Beware Amazon Shoppers!
 

I haven't posted or read many threads recently concerning Amazon.com, but I placed several orders months ago using the share the love program and the free shipping deal that was going on at the time. Today, I received my credit card statement and discovered that Amazon charged me in full so beware. Check your credit card statements! I then couldn't find the phone numbers to call a customer service rep so apparantly you can only complain by emailing Amazon with any problems that you might have. Beware! Amazon is also known as Scamazon!

Here is the number buddy.....have fun

(800) 201-7575

...and they'll tell you it was a one time glitch in their system, even though this is happening to a LOT of people who used share-the-love w/ other discounts.

The guy told me "You can't combine multiple promotional discounts, that's why it didn't take them all." I said, "I have my confirmation email if you want to see it." He didn't though, he just credited the $$ back to my card.

The same thing happened to me just yesterday. I received my shipping confirmation for Dumbo and Star Trek: TMP. I noticed that the total seemed a little high. When I compared it to my original e-mail confirmation, I saw that they had dumped my STL discount as well as a promotional coupon.

I called the 1-800 number, finally spoke with an order specialist, and after some basic math lessons, a credit for the missing discount will be posted to my credit card soon.

Also, last month I ordered a piece of software that had free shipping. When it shipped, they charged me shipping for it. Sad to say it, but you really have to watch Amazon closely. I don't know if it's intentional or if their system of discounts has become so complicated that the software can't handle it. Either way, you better keep your original e-mail confirmations and watch your credit card statements.

Same thing happened to me today.. My STL was not applied properly caused I shipped the orders separately... unfortunately my specialist didn't understand basic math and told me she was going to "email me" when she did her research.. Which translates to blowing me off of course. I'll give her a couple hours and then call back and hopefully get someone with a bit more intelligence.

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I got a shipment notice on an order that had both a $10 promo GC and STL discount. But the e-mail showed they were charging my VISA the full amount. A quick call to the customer service number noted above got the problem solved. They issued a credit.

So, a word to the wise -- check those charges carefully.

EDIT - I just checked on an order shipping today and they are trying to do the same thing. My credit card shows a pending charge for the full amount without GC or STL credit. I'm calling them again. They need to fix this glitch in their system.

EDIT #2 - I called, and after much explaining to two separate CSRs, one an "order specialist" they are issuing a credit. She said they have been having problems with the system not crediting promotional discounts when they expire before the order ships and they are looking into fixing it. In the meantime, it is a real pain to have to do this for us.

THIS is the Amazon thread that should be "sticky sticky sticky" !!

Happened to me too about 1 week ago. Made the call, was told they need to investigate it. I told them fine, however, I have a receipt for $15 less then I was charged, so if my CC statement arrives months end with incorrect charges, I will just deal through my CC company as I do not wish to deal with amazon. We will see.

This does not appear to be some one-time glitch...

I reported this on another thread a month ago when this happened to me. The "Order Specialist" claims that now Amazon does not accept BOTH STL and coupons (or promo GC) on the same order, which of course was total BS. I did have to argue with the guy for nearly 20 minutes before I was refunded the difference.

You just have to keep an eye on the charges listed on the confirmation e-mail, and call and get it straightened out as necessary.

PAL

This may not be coincidence.. although my buddy told me this as a joke, it could be true.. Amazon has made a vow to be profitible in the 4th quarter.. So maybe they're just "ignoring" discounts and only refunding them to people who notice in an attempt to save money...

Here's a recent thread about the problem:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=155740


It includes a link to yet ANOTHER thread about the same problem. This seems to have been going on for about a month now, and has affected every single order that has shipped for me during that time. The fact that they still haven't sent out an e-mail warning people about this -- and some service reps are acting like this situation is news to them -- is definitely troubling.

