A chat with Amazon customer service

[Paul_Heery]

I wanted to get a simple gig bag for my Les Paul. I didn't want or need anything extravagant as the guitar rarely leaves the house. I saw a bag that a friend has and decided that it fit my needs perfectly. I went on Amazon and found it for $19.00. I put it in my cart and found that at checkout, they had added $49 in shipping charges. As this was obviously a mistake, I opened up a chat with customer service.

You are now connected to Amit from Amazon.com.

Me:I put the following item in my cart.
Amazon.com: Epiphone Gigbag for Epiphone Solidbody Electric: Musical Instruments
When I went to checkout I was surprised that you wanted to charge me $49 in shipping. I took a second look at the item details and it says that this item weighs 63.6 pounds. That cannot be correct. This item weighs just over one pound.

Amit:Hello, my name is Amit. I will be happy to help you.
I am so sorry to know that.
Please allow me a quick moment while I pull up the account.
Is it for Epiphone Gigbag for Epiphone Solidbody Electric?

Me:Yes

Amit:It says the shipping weight is 63.6 pounds.
Though the product weight is 5 pounds approx.
The best way to deal with it is is that you buy something more for $6.00 to get free shipping for both the items.
I know it is not the best way.

Me:Sorry. That won't work. It is listed with the wrong weight. It says that it will ship separately and is not eligible for free shipping.

Amit:19.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
It will be eligible for free shipping if you add something which is equal to more than $6.00
Though the weight is incorrectly listed for weight, I accept that.

Me:Please let someone from Amazon know that they just lost my business because they won't fix a problem that they created by listing this item incorrectly. I have been a customer for years and have spent a considerable amount of money on the site. I'm disappointed that they won't address their own error.

Amit:Absolutely, I take your words and will be sure to pass the feedback along.
I would also request you to scroll down the page and submit a feedback.
Please Paul.
Thanks for visiting Amazon.com. We hope to see you again soon.

I would have thought that they would have attempted to fix the problem.

[aap1966]

I had a similarly unsatisfactory exchange with Amazon.
Boils down to "they don't really need your business, so get lost".

Unpleasent reality.

[scottmandue]

Try zzounds, I buy a lot of stuff there.

zZounds.com - Musical Instruments Music Store. Shop for Guitars, Drums, Amplifiers and Equipment.

[stomachmonkey]

It's an outsourced call center.

There is absolutely nothing they can do right then and there or ever.

Its a systems issue.

I would have asked them to escalate and let you know when the shipping was fixed.

[peppy]

I was ordering 2 vacuum filters today and they had a $10 shipping & handling charge. i just didn't order it.

I wonder why they wouldn't fix that? Did they really want you to spend $6 more?

[john70t]

The only thing I could think of is that they answer calls only in that office. They can't change or affect prices at that level to prevent giving their "buddies" deals.

The department is on the other side of the planet, it's 3a.m there, and he's talking with a pissed off rich american who doesn't have to walk home from work between lepers.

The guy who typed it into the catalog probably had six fingers on that hand.

Not my department

[stomachmonkey]

Don't forget how Amazon works.

You are talking about a "catalog" of individual retailers who input, manage their data and ship themselves.

Yes, Amazon will handle shipping direct from their own warehouses for retailers who opt for the option.

Who ships is noted in the product info.

[Noah930]

Call me crazy, but considering the resources Amit didn't have at his disposal during your teleconference, I think he did a pretty good job. Doesn't excuse Amazon, the parent company, from the stupidity of their error. But Amit probably couldn't do anything about it. At least he acknowledged the obvious error and tried to give you a way around it that would cause a minimum of trouble. Again, not saying his "fix" was ideal, but he tried to be helpful and pleasant within the limitations of the system. Props to Amit, if not Amazon.

[trekkor]

I had fun reading "Amit's" part with a super thick middle eastern accent.
You have to jut your chin way out to get it right,

Probably wrong on my part...


