Amazon amazing customer service

JReacher1

Why is it amazons fault that the current tax system isnt fit to cope with multinational companies who operate in different countries?

If amazon made billions I would maybe say they should do more, but they are a loss making company at the moment and personally I think the country is in a better position because of the 6,000 uk people amazon employee (who pay income tax and national insurance), than it would be if amazon didn't operate here.

MarkBargain

JReacher1 wrote: »

personally I think the country is in a better position because of the 6,000 uk people amazon employee (who pay income tax and national insurance), than it would be if amazon didn't operate here.

Amazon employ people because UK shoppers buy things, but if not from Amazon they would spend the money elsewhere and those other suppliers would employ people.

Is it fair if tax-paying UK companies struggle to complete and go out of business? John Lewis warned about that: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9678916/John-Lewis-warns-Amazons-tax-avoidance-will-drive-UK-companies-out-of-business.html

Also, Panorama last year investigated an Amazon warehouse and found out the job is not a lot of fun: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25034598

Yes, the employees pay their taxes. I wonder how they feel about those deductions on their payslips when they read their employers pay hardly any?

LilElvis

Personally, I love Amazon! Typing this from one of my 3 Kindles

Yesterday I took delivery of a near impossible to source toy.
Tomorrow I should get a book at less than 50% of rrp, assorted My Little Pony party tableware, a black icing pen, plate hangers.
Later I will be ordering coffee pods because my regular supermarket no longer stocks them and a lawnmower because ours broke today. Also husband has reminded me he needs spray metal sealer and we are running out of night time nappies for the toddler.

The alternative. Drive around for miles. Pay £1.40 per hour parking. Fail to find what I want. Pay more.

If our government can't be bothered to collect money from Amazon in taxation then that is their fault.

tomtontom

MarkBargain wrote: »

Amazon employ people because UK shoppers buy things, but if not from Amazon they would spend the money elsewhere and those other suppliers would employ people.

Is it fair if tax-paying UK companies struggle to complete and go out of business? John Lewis warned about that: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9678916/John-Lewis-warns-Amazons-tax-avoidance-will-drive-UK-companies-out-of-business.html

Also, Panorama last year investigated an Amazon warehouse and found out the job is not a lot of fun: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25034598

Yes, the employees pay their taxes. I wonder how they feel about those deductions on their payslips when they read their employers pay hardly any?

Only a fool would believe that any large organisation does not minimise its tax liability, including John Lewis.

All the Panorama documentary showed is that some people don't know what hard work is. Their workers do no more than any worker in a large warehouse.

JReacher1

tomtontom wrote: »

Only a fool would believe that any large organisation does not minimise its tax liability, including John Lewis.

All the Panorama documentary showed is that some people don't know what hard work is. Their workers do no more than any worker in a large warehouse.

Agreed does any worker in a large warehouse enjoy their job when they're paid minimum wage?

Amazon are just an easy target as their a massive company

MarkBargain

LilElvis wrote: »

Personally, I love Amazon! Typing this from one of my 3 Kindles

Yesterday I took delivery of a near impossible to source toy.
Tomorrow I should get a book at less than 50% of rrp, assorted My Little Pony party tableware, a black icing pen, plate hangers.
Later I will be ordering coffee pods because my regular supermarket no longer stocks them and a lawnmower because ours broke today. Also husband has reminded me he needs spray metal sealer and we are running out of night time nappies for the toddler.

The alternative. Drive around for miles. Pay £1.40 per hour parking. Fail to find what I want. Pay more.

If our government can't be bothered to collect money from Amazon in taxation then that is their fault.

It may be the government's fault, but we are the ones paying the price. You may save a few quid on My Little Pony, but later have to shell out £9K a year in university fees for education which could be free if big corporations paid sufficient tax.

MarkBargain

tomtontom wrote: »

Only a fool would believe that any large organisation does not minimise its tax liability, including John Lewis.

I haven't read critisism of British company John Lewis.

According to the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22549434):

"Amazon.co.uk is thought to have classified itself as a service provider to its Luxembourg business, Amazon EU Sarl, in order to reduce its tax bill. Its UK business employed 4,200 people at the end of 2012, compared with 380 in Luxembourg. The £2.4m tax bill was just below the £2.5m aid it received from the Scottish government last year to expand its warehouse operations in Dunfermline and Gourock."

MarkBargain

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

So, if you found a loophole that said legally (because there is a difference) would allow you only to pay 10% tax at most would you not take it?

No, I like to pay my fair share and always have.

picklekin

Mostly their customer service is great, but it has been slipping. I ordered 2 of the same item by mistake (I do admit it was my mistake!) and they used to be so good at taking things back but they said as it was my mistake I'd have to pay shipping.. I always thought there was a free returns policy which meant I was really happy to buy things there but seems its not the case any more. for the record though, I did several on line chats and argued I was a good and loyal customer and they waived the charge, this once

I think its not good they don't pay tax, but I think ALL multinational companies do this. Sadly I don't think the issue can be fixed by just our govenment as it needs a global change, it does work in our advantage too (see the recent AstraZeneca/Pfizer issue) as actually our tax is relatively low.

LilElvis

MarkBargain wrote: »

It may be the government's fault, but we are the ones paying the price. You may save a few quid on My Little Pony, but later have to shell out £9K a year in university fees for education which could be free if big corporations paid sufficient tax.

I have zero faith that a future government would reverse the increase in tuition fees - if they manage to decrease the nation's debt and raise the amount received in taxation they will find something else to spend it on. Because of my lack of faith our daughter already has sufficient funds set aside to pay for her tuition fees and a pretty reasonable amount being paid monthly into a pension fund for her. She will be 4 in a couple of weeks.

If you feel better by boycotting companies that you believe act unethically then that is your choice. My choice is to do what I can to safeguard my daughter's future because there is no guarantee of what support the State will provide for her in adulthood, be that education, health services or pension.