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Amazon,
You Just Lost $82.62
by John
S. Rhodes
Summary
The purpose of
this article is to openly display my disgust with Amazon and to discuss the
implications. On Monday, 11-June-2000, I ordered a gift certificate from
Amazon.com. I was going to use the certificate for Father's Day, however
Amazon failed to send the certificate in time. So, I drove to Barnes and
Noble, bought some books, and bought a gift certificate. Amazon just lost
$82.62.
The Email to Amazon
Below is the letter that I sent to Amazon, word for word.
To: <orders@amazon.com>
Subject: CANCEL ORDER IMMEDIATELY: 102-9633241-xxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2001 21:10:29 -0400
Organization: WebWord.com
CANCEL ORDER IMMEDIATELY:
102-9633241-xxxxxxx
I am incredibly displeased with Amazon.com. Scratch
that. I am disgusted. Totally disgusted. I ordered a $20
gift certificate on Monday, 11-June-2001. The item
has not shipped yet, so I want you to cancel the order
immediately!
In the past I have been very satisfied with Amazon's
prices and services. But this is outrageous. I cannot
imagine *any* type of order easier than this to fulfill.
You have charged my account, yet you have not
shipped me a piece of paper. Not a book, or a CD,
or a gas grill, or some other item -- just a piece of
paper. There is no excuse for this.
By the way, my wife is very angry with me. She asked
me to get the gift certificate about 2 weeks ago. I
procrastinated a bit but then I realized that Amazon
[would] be able to easily ship me the certificate in time
for Father's Day. Boy, was I wrong! Out of desperation,
and because it is late in the day and I am out of options,
I am going to drive 1/2 hour to Barnes and Noble to
buy a gift certificate. Your competitor is getting my
money.
I thought that you should know why I cancelled my
order. I hope that you have a happy Father's Day.
- John
John S. Rhodes
WebWord.com
http://webword.com
john@webword.com
Implications
1. Amazon lost
my business. They literally lost my business. They forced me to go to
their web site, track down my order, find a way to cancel the order, and
wait for a reply. They did not immediately cancel the order, by the way. I
am still waiting for a reply. This is silly since the system clearly
indicates that the gift certificate has not been sent. I should be more
clear. I did actually receive a reply, but it was an automated response with
vague and useless information.
2. While WebWord
is not huge, I do reach thousands of people. If you are reading this, the negativity
is spreading. You might pass this article along or you might simply
mention that John Rhodes at WebWord had problems. Perhaps you will just be a
little less likely to place an order in the future.
3. That leads me
to the third point. I have lost a little bit of faith in Amazon. That
means that I am less likely to buy something from them in the future. Amazon
has jeopardized future sales, which could translate to hundreds if not
thousands of dollars. This loss of faith is not mine alone. Other folks,
particularly WebWord readers, are probably going to be slightly less
inclined to place an order. Who know how much this will cost Amazon?
4. As an Amazon
affiliate I am concerned with recommending Amazon to my readers. How can
I recommend Amazon in good faith when I have had problems? Fortunately, this
is not a major problem so I will continue my affiliation with Amazon, but I
admit that I have lost some faith. That is quite unfortunate.
5. Amazon's loss
is Barnes and Noble's gain. The loss of business is bad for Amazon, to be
sure, but it strengthens Barnes and Noble. My purchase is not huge
($20 gift certificate plus $62.62 in books), but conceptually it is
interesting that my votes, in the form of my money, have been cast for
Barnes and Noble, not Amazon.
6. This is
converging evidence that Amazon is offering worse customer service
than they did in the past. The reason that I say that this is converging
evidence is that other folks that I know have complained about the decline
of Amazon's service. That's a shame.
I'm sure that
there are other implications that I did not talk about. I'm sure you can
think of others. The main point is that the small things matter, and they do
add up. The sum of these things is the customer experience.
Interesting Disclaimer: I'm glad that you decided to read this entire
article. I am glad that you made it to the end because I have something
interesting to share. I currently own a small amount of Amazon stock. That
means that I am bashing a company that I partially own.
Talk about this article. Visit the
discussion board. I'll see you there!
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