Amazon day

[susandennis]

The other day, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about people who said they had their Amazon accounts yanked because they returned too many orders. There were enough issues with the content of this article to make me suspect the sources and the reporter. I suspect strongly that the story behind the story presents a very different picture. BUT it did get me thinking about what my life would be like if I didn't have Amazon in it. And wow.

Last week, I bought a watch $275 and watch bands $17. The watch was white - really big and really white and it was too much, plus - and really more importantly - the charging cable was missing. The watch bands were bought to go with the white. So both orders got the return treatment.

I have returned a whole lotta stuff to Amazon. One of the reasons I'm so quick to order from them is that return situation. I know if I'm not happy with whatever it is for whatever reason, I can get my money back. Sometimes, they want me to return it via USPS. More often its UPS. I even tried one of those Amazon lockers once. I'm open to any of it. Lately they've started issuing my refund as soon as they get the shipping notice. So I have received an order, boxed it up in time to be picked up by UPS or USPS that day, and gotten my refund before 5 pm on the same day I got the order delivered.

So back to the current returns. I clicked on UPS drop off for the watch. I should have picked UPS pick up but I wasn't thinking. Instead of giving me a label for the box, they gave me a QR code and told me to take the item to the UPS store as is. UPS would box it, label it and ship it back at no charge to me. I read the email and the website instruction carefully because I'd never heard of this.

I took the box to the UPS store and they said 'oh yeah, it's new' and proceeded to scan the QR code off my phone. There was a problem and then another one and then they switched people then computers and finally they called Amazon who told them this process starts June 1. WTF??? I don't think so. But, rather than argue, I just too my order and left.

I did pick up a pizza for dinner. Future Yum.

When I hit return for the watch bands, I had all kinds of options, most of them charging me $6. But one - the first one - allowed as how I could drop off the order at the Amazon Fresh location and shipping would be free. The instructions said to print out the label and package up the goods. Seattle has two Amazon Fresh locations and one happens to be a mile from here in a very easy to get to location. So on my way home from the UPS store, I stopped there. They had special parking for 'Amazon returns' and signs with arrows until finally you get to a little room that had a monitor and printer and tape and a sign that said if you already ad your label, just drop it in the slot so I did! Easy peasy.

Plus they had a bin of free bananas. Except the bin was empty.

The whole arrangement was really well done and I'm delighted to have that option.

Anyway back to the watch. I got home and called Amazon. I do like that their telephone tree is one branch and you nearly always get a human within 30 seconds. My human - Angel - listened to my story and then asked for my name. I hate when they want your entire life history before they even ask why you called. She looked up a few things, and told me the refund for the watch was being pre-released. Sure enough, I got the email and text while I was on the phone. I had selected Amazon Gift Card balance and there it was. She verified a few things, and then asked to put me on hold. She wasn't even gone long but when she came back she apologized for my trouble returning the watch and told me to keep it. And the refund. Yep. I was astounded and told her so and she said that is why she had me on hold so she could double check what the computer was telling her. She sent an email verifying everything and had me read the email to ensure that verification while she was still on the phone.

So yeah, I would really rather not have Amazon out of my life. But, I do hope they get some bananas in that bin for next time.

Comments

[amw.livejournal.com]

I can't remember if I mentioned this to you before, but I used to work at one of the biggest e-commerce companies in Europe and I was pretty amazed to find out how they "profile" their customers based on purchasing and returning behavior.

Personally I never return anything, ever. Perhaps it's the way I was brought up, but I would feel absolutely mortified to take something back to a shop (online or not) that I already paid for. I would rather just donate it to charity and be more cautious about my purchases in the future.

As it turns out, I am a very fucking tiny minority. I learned while working at this company that a lot of people buy several similar items and try them all out then return just the ones they don't want. Especially with clothes people will buy several sizes of the same item and return the ones that don't fit. "Serial returners" are definitely tracked, but they're not punished because they are usually also the biggest spenders. What does happen is they get put on a list of people who get other people's returned stuff. So if you don't return very often, then you get prioritized to have the brand new from the factory stuff, but if you return a lot, you may be more likely to get the repackaged things that other people returned. But higher priority is meeting delivery targets, so even "serial returners" will get brand new stuff and "never returners" will get returned stuff if that would be delivered faster.

The more sinister side is the fraud prevention logic. Those guys data mine from end to end - not just your purchasing and returns, but also cross-referencing with hacker databases, law enforcement, credit reports etc. Those are the guys who will block accounts and/or report them to the authorities for suspicious behavior. But honestly I doubt a regular person would ever match their algorithms.

[susandennis]

Fascinating!! And your conclusion about the guys quoted in the story matches mine exactly. I don't remember ever getting anything from Amazon (or anywhere else) that I suspected might have been used. Honestly, depending on what it was, I probably wouldn't mind.

I rarely return non-online purchases. But not out of a high moral stance. I don't return them because I am too lazy. Goodwill does benefit there, for sure.

[siglinde99.livejournal.com]

That is amazing service. I read a bit of the same article (probably on someone’s FB page) and immediately thought of you. Good to know it’s not true. We are supposed to be getting a big new distribution centre in our city this fall. I wonder how that will change Amazon here?

[susandennis]

Maybe faster deliveries. BUT, also maybe you'll get to test out new stuff. Like when the new drop off thing I did today. Maybe you'll be a Canadian test site!

[siglinde99.livejournal.com]

One can only hope to have as many options as you have!

[maju01.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'm amazed that they would let you keep a watch that expensive while refunding the money. I can understand it for a small cheap item (I've been told to keep something like a DVD while getting a refund) but I can't imagine that it would cost them the price of that watch to receive your return and send you the refund.

[colestainedpage.livejournal.com]

I tried to return an item from Amazon once. We ordered Billi a duster (long cardigan thing) and even though she went by the size chart, it was too big when she tried it on. I contacted them about exchanging it for the next size down, and they just sent me the replacement item without having me send back the original. So now Billi and her sister have matching dusters ;)

[susandennis]

clothes are mostly treated different than non clothes at amazon. and also clothes are treated differently than other clothes at amazon.

very cool about 2 dusters for the price of one!

[letmesaythis.livejournal.com]

Once they told me to keep the special baby diaper bin bags they sent me instead of the bowtie and cumberbund I'd ordered. I wish they'd accidentally sent a watch.

[susandennis]

Yikes! I can see that. :)