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ETA: I emailed Amazon this afternoon. Just heard back. They said that trying to influence customer feedback is against the rules, and have sent my message along to the "Seller Police." So maybe something will come of it. At least I gave it a shot. Thanks for the advice, guys. :)
Original entry:
What do you do when an Amazon.com merchant, who seems to be pretty nice and did get you what you wanted, screws up and lies to you about it?
It goes like this:
3/17 I place an order for a new cane tip. Amazon doesn't sell it, but one of their associated merchants does. This one, for whatever reason, requires an extra 4-5 days for order processing. Delivery estimate with standard shipping is 3/26-3/31.
3/27 I get an email that my order has shipped. It claims a ship date of 3/18. Product is shipped via media mail service.
4/10 The package arrives, nearly two weeks late. I figure it's media mail. I've had issues with it in the past. Postal employees have warned me away from it. It's only slightly cheaper, and notoriously unreliable. I leave seller feedback, giving them 3/5. The product came in good condition (the box was open, but I don't think the manufacturer ever sealed it), but it did come late, probably because they chose the worst possible shipping method.
4/11 I get a call from a guy who all but literally begs me to remove the negative feedback, and offers me a partial refund in return. He seems nice, and very worried about the feedback. Like "lose your job" worried. I check the feedback ratings. 95% positive, and my comments aren't even on the first page anymore. I'm not happy about being offered money to hide the truth from my fellow customers. I consider editing my comments to be a little nicer, but Amazon won't let you do that. You can remove it entirely or you can let it stand. I choose to let it stand.
4/12 Curiosity gets me. The guy on the phone claimed a 3/18 ship date of record. The email claimed a 3/18 ship date. The email itself was dated 3/27. I decide to take a look at the postmark to see when it was actually sent. Looking at the shipping label, there is no postmark, but I see that it was sent via UPS Mail Innovations (a hybrid service where UPS picks up the package, moves it through their systems, and then hands it over to the regional post office sorting station to be routed to the local post office for delivery). Looking at the UPS tracking data, I see that UPS didn't pick up the package until 4/8, and actually got it to me in two days. Remarkably fast for media mail service. I email the seller, asking for an explanation.
4/14 The 12th was Saturday. Monday, Mom tells me a woman called (probably the first guy's wife, if their matching accents are any indication) asking me again to remove the negative feedback. I also get an email from them explaining that the product (which Amazon had listed as "in stock") was on backorder, but that they'd get it to me soon. And, later that day, a second email explaining that the sole reason for the delay was that the product had been out of stock. (The first one was obviously sent in error or in confusion or something.)
So, to sum up... The order came in nearly two weeks late and nearly a month after I ordered it. They said it was in stock when I ordered it, but it wasn't. Whether that was a mistake or a lie, they never bothered to tell me, and in fact sent me a false shipping notice (with a falsified date, to boot). And used that false ship date to try to convince me that it wasn't their fault. They also used media mail to send a commercial product which (unless you count the product pamphlet included in the box) in no way qualifies as "media." (I'm pretty sure that's illegal.)
It sounds like a small business (they're based in NY, btw), and they're really concerned about the negative feedback, even though it seems like they've got no shortage of happy customers.
I can't edit the feedback I left, and if I remove it, I can't replace it.
I'm not too concerned about a refund. I did get what I wanted, eventually, and it was in good condition.
I do, however, hate it when people lie to me. And I'm worried about other customers. (And wondering how many people they coerced into dropping negative feedback they more than earned.)
Should I talk to them again? Complain to Amazon? Like I said, I'm not really after a refund. Not sure what I want, really, except for them to learn to be straight with their customers and for Amazon and potential customers to learn to be a little wary.
Suggestions, anyone?
Oh, and BTW... My video watch stopped working a couple of days ago. Some mp3 files became corrupted. I cleared them out, it worked fine. I went to sleep. Next day... nothing. No response, no matter what I do. I mailed it back for warranty replacement. Hopefully, it was just a defect in this one. If not, they give you the option of returning for store credit or a full refund. I considered getting a different one this time, but none of the others let you record FM radio (it works if I'm in the city, and I've gotten a few new songs that way, at good quality) or have a mini USB cable tucked into the band. No guarantee that another watch from the same site would have been any more reliable, anyway... We'll see. Eventually. They said it could take a while for the return package to clear customs.
Original entry:
What do you do when an Amazon.com merchant, who seems to be pretty nice and did get you what you wanted, screws up and lies to you about it?
It goes like this:
3/17 I place an order for a new cane tip. Amazon doesn't sell it, but one of their associated merchants does. This one, for whatever reason, requires an extra 4-5 days for order processing. Delivery estimate with standard shipping is 3/26-3/31.
3/27 I get an email that my order has shipped. It claims a ship date of 3/18. Product is shipped via media mail service.
4/10 The package arrives, nearly two weeks late. I figure it's media mail. I've had issues with it in the past. Postal employees have warned me away from it. It's only slightly cheaper, and notoriously unreliable. I leave seller feedback, giving them 3/5. The product came in good condition (the box was open, but I don't think the manufacturer ever sealed it), but it did come late, probably because they chose the worst possible shipping method.
