MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Amazon to Charge by Megabyte for Personal Docs

weatherman · 04-30-2009, 07:33 AM

I don't care whether they are contractually obligated or whether their adverting implies that they won't raise the fee or not, this is totally shady and a really bad move on Amazon's part.

Amazon is not only increasing the baseline prices, they're completely changing the fee structure. This is outrageous considering that this comes so recently after releasing the Kindle 2. Certainly most people (like myself) bought the Kindle because of the wireless service, and most bought with an expectation that the fee structure would remain in place, if not always the same price.

Amazon's service is also not reliable enough to warrant a price increase at this point. Had Amazon done something to improve the process, or even just fixed what was wrong I might be more understanding, but they haven't. For example, I sent a document to myself the other day and when it didn't arrive for hours, I thought something must have been wrong with the document. I ended up sending it 6 times in different formats, only to get all 6 copies about six hours after I had sent the original document.

This does little to encourage trust of Amazon. Whether or not they can charge it or get away with it, or whether it's a nominal fee for most users, the autocratic decision to radically increase the cost of what was touted as the main feature of the Kindle is going to make many potential buyers choose a different device. And it's going to make those who already own a Kindle less likely to recommend it to their friends and more likely to choose something else when it comes time to upgrade.

These kinds of decisions have a big psychological impact on consumers., even if the monetary impact is small. This erodes the trust between vendor and customer, and is going to lead to customers making other choices. It's the same kind of thing that Microsoft suffered when they decided to cut off access to their customers downloaded music - why would anyone ever trust Microsoft again?

Mark my words; if Amazon does not reverse this decision and quick, this is going to be a big disaster for them.

04-30-2009, 07:33 AM	#36
weatherman Addict Posts: 385 Karma: 1010052 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: (previous: Kindle 2, Kindle Fire) Kindle 4 WiFi, K3K, KPW	I don't care whether they are contractually obligated or whether their adverting implies that they won't raise the fee or not, this is totally shady and a really bad move on Amazon's part. Amazon is not only increasing the baseline prices, they're completely changing the fee structure. This is outrageous considering that this comes so recently after releasing the Kindle 2. Certainly most people (like myself) bought the Kindle because of the wireless service, and most bought with an expectation that the fee structure would remain in place, if not always the same price. Amazon's service is also not reliable enough to warrant a price increase at this point. Had Amazon done something to improve the process, or even just fixed what was wrong I might be more understanding, but they haven't. For example, I sent a document to myself the other day and when it didn't arrive for hours, I thought something must have been wrong with the document. I ended up sending it 6 times in different formats, only to get all 6 copies about six hours after I had sent the original document. This does little to encourage trust of Amazon. Whether or not they can charge it or get away with it, or whether it's a nominal fee for most users, the autocratic decision to radically increase the cost of what was touted as the main feature of the Kindle is going to make many potential buyers choose a different device. And it's going to make those who already own a Kindle less likely to recommend it to their friends and more likely to choose something else when it comes time to upgrade. These kinds of decisions have a big psychological impact on consumers., even if the monetary impact is small. This erodes the trust between vendor and customer, and is going to lead to customers making other choices. It's the same kind of thing that Microsoft suffered when they decided to cut off access to their customers downloaded music - why would anyone ever trust Microsoft again? Mark my words; if Amazon does not reverse this decision and quick, this is going to be a big disaster for them.