Content Special Offers for new Kindle (KSO) - Page 27

shibamistress · 07-15-2011, 01:41 AM

And now I'm actually really ticked off with the KSO stuff. I bought two books that were special offer books. One (actually maybe both) were buy a book in the special section with visa and get a gift card. When I tried to buy both books, I actually had some difficulties, because I do have a gift card balance, and it wouldn't let me buy the books with the gift card balance, which was fine, because I didn't want to anyway. I set my one click to visa and after several tries was able to buy the books.

So today I noticed my gift card balance was down more than it should be. Why? Because it suddenly charged those two books to my gift card balance NOT to my credit card like I had it set for, which of course means I won't get the special offer now. And why would it charge it to the gift card rather awhile after the fact?

I'm really annoyed by this.

odiakkoh · 07-15-2011, 01:46 AM

Yeah i accidentally bought my visa book with gift card balance still left so i had to ask for a refund, use my balance up and then rebuy the book.

koland · 07-15-2011, 03:44 PM

For those trying for the Visa offer (after returning the books for a refund), call CS and have them freeze your gift card balance, then buy the book or books you are interested in. Verify (by using the PC, not your Kindle) each invoice and that the credit card was used, not the gift balance.

Or, just ask them to give you the $10 credit (which they will do) and don't worry about it.

I'm off to look for book #2 at $1, now that I have a second code.... Hopefully Mom will get her Kindle today too, so we can get another.

jswinden · 07-15-2011, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

24- Get a select Kindle Book for $1

The aggrevating thing about this was with over 3000 books from which to choose it was time consuming browsing through them. I found one less than 1000 books into browsing, but that took over an hour. If they would have enabled categories and searching within the special books it would have been much better.

koland · 07-15-2011, 04:51 PM

If you clicked on "kindle ebooks" on the left, you can then filter by category ....

tubemonkey · 07-15-2011, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shibamistress

So today I noticed my gift card balance was down more than it should be. Why? Because it suddenly charged those two books to my gift card balance NOT to my credit card like I had it set for, which of course means I won't get the special offer now. And why would it charge it to the gift card rather awhile after the fact?

I hear you. Give Kindle a call (1-866-321-8851) and see what they say. They told me that I would get the credit. We'll see.

The whole process is extremely lame. Amazon has all digital content set for 1-Click ordering, so there's no way you can edit how you wish to pay for it like you can non-digital items. Result, gift cards will always be used first; and if there's a balance, then your credit card gets hit.

1-Click ordering needs to vanish. The entire process is not conducive with these special offers.

tubemonkey · 07-15-2011, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koland

If you clicked on "kindle ebooks" on the left, you can then filter by category ....

Too bad they don't have an author search. I hate shopping by genre searches. I definitely prefer searching by author.

tubemonkey · 07-15-2011, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koland

...call CS and have them freeze your gift card balance,...

Really?! Too bad that bit of info isn't general knowledge with all of their CS reps. I've called them on three occasions about three separate purchases involving gift cards I didn't want used, and not once has a CS rep said this option was available. It would seem that some of them get policy memos and some don't.

odiakkoh · 07-16-2011, 12:14 AM

Didnt matter for me, i was going to use the balance anyway, i just did the wrong purchase first.

shibamistress · 07-16-2011, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I hear you. Give Kindle a call (1-866-321-8851) and see what they say. They told me that I would get the credit. We'll see.

The whole process is extremely lame. Amazon has all digital content set for 1-Click ordering, so there's no way you can edit how you wish to pay for it like you can non-digital items. Result, gift cards will always be used first; and if there's a balance, then your credit card gets hit.

1-Click ordering needs to vanish. The entire process is not conducive with these special offers.

I was wondering if it was worth calling them, and since I'm still annoyed today, I think I will! I wouldn't have bought the book if not for the special offer. Thanks for the number!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Too bad they don't have an author search. I hate shopping by genre searches. I definitely prefer searching by author.

I actually did an author search and it worked (and kept me in the special offer group) so you can do that.

