customer service much?

30Jun09

I recently ordered 10 books from 10 different people on Amazon. Consistent with past experience, I got a few different emails telling me my orders had shipped, and most of them have arrived. However, not all of the sellers sent an email saying they had shipped the books. I was particularly worried about one of them, since I gave my current address as the shipping address, and I’m only going to be here two more weeks. (I know genius right shut up. I’ve never had to wait more than a week for an order.)

So, I sent an email to the seller, asking if he had shipped the book, completely unaware that Amazon’s sellers are required to ship things within two days of the order. (Of course, how can you be sure something was shipped within two days of an order? Can that rule be enforced?) Since he hadn’t responded by the next day, I sent another email. Both emails were professionally polite but not necessarily friendly. He finally responded very rudely by telling me that he had shipped it and the information I was looking for was on Amazon and had been since the day the book was shipped, since Amazon has, according to him, an “arraignment” whereby he doesn’t get paid until the book ships, which I’m pretty sure is bull. No greeting, no closing.

How rude! However, I am lucky in that the other sellers have been pleasant. In fact, one guy found out that the book I ordered wasn’t exactly in “new” condition, so he tried to contact me, and when that didn’t work (email address typo, or maybe I managed to overlook the email, it happens), he contacted me through Amazon just to let me know he had reduced the price of the book AND upgraded my shipping for free. Talk about customer service! When I got the book, it was wrapped in paper and in bubble wrap inside the package. So, my faith in humanity? Restored.

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Tags: amazon, books