Poor Non-Amazon prime customer service?

crestfa11en · 18 April 2017 at 11:44AM

(Disclaimer I'm posing a question as much as a criticism of Amazon, what if any rights do I have we're our expectations unrealistic?)

I've been trying to resolve this matter on behalf of my sister who ordered the following item on her none-Amazon prime account, being a Amazon Prime member myself I've never experienced such bad customer support from Amazon and find their behaviour shockingly uncharacteristic and I would forgive any scepticism on your part.

Below I'll list all the actions I've taken to date and on reflection perhaps I antagonised the situation further rather than help it, I'll leave you to judge:

Original conformation delivery date date of March 4-9.
All order updates we've received since then:
4th March Order update - preparing for dispatch next business day
9th March Order update - March 15 - 20
15th March - March 22 - 26
21st March - March 28 - April 2nd
26th March 31 - April 6th
31st March April 5th - April 11th
6th April April 12 - 17
12 April 19 - 23
18th April - April 25 - 30

Order updates
Almost six weeks late
Cancellation refused 22 March

This is where we currently stand with Amazon, they are refusing to cancel an order that the can't seem to honor.

My Message to Amazon Customer Service 03/15/17 11:29:26
Buffalo GF256 Waffle Maker
Comments: Dear Sir/Madam

I originally ordered my waffle maker back on the 23 February and was given a delivery date of March 4 - March 9 and then a preparing for dispatch within the next business day on 6 March and after that two consecutive order update Emails:
The first Estimated arrival date: March 15 2017 - March 20 2017
The second Estimated arrival date: March 22 2017 - March 26 2017

Amazon have failed to meet their obligations on the agreed delivery date at point of sale March 4-9 no less than three estimated deliver dates there after, can you please shed some light on the bizarre manner in which my order is being treated?
Thank you for your time.

Message From Amazon Customer Service Date: 15 March 2017 at 1:09:27 pm Hello Helena,

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to write us.

I've picked up your e-mail today and I'll do my very best to help you with your query. Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by this situation. This is certainly not the kind of service that we want our valued customers to be experienced with. Whenever a situation happens like this, creates a negative impact on us. I apologies for the inconvenience this has caused you.

This is to confirm that your order is in advanced dispatched stage and fulfillment center has been assigned to it as ¨BAYK¨. Once it will be dispatched you will receive an automated email confirming the same. As I can see your order was placed on Thursday, 23 February 2017 14:43 and was given a delivery date of March 4 - March 9 and then a preparing for dispatch within the next business day on 6 March and after that two consecutive order update Emails and order delivery was rescheduled. I have investigated and found that this item "Buffalo GF256 Waffle Maker" was out of stock in our fulfillment center in UK, since we are committed to deliver the order placed we asked our fulfillment center situated outside UK to deliver this. That's why it took so long to deliver. Your order has estimated delivery date between Estimated Delivery Date: Wednesday, 22 March 2017 - Sunday, 26 March 2017 and there is still high chances that you will receive it on or before this date.

I have also submitted ¨Fulfillment Center ESCALATION form¨ to ensure they dispatch it earliest.

I hope you understand that I've put in my best effort to help you in this issue, but still, if you have any other queries regarding this issue, please feel free to contact us by replying to this E-mail, we'll be happy to help you.
We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Having received further delays and cancellations refusals, I sent another message which might be regarded as inflammatory by some, with the threat of legal action and a review on trustpilot in the hopes that it would motivate them to either deliver in a timely manner or cancel the order as requested, I'd like to add I've never spoken in this manner to any customer support ever before but felt at the time that it was the only way to resolve the matter:

Dear Sir/Madam
After rejecting my cancellation request my order has been delayed yet again, after six order updates later till the April 06, 31 days after original delivery of date of March 4-9. I bought the waffle Maker from Amazon at a premium for the quality of service I expected, not only is it a month late a simple Google search find that it is available at the much more competitive rate of £241.20 at Catering Appliance Superstore:
Link:
https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/2898616760418645538?q=Buffalo+GF256+Waffle+Maker&prds

This has not been handled to my satisfaction no attempt has been made to compensate me for time and inconvenience caused by numerous delays and to add insult to injury it is still being advertised as (dispatch within 5 to 7 days) on you store page.