SteveK · 07-16-2011, 10:09 AM

I called the customer service number above and had an extended conversation with two representatives about this offer and the problems I was having with it simply because I had a gift card balance. I told them I understood the intent was to reward a customer for using the Amazon Visa card, but that actually they were penalizing a person for having a gift card balance that was applied instead of a charge to the credit card. Thus, in effect, they were penalizing repeat customers, which presumably is not their intent.

They seemed to understand my perspective, and indicated it had probably not been looked at in that manner before. As to whether or not anything will happen, that remains to be seen.

I suggested the requirement merely be that the Visa card is the default payment option, whether or not it is actually charged for that transaction. I haven't had problems redeeming any other offer, but this offer doesn't appear to have been fully thought out.

SteveK

odiakkoh · 07-16-2011, 02:53 PM

Ooo $10 off of Kindle accessories.

shibamistress · 07-16-2011, 04:59 PM

Well, I gave Kindle a call via my problem with the gift card and getting the special offers. That was confusing as hell. I explained the situation, I thought clearly, but then they took back the $1 book I'd got from the most recent special offer. I explained that was not the problem. Then they said the special offer for Visa was still open, so why don't I just buy another book? No, that wasn't the problem either...as I explained.

Finally they said they'd credit my account the full cost of the $1 book (as it was now no longer available as a $1 book as far as I could tell, but who knows*) and credit me with the cost of the other book I bought but didn't get the special offer on. The amount they came up with was different from what I thought I should get (it was more) but....whatever.

It was clear, though, that 1) the person didn't really understand the special offers well, and 2) that you can't take advantage of the visa special offers if you have a gift balance, as they will always take that out first.

But at least it looks like I got some satisfaction from this. Which does tell me it is worth calling them, at least.

*actually, it's that I can't use that code again for the $ book, so they had to credit me for the full cost of it. I get it. Except I'm not seeing the credit appear on my account yet, which is troubling.

tubemonkey · 07-16-2011, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shibamistress

It was clear, though, that 1) the person didn't really understand the special offers well,...

They rarely do. I end up having to explain the Special Offers program to them. What's with that? Amazon needs to update the cue cards for their CS reps and give them access to all of these offers.

It's really sad when the customer knows more than the CS rep.

chas0039 · 07-16-2011, 06:36 PM

For anyone interested, I have my new KSO with AT&T and, so far, there is no difference I can determine in that it has no screensavers dealing with AT&T. There are some weird commercials dealing with some plays somewhere and there are some odd ads for things I cannot determine, but otherwise, it is the same VISA crap and my old favorite, Cover Girl. Or should I say, did have.

Where did my Oil of Olay go.

Also, interestingly, it is shipped as a regular Kindle with NO special offers. As soon as it phones home, it turns into a KSO. This adds credibility to the statements from some saying Amazon was willing to turn off their offers remotely. Who knows what else they are monitoring?

07-16-2011, 04:59 PM	#403
shibamistress Groupie Posts: 162 Karma: 226854 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Southwest US Device: KSO (3G), Nook Color, android apps	Well, I gave Kindle a call via my problem with the gift card and getting the special offers. That was confusing as hell. I explained the situation, I thought clearly, but then they took back the $1 book I'd got from the most recent special offer. I explained that was not the problem. Then they said the special offer for Visa was still open, so why don't I just buy another book? No, that wasn't the problem either...as I explained. Finally they said they'd credit my account the full cost of the $1 book (as it was now no longer available as a $1 book as far as I could tell, but who knows) and credit me with the cost of the other book I bought but didn't get the special offer on. The amount they came up with was different from what I thought I should get (it was more) but....whatever. It was clear, though, that 1) the person didn't really understand the special offers well, and 2) that you can't take advantage of the visa special offers if you have a gift balance, as they will always take that out first. But at least it looks like I got some satisfaction from this. Which does tell me it is worth calling them, at least. actually, it's that I can't use that code again for the $ book, so they had to credit me for the full cost of it. I get it. Except I'm not seeing the credit appear on my account yet, which is troubling. Last edited by shibamistress; 07-16-2011 at 05:04 PM.

