Poor Customer Service on Amazon Mastercard

Saucepot

A couple of months ago I got an Amazon Mastercard. However whenever I phone up (it's the halifax which run it) they have the worst customer service I've ever experienced. I'm not a fan of phoning up, speaking to an answer machine and being cut off.

Also the loyalty scheme doesn't appear to work. The Halifax think it's Amazons fault I haven't got my loyalty gift voucher and funnily enough Amazon think its the Halifax's fault.

It's partly my own fault for being daft enough to take a product run by 2 companies. Always a bad idea, when something goes wrong.

My question is, do others here think the customer service is dreadful for this product? More a question of how a problem is handled than whether one occurs. And also, have others got there loyalty vouchers ?

Ta for any response.
Al.

Hazzanet

I have to admit, I've had no problems whatsoever. Points were credited on the first statement, and about 5 days later, the e-voucher had been e-mailed to me.

They even gave me a chip and signature card when I asked for one.

Hazzanet

Saucepot

I am pleased your experience has been better than mine,

I phoned a number on a leaflet that came with the card with the offer to answer any queries or questions. An annoyed lady answered and rudely told me to phone the number on the back of the card. I explained the reason I phoned the number and politely informed her that whilst it must be tiresome to be getting customer phone calls, it was her companies fault for giving out the wrong number, not mine, and she should be nicer.

I phoned the number on the card to ask about the loyalty points and found that if you choose loyalty points from the recorded voice menu, you get a message telling you to look at the website and then you are cut off. I’d read the website, it didn’t tell me where my points were. That’s why I was ringing.

0845 850 7617. Try it for a laugh. If you choose other options, you get to speak to people who cannot help you, and promise someone will phone you back. Nobody does.

If you press no buttons, the phone rings for a bit, someone answers who cannot help and puts you through to someone who can. Except they cannot. They cut you off putting you through to someone who can help you.

I sent an email though the online service. It’s restricted in text size, so had to word my query fairly concisely, but heh, I got an email back. From a lady at the Halifax. She said it wasn’t there fault, speak to Amazon, and gave me the number.

I phoned Amazon. A nice lady with an American accent took all my details and gave me a customer number to quote in further correspondence, informing me it may take 3 weeks to get an answer from the Halifax. Yes I thought, it probably would take 3 weeks.

I am not a difficult customer, and I appreciate mistakes happen, but when they are dealt with by an organisation like the Halifax, I kinda think that price isn’t the only thing to consider in product choice. Sure the 6 months 0% BT has allowed me more time to pay off the tail end of a debt I’ve been tarting and paying down, but the cost is also knowing that when things go wrong, the people you’re dealing with are idiots. That’s too high a price.

Still it’s nice to have a rant whilst I wait for my new card, hopefully from a competent company.

adm_4

We've had problems with my wife's card. Mine was fine, I got the £15 intro voucher quickly but I think since they've got swamped. My wife's is nearly a month late. I emailed halifax (only contact we have) and they gave me a number and email for amazon. Seems they email amazon to say you're due a voucher. I emailed amazon and they said it would come sometime soon... I also emailed up halifax to say they should chase it up on my behalf. They said give it a month more and then get back to them. I'm about to get tback to them.

Saucepot

In the email the halifax sent me, "If you have not received this please call Amazon.co.uk on 0800 279 6620."

In case you want to chase it up with Amazon.

My experience so far is that Amazon have the better customer service. Issues like faulty goods and returns have always been dealt with well by Amazon. When I phoned about the credit card, the girl at the end of the line actually dealt with my call.

The next time I speak to the Halifax will be after pay day when I pay the last bit off and cancel, I've had enough of them. This is only a trivial token, If any serious problem occurs, possibly with thousands in real dough, I have no confidence Halifax are capable of handling it.

Saucepot

I thought I’d update this, with the story of it’s conclusion in case there are any others waiting on their Amazon Gift tokens.

I waited the 3 weeks and after hearing nothing phoned them back. The guy that answered didn’t understand what the number I’d been given 3 weeks ago about the problem meant or was for. It wasn’t an order number; it was a problem/complaint/issue number, I explained. Given to me by one of your colleagues.

Confused he asked me to tell him the problem again, then tried to fob me off with “It’ll come, there’s a backlog, be patient” A different excuse this time. I asked to speak to the person in charge and was cut off. I wasn’t rude, before you ask.

I rang again and was cut off, asking to speak to the person in charge, when the girl couldn’t figure out how to take me off hold.

Third time lucky, I spoke to someone claiming to be in charge, who again tried to fob me off. Out of interest he didn’t understands what the problem/complaint/issue number I’d been given was for either.

I told him firmly but politely that I was closing my Amazon account and cancelling the card. I’d lost confidence with his organisations ability to deal with the issue. I wasn’t blaming him or having a go, but it’s time to call it quits. I deleted my card details from my Amazon account and proceeded to delete the addresses as I spoke.

He offered to credit my account immediately with a £15 credit in place of the gift token. I thanked him, reset up my Amazon account, spent the money, and my stuff arrived free and gratis today!

It was worth more than £15 as it deducted from my total pre VAT total, to boot! Rock and roll.