View Full Version : Not a Deal on Amazon
babyzolo
10-08-2010, 05:52 AM
UPDATE: After filling out the CS survey, they called me back. And the 3rd rep finally did credit me $7 towards my next Amazon purchase, as a ONE time exception. I still think that the service and approach was shoddy, especially for what they consider a good customer - since 1999. However, I will go back to Amazon for the sheer convenience and mostly lower prices. (And I was not aware of their approach of prices changing constantly, as people mention below. I only thought they changed for a specific promotion, e.g., Fisher Price sale.)
NOT SO BAD after they made good, but their attitude on the phone was not one of treating customer's with respect.
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I wanted to share my VERY POOR customer experience on Amazon. I ordered the FP Animal Sounds Farm for DS 3 days ago and received it yesterday. It was 38.54. I noticed this am that the price dropped to 31.5. I am a frequent Amazon shopper and have S&S. I asked for a refund in difference. I spoke to a supervisor. They refused. I threatened to cancel my S&S orders, stop ordering from them, and write on blogs. They refused. So I did cancel my S&S orders. I am going to Diapers.com. Buyer Beware of the horrible customer service.
azazela
10-08-2010, 06:08 AM
I am a frequent Amazon shopper as well and have rarely had to use their customer service so I can't really speak to that. HOWEVER Amazon is well known for their constantly changing prices, so much so in fact that there are whole websites devoted to tracking the prices for different products and sending notifications. Maybe it's just me but I would never expect Amazon to pricematch, even to their own sale price. It's just not their business model. :shake:
sewarsh
10-08-2010, 06:47 AM
I'm sorry you feel that way, but in order for Amazon to have such great prices they do not offer price adjustments. Its just their policy and although I understand you being upset, I think you have to think of all the money you save from Amazon in the big scheme of things. I've contacted Amazon no less than 10 times on various CS issues and have always been happy.
You win some, you lose some...
Sorry, still stinks though!
lovebargains
10-08-2010, 07:16 AM
I will not buy anything from amazon unless it's already bottom price. If unsure, I add it to my shopping cart, and each day it updates me on the price when I check my cart. I "save it for later" until the price is low enough to jump. They fluctuate their prices ALOT, so I might keep something in my cart for a few weeks until I am sure of the lowest price, but even then it goes lower sometimes.
TwinFoxes
10-08-2010, 07:17 AM
I'm sorry you feel that way, but in order for Amazon to have such great prices they do not offer price adjustments. Its just their policy.
I shop at Amazon a LOT, I had no idea this is their policy. I guess I'm not too surprised though.
jvs195
10-08-2010, 07:57 AM
I have to agree with the PP, if it was low enough for you to buy it then that was the price you were willing to pay. I think it's well known Amazon does not do price adjustments. I don't think that your experience qualifies for bad customer service just because they would not bend their policies (but in the end did which will ultimately result in higher prices for the rest of us). Once I buy something I don't look at it again so I don't feel badly if the price drops.
Multimama
10-08-2010, 07:58 AM
I completely understand why Amazon doesn't offer price adjustment. If they did they would have people calling them every 5 minutes because that's how often their prices change!
If you want to know before you buy something if the price you are purchasing at is the lowest an item is going to go you can use websites like camelcamelcamel.com and that will give you a pretty good idea. With Amazon you have to decide if the price right now is the right price for you. if you need the item right now and not next week, it probably is. If you can wait, then look at the graph and wait until it drops back down to lowest price.
TwinFoxes
10-08-2010, 08:05 AM
I was curious about this policy because i was pretty sure i had gotten price adjustment on a big ticket item in the past. Apparently they used to have a 30 day price adjust policy, but changed it when the economy started going south. A lot of stores/sites changed their return/price adjust policies to save money.