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07-15-2011, 01:41 AM	#391
shibamistress Groupie Posts: 162 Karma: 226854 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Southwest US Device: KSO (3G), Nook Color, android apps	And now I'm actually really ticked off with the KSO stuff. I bought two books that were special offer books. One (actually maybe both) were buy a book in the special section with visa and get a gift card. When I tried to buy both books, I actually had some difficulties, because I do have a gift card balance, and it wouldn't let me buy the books with the gift card balance, which was fine, because I didn't want to anyway. I set my one click to visa and after several tries was able to buy the books. So today I noticed my gift card balance was down more than it should be. Why? Because it suddenly charged those two books to my gift card balance NOT to my credit card like I had it set for, which of course means I won't get the special offer now. And why would it charge it to the gift card rather awhile after the fact? I'm really annoyed by this.

07-15-2011, 01:46 AM	#392
odiakkoh Guru Posts: 823 Karma: 1818344 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: iPhone 5s	Yeah i accidentally bought my visa book with gift card balance still left so i had to ask for a refund, use my balance up and then rebuy the book.

07-15-2011, 03:44 PM	#393
koland Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 8033155 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: TN, USA Device: kindle(all), nook, nookcolor, Sony, Kobo, epic, iphone, iPad, pc	For those trying for the Visa offer (after returning the books for a refund), call CS and have them freeze your gift card balance, then buy the book or books you are interested in. Verify (by using the PC, not your Kindle) each invoice and that the credit card was used, not the gift balance. Or, just ask them to give you the $10 credit (which they will do) and don't worry about it. I'm off to look for book #2 at $1, now that I have a second code.... Hopefully Mom will get her Kindle today too, so we can get another.

07-15-2011, 04:51 PM	#395
koland Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,560 Karma: 8033155 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: TN, USA Device: kindle(all), nook, nookcolor, Sony, Kobo, epic, iphone, iPad, pc	If you clicked on "kindle ebooks" on the left, you can then filter by category ....

07-16-2011, 12:14 AM	#399
odiakkoh Guru Posts: 823 Karma: 1818344 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: iPhone 5s	Didnt matter for me, i was going to use the balance anyway, i just did the wrong purchase first.

07-16-2011, 10:09 AM	#401
SteveK Addict Posts: 272 Karma: 1017902 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Kindle PW, PW2, Kindle3, Kobo Glo, tablets, phone	I called the customer service number above and had an extended conversation with two representatives about this offer and the problems I was having with it simply because I had a gift card balance. I told them I understood the intent was to reward a customer for using the Amazon Visa card, but that actually they were penalizing a person for having a gift card balance that was applied instead of a charge to the credit card. Thus, in effect, they were penalizing repeat customers, which presumably is not their intent. They seemed to understand my perspective, and indicated it had probably not been looked at in that manner before. As to whether or not anything will happen, that remains to be seen. I suggested the requirement merely be that the Visa card is the default payment option, whether or not it is actually charged for that transaction. I haven't had problems redeeming any other offer, but this offer doesn't appear to have been fully thought out. SteveK

07-16-2011, 02:53 PM	#402
odiakkoh Guru Posts: 823 Karma: 1818344 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: iPhone 5s	Ooo $10 off of Kindle accessories.

07-16-2011, 06:36 PM	#405
chas0039 Sceptic Posts: 573 Karma: 73436 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: The Lake Device: rooted Nooks, retired. JetBook Lite, Kindle 3, 4, Kobo Nia, Libra H2O.	For anyone interested, I have my new KSO with AT&T and, so far, there is no difference I can determine in that it has no screensavers dealing with AT&T. There are some weird commercials dealing with some plays somewhere and there are some odd ads for things I cannot determine, but otherwise, it is the same VISA crap and my old favorite, Cover Girl. Or should I say, did have. Where did my Oil of Olay go. Also, interestingly, it is shipped as a regular Kindle with NO special offers. As soon as it phones home, it turns into a KSO. This adds credibility to the statements from some saying Amazon was willing to turn off their offers remotely. Who knows what else they are monitoring?

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