This happened to me this morning with my Sopranos order. I called them and got into it with an "Order Specialist". She said that the promo certificate had expired and that she'd would change the order. I told her that I knew of at least 50 people online with this exact problem (meaning you guys of course). I also told her it happened to me a month ago with my Godfather order. I told her it was unacceptable that amazon wouldn't do everything in their power to determine the cause of this error and fix it immediately. I must have chewed her out for about 10 minutes. I think that some more phone calls should be made to these idiots.

At least they correct themselves when they're wrong.

PLEASE made this thread sticky...I think nearly every order with a discount applied is suspect at this point.

<h1> <font color = "green"> You can count me a lucky.... so far! </font> </h1>

<small> [knocks on wood] </small>

I haven't had any of these problems.

I've placed 2-3 orders per months for the last 2 years (mostly on freebie GCs) and I've not had to call or E-mail once. :)

Yes they take much longer than any other source I use for DVDs (I can live with it due to the fact that they aren't costing me any actual <font color = "green"> $$$$ </font>) and they do seem to price their products higher than most (got'a use those coupons) but as for these instances of problems... I haven't yet experienced it.

Good Luck everyone! :(

Unfortunately, this overcharge problem is not a new problem at Amazon. I just checked two orders that are in the shipping soon phase and found they both are being overcharged to my credit card. This is the fourth time in about a month Amazon has done this to me. I also have had numerous other problems with their site when trying to make changes to an order.

Overcharging is one problem. Preorders not being shipped weeks after release is another problem. Anyone in the same boat?

I had a large pre-order with 5 DVD titles totalling over $110 before any discounts. When the street dates hit for the titles, nothing shipped. I had a promo GC and STL on all 5 titles, and that apparently caused the problem. However, after emailing back and forth for 2 weeks, plus a phone call, I finally got my order shipped. However, the invoice I got had a grand total of $0.00 including 2nd Day Air shipping. I somehow got the whole thing for free... go figure. Made my day :)

[email protected]
 

I had the same problems, I wasn't getting free shipping, STL, or diso**** codes.

I wrote them:

Why is it that every time I place an order with Amazon I have a problem? This is latest mistake of Amazon on my account:

You incorrectly charged me, IN YOUR FAVOR YET AGAIN!

The order total should be $XX, not $XX. Check the order information on the AMAZON.COM website. If this is not corrected I will dispute the entire charge with my credit card. I CAN'T BELIEVE EVERY SINGLE ORDER THAT IS SHIPPED FROM YOU IS INCORRECTLY CHARGED! I will contacting the California State Attorney's Office notifying them of this blatant fraud along with the Better Business Bureau.

I sent an email to you last week regarding a similar mischarge and I still have not heard back. At this point I can only assume Amazon.com doesn't care about service or its customer.

Sincerely,


My response:

Greetings from Amazon.com and thanks for writing. I apologize that we have not responded sooner to either of your recent notes to us and am eager to address your concerns.

I apologize for the problems which have beset your orders. In reviewing the account, it is clear that overmanipulation of orders (as evidenced by numerous gift certificates,
cancellations, consolidations, etc.) have resulted in so many layers of code being applied to the orders that our systems basically begin tripping over themself and misreading instructions. Matters were further confused by a single problematic claim code which was to be one per customer and
which was inexplicably applied to the two orders you reference.

Even as this was to be a one-time $10.00 off a single $65.00 order, I am refunding you the $XX shortfall you reported. Like so many refunds before it, it will post back to your card and we will notify you once it is made.

Should you order from us in the future-- and we would understand if you do not-- I strongly advise you to refrain from consolidating order after order, especially when gift certificates are attached. Further, read the fine print of vouchers you want to use and respect any restrictions. I am glad to make an exception in this instance, but it will be the last.

Thanks for your cooperation and understanding and have a good day.


