It looks like CS might just be left trying to clean up this mess due to the railing I'm sure they've received because of it. Not a position I envy, especially the week after Christmas. I certainly hope everyone is being as civil as possible about this. The scare tactic may not have been the best recourse amazon could have taken, but I'm assuming that wasn't CS's decision to make and now they're getting stuck with it.

-Toilet Dcuk

With these type of customer service responses, is it any wonder how they f'ed up this deal in the first place? The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

i just took a business law class- and yes i dont know everything but what i know is this:
if You know something is an obvious mistake and You take advantage of it than the retailer is not neccessaril held liable and doesnt have to HONOR the pricing (something that shouldve been known was a glitch and everyone knew this was a mistake qualifies under this - that you KNEW the pricing was a MISTAKE and intentionally tried taking advantage of it)

ALSO
online retailers are treated different than Brick Mortar because BM can catch and correct price mistakes quickly whereas ... online retailers could be screwed in seconds..hence they have more liniencacy in honoring MAJOR mistakes...

i dont know how this case will hold up but the above information is 100% accurate but to what degree i do not know...

In order to go after people legally, Amazon would have to prove that they intentionally took advantage of the deal to rip them off, which they could theorhetically do by subpoenaing message boards like this and then reconciling the screen name IP's of people bragging about getting multiple sets with the customer transaction IP's.

Of course, it's not worth anyone's time or expense to do that, just like it's not worth Amazon's expense to self-police pricing mistakes in the first place.

Amazon is a multi-billion dollar corporation, and we're talking about dvd box sets that probably have a wholesale value of about $10. Nothing will come of this, though I can't blame Amazon for going fishing for people with guilty consciences.

On behalf of all the popcorn lovers out there, I'll respond. It would be nice if some people would lighten up a little & quit attacking their fellow DVDTalkers by calling them 'asses', 'jackasses', etc. A recent post stated the hope that people writing or calling Amazon are doing so politely. Considering the names some posters call other people on the forum, that is highly unlikely. I can only imagine the grief that the minimum-wage CSR's are taking. Those of us who have had jobs in the service industry at any time can sympathize.

As to "cluttering up the thread", this is an open forum. Unless the moderators specifically state that only financial details are to be discussed, any civil comment should be welcomed. (I have been guilty of getting off-topic recently...got cursed at and threatened by a "fellow" member for that...and, on my own initiative, wrote an apology to the moderator for my error). When you've around the board long enough, you'll see that any thread that lasts a while, no matter how serious the topic, will generate lots of slightly skewed comments...usually attempts at humor (some lame, some clever). In that case, the scroll button is your friend.

Since I've stated my views on the other threads, I've mostly stayed off this one except to read the comments, which are highly entertaining. Many responses could be made, but out of deference to those who have a "financial interest", I've refrained. I have an email signed by a human CSR...unless they've started naming their computers...saying that I only owe $2.47 (the difference between the higher-priced set & the free set. Since the email was a response to my request that was sent last weekend...long before the infamous Amazon email hit the fan...for them to correct the pricing error & apply the correct charge to my bill, there's no need for me to use it (besides, what decent person would want to get a CSR in trouble over a misunderstanding)?
So I have a "financial interest" in the thread, even if it's different from yours.

However, I think anyone, whether they ordered or not, should be allowed to post their thoughts regardless of whose "side" they're on. Posters routinely poke fun at each other's views ...and sometime we get into heated debates. Hopefully, we can still remain civil after the debate is over. If you're easily offended by sarcasm...well, this is not the place for thin-skinned people. Posters here will challenge your integrity, call you a liar,reprobate, hypocrite, inform you as to your "real" motives (lots of psychics here), tell you how much legal training you have, etc. When that happens to me, I read the posts to my wife & we get a good belly laugh out of the post. However, just because people do it, that still doesn't justify name-calling or telling people to get off the forum...which has also happened a lot lately. These threads are keeping the mods busy.

