Amazon.com - good selection of products but poor customer service
by dreamlab - Written: Oct 29 '01 (Updated Oct 29 '01)
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The Bottom Line
Be prepared if you need to deal with Customer Service - friendly representatives but not always knowledgeable.
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| Full Review |
It is hard to find an online shopper who has not heard of Amazon.com. What started as one of the first online booksellers in 1995 has developed into an Internet superstore. If you like one-stop shopping, then Amazon.com is naturally a good choice, but unfortunately its customer service is not quite up to par.
So What Exactly Does Amazon Sell?
Amazon.com started as a bookstore and so of course books are still available, and that's what most people think of when they hear the name, but now customers can also shop for:
* electronics
* toys and games
* computers
* cellular phones and service
* camera and photo
* tools and hardware
* kitchen and housewares
and much more
The selection is quite impressive.
I also like the fact that Amazon.com includes customer reviews on the product page so that you can see what other people think of the item.
Good Prices
The prices are comparable to other online stores. With the frequent sales and promotions, some of the items turn out to be decent buys. For example, Amazon.com runs a weekly sale on Friday - the prices are only valid if you place your order on Friday and there are usually good deals. If you are looking for good prices every day, check out the Amazon Outlet which has sale items from many departments.
Watch out for Shipping
The shipping cost is reasonable depending on what you order. For every category of items (e.g., books are considered a different category from toys), how much you pay is comprised of a "per shipment" and "per item" charge. If you are ordering multiple categories, the highest "per shipment" charge. As an example: for books, the standard per shipment charge is $3 and per item charge is $0.99, so if you order three books, shipping will be $5.97. If you also order a CD which has a "per shipment" charge of $1.99 and a "per item" charge of $0.99, you add $0.99 to the total shipping cost because you are already paying the "per shipment" charge for books that are higher.
So far so good. For someone like me who order mostly books, Cds and DVDs, the shipping is not much different from other online stores unless there are specials going on elsewhere.
However, some of the categories have a "per item" charge based on weight. For example, the "per shipment" charge for toys is $3.99 and then the "per item" charge is $0.70 per lb. So if you order heavy toys, you see where I am going.
Decent Web Site Performance and Design
I have no complaints about the Amazon web site. No flashy graphics. Instead, it is fast-to-load, well-organized with easy-to-read typeface and information can easily be found. What more can you ask for? I guess after 6 years in business, almost an eternity by Internet standard, Amazon.com has got this down pat.
My Main Gripe - Customer Service
With all the glowing review so far, you would suppose that I am a big fan of the company. The truth is, I am not because Amazon.com fails in one of the most important criterion by which I judge online stores - customer service.
For a web site that claims to serve millions of customers worldwide, how can it expect to get away with NOT posting its toll-free customer service telephone number in an easy-to-find location on the site? Beats me. The number by the way is 800--201-7575. If you absolutely need to find it on Amazon.com, try logging on to your account and on that page, look for the number in itsy-bitsy font size at the bottom of the page. I understand that Amazon is interested in encouraging its customers to check the Help Section for information first, but sometimes buyers have individualized questions that can only be answered by someone who has account access.
When I actually had to call Customer Service, I cannot say I was impressed. You call is first answered by a representative who can deal with the simple questions, and if it gets more complicated, you will be transferred to a so-called "Order Specialist". While everyone I have dealt with has been nice and friendly, I am afraid sometimes they are not very well-trained.
For example, I had a gift certificate sent to me as a Christmas gift that expired after a year. I was living in Massachusetts which by law requires gift certificates to have a life of at least 3 years. When I called Amazon, I was told that this would have to be handled by an Order Specialist who then informed me that the expiration could not be extended and that a new gift certificate would have to be issued. I found that difficult to believe because I have friends who have done the same thing. I told the Order Specialist but since I suppose there could have been a policy change I did not push. I did ask to make sure that the re-issued gift certificate would be a "real" stackable gift certificate instead of a promotional one (See footnote for an explanation of this significance), the Order Specialist said it would be stackable gift. Lo-and-behold when I received it, it was a promotional gift certificate! I called again and this time reached a customer representative who confirmed that expiration dates could in fact be extended. When I told her what happened, this Customer Service representative did not know the difference between a promotional or regular gift certificate. So again I went to an Order Specialist, and after speaking to two different ones, the situation got fixed.
But here are my questions - isn't there something wrong with the customer knowing more than people who work in the customer service department? And being an "order specialist", if a customer tells you that something has been done before (regarding extending gift certificate expiration date), shouldn't you at least try to ask someone else who works with you to see if it is true before just saying no? I asked all the right questions in that situation but still have to waste an hour of my time trying to get things fixed.
I wish to say that the example I just told you is an isolated incident but unfortunately it was only one of several.
To Recommend or Not?
Amazon.com is hard-to-avoid because it is so big and as I said, for those who want one-stop shopping, not to be beat. But I have difficult recommending an online retailer that does not place customer service on the top of its list. I am a seasoned shopper who familiarizes myself with the web site to learn all I can from the Help/FAQ sections but sometimes if something goes wrong, it is critical that I can to get in touch with knowledgeable customer service to deal with the issues. Amazon.com fails in that respect.
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Footnote
A stackable Amazon gift certificate is one that can be used with other gift certificates in a single order. If you buy a gift certificate for a friend from the web site, it is stackable. By contrast, with a promotional gift certificate, you can only use one of them in a single order (though in that order, you can use as many stackable gift certificates you want). To determine if an Amazon gift certificate is stackable or promotional, count the number of digits after the last dash in the gift certificate claim code. If there are 6 digits, it is promotional. If there are 4, it is stackable.
Recommended:
No
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