Regards,

John Clark
Executive Customer Relations
Amazon.com


Dear John Clark,

Thanks for your help. I appreciate that you went out of your way to credit my account with the prices originally in your system. I greatly appreciate the fact that you can charge my credit card whatever you want, regardless of the order confirmation. I understand that having you adjust my account to the ORGINAL ORDER TOTAL is doing me a huge favor. Clearly you are adjusting to prices I originally agreed to pay and your order confirmation is a CONTRACT that holds you to that. I'm sure you hope that people don't double check their shipment totals and credit card statements to pick up the differences, but the fact is, blatanly mischarging consumers is illegal and I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I will never again purchase from Amazon.com and I'm positive others will do the same. I used to receive great service from Amazon.

Regards.


My last response:

Greetings from Amazon.com and thanks for writing back. We wish you the best of luck finding a retailer better able to meet your needs and thank you for your past patronage. You are, of course, well within your rights to report your complaint to the Better Business Bureau or whoever you will, and I look forward to responding to such complaints when they cross my desk. Good luck again, and good day.

Best regards,

John Clark
Executive Customer Relations
Amazon.com

Luckily for me, I have had no problems either, at least regarding this type of stuff. Share the love was were Amazon was screwing me, but I haven't had a problem with them in months.

Good luck to all of you, but Amazon will at least fix the problem on an individual basis. It's just a shame that it has to be that way.

Same thing is happening with promotional GCs, coupons and the PS2 buy 2 get 1 Free coupon. Below is a quote from amazon.com in regards to the situation


"I apologize that this distribution of charges was not accurately
displayed in "Your Account." Our developers are currently working
hard to correct this error."

Also has anyone noticed that some DVDs are lower in price after the release compared to their preorder price? The other day I also noticed that they are now doing this as the release date nears.

This has happened with Planet of the Apes and Tomb Raider which I preorder for $22.95 and $22.49, respectively, but both are now $19.99. I emailed CS asked if they could change my order to reflect the lower prices but no this is what I got instead:

"Hello from Amazon.com.

I'm sorry to hear that you are disappointed with our policy concerning price changes. I would like to offer an explanation of some of the considerations which have led us to adopt this policy.

There are several million items listed on our web site, some of which have never been ordered from us and may not have been ordered by any retailer for quite a while. It would be impossible for us to check on the price of each item on a regular basis, and so we must rely on the data provided to us by our suppliers. We update our web site regularly with data from many sources, but occasionally this information is out-of-date or incorrect.

We make every effort to keep abreast of the changes in the status of items, and we feel that having an online computerized catalog allows us to update it more regularly. Unfortunately, no matter how frequently we update the web site, we can only make the changes if our suppliers have made them known--and we obtain items from tens of thousands of suppliers, many of them quite small.

We verify prices as part of our shipping procedures. If an item's
correct price is lower than our stated price, we charge the lower
amount and ship you the item. If an item's correct price is higher
than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation.

We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you again in the near future.


Best regards,

Mary S."

Go figure... it doesn't even answer my request.

Just happened to me again. Sopranos Season 2 shipped and I was overcharged by over $19. Share the Love and coupons not counted toward the total. Boy, can't wait until X-Files Season 4 next week. :rolleyes:

And, just FYI, I have not TOUCHED this order since I placed it back on Aug. 3rd. I haven't added anything, I haven't cancelled anything, I haven't combined anything. So their latest excuse ("order manipulation is confusing our system") is BS in this case.

My last four orders with amazon have been butchered, in their favor of course. The use of promotional codes, GCs, etc. is nothing new for them and I didn't have this problem 6-12 months ago! :(

Couple of things - ALWAYS check the forums to see if what you are intending to post about has already been posted (here http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=145217 in this case) and secondly PLEASE, when posting in this forum, stop to consider if your post is a Bargain. If not it belongs elsewhere.

Moving this to store so it can be merged or closed (at the discretion of that forum’s Mod) with the other thread on this matter.

Thanks, jonathan.e.

Please continue this discussion in the prior existing thread, here.

Closing thread.

-stevevt