Remember, the ignore function & the scroll buttons are your friends.

As for posts that employ namecalling, bullying, cursing, and threats, here's a different icon:

Despite politely asking several questions about international orders regarding this matter:

How were we expected to make the deadline?

Would all (no doubt incredibly high) return shipping and already paid shipping charges be refunded?

And pointing out their terms and conditions on the matter stating we should've been informed or had our orders cancelled pre-shipping, I got the following waste-of-time, cookie-cutter response:

Notice that the bolded part never happened (this was pointed out to them in the email I sent that they obviously didn't read).

*Sigh*

Is it even worth responding to this, or just wait and see whether I'm charged and dispute?

^ just "lose" your credit card and call your CC company to get a new one, amazon won't be charging you anything then.

That works fine for people that rarely use their credit card, but for those of us that use it to order things on almost a daily basis, it's sorta impossible to do.

Not to mention there's always the possibility of Amazon flagging your account and just trying to charge the next credit card you register with them.

Btw, you are welcome in advance.

Exactly the case with me.

That and I have a few pending orders at other retailers awaiting charge and shipping, and I'd rather not lose the use of my card for 1-2 weeks as well as delaying orders elsewhere, etc.

Hmmmm....now Amazon doesn't accept emails anymore...temporarily.....another glitch?

We're sorry, but we are unable to process your contact at this time. We're investigating the cause of this problem now and hope to have it resolved shortly.

If you wish, you may provide a phone number where we can call you in a few minutes using the pop-up window. Please note that your browser must have javascript enabled and any pop-up blocker disabled to use this option.

Alternatively, you can try to submit your contact again in a few minutes.

It's not like they'll fully read the email anyway from the looks of most responses.

It's a good idea to create a new account every year or so anyway. Otherwise Amazon builds up a great big marketing profile on you which doesn't benefit you very much (ooh, order history, yippeedoo), but who knows what they do with all that information and who they share it with.

Here's the response I got from them:

Greetings from Amazon.com.

First, please allow me to express my sincere apologies for any
frustration that has been caused. It is certainly not our intention
for our customers to have anything but a pleasant experience at our
store.

I researched your account and see that you were not charged fully
for the following orders.

#XXXXXXXXXXXXX
#XXXXXXXXXXXXX
#XXXXXXXXXXXXX
#XXXXXXXXXXXXX
#XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Regarding the order #XXXXXXXXXXXXX I see that you were charged
only $2.00, for your reference I have included the cost details for
this order below:

Subtotal: $61.98
Shipping: $3.97
Promos : ($63.95)
Tax : $0.00
Total : $2.00

Regarding the order #XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I see that you were
charged only $1.50, for your reference I have included the cost
details for this order below:

Subtotal: $58.48
Shipping: $3.97
Promos : ($60.95)
Tax : $0.00
Total : $1.50

Regarding the order #XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I see that you were charged
only $2.00, for your reference I have included the cost details for
this order below:

Subtotal: $61.98
Shipping: $3.97
Promos : ($63.95)
Tax : $0.00
Total : $2.00

Regarding the order #XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I see that you were not
charged for this order, for your reference I have included the cost
details for this order below:

Subtotal: $72.98
Shipping: $3.97
Promos : ($76.95)
Tax : $0.00
Total : $0.00

Regarding the order #XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I see that you were
charged only $2.00, for your reference I have included the cost
details for this order below:

Subtotal: $61.98
Shipping: $3.97
Promos : ($63.95)
Tax : $0.00
Total : $2.00

Please use the link at the bottom of this message to send us a reply
with your permission to charge your credit card for the
above orders.

