hi guys..

Just ran into a problem with Amazon and just wish to make a rant.

I received a STL for a dvd so i happily ordered it. Being careful i went in again to double check that the STL had been applied to it. Lo and behold, it had not been applied. So i went and email their customer service about.

As expected, the first email is the "semi computerise standard" answer asking me if i had done the correct way of ordering yada yada yada etc....

After answering them and giving them the email of the person who had sent me the STL as they had requested.... guess what, their reply was i will only received STL credit AFTER the person dvd had been sent out. I had to shoot back another email telling them that i RECEIVED STL, not Giving out STL.

Then the next email from them told me that there was a problem with my friends order so the STL could not be applied to me but they could not tell me what the problem was as it is a breach of privacy.

As i had STL for this dvd from quite a number of kind souls, it does not matter to me if i cant use the STL sent from my friend as i can always use another STL.

So i just shot back another email to them saying ok i can understand why they cant apply the STL to me but i was asking them the reason why the STL is is being reflected in my STL list.

Guess what, the email that i got back from them just repeats the same answer as the prior email, there's a problem with my friends order so STL could not be applied to me etc etc etc....

So i had to shoot back another email telling them that i do not care about why the STL was not applied to me... i jusy wish to know why it had not been removed from my STL list.

I mean i could have not checked and just assumed that the STL had gone through and if i had checked only much later, the STL from other kind souls would have expired and i would be screwed right ?

i am so piss not because of the money, its just $10 bucks...but i just could not understand why they keep making a mistake whether i am receiving or giving out STL and why they keep repeating their answers to my question though it is already pass the standard answer stage

thanks for reading and sorry for the rant

So you noticed that sometimes things don't always run smoothly.

You have such a simple and obvious solution: cancel your order, and place a new order using one of the other STL's you received for the item.

Then you won't have to rant, and you'll probably live longer.

If you have a problem with an Amazon order, don't mess around with customer service.

E-mail [email protected]

This will put you in touch with John Clark, who is the head of the department that deals with order problems (I forget what his official title is) - he's solved a few problems of mine in less than 24 hours.

thanks for the tip Shannon. i will consider doing it....

of course as Marty says i can cancel and place another order with other STL.
But to me the point is i just want them to admit that a mistake had been made and thats all.. end of story. i mean dont you hate it when people give you the push around and trying to push the blame to others ?

cheers

You think Amazon's customer service is bad?! Wait till you deal with bestbuy.com!

I placed an order and have it shipped to a PO Box. Those morons shipped it out by UPS. Their customer service is totally rude, didn't really admit their mistake and would not offer a replacement order with the same price. Basically, they screwed up and customer paid the price.

Hey, thanks. That should be a handy email to have, just in case.

I'd always recommend phoning amazon's toll-free customer support number instead of email. I only had to call them once and was satisfied with the outcome.

Agreed. Never have had a problem resolving an issue over the phone with them. They've always been nice and courteous and helpful over the phone. E-mails, on the other hand, seem to only generate canned, unhelpful responses.

Which is really a little weird when you think about it, considering that Amazon was founded, built and thrived as an online company.

Agreed here too.

It makes sense though. First of all, you don't have the ability to carry on a real dialogue, in which many cases helps both parties to understand exactly the position of the other. Secondly, it is usually harder to be empathetic towards the customer's issue from an email, which lead to responses based more in policy and less in willingness to make exceptions.

I work in customer service in both email and phone support, and customers never cease to amaze me. Seventy percent of the people I deal with are fine, fifteen percent are great and the other fifteen percent are just terrible. What I find amusing is, the more someone flips out about an issue, chances are their problem is not that big a deal and people with really messed up issues are usually more concerned about getting them resolved, rather than acting like a butthole.

Is it me or does Amazon always have a problem when applying discounts?

I just ordered Futurama Vol. 4 with STL and $1.75 I forgot about in Nickel Trivia.

I got an invoice via email saying $29.74 is your total. Fine.

But my card was charged $33.24 - it hadn't taken the STL off.

Had to call them up, and a nice CSR said they'd issue a refund (which happens to be a few dollars more than what the STL discount was).

Glad I could help.

LoL, small world.

The same thing happened to me today. My STL discount was dropped for an item that shipped today and they issued me a refund for the STL amount.

I just encountered similar problem on my preorder of Star Trek : The Original Series season 1 DVD. Originally when I preordered it, I received a confirmation email that has the STL discount for a total of $76.04. Just today, I received another email that the DVD has been shipped and my credit card has been charged the amount without the STL, total is now $84.49.

