minutes ago, parodybot said:

So do you still have it?

yes. They call it a Kindle in today's computing power

My Amazon story is not so good. A while ago I noticed a large charge on by credit card. I research a bit. Huh. I don't see any purchases on my Amazon account. I call them and say wtf, not mine. Because i only open my statement right before it's due the purchase is about 30 days out already. Amazon starts researching. In the meantime i look harder at my account. There is a folder there called Archived. And there were 2 I phones purchased a week apart and shipped to Pa. I call Amazon and show them the trail. I say I don't know anybody in Pa. Nothing happens as we are approaching the 60 day credit card timeline for disputing. I give amazon one more chance. Still investigating. So i dispute through the CC. 

Then Amazon locks my account. Fine. But...they charged my Prime membership at renewal. And since I have no account I can't go in and turn off my membership. Prime video does work on one of our 3 Roku devices. So i watch a little there. Next year I'll probably have to dispute the Prime thing with the CC

I do get some Kindle books. But I don't think that is Prime

[Kzoo]

6 hours ago, parodybot said:

So do you still have it?

Hey moran, the employee's name was Duane and he died of a heart attack last year.

[goldendesign]

Amazon has always been good supplier to me. Never any free items because of logistics but solid support on all my Amazon products and excellent experience through prime

[pedalphile]

On ‎27‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 2:33 PM, Randomguy said:

I agree with the customer service being excellent.  I ordered a dutch oven from them, and the color was pretty off from the color pictured online.  I called and said that the color was way off, and that I wanted to get a different color.  They put me on hold for a while, then came on and offered a refund of $30 if I kept the $70 item with the different color, and they also said that they would do the return/exchange thing if that is what I really wanted.  I am as picky as the next guy, but getting an item like that for $40 was too good to pass up.

I am sure this kind of thing happens all the time, and they just do the math.  It was pretty nice, actually, and you have confidence that what you buy from them will generally make you happy or they will do something about it.

Why does the colour matter? Once they've been in a fire there'll all black Shirley.

[ChrisL]

I don't buy much from Amazon but my wife and daughter do and have good results.  My wife ordered a sports bra recently that came all moldy and funky looking.  They replaced it no questions asked.  My daughter once ordered a watch and they sent her the wrong one. Same story as others in that they just sent her another and told her to keep the original one.  I'm guessing the return and restocking process is a hassle and better to just write it off. 

[Green Grass]

54 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

restocking process is a hassle and better to just write it off. 

No, they don't write it off.  They back charge the manufacturer.  

[Green Grass]

15 hours ago, Kzoo said:

Hey moran, the employee's name was Duane and he died of a heart attack last year.

So, who did he will his ill gotten computer to?

[jsharr ★]

1 hour ago, pedalphile said:

Why does the colour matter? Once they've been in a fire there'll all black Shirley.

I am pretty sure he is talking about the fancy ceramic coated Dutch ovens that you put on the stove on in the oven, not the black cast iron ones that real men and women use in campfires.

RG probably wanted something to match his neon green mankini.

https://www.lecreuset.com/cookware/dutch-ovens