Further if you find any unathorized charges for the above orders,
Please call or fax us to provide the following information:

* complete credit card number
* date of charge
* amount of charge
* contact phone for your issuing bank
(the toll-free number on your credit card is sufficient)
* your name, e-mail address, and fax number (or phone number)

Here are our Customer Service Department phone numbers:

U.S. and Canada phone: 1-800-201-7575
Charge Inquiry Fax: 1-304-781-4960
International phone: 1-206-266-2992

Once we've received this information, we will proceed with our
investigation of the charge. Our charge inquiry team will contact
you within 1-2 business days to let you know how to proceed with
your issuing bank.

If you decide to return the item, just visit our online Returns
Center for a shipping label and packing instructions:


Thank you for your cooperation, and thanks again for shopping at
Amazon.com.


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

If yes, click here:

If not, click here:


Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept
incoming e-mail.

To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help
section of our web site.


Best regards,

Vivek J.
Amazon.com Customer Service
http://www.amazon.com


Not quite sure what to make of that because it's really not clear if they still intend to charge for the difference. Although they did point out in the breakdown of all of the orders that there was a promo discount and based on that discount I was charged the small amount. (price difference)

Anyway for the "returns center" to give me a UPS prepaid shipping label? It only offers a USPS prepaid label.

Based on the bolded statement, I'm guessing their "investigation" will amount to them charging you for the "full" amount of the DVDs.

I'm not even going to bother contacting Amazon over this matter since it doesn't appear they are going to be helpful. I will take it up with my credit card company next week, and keep an eye open for any charges that may appear in the future.

Also I had one order that never showed up even though it says it shipped. I checked the tracking information and it says the shipper was electronically notified. I have a feeling Amazon may have stopped the actual shipment since the tracking information doesn't appear to get updated or change.

I received all my other orders a couple a days ago. However I still haven't opened anything and will probably leave everything sealed for the time being.

The Amazon TOS page states that some arbitration company will be used to settle disputes. I'm not sure how they operate, but I assume it's some middle ground between common sense and letter of the law. I was thinking about this yesterday, and from what I know, arbitration strives for a solution that benefits both parties but that neither is really happy with. Reading the previous post on the law article, if those points are correct (and no pertinent concepts or laws were left out of that discussion), Amazon at best can only rescind the contract - not charge the amount they feel is owed. But customers could argue the line that Amazon was negligent in addressing their concerns by letting orders go out 4-5 days after the glitch was discovered and fixed, and thus rescission is uncalled for and the contract is complete. Middle ground: charge half of the remaining balance Amazon feels is due. That way both parties give up something. Who knows what they'll do. If they do charge customer CC's for what they feel is the remaining balance, they've definitely broken the law and their contract with the CC companies they use, setting themselves up for a lot of trouble and bad press.

Interesting legal article on this type of issue. Too long to post entire article, see link

http://www.lctjournal.washington.edu...2groebner.html

you all need to stop whining. you new what the price should have been and just becuase there was a glitch at Amazon and they charged you 0.00 doesnt mean you should get it for that price. you new the deal was buy 1 get 1 free not buy 2 get them both free. alot of you when back and took even more advantage of this thinking you wouldnt get charged what you should. i hope amazon isnt just trying to scare you and they actually do what they say. and for the people who are joking about oh i paid .35 for a king size snickers now they are calling and want all of the money for it are idiots there is a big fucking difference from a fucking .35 snickers and a 47.99 dvd. pay what the fuck you owe ban me if you want for swearing I dont give a fuck all of you are cheats and need to get what is coming to you. fuck all of you cheats

and of course you've never taken advantage of anything in your whole entire life, no matter how small or trivial

really don't think there was any need for the name calling

Of the hundreds of price mistakes that have been posted on this site, I think this is the first that has drawn out the ethical holier than thou. How come?

It's "Knew" not "new".

Likely because they missed the deal. Otherwise, I think it's pretty bizarre, considering, as you say, the hundreds of price mistakes previously posted. As I've said before, I would expect all of the moral police to forego any future potential glitches and price mistakes posted on this site, but I suspect they won't if they are able to get in on them.