Pending legal advice if my order is not fulfilled by the latest delivery date of April 06 I will be contacting trading standards as I feel that I've been misled into buying your products/services, and there will be a unbiased yet comprehensive review on the following website when this 31 day+ order epic comes to a close:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review
Thank you for your time.
Respectfully,

Message From Customer Service Date: 26 March 2017 at 6:18:58Hello,

I'm very sorry for the delay in dispatching your order.

It is never our intention to cause inconvenience to our valuable customers like you. Unfortunately, we have fallen short in providing the service you expected from us on this occasion.

I'm sure this must be very disappointing for you , and can understand the inconvenience this has caused.

I understand the inconvenience this situation has caused and on this occasion, I'd like to give you £5.00 promotional credit as a goodwill gesture, for use towards your next Amazon.co.uk order.

Please note that this will only be visible when you place an order, it wont appear in the "View gift card balance" section of Your Account

Promotional credit must be redeemed at our website, towards the purchase of products sold and fulfilled by Amazon. Promotional credit cannot be used to purchase Amazon.co.uk Gift Cards, items sold by third party Sellers including Warehouse Deals, products sold and distributed by Audible, against Kindle books, delivery costs, or against gift wrapping costs.

When you place a qualifying order, you'll be able to see that the value of your promotional credit has been deducted from the total cost. Any unused funds will be retained in your account to be used at a later date.

You can view the terms and conditions for promotional credit here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201247040

I hope you will give us another opportunity to prove the quality of our service.

We value your business with us and we are looking forward to serve you more in the future.

They called my bluff with yet another stock reply and a paltry £5.00 promotional credit, it was not my intention to go to such lengths never dreamed that I'd be pushed to it, as the revised delivery dates are still coming, should I contact trading standards do I have a leg to stand on, please advise.

cono1717 · 18 April 2017 at 12:15PM

Have you tried speaking to the team on Live chat? Usually they can cancel it. Unfortunately I imagine in their terms it says they are only bound to a date once its marked as dispatched and that until that point its an estimate. Supplier delays can and do happen so I suspect it's just one of those things. Still Amazon should let you cancel.

unholyangel · 18 April 2017 at 1:15PM

Where did they refuse your cancellation request? How did you make the request to cancel? I presume you mean amazon non-prime rather than non-amazon prime?

They need to accept the cancellation - because of EU law which both gives you the right to cancel distance contracts up to 14 days after receiving the goods and also because the period of performance (whether parties have not agreed otherwise) is 30 days.

But apart from that, they technically haven't done anything wrong and I'm not sure trading standards can help with companies not based in the UK (when you buy from amazon you're buying from a company based in luxembourg called amazon eu sarl who then outsource their contractual obligations to a third party company in the UK called amazon uk ltd).

Unless they've actually breached the terms of the contract & that breach has caused a loss, their offer of £5 seems fair. Sorry.

IAmWales · 18 April 2017 at 1:19PM

Have you tried simply pressing the Cancel Items button? I've been able to cancel items even when they're with the courier, so no reason why it shouldn't work here.

If not, I also agree that live chat are very helpful. You need to stick to the facts though, less waffle. You wish to cancel this item and it will not allow you to do so online, can they do it for you please?

crestfa11en · 18 April 2017 at 2:14PM

Thank you all for your swift reply and as (IAmWales) pointed out less waffle

I could be more concise, My sister is the one that ordered the waffle maker she's not on prime, and given the difference in the quality of service I arrived at the conclusion that she was being treated less favourably because she was not paying for prime.

She has tried three times to cancel via (Your Orders) page on Amazon cancel item button the reply is always as follows:

Subject: Amazon.co.uk - Your Cancellation
Hello,
We're contacting you about your cancellation request for order #.
Unfortunately we weren't able to cancel the following item(s) from your order:

Buffalo GF256 Waffle Maker

When you receive your order, you're welcome to refuse the package and it will be returned to us. If you are unable to refuse delivery, please visit our Online Returns Support Centre to create your personalised returns label so you can send this item back to us for a full refund:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/returns-support
As a reminder, you'll only be charged for items that have been dispatched. You won't be charged for any items that are cancelled from an order.
We hope to see you again soon.
Sincerely,
Customer Service

We'll try via live chat, but given that I made her wishes to cancel the order clear to customer support it seems doubtful, their response is in the last quoted text box on post 1.

