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April 24, 2006
Bloody Amazon!
God these people are the most amazingly awful shites at customer service.
When the system works, it’s fine, of course. But when it doesn’t, there’s no way to actually contact one of the wankers to sort it out.
I’ve got a delivery that was dispatched on the 5th. Should be here by now but it isn’t. Right. They’ve got a handy little page that allows you to tell them so.
Stupid bastard thing doesn’t work. Keeps asking me to *** Please fix the areas indicated below. ***
There are no areas indicated below that need fixing. And, of course, if I don’t fix them then it won’t accept the email.
Is there a general email addy? A phone number? No. All you get is to go round and round in an endless loop to the same damn form that doesn’t work.
Right cocks they are.
And yes, it’s the UK part. A nation of bloody shopkeepers indeed.
Update: Matthew provides the numbers, ta very much. If you call the freephone from abroad, of course it doesn’t work. If you call the corporate number and click for customer service you get a recording telling you to call the freephone.
Sheesh. Still, fixed now.
April 24, 2006 in Business | Permalink
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Comments
Presumably they wouldn't be offering such useless customer service if customers weren't demanding it?
Ok, I'll stop being facetious. Can you call this number from where you are?
0800 2796620
Posted by: Matthew | Apr 24, 2006 11:24:53 AM
Or if you can't
+44 20 8636 9200
(I had this problem once)
Posted by: Matthew | Apr 24, 2006 11:26:33 AM
IIRC, after an order is dispatched, it's in the hands of the courier. There is [was] a way of finding out which courier they used, and the despatch number/code. Then you contact them. (Not that they're often much help either.)
So, Tim, how would you feel if we nationalised Amazon?
Posted by: Backword Dave | Apr 24, 2006 11:40:23 AM
Hmm...I never use amazon.co.uk
I stick to amazon.com
They seem to have different book selections though. For instance, I couldn't get Oliver Kamm's recent book on amazon.com for some reason, but could on amazon.co.uk
I send Mr Kamm an email pointing this out to him, thinking maybe he would like to know as it must be depriving him of overseas readers, but he never replied, so in protest I didn't buy the book.
Tim adds: My own book wasn’t available on .com either. Pity, as it would have had some sales too. All to do with whether or not there’s a US publisher or not.
Posted by: Tim Newman | Apr 24, 2006 11:52:13 AM
Why anyone uses Amazon I don't know, unless they live in a remote area far from any bookshop. I can ring my local bookshop and order a book in much less time than it takes to turn on the computer and log on to Amazon, and I deal with a human, not a computerised warehouse.
Tim adds: That I live in Lisbon is probably your answer.
Posted by: simon | Apr 24, 2006 2:04:38 PM
Why anyone uses Amazon I don't know, unless they live in a remote area far from any bookshop.
Aye, try getting a history book in Dubai that isn't written by Michael Moore.
Posted by: Tim Newman | Apr 24, 2006 4:12:20 PM
I use Amazon.co.uk all the time and have had very good service from them.
However. Today they sent me the wrong item (a different kind of DVD-R than I ordered). When I went to their site to get details of how send it back the pull-down list of reasons for returning it had ten reasons: my ordering the wrong item, getting a better price, etc., but not one for them buggering up my order and sending me the wrong stuff! Apparently Amazon.co.uk don’t make mistakes.
In fairness to them, I printed out a freepost label from their site (I said it was defective goods) and dropped the parcel off at the post office. I got an email half and hour ago to say that the proper DVD-Rs (I hope) were in the post.
Posted by: Tom | Apr 24, 2006 9:29:57 PM
I had a bollocks of a job trying to get a video camera out of them about two years ago. Mrs Thingummy and I wanted it for her work, so it was a high-spec jobbie that they were offering for £400 less than the high street. Unfortunately they couldn't get us it; it was in every camera shop in Glasgow but Amazon just never had it in stock. Promised delivery dates came and went like religious feasts but no camera ever arrived. When we cancelled the order they got quite sniffy too. Other than that they have been delightful. I'm actually about to buy some stuff off their site tonight - their prices are v competitive, I think.
Posted by: indefatigathingummy | Apr 24, 2006 10:52:09 PM
Mr Thingummy,
Another way of looking at it is that every camera shop in Glasgow could not clear their inventory at £400 more than Amazon.
Posted by: anomdebus | Apr 25, 2006 10:32:52 PM
Why does anyone use Amazon?
Because it is deeply discounted, tax free and if you order enough, shipping free. It is very convenient, and I say that, though I live two blocks away from a Barnes and Noble in NYC.
And Amazon's second hand book services are really helpful.
I've used Amazon.co.uk as well, and never had a problem with it.
Posted by: Alcibiades | Apr 26, 2006 12:57:04 AM
I've used Amazon and I've had no problems but I used it out of curiosity. I live in the UK, in a big provincial city and contacting and getting to a bookshop is very easy. I see no reason to give my business to an anonymous internet corporation. If my local bookshops close Amazon will be able to give me exactly the service it wants to. I do not flatter myself that I am too busy to pop out to collect a book from the shop when I want, and even if I did the bookshop delivers. Anyway Amazon is increasingly a less of a bookshop, more a seller of CDS, DVDs and consumer tat.
Posted by: simon | Apr 26, 2006 1:16:01 AM
I have used both Amazon.com and .uk and been lucky enough to get what I ordered, once even somebody else's order included with mine.
As someone commented earlier, the difference between .com and .uk seems to be whether there is a US publisher. Seems another reason to update the copyright laws since .uk doesn't refuse to ship to a US address.
The only local shop left, that isn't part of a national chain, is a used book shop. Atleast around these parts, Amazon.com didn't drive out the locals, that was Barnes and Noble and Borders. Grumble, grumble.
Posted by: Retread | Apr 26, 2006 8:25:05 PM
Alcibiades:
I'm sure that you pay NY sales tax on your amazon purchases when you file your tax return, though...
Posted by: Sam | Apr 27, 2006 7:52:28 PM
Stupid bastard thing doesn’t work. Keeps asking me to *** Please fix the areas indicated below. ***
I have this same problem. So how does it get resolved? I can't get an e-mail to go through!
Posted by: Steve | Jan 29, 2007 3:30:49 PM