Personally I wouldn't stop shopping there, but in general I don't ask for price adjustments unless it's a big difference.
lmwbasye
10-08-2010, 08:21 AM
I completely understand why Amazon doesn't offer price adjustment. If they did they would have people calling them every 5 minutes because that's how often their prices change!
If you want to know before you buy something if the price you are purchasing at is the lowest an item is going to go you can use websites like camelcamelcamel.com and that will give you a pretty good idea. With Amazon you have to decide if the price right now is the right price for you. if you need the item right now and not next week, it probably is. If you can wait, then look at the graph and wait until it drops back down to lowest price.
Yep...this. Every business is run differently and they already offer so much to the customer (great shipping, reasonable prices and very often great deals, etc)...I don't think it's poor customer service to not offer a PA but just a company policy that other stores have as well.
Melbel
10-08-2010, 08:27 AM
I was curious about this policy because i was pretty sure i had gotten price adjustment on a big ticket item in the past. Apparently they used to have a 30 day price adjust policy, but changed it when the economy started going south. A lot of stores/sites changed their return/price adjust policies to save money.
Personally I wouldn't stop shopping there, but in general I don't ask for price adjustments unless it's a big difference.
Amazon stopped doing PAs at least a year ago. It was well publicized, especially on the bargain type boards. I agree with a PP that it is not bad customer service for amazon to simply enforce its policy. The website clearly and unequivocally states:
Post-Order Price Match Policy
We do not offer post-order price matching when an item's price drops after you buy it. Our prices regularly change, and the price you paid when your order shipped was the lowest price we were able to offer at the time. We consistently offer competitive prices on everything we carry because we know low prices are very important to our customers.
I know its frustrating when you buy something and the price drops. However, considering that amazon went outside its policy to please the OP, amazon showed good, not bad, customer service. I guess I do not quite "get" the OP's point.
Momit
10-08-2010, 08:32 AM
I also had a terrible experience with Amazon's CS. I bought 3 pairs of Primigi shoes at a great price. It was a few months before DS was ready to wear them. 2 of the 3 pairs were great, the third started to fall apart almost instantly. I thought maybe it was a fake, or from a defective batch or something. I contacted Amazon but because it was more than 30 days since I bought them, they wouldn't do anything. Finally they gave me a credit for free shipping the next time I bought shoes from them (which I haven't done since). I thought maybe they would have some flexibility because the shoes clearly had something wrong with them - but nope.
ElspethCordelia
10-08-2010, 09:00 AM
I'm sorry that you had a bad experience, but I wouldn't say it's bad customer service. And, it's only $7. Yeah, you can get a lot for $7, but it's not the worst thing ever.
Pinky
10-08-2010, 09:45 AM
I agree with everyone else... sorry you had a bad experience with them but this is clearly their policy and they have it listed in black and white that they don't do adjustments any longer.
I recently bought a stroller and the next day the price dropped $20. I did email them to see if they'd adjust because I hadn't seen the policy but they sent me an email back with a link to the policy and I didn't expect them to break the rules for me even though it sucked that I missed out on an even lower price.
We have been loyal Amazon shoppers for years and will continue to do so even though we didn't get the price adjustment. Any other time I've had to talk to their CS department they have been top notch and always address any issues immediately.
Sorry this happened to you... I'm glad you ended up getting some resolution.
KrisM
10-08-2010, 09:54 AM
I agree with the others here. I don't think it's poor customer service at all. I don't think you should expect them to change the rules for a customer, regardless of how long you've been a customer.
It is a bummer that it went down (and you noticed!). I've had it happened recently, too and I was irritated with myself for paying more than I had to!
babyzolo
10-08-2010, 09:56 AM
Thanks for everyone's comments. It's not about the $7, even though that does represent 18% of the original cost. It was about the attitude of 2 of the CS reps. I wasn't aware of the price adjustment policy nor of their frequent price changes. And I was not treated respectfully. In any case, I will pay more attention next time. :)
DebbieJ
10-08-2010, 10:27 AM
Yep, Amazon's prices change all the time. I wouldn't expect them to do a PA because I didn't catch the lowest price. Live and learn, I guess.