KT

[nostatic]

Actually the weight is likely "correct" due to oversize charges. Assuming it is a gig bag that doesn't fold, they have to ship in a box that is about 50" long and that gets oversize charges. Btdt. You're much better off going to your local shop, or doing what is needed to invoke free shipping.

[john70t]

Amit nothing.

[onewhippedpuppy]

At least he didn't try to tell you his name was Bob.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

At least he didn't try to tell you his name was Bob.

Or ask if you'd like a squishee with your order...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

It's an outsourced call center.

There is absolutely nothing they can do right then and there or ever.

Its a systems issue.

I would have asked them to escalate and let you know when the shipping was fixed.

Yep, Amit has no power. He couldn't fix it.

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Don't forget how Amazon works.

You are talking about a "catalog" of individual retailers who input, manage their data and ship themselves.

Yes, Amazon will handle shipping direct from their own warehouses for retailers who opt for the option.

Who ships is noted in the product info.

In this case, Amazon. Amazon is a business that does stock, sell, and ship their own stuff as well as allowing others to sell through them, sometimes even allowing those sellers to use their warehouses as you say. In some cases your point is valid, but not this time.

Originally Posted by nostatic

Actually the weight is likely "correct" due to oversize charges. Assuming it is a gig bag that doesn't fold, they have to ship in a box that is about 50" long and that gets oversize charges. Btdt. You're much better off going to your local shop, or doing what is needed to invoke free shipping.

seems valid. It does say it's padded, which would make me think that it may not fold up. Seems like it would have been easiest to find a book, video, etc for $6.99 to get the free shipping. I do understand the principal though.

[Paul_Heery]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Don't forget how Amazon works.

You are talking about a "catalog" of individual retailers who input, manage their data and ship themselves.

Yes, Amazon will handle shipping direct from their own warehouses for retailers who opt for the option.

Who ships is noted in the product info.

As noted in the product info, "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com". This is an Amazon issue, not a third party.

I do have some updated information. After my chat with Amir last night, I received an email following up on my customer service experience with a survey link. I gave Amir high marks, but gave Amazon the lowest ranking possible. When I submitted the results, I was presented with a page that stated that they were concerned that they could not resolve my problem and could they have someone call me right away. I clicked OK, entered my number and the phone rang within 15 seconds.

On the other end of the phone was Kathleen. We had a nice, cordial conversation. She looked into the issue and confirmed that it is a problem that was created by Amazon, probably because someone fat-fingered a catalog entry. She then explored some options.

Kathleen first considered giving me a $50 gift code to offset the erroneous shipping charge. Then she realized that you can't use a gift code for shipping. She then looked at a few other options that she had available to her, but nothing would have worked in this situation. Finally, she said that she would submit a ticket for a catalog correction. She warned me that this could take up to two weeks.

At least Amazon attempted to step up. But, the process could have been much smoother.

[Scuba Steve]

At least Amazon still ships to your state... I think they're pulling out of at least two or three.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Blaming the computer is a convenient excuse used to justify all manner of stupidity, errors and (occasionally) outright fraud. When someone catches them, all they need to do is blame the computer and 99% of the idiots accept the excuse as plausible deniability. The reality is computers only do what they're told to. Someone in the company set the values and entered the data.

"Amit, thanks for trying to help but I need to talk with someone who actually can update/change the data fields in the computer so this gets fixed - can you put me in touch with that individual?"

That's what I'd have said.

[willtel]

It offers me free 2 day shipping with my Amazon Prime account. Want me to have one sent to your address?

[Langers]

I reckkn that with everything amazon sells you could have found something else you needed / wanted for $6 and avoided all the difficulties associated with complaining.

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by willtel

It offers me free 2 day shipping with my Amazon Prime account. Want me to have one sent to your address?

love the amazon prime. i used my ".edu" email to sign up, and they waived the $79 fee. for as much as i order on amazon, even at $79 it would be justifiable throughout the year