Bad experince with Amazon & Kindle Fire

[Red Falcon]

I bought the new Kindle Fire HD 8 16 gb tablet Thanksgiving day and received it on Saturday. It took me close to three hours to get it to log on to my wi-fi. Once I had it logged in to my wi-fi it took nearly another two hours to do the first set of updates as it kept kicking out of wifi and me having to do two full factory resets as the update bonked the device twice. Then I had to spend another hour trying with an Amazon rep to bypass the Child Lock screen because that kept making the device repeatedly restart. Today I finally got the device stable enough to start playing around with it just find that Alexa does not work, all my content is buried by Amazon's sales push, the Wi-Fi out of home is unstable, the device bogs down for no apparent reason and on and on. I contacted Amazon and after another 2 hours they tell me to return the device for a replacement. They also told me that the warranty I bought and case cannot be refunded as they are not defective. This means I am out nearly 30 bucks on this "deal".

[cfrizz]

How are you out 30.00? Amazon is sending you a new device, since it sounds like the first one they sent is defective.

Now if the second one doesn't work as well, then I might start to believe there is a problem. But if it works but everything is slow due to your wifi signal, that is something that you will need to look into, but it certainly won't be Amazon's fault if you have poor wifi service.

[Red Falcon]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

How are you out 30.00? Amazon is sending you a new device, since it sounds like the first one they sent is defective.

Now if the second one doesn't work as well, then I might start to believe there is a problem. But if it works but everything is slow due to your wifi signal, that is something that you will need to look into, but it certainly won't be Amazon's fault if you have poor wifi service.

The Fire tablet it self bogs down and eventually restarts itself if more than two or three apps are open. My phone and laptop have no problem connecting to my wi-fi, only the Fire does. I am out thirty bucks because Amazon is refusing to refund me for the case or the warranty if I return the Fire. They are basically using strongarm tactics to get a sale. I have never experienced this level of poor service with Amazon. They typically go out of there way to make there customers happy. If Amazon turns into another retailer with extremely poor customer service then I am done with them. There customer service was why I chose to buy my tablet from them in the first place.

[leebase]

Funny thing, I just came to praise the new Fire HD 8. I was a big fan of the 7, bought several as gifts and everyone who bought one themselves due to my encouragement was also happy.

The HD 8 is a nice upgrade. $60 on sale today, but I'd still think at $90 it's a bargain. Much nicer screen, faster and larger with more memory. I sprang for the 32gig.

My number one use case is for streaming video with Netflix, Amazon Prime and the Xfinity app...plus downloaded movies and tv shows to watch on the plane.

The larger, higher resolution screen is nicer for reading as well.

My mom's 5 yr old iPad is on its last legs. She has loved it. But all she does is facebook, internet and reads books. I bought her the HD 8 for Christmas. I bought a third one knowing somebody will want one as a gift

[Red Falcon]

And the case is not the one I ordered anyway. I just never got around to dealing with that issue. I was too busy wasting nearly 10 hours over a holiday weekend dealing with the Fire problem.

[Red Falcon]

And I cannot get Hulu to work with the device at all. My login credentials are accepted then when I go to watch something the app crashes and the device restarts. Every time the device crashes I need to plug the USB plug in to my computer to get it to reboot . Then I need to re enter my wi-fi password and hope the device does not crash why I am doing that.

[Red Falcon]

Just received an email from Amazon that they will give me a full refund in an Amazon gift card and 20% percent off any order for my "inconvenience". No mention about doing them doing the real right thing of issuing me a full refund back to my credit card.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Red Falcon

...they tell me to return the device for a replacement. They also told me that the warranty I bought and case cannot be refunded as they are not defective. This means I am out nearly 30 bucks on this "deal".

I do feel bad for your frustration. You obviously got a lemon. But if Amazon replaces the defective tablet with one that works flawlessly, then you would still have a use for the warranty and case, wouldn't you?

[ZodWallop]

I'm surprised they wouldn't send you a replacement immediately and then have you return the crap unit later. Or is that what they offered? I got lost somewhere in the thread.

[Catlady]

I'm missing something. Why can't you return everything for a refund whether it's defective or not?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I'm missing something. Why can't you return everything for a refund whether it's defective or not?

I'm puzzled too. The tablet and case can easily be returned under Amazon's return policy. I'm assuming the warranty is the Square Trade one that Amazon offers from the Fire HD 8 page. If so that has a full refund if canceled within the first 90 days and a pro-rated refund thereafter.

[DiapDealer]

Boy, the bar for "good customer service" seems to be going up and up with each passing year.

I fail to see any signs of "bad" customer service in this situation, myself. They're trying to make good on a clearly defective unit by replacing it. And there's been no explanation on why the whole kit and kaboodle couldn't be returned in accordance with their standard policy on returns.

If it's about your holiday time spent fiddling with a defective device; the best customer service in the world isn't going to get that back for you.

[Red Falcon]

This is what I am being told my options are:

1. I can return the device to Amazon and they will send me a refurbished one. This option allows me to transfer my warranty and use the case I did not buy. (They sent the wrong one).

2. I can get a full refund for the tablet but not the case and warranty for an Amazon Gift Card. I paid with a credit card so this means they get the money no matter what I decide.

At this point I am done dealing with Amazon. I am going to file a dispute of this charge with my credit card company and let them deal with it. As for Amazon I am done. I will never buy anything on Amazon again period. They have lost a 20 year customer over this.

[Red Falcon]

DiapDealer before you draw conclusions please go back and carefully read through what I wrote. Maybe then you will see why I am so frustrated with this situation.

[DiapDealer]

Unless there's been a recent, drastic change in Amazon's return policy, something doesn't add up here.

I've read everything you've written in this thread. Unfortunately, it flies in the face of everything I know to be true about Amazon's return policies. Unless your account is already in trouble for excessive returns, you shouldn't need a reason to return something within a reasonable amount of time.