TwinFoxes
10-08-2010, 10:31 AM
Amazon stopped doing PAs at least a year ago. It was well publicized, especially on the bargain type boards. I agree with a PP that it is not bad customer service for amazon to simply enforce its policy.
Oh I don't disagree with this at all. I was just wondering "aloud" why I thought their policy was to do PAs. :)
wellyes
10-08-2010, 10:36 AM
Embarrassing anecdote: Amazon's price changes so fast. I know that they don't do PAs but -- once I bought a camera from them for $218, and a few days later I saw it online and for what looked liked $100 less. I was, like, whoa. I called the C/S saying that was just crazy and I'd ship back the camera and re-buy it if they didn't price adjust. The nice lady pointed out that I'd read the price wrong and it was now $100 *more*. Ooops.
peanut520
10-08-2010, 10:45 AM
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but in this economy that companies have to follow their business model and policies.
I was not aware that I could not use a credit and get the s&s price and was really upset. When I spoke to the supervisor and they explained it to me. I was fine with the explanation but was upset at the fact the representative could not explain it to me and had to wait for a supervisor because they were not familiar with the policy and where to find it. The supervisor was very understanding and gave me a credit to match the s&s discount for another purchase. Every company is different and I don’t think you can expect every company to price match even if it their own prices.
Like pp said you win some, you lose some.
Yeah, it's not really poor customer service when they're just following policy. I make tons of purchases at Amazon too, and I would not expect Amazon to bend the rules for me.
Olivia1094
10-08-2010, 01:59 PM
I completely understand why Amazon doesn't offer price adjustment. If they did they would have people calling them every 5 minutes because that's how often their prices change!
If you want to know before you buy something if the price you are purchasing at is the lowest an item is going to go you can use websites like camelcamelcamel.com and that will give you a pretty good idea. With Amazon you have to decide if the price right now is the right price for you. if you need the item right now and not next week, it probably is. If you can wait, then look at the graph and wait until it drops back down to lowest price.
I knew their prices fluctuated, but I didn't know about the tracking site(s). Cool, thanks! :cheerleader1:
Interesting. My dh does most of our Amazon shopping and he gets price adjustments quite a bit. In fact we just got a $19.99 one last week. We bought an HD tv and I noticed the price had dropped $19.99. I told him and they credited our card $19.99. He gets adjustments and Amazon credits all the time. Maybe I should find out how.
Binkandabee
10-08-2010, 03:00 PM
Amazon USED to have an awesome price adjustment policy. I used to order items and then put the same items back into my save for later list and it would automatically alert me when the price dropped. I'd then send an email and within a few days I'd have the difference credited back. They did away with this some time ago, so now when I order I simply make sure that what I am paying is worth it to me...knowing there's no going back.
I've always had stellar customer service from Amazon.
I no longer expect them to adjust prices on items, as that is no longer their policy. However, I have received shipments where one item of a lot (for example baby food) was broken in shipping, and they told me to keep it and sent a whole new shipment. I've always had polite prompt Cs and I shop there for almost everything I can't get in local stores.
ETA I have been a customer since the early 90's, so coming up on 20 years, AND my DH used to work for them, and I still wouldn't expect them to change the rules for me.
citymama
10-08-2010, 04:13 PM
Wow, I was just coming here to post about the night-and-day difference in CS between amazon.com and diapers.com - with amazon.com being AMAZING and diapers.com being awful! I am so sorry you had a bad experience. I have had nothing but good experiences with Amazon CS and I've had to use it about 8-10 times so far. A full refund for a product that arrived late (and they didn't ask for a return), reimbursement for coupon codes that weren't accepted by their system, free return shipping for unwanted gifts, overnight shipping when I complained about the chemical smell from the EB diapers I bought there, no questions asked...