Thanks again for your time.

bris · 18 April 2017 at 3:16PM

Looking at the product ordered can I asked was it a business purchase? It's not really the type of thing a consumer buys.

I use Amazon all the time and have never had a problem with the cancel button or their customer service which has always bee great, I am not a prime customer.

B2B purchases have different terms and consumer rights don't apply.

P,s I just noticed your receipt has VAT listed so I can now assume it was indeed a B2B transaction.

pinkshoes · 18 April 2017 at 5:02PM

bris wrote: »

P,s I just noticed your receipt has VAT listed so I can now assume it was indeed a B2B transaction.

I thought all Amazon receipts have VAT listed??

(Mine do, and I am not a business...)

bris · 18 April 2017 at 5:45PM

pinkshoes wrote: »

I thought all Amazon receipts have VAT listed??

(Mine do, and I am not a business...)

Ah you might be right, just normally consumer receipts just show the total and don't normally have the VAT element shown, so that part can be ignored.

The main reason I thought it was a business purchase is because this is a commercial machine the same as small cafes etc use.

daytona0 · 18 April 2017 at 8:47PM

bris wrote: »

The main reason I thought it was a business purchase is because this is a commercial machine the same as small cafes etc use.

I could see a normal consumer purchasing that too in fairness! Some people just love their waffles... Same with coffee enthusiasts really, some people will spend hundreds on one just to get a more authentic taste!

Though I do wonder why the sister did not contact the OP and request that OP use their prime membership instead... Could support the idea that it was a business purchase, but could also support a number of other possibilities.

crestfa11en · 20 April 2017 at 1:05AM

(Quizzical Squirrel)
The other company the OP mentions (in the email where they were attempting a price match reduction as compensation) sells only to businesses.

So either this is a business transaction or it's an unreasonable price comparison.

My apologies on the late reply.
In my defence I've only tried to act in the best interest of my sister and I can see how this could be perceived as you put it (unreasonable price comparison) she would have been perfectly happy paying the high premium for what she thought was great service that Amazon normally provide, they continue to outright deny any cancellation attempts and the revised delivery dates continue on a weekly basis, it seemed only fair that they could at the very least offer her something in the ballpark of a competitive rate for a substandard service that would not be tolerated from any eBay seller, but I digress perhaps I hold Amazon unfairly to a higher standard than most.

(bris)Looking at the product ordered can I asked was it a business purchase? It's not really the type of thing a consumer buys.

No it's not a B2B purchases but you bring up a interesting point is this item meant purely for catering business which might in some part explain odd manner in which this order is being handled?
As (daytona0) pointed out I had wished that she asked for my prime membership and help before ordering, she's going through a mad cooking phase at the moment that includes a lot of canadian Maple Syrup and apparently includes a craving for waffles don't ask, but paying over £300 :shocked: for a waffle maker is beyond me as you say (Some people just love their waffles):rotfl:

My thanks to all, will update when I get my sister to live chat Amazon the lazy thing.

crestfa11en · 23 April 2017 at 8:35AM

My sister has spoken to Amazon live chat and they said that there would reply within 24 hours it's been well over 48 and nothing...

(wikipedia)Occam's razor Suppose there exist two explanations for an occurrence. In this case, the simpler one is usually better

Undone by my own logic and vastly outnumbered by countless glowing reviews of Amazon as I am, protest as I might anyone reading this thread can reach only one of two conclusion, that I've in some way obscured the details of this problem to reflect more favorable upon myself or omitted by mistake some vital information that might have simply explained the manner in which Amazon treated this order.

Which leaves me only to give you all my sincere thanks for your help and time on this matter, inevitably Amazon will deliver on this order whether that be the 25 of April or a month or more from now, please consider the matter and this thread closed.

Poor Non-Amazon prime customer service?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free