Thanks Amazon

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cyclamens

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Just a quick one........how many of us read Terms and Conditions?

When ordering a hood for my 50mm f1.4 Canon lens from Amazon today I noticed that one of the options was for Prime Delivery. For those of you who don't know you get free express delivery on every item for a one off yearly payment. For someone who buys a lot from them it can save a good deal on postage.

I originally signed up for a 'Free 30 day Trial' last December - great for Chrissy pressies I thought. Checked my account today and had been charged £49 - the yearly rate for full membership. The wife checks the credit card statements:shake:
Got no advice of the payment from Amazon and they stipulated that I had to cancel the free trial within the 30 days - within the terms.

Cheeky bu**ers I thought so cancelled my membership and resigned myself to the fact that my failing to read the terms and conditions had cost me. As I had not used the service a great deal I would get £29 back. A reasonable result.......

No, I thought I'm going to email a complaint..... sod it I'm going to phone them.......actually no, they can phone me.

Anyway spoke to a really nice guy at Amazon who after listening to me bitch, not really rant as I was more annoyed at myself, went off to speak to his line manager who agreed to give me a full refund. Result:thumbs:

For me - great customer service although I shouldn't have had to phone in the first place. As I said to him - I do not expect that kind of 'fast one' from a company like Amazon. Although they had been good to refund the whole amount it shows you need to read terms and conditions:clap:
 
I signed up for the free trial & also forgot to cancel it... I did cancel it and got a full refund back (althou it was a couple of years ago) then amazing enough just before last xmas I got an email asking me to take up the prime for 30 days - result eh as I got my presents delivered for next to nothing & also a few evening deliveries as well....

But I did cancel the 30 day trial before getting charged again thou :lol:
 
The whole thing with offers like this is that the supplier "bets" that xx% of people will simply let it ride.
 
Hey guys... Amazon employee here! I'm not part of any PR or CS team, so all comments here are my own.

Sorry to hear that you've been disappointed with the Prime trial although from the sounds of it our customer service guys were more up to your expectations.

I'd just like to point out that we take customer experience really seriously, it drives nearly all the decisions we make - the Prime service is very popular and is intended to make life easier and cheaper if you're a regular shopper.

We're really not out to hook excessive numbers of people into the scheme by any sort of tricks (it costs us a huge amount to run it anyway!) and we'd always hope the customer is happy with their experience - so in a case like this the customer service team will make sure they do everything they can to fix things.

Either way, I hope the end result was ok!
 
incapete said:
we take customer experience really seriously,
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Haven't heard that one before :D

Seriously though, well done Amazon for refunding.
In my experience 99% of these type of offers require the customer to cancel before the offer expires.
 
gramps said:
Haven't heard that one before :D

Seriously though, well done Amazon for refunding.
In my experience 99% of these type of offers require the customer to cancel before the offer expires.
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Yes - I think my normally cynical alter ego had taken a night off when I agreed to it:cuckoo:

To Incapete:

The result was better than I expected and probably better than I deserved but as I said to the guy at customer services - would have thought better of Amazon and the fact they didn't advise that I had been charged - I get at least one promotional email a day from them, surely another with an invoice would not have been difficult.

Either way they sorted it for which I am grateful:thumbs:
 
gramps said:
Haven't heard that one before :D
Click to expand...

In all honesty, it's true for Amazon!

Of course things go wrong and yes, it's a business and ultimately makes money (although it didn't for half of it's history), but there's 101 things that we do in the name of customer experience that most retailers don't/won't do... It's the first place I've ever worked where 'customer first' isn't just a slogan on a set of corporate goals.
I quit my last job because I didn't like their ethics and the way they treated their customers - most of my interviewing centred on this and I'm pleased to say that it turned out to be true.
 
cyclamens said:
The result was better than I expected and probably better than I deserved but as I said to the guy at customer services - would have thought better of Amazon and the fact they didn't advise that I had been charged
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I do actually agree with you, the process clearly isn't as good as it should be otherwise you wouldn't have felt frustrated by it in the first place. My other post wasn't intended to brush your problems aside, more to emphasise that things like this 'should' be the exception.

We have a process called 'kaizen' which means continuous improvement... It's an opportunity for internal processes to be improved and operational changes made with the involvement of a wide cross section of involved parties.

Since there's obviously a gap between the expectation and reality of the Prime trial I'll make sure that at I get involved in the next customer experience kaizen and voice these concerns.

I'm glad it got fixed and I hope your future experiences are better. If it's happened to a couple of people on here then you can bet it's a wider problem too so it deserves reviewing again.
 
If you cancel your prime subscription Amazon will automatically give you a full refund of your £49 annual membership fee providing that neither you or your registered guests have made any eligible purchases
 
incapete said:
I do actually agree with you, the process clearly isn't as good as it should be otherwise you wouldn't have felt frustrated by it in the first place. My other post wasn't intended to brush your problems aside, more to emphasise that things like this 'should' be the exception.
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No offence taken - I have a major bitch with lack of customer service and a 'don't care' attitude from suppliers. I am a manager in a sales environment and get really annoyed with staff who do not understand the philosophy of good service.

In this instance the issue, obviously a fairly common one, was resolved quickly and to the customers satisfaction. I have no particular problem with Amazon or their service ethos but would reiterate that I would not have expected this kind of thing from them. Neither do I dispute that I should have read the T&C's properly.

Thanks for your comments though

To Keith W - yes I understand that as it is stated in the 'Help' file relating to Prime - I had actually used the service once during the time which should have meant I got the reduced refund. Should have said that earlier:bonk:
The fact that I didn't kick off probably got me the full refund - sometimes it also pays not to be an 'arse' customer:thumbs:
 
incapete said:
In all honesty, it's true for Amazon!
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Which is the main reason I turn to amazon first for many of my online purchases and am a happy prime customer.

I have bought a lot from them and customer service on the few occasions I have had an issue has always been second to none and exceeded my expectations.

I don't mind paying a little more at times when I know if there is a problem it will be dealt with so well.
 
Quick update - the hood arrived on tuesday, (the day before stated!) and I was not charged for delivery:thumbs:
 
I can't fault Amazon in the slightest. My partner dropped her shiney new Kindle and broke the screen. Amazon replaced it free of charge and even arranged a courier to collect the old broke one. They have defo won me over.
 
Amazon have always been fantastic in their handling of anything I had to contact them about. Particularly when I was in Iraq / Afghanistan, with VAT refunds! :D
 
Fair play to Amazon but I don't see why they have to refund you or why you got angry with them.

When you signup to the prime trial you agree to the terms and condition. How hard is it to cancel auto-renewal straight away when you signup...
 
I think this particular 'fast one' is standard practice for anyone offering free trial subscriptions.

Fair play to Amazon refunding it though. I think that's fair customer services. I certainly don't read all the Ts&Cs anytime I spend any money...got better things to do than that...a little common sense and good morals instead go a long way.
 
tc4 said:
Fair play to Amazon but I don't see why they have to refund you or why you got angry with them.

When you signup to the prime trial you agree to the terms and condition. How hard is it to cancel auto-renewal straight away when you signup...
Click to expand...

Read the thread:thumbs:
 
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