..whereas diapers.com did not credit me for returns made to them, I had to call many times, wait for hours and hours, complete inconsistency in replies, said they would mail checks, no checks, had to call again...aaargh! I will never shop at diapers.com again.
You should have just rebought and done a free return on the item that dropped in price. Although they should have just credited you the difference - that's ridiculous that they didn't do so right away.
Multimama
10-08-2010, 06:50 PM
You should have just rebought and done a free return on the item that dropped in price. Although they should have just credited you the difference - that's ridiculous that they didn't do so right away.
Not all Amazon stuff has free returns. I think I've only seen it on baby stuff so they can stay competitive with diapers.com. But I agree with you, I hear people rave all the time about diapers.com CS and I haven't had good experiences with them. They are so inconsistent!
Pinky
10-08-2010, 07:29 PM
Embarrassing anecdote: Amazon's price changes so fast. I know that they don't do PAs but -- once I bought a camera from them for $218, and a few days later I saw it online and for what looked liked $100 less. I was, like, whoa. I called the C/S saying that was just crazy and I'd ship back the camera and re-buy it if they didn't price adjust. The nice lady pointed out that I'd read the price wrong and it was now $100 *more*. Ooops. LOL I almost did the same thing since my original item had free returns (baby item) but then I decided ultimately it wasn't worth the $20 bucks for the hassle.
Thanks for everyone's comments. It's not about the $7, even though that does represent 18% of the original cost. It was about the attitude of 2 of the CS reps. I wasn't aware of the price adjustment policy nor of their frequent price changes. And I was not treated respectfully. In any case, I will pay more attention next time. :) That stinks that they didn't treat you with respect! I think you must have gotten a bad rep. Hopefully this won't happen in the future.
Interesting. My dh does most of our Amazon shopping and he gets price adjustments quite a bit. In fact we just got a $19.99 one last week. We bought an HD tv and I noticed the price had dropped $19.99. I told him and they credited our card $19.99. He gets adjustments and Amazon credits all the time. Maybe I should find out how.
I would be curious how he's done it and if he has done it recently... From everything I've read it's a very strict "no adjustments" policy and it's very rare that you read where someone got them to do it. Interesting.
LOL I almost did the same thing since my original item had free returns (baby item) but then I decided ultimately it wasn't worth the $20 bucks for the hassle.
That stinks that they didn't treat you with respect! I think you must have gotten a bad rep. Hopefully this won't happen in the future.
I would be curious how he's done it and if he has done it recently... From everything I've read it's a very strict "no adjustments" policy and it's very rare that you read where someone got them to do it. Interesting.
We just got us a $19.99 credit back to our credit card last week. The price dropped on an HD tv we bought the week prior. I e-mailed him that the price had changed. He contacted them and then told me to look for the credit as the card we used to buy it had been canceled because the # was stolen. Somehow we still got the credit. I asked him and he just smiled and said it's not easy but he just works his magic.
He routinely gets re-stocking and return shipping costs waived at other places too. I guess he's just good and persistent. I do know he always e-mails and rarely, rarely calls. He hates talking on the phone.
Diddysmom
10-08-2010, 08:46 PM
I've gotten price adjustments since the policy changed in 2 ways. In the case where the price drops enough to justify returning and rebuying, I've sent an email stating that I could pay $X to return it and since the price has dropped $Y (where Y is > X) I was going to return and reorder or they could save us the trouble and credit the difference.
In the case of baby items where they have free return shipping, I've emailed and pointed out that I could return or they could credit. They have always credited. Most recently I got about $15 credited when my Britax BA70 dropped in price before I even received it. I sent an email stating that I hadn't even received the carseat (it was a 1-3 delivery timeframe) and that since the price had dropped I would like a credit otherwise I would return and reorder. They sent me an email stating "blah, blah, blah, one time adjustment, blah, blah, blah" and gave me the credit.
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