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Why Do We Trust Amazon?

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Re: Why Do We Trust Amazon?

#11

Post by secabeen »

jrockway wrote: post #7
georgemcbay wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More or less the entire reason I use Amazon to buy things online over any other online retailer is predictability of delivery. If I order something and it tells me it will arrive on day X after ordering it (next day or two day generally since I'm a Prime user so two day is free), it actually arrives when stated. I don't sit around waiting for two days only to be informed the item is backordered or two-day shipping me…

I think Amazon does a pretty good job vetting merchants. While they aren't as good as Amazon at sending me things, they generally do a pretty good job. The only thing I dislike is how often the spam me with things like "Is everything ok? If there are problems please contact us immediately!" I know why they do this (unhappy customers = no longer able to accept Amazon payments), but it doesn't mean I have to like it. N…

They're also good at vetting buyers. As a merchant, I appreciate the fact that even when the most skeezy-feeling buyers are legitimate. You can get screwed by the customer service requirements, but at least you see fewer customers with fake credit cards and the like.

The spam you'd describing is an attempt to get you to rate them. I've sold many things, and the rating rate is less than 10%, so you need to sell a lot to get out of the new vendor ghetto.

Re: Why Do We Trust Amazon?

#12

Post by thaiphan »

You never hear about Amazon "going to war" with other companies. Whilst other companies, e.g. Google and Apple, are constantly bickering amongst each other, Amazon just stays in the background, doing it's own thing. I personally think that's a breath of fresh air.

Re: Why Do We Trust Amazon?

#13

Post by notatoad »

ams6110 wrote: post #9
notatoad wrote: post #5

I think people still trust amazon because they are an easy to understand company: at it's core, amazon is a business that sells things for a profit. Everybody can understand how they make their money.

Until you get into the cloud stuff... AWS, EBS and all that... I'm sure you start losing people at that point.

Yeah, but people don't hear about that. Amazons got all sorts of stuff going on, like the article starts to go into. Their public facing image, though, is just simple retail.

Re: Why Do We Trust Amazon?

#14

Post by ww520 »

Money back guarantee is an extremely powerful marketing tool to establish trust with a faceless corporation far away over the net. Trust is the basis of a long lasting business relationship. Customers simply trust Amazon won't screw up and will bend over backward to make it up if thing goes wrong. Customers just go back to Amazon because of its trusting brand.

Re: Why Do We Trust Amazon?

#15

Post by manaskarekar »

1. I know I'm getting a reasonable price.

2. With Prime I know when I'm getting my stuff and I know it will be fast.

3. I don't have to be afraid of getting screwed over, even by third party merchants through amazon.

4. Their no hassle return policy.

5. Their going out of the way to make it right.

6. Multiple ways of getting customer service. One of the best experiences you can have today. As opposed to, Netflix, for example. The worst service I have experienced.

7. Ease of browsing and window shopping combined with good reviews and meta-reviews (comments and ratings on each review that is). Amazon reviews seem to be MUCH more unbiased than any independent reviewer for that product that you may find elsewhere.

8. Prime freebies like Instant video etc.

They're doing everything a customer expects, right, and that is pretty much why I love Amazon.

Re: Why Do We Trust Amazon?

#16

Post by jtreminio »

manaskarekar wrote: post #15

1. I know I'm getting a reasonable price. 2. With Prime I know when I'm getting my stuff and I know it will be fast. 3. I don't have to be afraid of getting screwed over, even by third party merchants through amazon. 4. Their no hassle return policy. 5. Their going out of the way to make it right. 6. Multiple ways of getting customer service. One of the best experiences you can have today. As opposed to, Netflix, for…

For the record, the one time I was forced to contact Netflix for support was when my brand new Roku was not connecting to my account. The Netflix rep I spoke with was very patient, and helped me solve the issue, which turned out to be with my Roku, not Netflix.

Other than that, I have never needed to call, email or otherwise contact Netflix at all, which I think is a great thing in and of itself!

Re: Why Do We Trust Amazon?

#17

Post by manaskarekar »

jtreminio wrote: post #16
manaskarekar wrote: post #15

1. I know I'm getting a reasonable price. 2. With Prime I know when I'm getting my stuff and I know it will be fast. 3. I don't have to be afraid of getting screwed over, even by third party merchants through amazon. 4. Their no hassle return policy. 5. Their going out of the way to make it right. 6. Multiple ways of getting customer service. One of the best experiences you can have today. As opposed to, Netflix, for…

For the record, the one time I was forced to contact Netflix for support was when my brand new Roku was not connecting to my account. The Netflix rep I spoke with was very patient, and helped me solve the issue, which turned out to be with my Roku, not Netflix. Other than that, I have never needed to call, email or otherwise contact Netflix at all, which I think is a great thing in and of itself!

I have had to deal with their customer service for one issue. After multiple 15-20 minute calls, spread over multiple weeks, my issue is unresolved, or not sure if resolved, at best.

They were not rude to me on the phone, but customer service isn't just about politeness. It's about resolving the problem. And that did not happen.

Re: Why Do We Trust Amazon?

#19

Post by ryanmolden »

jrockway wrote: post #4

Amazon has very clever marketing which is evident in the sentiment reflected in the comments. One comment mentions that Amazon is the "cheapest possible way" to get anything. False. Many other retailers are likely to have the item you want at a lower price, even including shipping. Another comment mentions the customer service. Honestly, I don't think Amazon has very good customer service: every interaction is handle…

Or maybe your experience is an anomaly and it isn't that Amazon has just brainwashed everyone else via their clever marketing. I have bought a large number of items from Amazon, the price has always been competitive and even where slightly higher knowing I am not simply dealing with some remote company who managed to slap together a web page and who will have god knows what kind of service if I have a problem is worth some small(ish) price differential. As another anecdote, opposite to yours, a few years ago for Christmas I bought a flat panel monitor for my mom. It was kind of late and I did three day delivery. It was dropped on my porch (according to UPS) and was not there when I got home. I wrote Amazon expressing a bit of annoyance that they (actually, UPS) hadn't required a signature for a $400 monitor and just left it on my porch where it was apparently stolen. They were apologetic and said they would send another one overnight. It arrived early the next afternoon. No mixups, no blaming the shipper, no "sorry we will get you a replacement in a week", just good customer service, and on a tight deadline too. That said, I could be the anomaly, but I have heard similar good customer service stories from Amazon and Zappos (who Amazon bought and whose CEO is notorious for focusing on customer sat, which may have rubbed off in some small way on Amazon).

Re: Why Do We Trust Amazon?

#20

Post by larrydavid »

thaiphan wrote: post #12

You never hear about Amazon "going to war" with other companies. Whilst other companies, e.g. Google and Apple, are constantly bickering amongst each other, Amazon just stays in the background, doing it's own thing. I personally think that's a breath of fresh air.

You must not have been listening hard enough: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com_controversies

All major companies have their fair share of controversy. That being said, I've had nothing but good service with Amazon. And Apple/Google for that matter.

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