Amazon getting too big.
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Is amazon getting too big?
I thought this was crazy talk even a month ago when people started saying this, and complaining about orders being wrong and late as well. But, now that I've experienced 3-4 just this month I'm thinking this may be true.
The latest one I ordered a cable, simple right? Well no. Package shows up, It's a random charger not the BNC cable I ordered. I asked amazon to send me the correct item and was told - No they need the wrong item back first. Okay so I returned that spent more of my money to buy a different cable hoping that would solve the problems, paid for Saturday delivery ($8.99 with my amazon prime). And guess what? They didn't ship it out til today and it will be here on Tuesday. Is amazon unable to handle the sheer volume they have created at the quality we expect from amazon?
I also noticed during this process that much of the customer support was moved from America to and indian support center. I was unable to get them to even refund me the $8.99 for the guaranteed Saturday delivery. They say they still pay the same for the shipping even if it got out the door late so we still will be charged. I also noticed that when this happens on your Orders they change the delivery date and still show it as "On Time" and also remove the Saturday Delivery both from the shipping speed and the order summary for the Shipping no long says Saturday it just says "Shipping & Handling: $8.99" that was even changed on the invoice.
The guy on from customer service said if I didn't received the item by September 28, 2015 they would issue a discount.
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And this was definitely Amazon end to end and not Amazon storefront for a third party?
And are you sure that "getting too big" is the right concern? Sounds like your concern is purely around customer service. How does being too big play in?
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Amazon UK used to be top notch, now they are awful, a painful experience ordering almost every time.
items listed as "Out for delivery" only to not appear for days and when you contact Support, to be told the item is out of stock and not in warehouse yet.
When items do arrive, we've had a few damaged refurb units you cannot ask for a replacement if its not Amazon directly (which for most items is the case) you have to get a refund then order the item again.
They have cut corners hugely (who can blame them as their profits are in the red) so I'm glad its not just in the UK they are mucking up.
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@scottalanmiller said:
And this was definitely Amazon end to end and not Amazon storefront for a third party?
And are you sure that "getting too big" is the right concern? Sounds like your concern is purely around customer service. How does being too big play in?
Yes, all were shipped and sold by Amazon Items
How is not getting the correct items and not meeting shipping guarantee's to do with customer service, that has to do with trying to handle more volume of orders than you can handle and get done correctly.
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Amazon is now stating that they no longer issue refunds for missed delivery dates, no matter if it's because of the shipping partner or them getting it out late. They only refund for unused, unprinted shipping labels.
However, I think this is illegal - when you choose shipping on amazon you don't select a particular shipping service. You chose a delivery speed with a guaranteed delivery day.
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We have had trouble getting Amazon order consistently for the last few months. Same with a few others in our area. I realized the issue wasn't Amazon at all for delivery issues. Fed Ex consistently has a package and is at least 3 days late.
Customer service has been not as good as it used to be but still not as bad as everyone else. Doesn't mean I am happy with them but still...
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@JasonNM said:
How is not getting the correct items and not meeting shipping guarantee's to do with customer service, that has to do with trying to handle more volume of orders than you can handle and get done correctly.
That's part of the definition of customer service - delivering you the service (in this case a part) you ordered.
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@JasonNM said:
However, I think this is illegal - when you choose shipping on amazon you don't select a particular shipping service. You chose a delivery speed with a guaranteed delivery day.
How is "guaranteed" defined? If they say that there are no refunds for missing the date ahead of time, it sounds like they are telling you the bounds of guaranteed.
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@JasonNM said:
How is not getting the correct items and not meeting shipping guarantee's to do with customer service, that has to do with trying to handle more volume of orders than you can handle and get done correctly.
You are making assumptions based on other assumptions. This IS customer service and nothing else. That size has or has not any relationship to the issue is purely in your imagination. It's a very viable theory, but size doesn't mean bad customer service. Being big doesn't make them miss dates or shift support to India. You are making a connection that could exist, but other than knowing that they have grown recently (have they?) and that customer service has taken a recent downturn (has it?) that the two are directly associated is not a logical conclusion. What aspect of growth would cause customer service to decline? The two just are not related in that way.
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I would guess that, more than likely, Amazon has decided that top notch customer service was a bit too expensive to deliver and that, as other companies have found, customers just don't care that much. They complain, sure, but they keep shopping. We talk about this all of the time with huge companies - it's not that they are large that makes them have customer service issues, it's often customer services issues that help them to get large by being more cost competitive.
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That's weird. I have had them ship a couple things on Saturday at no cost to make the two day for prime. I also just got a business account so I'm going to try that and see how it compares.
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@johnhooks said:
That's weird. I have had them ship a couple things on Saturday at no cost to make the two day for prime. I also just got a business account so I'm going to try that and see how it compares.
Haven't seen any customer services issues here either. We use them continuously and depend on the fast shipping all of the time because of our small shipping windows and have no issues at all.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@JasonNM said:
However, I think this is illegal - when you choose shipping on amazon you don't select a particular shipping service. You chose a delivery speed with a guaranteed delivery day.
How is "guaranteed" defined? If they say that there are no refunds for missing the date ahead of time, it sounds like they are telling you the bounds of guaranteed.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=3510241
But then they have this saying it doesn't mean you'll get it in 1 or 2 days: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201117730
also that says $5.00 for Saturday delivery but they charge me $8.99 every time even with my prime account.
That policy was apparently changed this is what it used to say: http://slickdeals.net/f/5830682-amazon-prime-delivery-late-get-a-shipping-refund-and-or-a-free-month-of-prime
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@scottalanmiller said:
This IS customer service and nothing else.You have an odd idea of what's included in customer service. That is business management not customer service. If you are going to count that as customer service then literally every aspect of any business would be customer service.
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@JasonNM said:
@scottalanmiller said:
This IS customer service and nothing else.You have an odd idea of what's included in customer service. That is business management not customer service. If you are going to count that as customer service then literally every aspect of any business would be customer service.
All of the aspects that are service to the customer, yes.
I don't see how that is odd. If good service for customers isn't part of customer service, what is?
