Amazon Customer Service :D

CRussel · 06-21-2011, 02:23 PM

Several months ago (well past the official limits for sending a book back!), I ordered and paid for a copy of "The Complete Midshipman Bolitho (The Bolitho Novels, Volume 1)" from Amazon. Well, I got caught up in a different series, and didn't get a chance to start it until a couple of weeks ago. What a huge disappointment! The book has gaps in continuity, horrendous spelling and formatting errors, and is just totally unacceptable. Now it would be one thing if it were a freebie, or maybe even a $1.99 book. But it's not. It's $7.99book, and I was frankly Seriously Unhappy.

I looked at how long it had been since I bought it (3 months) and thought "Well, I'm just screwed." But my wife said "Contact CS. What's the worst that can happen?" And so I did. Well, I must say, Amazon CS for the Kindle continues to amaze and please me.

Their initial response was to forward the complaint to their "technical" people. Who, apparently, verified that there was no unintended corruption of the file on Amazon. Then they contacted the publisher, who claimed that

Quote:

"there are no errors in the book." Please note that, the content in the Kindle Store is provided to us directly by the publishers or authors who own that content."

But rather than say "too bad", they offered to refund my money and remove the book from my archive, even though their official limit is 30 days. When I confirmed that this was what I wanted, the credit was processed immediately and I assume the book is gone from my archive. It's long been deleted off my Kindle, by me!

Now I really couldn't ask for better from Amazon.

Yes, I'd rather have had a good quality book. But that is directly the fault of the publisher, not Amazon.

ucfgrad93 · 06-21-2011, 05:02 PM

I have yet to be disappointed with Amazon Customer Service, they are awesome!

esunk · 06-21-2011, 05:13 PM

I could certainly be wrong, but from what I read about all the data they collect from our Kindle usage, they could probably tell you hadn't really read the book yet.

kranu · 06-21-2011, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esunk

I could certainly be wrong, but from what I read about all the data they collect from our Kindle usage, they could probably tell you hadn't really read the book yet.

Technically they could, but I doubt that they would go through the trouble for that, when giving a free ebook costs next to nothing, and buys a lifetime of loyalty.

susan_cassidy · 06-21-2011, 05:33 PM

ebooks aren't free to Amazon, they have to pay the publisher for any sale.

CRussel · 06-21-2011, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esunk

I could certainly be wrong, but from what I read about all the data they collect from our Kindle usage, they could probably tell you hadn't really read the book yet.

And they could undoubtedly see that I mostly read it. But was continually annoyed and jolted by missing pieces and stupid conversion errors.

Ditchleyportrait · 06-21-2011, 06:07 PM

i'm glad to hear this. i had a couple books i bought i wish i could return but haven't. won't do anything about it now, but i'm empowered for future regrettable purchases, within reason.

RainingLemur · 06-21-2011, 06:08 PM

Always impressed by Amazon's CS.

lestatar · 06-21-2011, 10:34 PM

+5. Amazon sets the standard for online customer service - pretty much since their inception.

Mike L · 06-22-2011, 09:17 AM

I agree that Amazon's customer service is excellent - as this example shows.

But, really, Charlie's experience is no more than Amazon is obliged to do by law. I don't know how things stand in Canada, but in most European companies - and almost certainly in the USA and Canada - the retailer is obliged to stand by the quality of the goods they sell.

For example, here in the UK, the law says that goods sold by retailers must be "of merchantable quality" and "fit for the purpose for which they are sold". If an ebook has lousy formatting, to the extent that some people might find it difficult or unpleasant to read, it clearly doesn't fill those criteria. The retailer is obliged either to provide a suitable substitute (not practical in this case) or give a refund.

Ebooks are no different than any other product in this respect, and Amazon is no different from any other retailer.

Also, the fact that there was a three month delay between purchase and making the complaint doesn't change anything. Where a time limit exists, it's generally specified in years rather than months (six years in the case of the UK).

I assume the law in USA or Canada is similar to elsewhere.

I'm not suggesting Amazon is merely doing the minimum it needs to do to comply with the law. The company has often showed that they go well beyond the minimum in customer service. I'm just not particularly surprised when I hear stories like this one.

06-21-2011, 06:07 PM	#7
Ditchleyportrait Fanatic Posts: 504 Karma: 780086 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: ny Device: Kindle DX Graphite	i'm glad to hear this. i had a couple books i bought i wish i could return but haven't. won't do anything about it now, but i'm empowered for future regrettable purchases, within reason. Last edited by Ditchleyportrait; 06-21-2011 at 06:13 PM. Reason: caveat

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06-21-2011, 05:02 PM	#2
ucfgrad93 Wizard Posts: 2,360 Karma: 9026681 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Colorado Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2nd Gen	I have yet to be disappointed with Amazon Customer Service, they are awesome!

06-21-2011, 05:13 PM	#3
esunk Member Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: K3	I could certainly be wrong, but from what I read about all the data they collect from our Kindle usage, they could probably tell you hadn't really read the book yet.

06-21-2011, 05:33 PM	#5
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	ebooks aren't free to Amazon, they have to pay the publisher for any sale.

06-21-2011, 06:08 PM	#8
RainingLemur Spork Connoisseur Posts: 2,355 Karma: 16780603 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Nook Color	Always impressed by Amazon's CS.

06-21-2011, 10:34 PM	#9
lestatar LB's lolz Mutt Minion Posts: 2,902 Karma: 5700001 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Hong Kong now but NYC forever Device: Kindle3, GalaxyTab, BB Bold9700, BB 8300, Sony Clie, Palm Vx, Palm III	+5. Amazon sets the standard for online customer service - pretty much since their inception.

06-22-2011, 09:17 AM	#10
Mike L Wizard Posts: 1,479 Karma: 3846231 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy	I agree that Amazon's customer service is excellent - as this example shows. But, really, Charlie's experience is no more than Amazon is obliged to do by law. I don't know how things stand in Canada, but in most European companies - and almost certainly in the USA and Canada - the retailer is obliged to stand by the quality of the goods they sell. For example, here in the UK, the law says that goods sold by retailers must be "of merchantable quality" and "fit for the purpose for which they are sold". If an ebook has lousy formatting, to the extent that some people might find it difficult or unpleasant to read, it clearly doesn't fill those criteria. The retailer is obliged either to provide a suitable substitute (not practical in this case) or give a refund. Ebooks are no different than any other product in this respect, and Amazon is no different from any other retailer. Also, the fact that there was a three month delay between purchase and making the complaint doesn't change anything. Where a time limit exists, it's generally specified in years rather than months (six years in the case of the UK). I assume the law in USA or Canada is similar to elsewhere. I'm not suggesting Amazon is merely doing the minimum it needs to do to comply with the law. The company has often showed that they go well beyond the minimum in customer service. I'm just not particularly surprised when I hear stories like this one.

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