Has anyone else encounter this problem? Any suggestion on what I can do to get my discount back? Thanks!

Call amazon 800-201-7575 and they'll either refund the STL amount to your credit card or credit another one of your existing orders with the discount. Whichever you prefer.

Same exact thing happened to me yesterday. E-mailed them about it and I already have a $8.45 credit on my credit card.

-Jason

just had a similar problem, talking to custumer service right now and they are taking care of it

Just had the same problem. An order that just shipped did not include my STL credit. Gave Amazon CS a quick call and 5 minutes later it was taken care of. Probably a good idea to keep close track of any recent Amazon orders to make your STL is applied.

Had the same problem.

I guess those $8.45 add up to a nice profit on these sets

I had to call to get them to credit me back.

It is frustrating that they are unable to process their own orders correctly. I have had this problem over and over again. I really need to just stop ordering from them.

Looks like the good old days are back again at Amazon.

Amazon was killer great for a long stretch. Hopefully, this is a temporary glitch.

I'm surprised because emails that go to Cust. Service are usually replied to promptly. It hasnt been the case with the STL problem.

I used amazon.com 'Contact Us' link on the bottom of their web page to let them know the problem with my order. I got 2 emails back from them within 24 hours that they will refund me $8.45 back to my credit card. In case anyone is interested I'm pasting the email reply I got from amazon.com here...

----
Thank you for writing to Amazon.com.

First, let me apologize for any inconvenience caused by this issue.

The discounts we offer for items on our web site do vary from time to
time. I've checked your order, and found that we recently offered a
greater discount on "Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete
First Season" than at the time you placed your order.

Since this item was shipped so recently, I have requested a refund of
$8.45 to your credit card. This amount reflects the difference
between the price you were charged and the discounted price. The
refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a
credit on your next billing statement.

You may view returns and refunds by clicking the "Your Account" link
at the top of our web site, then clicking "Go!" next to "open and
recently shipped orders." Completed refunds will appear at the
bottom of an individual order's summary page.

It is very important to us that you have a shopping experience
that is easy, secure, and most importantly, stress-free.
Your business is important to us, but not as important as your
satisfaction.

I hope this solution is satisfactory. Again, I offer my apologies
for any inconvenience or frustration this situation may have caused.

If you have any further questions, please visit our online Help
pages:

http://www.amazon.com/help

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding. We value
your business and hope to see you again at Amazon.com.

Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:

If yes, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/resolved-yes?comm_id=fhqr12122
If not, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/resolved-no?comm_id=fhqr12122

Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept
incoming e-mail. Please use the appropriate link above if you need
to contact us again about this matter.


Best regards,

Pranav Kaul
Amazon.com Customer Service
http://www.amazon.com
==============================
Check your order and more: http://www.amazon.com/your-account


ref_id:=fhqrdtaw1148464986


>Date: Tue Aug 31 08:08:27 GMT 2004
>Subject: Other Questions & Comments
>From: [email protected]

>---------------
08/31/04 01:08:06
NAME: David C Lin
ORDER NUMBER: 102-9397694-1856168
COMMENTS: Hi,

I'm having some problem with one of my recent pre-ordered item that
recently shipped. On July 9th, I pre-ordered Star Trek : The
Original Series season 1 DVD from amazon.com. I received an email
confirmation soon after for a total price of $76.04. I went to 'My
Account' on amazon.com and doubled checked that my pre-order for the
DVD was placed correctly.

Today (August 31th), I received another email indicating that the DVD
has been shipped. But the email stated that $84.49 has been charged
to my credit card.

Could you tell me who I need to contact to get this problem
resolved? I still have both the pre-order confirmation email and the
shipping email saved if you need them. Please let me know, and I
will send you a copy of those emails.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Dave Lin

I've had to call Amazon several times over the past two weeks since STL is being dropped from all my orders right when they ship. I had originally thought it was because I had changed my credit card on file (I recently opened an Amazon.com VISA)-- but it is now happening on recently placed orders as well. And now from this thread it sounds like I'm not the only one.

The last two CSRs I spoke with said they were going to report the ongoing problem to their technical support staff, so we'll see if anything gets done to fix this.

Until then I have to scrutinize all my shipping notices and call them on every one. It sucks, since I order so much through Amazon and almost always using STL.

It isn't just STL, I had a "gold box" discount dropped too. Clearly, Amazon has a problem.
FYI: There is a similar thread in the STL forum.