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Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

theguardian.com

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Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#251

Post by blibble »

dwedge wrote: post #64

I bought a $120 book from Amazon a couple of months ago, internationally, and they sent the wrong book. I told them, and they said they'd refund it, don't need to send it back, and they'd even add $15 credit. The refund never arrived so a few weeks later I got in touch again and they said I need to send it back if I want a refund. They told me the previous CSR had lied to improve ratings. I asked who I can complain t…

> I sent it back and got a warning that if I return anything else in "non original condition" I'd be banned.

I have a similar story, they "delivered" when I was out, hidden behind a wall in my garden

when I found the package two days later, the expensive books had been ruined by the rain

I explained to their CS, they issued the return authorisation

then after they received the return they threatened me for not returning in "original condition"

I was a customer since the early 2000s, a prime member since it started, with something like 2 returns total in that time, with tens of thousands of spending (to this exact address)

I deleted my account

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#252

Post by regularfry »

regularfry wrote: post #250
400thecat wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how would that help? either they check the returned boxes or they don't. sending back 1 shoe does not fools the inspection

It matters less if it's actually true than if someone trying to pull off the scam thinks it might be. The only way to find out if that hole exists in the system is either to have an insider tell you that it would, or to try it out...

Oh, and to add further to the nonsense: the product description technically doesn't say that what you're buying is a pair of shoes. So a sufficiently automated system might mistake a single shoe for a legitimate product. It's absurd, but not impossible to see how you might end up there.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#253

Post by techjamie »

qurashee wrote: post #148
dwedge wrote: post #64

I bought a $120 book from Amazon a couple of months ago, internationally, and they sent the wrong book. I told them, and they said they'd refund it, don't need to send it back, and they'd even add $15 credit. The refund never arrived so a few weeks later I got in touch again and they said I need to send it back if I want a refund. They told me the previous CSR had lied to improve ratings. I asked who I can complain t…

I recently had a similar experience with Amazon. I bought a pair of AirPods but didn’t like them, so I returned them the next day. Amazon confirmed they’d received the package, but when the estimated refund date passed, I got a message saying they needed more information. When I contacted customer service, they told me I had to send them a copy of my ID to process the refund. I was really frustrated; I’ve had this ac…

AirPods are very commonly swapped with fakes and returned. It wouldn't surprise me if they added a blanket policy requiring ID for all AirPod refunds no matter what.

Source: I work in LP, but not for Amazon.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#254

Post by blibble »

madaxe_again wrote: post #163
b112 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have small claims court? Here in Canada, it's $150 to register, you fill out the form yourself, no lawyers are allowed, and you argue your case in front of a judge. (A company can have someone represent them, but if it's a lawyer, they must also have a rep. from the company there. and there can be no legalise, and the judge must explain anything to you if you ask) There is no forced discoverability. EG, the…

They do, but it’s only available to Portuguese citizens - I am a legally resident alien, but am excluded from that system, as it requires a citizen card to start a claim.

so anyone can just rip you off for any contract and there's nothing you can do about it?

doesn't seem likely

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#255

Post by QuiEgo »

I feel like Amazon’s internal culture did not survive Bezos leaving + Covid. All that’s left are a bunch of people desperately trying to survive and climb their way up (stepping over whoever is necessary to do so). It’s not about the customer or the business at all any more.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#256

Post by r_singh »

mizzao wrote: post #245
palata wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still in step 1 there?

For everyone's context, I think this is about the process of enshittification: 1. Prioritize customers (product feels great) 2. Prioritize B2B (sellers in this case — customer experience starts to suffer) 3. Prioritize shareholders (customer experience is terrible, now sellers' experience starts to suffer too, product eventually dies — though it takes a while)

Thanks for sharing. Someone in Indian tech news should cover this and warn people of over reliance on Amazon. In my city there’s a local market which is trying to compete by using Google ads and undercutting Amazon’s pricing for electronics items. It has impressed me. I wouldn’t have found out or actually used it though if it hadn’t been for my senior who’s older and still checks the prices at multiple places before buying.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#257

Post by r_singh »

palata wrote: post #174
r_singh wrote: post #67

Amazon in India is truly a miracle service. Affordable, has the largest range of products with quick and easy returns. I think it’s basically impossible to compete with it.

Still in step 1 there?

Yeah I guess so! Maybe a transition between 1 and 2 and I probably am counted as a B2B user by them so maybe it isn’t clear to me yet how shitty they are (becoming). They even have a different account tier for business users.

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#258

Post by Esophagus4 »

QuiEgo wrote: post #255

I feel like Amazon’s internal culture did not survive Bezos leaving + Covid. All that’s left are a bunch of people desperately trying to survive and climb their way up (stepping over whoever is necessary to do so). It’s not about the customer or the business at all any more.

The Iron Law of Bureaucracy[1]

> in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representatives who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions

[1] https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Jerry_Pournelle's_Iron_Law_of...

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#259

Post by [deleted] »

dwedge wrote: post #64

I bought a $120 book from Amazon a couple of months ago, internationally, and they sent the wrong book. I told them, and they said they'd refund it, don't need to send it back, and they'd even add $15 credit. The refund never arrived so a few weeks later I got in touch again and they said I need to send it back if I want a refund. They told me the previous CSR had lied to improve ratings. I asked who I can complain t…

[deleted]

Re: Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

#260

Post by spwa4 »

bschwarz wrote: post #151
bornfreddy wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being subject to german laws sure helps there.

Amazon.de customer service has consistently been much better than anything else in Germany, so it's probably not the law.

It's "loss leader", selling under the price to make your competitors go bankrupt, then use monopoly power.

It's illegal under German law, EU law, and I'm sure it's also explicitly called out as illegal in at least 5 trade treaties Germany signed.

Needless to say, like everything in the EU, it's only enforced against local companies, in this case German ones.

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