Amazon is a Bad Choice for Your Customers
I have been doing business with Amazon since they first started. I know many people will claim that, and it probably isn't really accurate; however, I actually started working with them before they grew so large.
I have worked in film making since 1996, and one of my first sponsors was the infant "Amazon"...ever since, I have used them for many reasons...mostly as a consumer...once they outgrew my company, they no longer provided great support.
Recently, I experienced the worst of their customer service team. Let me explain...I recently moved to China to be with my wife. We are planning a wedding ceremony in the Spring - even though we are married, our families want to celebrate with a ceremony. I have been ordering tons of things through Amazon and Alibaba for our wedding. Well, the customer support from Alibaba has been amazing...Amazon, not so much. All of the orders from Alibaba have been on time (or early), and Amazon has been consistently late...some of their packages which were specifically earmarked for China delivery spent days in customs because they failed to send the correct labels - they still charged me an enormous amount of money for the shipping and customs ($128 for a set of $13 cufflinks and studs). So, I called in a complaint...my next ordered was for clothing (very high tag items)...they cancelled the order (without telling me up front) and called me at 3am to tell me it would not arrive as scheduled - they still charged my bank for the $238 delivery though...anyway, I did my best to work my way up the food chain of customer service, and that is where the comedy comes into play...I called their customer service team (on international rates of $2.99 per minute)...I explained it was an international call, and their response was to put me on speaker (much laughter in the background), and with every question I had, they waited exactly 60 seconds to respond...each response was a prompt for another question which then resulted in another 60 second wait ($2.99 per wait)...so, after 47 minutes of my time wasted, the call was dropped...I called Verizon, and it was not dropped from my end...so, I called corporate, and spoke with "Jeff Bezos'" assistant...lol, probably not, but she pretended to be helpful, then locked my account before disconnecting the call. Well...I know Jeff (from my movie days), and I got things squared away, but I would NEVER recommend sending your customers through that maze of trouble.
I am sure not all Amazon experiences are bad, but be cautious and aware of what you are sending your customers to...there are too many decent affiliates (that actually pay better, and offer better prices for your customers) to depend on one that is too big to care for its customers.
Additionally, all 296 people that work for my film company are no longer doing their holiday shopping at Amazon...they may not put them out of business, but at least they will get good support.
Let me know your thoughts.
Recent Comments
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Hey, It is quite obvious that Amazon has got to be way too big. They treated you with the arrogance of a company that cares nothing about anything, especially where the customer is concerned. If they continue to treat others as they did you, it will cost them dearly in the end. John.
Hi! Thanks for sharing that. Which other affiliate companies are you referring to? I'd like to have other options but I don't know of others (in Europe).
It really depends on your niche...for all of my websites, I have a good variety to choose from...but, they are very specific to my particular niches.
In mainland uk I can't fault amazon but orders here are very simplistic and easy to fulfill. Not sure if people in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland have the same service, so I see where you coming from. Amazons goal of world domination won't be met if they start to fall down on customer support. Info noted. Thank you. Chris
Amazon is doing well in India though. It was down, but it sprung back and is doing well against local competitors like Flipkart and Snapdeal.
i trusted them, and they really took me for a ride...it is sad, really. So many alternatives, and much better customer service.
Sometimes when organisations have a 'monopoly' they think they are invincible, but in the end they are just people like the rest of us.
That's good to know Paul. And I only recently joined Alibaba because Amazon do not ship some products to New Zealand. Thanks for sharing :-)
I hope my advice is not taken too negatively...It is just very difficult to send them customers when their support team is so condescending.
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Thanks for sharing this interesting bit of information.
Regards,
Jerome