by jason_shah on 6/10/12, 6:58 PM with 70 comments
by GuiA on 6/10/12, 8:20 PM
Once, I've had a package stolen from my doorstep, and they replaced it free of charge (fortunately it was just $5 guitar strings).
Last year, I bought a camera with a 18-35mm lens ($500) a week or so before leaving for vacation. It arrives 2 days later (thanks prime), but unfortunately Amazon Warehouse had shipped me the bundle with a 15mm lens. I contact their support right away— they propose that I return the camera and they send me the original 18-35mm bundle, but I tell the lady that I'm leaving in 3 days and would like to have the camera for my vacation. She talks with her supervisor, and 2 days later I get the 18-35mm lens in the mail (~$200 value) and they tell me I can keep the 15mm lens.
I spend a couple of hundred dollars at Amazon each month (research books are expensive), which is probably why I got such a great treatment— but I was pretty blown away.
by melvinmt on 6/10/12, 8:00 PM
And people wonder why there's global warming.
by ck2 on 6/10/12, 8:21 PM
However browsing items for a particular category on their site is not so easy.
When you go to a specific item, you should be able to see what categories it's stored in, and then browse those categories directly (like breadcrumbs). But that's impossible on Amazon.
They seem to have the ability though - if you pick a part that is not for your particular car, it will show you what categories it's in. They should make that option for all items.
by kevinsd on 6/10/12, 8:26 PM
If a significant amount of people keep doing this, Amazon will have to raise the price for all of us.
by jason_shah on 6/10/12, 7:00 PM
by zht on 6/10/12, 11:12 PM
It's not even just having good customer service/returns, ensuring the best customer service even permeated through our code.
by bonsaitree on 6/10/12, 8:22 PM
Try returning custom car parts or, really, anything close to $1k USD which essentially mandates shipping insurance.
That said, I love-love the instant UPS-label "pick-up at your office or home" return workflow for the majority of stuff I buy from them.
The item is here in two days (Primed) and if I need the rare return, it's, at most, about 5 minutes worth of my time & attention. It's such a total win over the typical retail process for non-bespoke items.
by nodata on 6/10/12, 9:05 PM
Amazon lacks in the following areas (covered in another post):
1. The price filter doesn't really work.
2. Sorting doesn't work unless you choose a category (many items are miscategorised or match multiple categories)
3. Backwards shipping policy "What the heck, let's order it for tomorrow" on an ordered item often doesn't work because it's too late.
4. The ratings system gives too much weight to lightly-reviewed items.
5. Often the dispatch date for an order is shown on the checkout page, the expected delivery date would be better. Amazon AA batteries? 5 week delivery. Ouch.
by yifanlu on 6/10/12, 11:34 PM
by mwexler on 6/11/12, 11:16 AM
by ernesth on 6/11/12, 12:16 PM
Returning goods bought by mail order or online is the most basic service sellers have to implement. Refund if the product is not open and is returned at most seven days after purchase is guaranteed by law. If it is open a reason such as "does not fit" should be enough to be refunded.
Or is it the fact that the customer was refunded before amazon received the parcel? I am not impressed as my bank account is debited once a month, which means I usually still have my money when I send an item back to the seller!
It was already like that when I was buying things (especially clothing) through mail order twenty years ago. Or is it only in my country?
by mgl on 6/10/12, 8:44 PM
by kazuya on 6/11/12, 10:31 AM
by frenger on 6/10/12, 9:07 PM
by gringomorcego on 6/10/12, 9:30 PM
by delinquentme on 6/10/12, 9:00 PM