4/11 I get a call from a guy who all but literally begs me to remove the negative feedback, and offers me a partial refund in return. He seems nice, and very worried about the feedback. Like "lose your job" worried. I check the feedback ratings. 95% positive, and my comments aren't even on the first page anymore. I'm not happy about being offered money to hide the truth from my fellow customers. I consider editing my comments to be a little nicer, but Amazon won't let you do that. You can remove it entirely or you can let it stand. I choose to let it stand.
4/12 Curiosity gets me. The guy on the phone claimed a 3/18 ship date of record. The email claimed a 3/18 ship date. The email itself was dated 3/27. I decide to take a look at the postmark to see when it was actually sent. Looking at the shipping label, there is no postmark, but I see that it was sent via UPS Mail Innovations (a hybrid service where UPS picks up the package, moves it through their systems, and then hands it over to the regional post office sorting station to be routed to the local post office for delivery). Looking at the UPS tracking data, I see that UPS didn't pick up the package until 4/8, and actually got it to me in two days. Remarkably fast for media mail service. I email the seller, asking for an explanation.
4/14 The 12th was Saturday. Monday, Mom tells me a woman called (probably the first guy's wife, if their matching accents are any indication) asking me again to remove the negative feedback. I also get an email from them explaining that the product (which Amazon had listed as "in stock") was on backorder, but that they'd get it to me soon. And, later that day, a second email explaining that the sole reason for the delay was that the product had been out of stock. (The first one was obviously sent in error or in confusion or something.)
So, to sum up... The order came in nearly two weeks late and nearly a month after I ordered it. They said it was in stock when I ordered it, but it wasn't. Whether that was a mistake or a lie, they never bothered to tell me, and in fact sent me a false shipping notice (with a falsified date, to boot). And used that false ship date to try to convince me that it wasn't their fault. They also used media mail to send a commercial product which (unless you count the product pamphlet included in the box) in no way qualifies as "media." (I'm pretty sure that's illegal.)
It sounds like a small business (they're based in NY, btw), and they're really concerned about the negative feedback, even though it seems like they've got no shortage of happy customers.
I can't edit the feedback I left, and if I remove it, I can't replace it.
I'm not too concerned about a refund. I did get what I wanted, eventually, and it was in good condition.
I do, however, hate it when people lie to me. And I'm worried about other customers. (And wondering how many people they coerced into dropping negative feedback they more than earned.)
Should I talk to them again? Complain to Amazon? Like I said, I'm not really after a refund. Not sure what I want, really, except for them to learn to be straight with their customers and for Amazon and potential customers to learn to be a little wary.
Suggestions, anyone?
Oh, and BTW... My video watch stopped working a couple of days ago. Some mp3 files became corrupted. I cleared them out, it worked fine. I went to sleep. Next day... nothing. No response, no matter what I do. I mailed it back for warranty replacement. Hopefully, it was just a defect in this one. If not, they give you the option of returning for store credit or a full refund. I considered getting a different one this time, but none of the others let you record FM radio (it works if I'm in the city, and I've gotten a few new songs that way, at good quality) or have a mini USB cable tucked into the band. No guarantee that another watch from the same site would have been any more reliable, anyway... We'll see. Eventually. They said it could take a while for the return package to clear customs.
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From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Wasn't considering removing it. Wish I could update it, though. Oh well.
Not really sure it's harassment. Seems kind of like. But their calls have been in response to my contacting them (more or less) and they have been very polite about it.
But yeah, I don't like being pressured this way, and I don't like the idea of them skewing their ratings while offering this kind of "service."
Maybe I'll contact Amazon, for all the good it'll do. (Doubt they'll really care or be able to do much, but it doesn't hurt to try...)
From:
no subject
Another reason not to delete the fdk you left is that if they're using this method of "intimidation" with other customers (begging them to remove a negative comment) then the rating they have on the page is likely not really reflecting the truth. If other have deleted their negative comments, then people will be led to believe that these people do their job adequately - and they didn't really do that, did they?
I don't think complaining to Amazon will do any good. They're just offering the space for someone else to sell their merchandise through them, I don't think they offer any real guarantee themselves for what is sold by a third party, through their website.
I've had issues like this before, myself, actually. And to be honest, this is why I never buy anything from a third party through Amazon. I find there's more choice and I generally get a better service when buying through eBay. To date, I've had only one actual bad experience on eBay in 10 years - and I'd say an easy 3 or 4 through Amazon in just a couple of years. (not trying to sell you on eBay, excuse the bad pun, but I like that I can usually see the actual item I'm buying and I really like to be able to see the item page -- a well made one tells a lot about the seller that sometimes their rating won't... my 2 cents.)
Sorry to hear about the watch. That's a bummer. :( I hope that gets "fixed" too.
From:
no subject
And you're right that Amazon probably won't do anything. Was hoping that someone would have a better/more productive idea. I do think they have some rules about how sellers can use the service. Some kind of nominal oversight. I mean, even eBay does that.
This is the first time I've had trouble with an Amazon merchant, BTW. And while I've used eBay, I've always been a little wary of them. I guess, to some degree, it's a matter of luck. There are good and bad sellers on both, and fdk ratings aren't a perfect tool.