Amazon Nightmare

JReacher1

Slightly unrelated to this but I had a £30 food item sent to me today by Amazon.  It was slightly different to what I ordered (it was hot chocolate and they sent me milky way pods instead of mars ones) so I wanted to return it.  Went on live chat and within 3 minutes they had refunded me the £30 and told me to keep the item.  The money was back with me within 2 hours.  Can't fault them at all.

They really are the industry standard for good customer service

HillStreetBlues

JReacher1 said:

So although I do admire your Hercule Poirot sleuthing its sadly all a bit far fetched and can only really have been done at the warehouse :-)

An Amazon warehouse where they could gives lessons to the Chinese on surveillance

JReacher1

HillStreetBlues said:

JReacher1 said:

So although I do admire your Hercule Poirot sleuthing its sadly all a bit far fetched and can only really have been done at the warehouse :-)

An Amazon warehouse where they could gives lessons to the Chinese on surveillance

It could also in fairness just be a mistake where the wrong item has been picked from the wrong location. It doesn’t always have to be malicious. 

mksysb

JReacher1 said:

mksysb said:

JReacher1 said:

I think people are over thinking this. It is unlikely to be a label swap, someone has swapped it at the warehouse. It’s the only real viable option. 

Don't think so, the clue is the failed delivery on the first day.  If it was swapped at the warehouse then it would be delivered as normal.

It is a nice theory but if you think about it in detail then you will realise that it is a slightly ridiculous one

Your theory is based on the assumption that an Amazon delivery driver has the ability to place an order and be guaranteed that the next day this order will once again be delivered by them to enable this swap to happen. The chances of the order going to the same courier is very slim as Amazon have numerous drivers that deliver to the same route during the day.  The courier it is picked will be dependent on what warehouse the item is located in and a courier would have no idea of where stock is held.

Secondly if what you were saying was true and it was a label swap then it would be the easiest crime in the world to solve.  Amazon are aware of every order in the courier's van and what each item is so in the OP's example would be able to see that the 2 Outlets were in the van and were meant to go to a different address.  They will easily be able to identify that a label swap has happened and that the driver must be responsible.

So although I do admire your Hercule Poirot sleuthing its sadly all a bit far fetched and can only really have been done at the warehouse :-)

OK, but how do you explain the "failed to deliver" on the due day, but delivery fine the following day?

JReacher1

mksysb said:

JReacher1 said:

mksysb said:

JReacher1 said:

I think people are over thinking this. It is unlikely to be a label swap, someone has swapped it at the warehouse. It’s the only real viable option. 

Don't think so, the clue is the failed delivery on the first day.  If it was swapped at the warehouse then it would be delivered as normal.

It is a nice theory but if you think about it in detail then you will realise that it is a slightly ridiculous one

Your theory is based on the assumption that an Amazon delivery driver has the ability to place an order and be guaranteed that the next day this order will once again be delivered by them to enable this swap to happen. The chances of the order going to the same courier is very slim as Amazon have numerous drivers that deliver to the same route during the day.  The courier it is picked will be dependent on what warehouse the item is located in and a courier would have no idea of where stock is held.

Secondly if what you were saying was true and it was a label swap then it would be the easiest crime in the world to solve.  Amazon are aware of every order in the courier's van and what each item is so in the OP's example would be able to see that the 2 Outlets were in the van and were meant to go to a different address.  They will easily be able to identify that a label swap has happened and that the driver must be responsible.

So although I do admire your Hercule Poirot sleuthing its sadly all a bit far fetched and can only really have been done at the warehouse :-)

OK, but how do you explain the "failed to deliver" on the due day, but delivery fine the following day?

Sometimes this happens. It’s not a frequent occurrence but a van can break down or something else happens which means the delivery gets pushed back a day. It has happened to me once or twice recently. 

It is not conclusive proof that the driver is engaging in subterfuge to try and steal the item. 

user1977

mksysb said:

JReacher1 said:

mksysb said:

JReacher1 said:

I think people are over thinking this. It is unlikely to be a label swap, someone has swapped it at the warehouse. It’s the only real viable option. 

Don't think so, the clue is the failed delivery on the first day.  If it was swapped at the warehouse then it would be delivered as normal.

It is a nice theory but if you think about it in detail then you will realise that it is a slightly ridiculous one

Your theory is based on the assumption that an Amazon delivery driver has the ability to place an order and be guaranteed that the next day this order will once again be delivered by them to enable this swap to happen. The chances of the order going to the same courier is very slim as Amazon have numerous drivers that deliver to the same route during the day.  The courier it is picked will be dependent on what warehouse the item is located in and a courier would have no idea of where stock is held.

Secondly if what you were saying was true and it was a label swap then it would be the easiest crime in the world to solve.  Amazon are aware of every order in the courier's van and what each item is so in the OP's example would be able to see that the 2 Outlets were in the van and were meant to go to a different address.  They will easily be able to identify that a label swap has happened and that the driver must be responsible.

So although I do admire your Hercule Poirot sleuthing its sadly all a bit far fetched and can only really have been done at the warehouse :-)

OK, but how do you explain the "failed to deliver" on the due day, but delivery fine the following day?

