amazon.com customer service shines
After being disappointed before by certain firms' attitudes towards their customers, I was dreading a run in with amazon.com.
For years I've been telling people who are nervous about on-line shopping that I've been doing business with amazon.com for years and I've almost never had a problem, and on the very rare occasions when I do have a problem, their customer service people take care of me quickly and courteously.
I placed my first order with amazon.com on March 21, 1997. I ordered The Transition of H. P. Lovecraft: The Road to Madness, A Rendezvous in Averoigne: The Best Fantastic Tales of Clark Ashton Smith, and Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos: Golden Anniversary Anthology. I remember being so thrilled to be able to order these books. The last two were published by Arkham House, the publishing firm set up by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, H. P. Lovercraft devotees, with the purpose of keeping the master's work in print. I knew that Arkham House was still in business because I found their website, but I received no reply to my enquiries and for some reason my local bookshop could not order copies. Then I found them on amazon.com. I was thrilled!
Recently I signed up for a thirty day free trial of their Amazon Prime program. $80/year for unlimited two-day shipping. I'm pretty sure I don't buy enough books to make this worth while for me, but what could I lose on a free trial, right? Well, inevitably, when the trial period elapsed on April 1, I had neglected to cancel, and my credit card was charged $80. Dang. It's not like they didn't give me plenty of warning either. I even placed an order the day before the trial period elapsed. Why didn't I cancel my membership then? (As well to ask, why do I have $10 in unpaid fines at the Houston Public Library? I believe it's spelled procrastination)
So I emailed their customer support and asked them to cancel my membership. Given my recent experiences with afore-mentioned certain other firms, I was expecting the usual "unfortunately..." I am delighted to report that I was completely wrong. The credit card charge was reversed the same day. No questions asked. It reminds me what the word service in customer service means. It's a good reminder of what the word customer is supposed to mean, too.
For years I've been telling people who are nervous about on-line shopping that I've been doing business with amazon.com for years and I've almost never had a problem, and on the very rare occasions when I do have a problem, their customer service people take care of me quickly and courteously.
I placed my first order with amazon.com on March 21, 1997. I ordered The Transition of H. P. Lovecraft: The Road to Madness, A Rendezvous in Averoigne: The Best Fantastic Tales of Clark Ashton Smith, and Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos: Golden Anniversary Anthology. I remember being so thrilled to be able to order these books. The last two were published by Arkham House, the publishing firm set up by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, H. P. Lovercraft devotees, with the purpose of keeping the master's work in print. I knew that Arkham House was still in business because I found their website, but I received no reply to my enquiries and for some reason my local bookshop could not order copies. Then I found them on amazon.com. I was thrilled!
Recently I signed up for a thirty day free trial of their Amazon Prime program. $80/year for unlimited two-day shipping. I'm pretty sure I don't buy enough books to make this worth while for me, but what could I lose on a free trial, right? Well, inevitably, when the trial period elapsed on April 1, I had neglected to cancel, and my credit card was charged $80. Dang. It's not like they didn't give me plenty of warning either. I even placed an order the day before the trial period elapsed. Why didn't I cancel my membership then? (As well to ask, why do I have $10 in unpaid fines at the Houston Public Library? I believe it's spelled procrastination)
So I emailed their customer support and asked them to cancel my membership. Given my recent experiences with afore-mentioned certain other firms, I was expecting the usual "unfortunately..." I am delighted to report that I was completely wrong. The credit card charge was reversed the same day. No questions asked. It reminds me what the word service in customer service means. It's a good reminder of what the word customer is supposed to mean, too.
posted by Nicholas Hunter | 12:35 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home