Traffic? Previous deliveries taking longer than expected for some reason? Plenty of deliveries don't turn up when forecast, I don't immediately assume there's something criminal going on.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

JReacher1 said:

Slightly unrelated to this but I had a £30 food item sent to me today by Amazon.  It was slightly different to what I ordered (it was hot chocolate and they sent me milky way pods instead of mars ones) so I wanted to return it.  Went on live chat and within 3 minutes they had refunded me the £30 and told me to keep the item.  The money was back with me within 2 hours.  Can't fault them at all.

They really are the industry standard for good customer service

Out of interest, is that really good service? 

Is being worse off than when you started by being lumbered with something you don't want* a good experience? Instead of the culture of bribing the customer with free goods or a voucher, would it not be more positive to explain what will happen to prevent it from occurring again and actually put that in place? Does it create entitlement in consumers and complacency in retailers? If it randomly occurs to you more than once, do you risk being marked by the retailer? And then, when you receive a box of Milky Way hot chocolate instead of an iPhone, will you have trouble seeking what is due?

*I understand that in this situation, you were probably happy with the Milky Way product and used it, which saved you from buying the Mars one. But had they sent you something that was of no use to you (and worthless, so of no value as a trade or sale), would you have still felt the same way about their service?

In my humble opinion, I don't think it's good service at all. It's a ploy devised by large companies to allow them to offer poor service to begin with and get away with it because the consumer places a low value on their integrity.

Edited to add, perhaps that last sentence should read " and get away with it because the consumer places a low value on their integrity"

JReacher1

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

JReacher1 said:

Slightly unrelated to this but I had a £30 food item sent to me today by Amazon.  It was slightly different to what I ordered (it was hot chocolate and they sent me milky way pods instead of mars ones) so I wanted to return it.  Went on live chat and within 3 minutes they had refunded me the £30 and told me to keep the item.  The money was back with me within 2 hours.  Can't fault them at all.

They really are the industry standard for good customer service

Out of interest, is that really good service? 

Is being worse off than when you started by being lumbered with something you don't want* a good experience? Instead of the culture of bribing the customer with free goods or a voucher, would it not be more positive to explain what will happen to prevent it from occurring again and actually put that in place? Does it create entitlement in consumers and complacency in retailers? If it randomly occurs to you more than once, do you risk being marked by the retailer? And then, when you receive a box of Milky Way hot chocolate instead of an iPhone, will you have trouble seeking what is due?

*I understand that in this situation, you were probably happy with the Milky Way product and used it, which saved you from buying the Mars one. But had they sent you something that was of no use to you (and worthless, so of no value as a trade or sale), would you have still felt the same way about their service?

In my humble opinion, I don't think it's good service at all. It's a ploy devised by large companies to allow them to offer poor service to begin with and get away with it because the consumer places a low value on their integrity.

Edited to add, perhaps that last sentence should read " and get away with it because the consumer places a low value on their integrity"

There are two parts to this of course. Receiving the wrong item was obviously poor service but this is the first time this has happened and I’ve ordered hundreds of parcels over the years. People do make mistakes so not too worried about a simple mistake as it’s a very rare occurrence. For me the most important thing is what Amazon would do to resolve their mistake. 

Within five minutes of receiving the wrong item I was live chatting with an Amazon customer agent (no queue) and had the money refunded within two hours. I also don’t need to go anywhere to return the item or wait in for a collection. I think that is frankly exceptional service. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

JReacher1 said:

There are two parts to this of course. Receiving the wrong item was obviously poor service but this is the first time this has happened and I’ve ordered hundreds of parcels over the years. People do make mistakes so not too worried about a simple mistake as it’s a very rare occurrence. For me the most important thing is what Amazon would do to resolve their mistake. 

Within five minutes of receiving the wrong item I was live chatting with an Amazon customer agent (no queue) and had the money refunded within two hours. I also don’t need to go anywhere to return the item or wait in for a collection. I think that is frankly exceptional service. 

I understood that for you on this particular occasion it was positive but the questions raised were directed at the bigger picture rather than the specific one. 

Those questions have mainly gone unanswered in the reply  

I do agree issues occur and the manner in which they are addressed is the most important factor but for me it's a question of short term satisfaction vs a long term satisfaction and a one off bribe doesn't buy my custom.

JReacher1

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

JReacher1 said:

There are two parts to this of course. Receiving the wrong item was obviously poor service but this is the first time this has happened and I’ve ordered hundreds of parcels over the years. People do make mistakes so not too worried about a simple mistake as it’s a very rare occurrence. For me the most important thing is what Amazon would do to resolve their mistake. 

Within five minutes of receiving the wrong item I was live chatting with an Amazon customer agent (no queue) and had the money refunded within two hours. I also don’t need to go anywhere to return the item or wait in for a collection. I think that is frankly exceptional service. 

I understood that for you on this particular occasion it was positive but the questions raised were directed at the bigger picture rather than the specific one. 

Those questions have mainly gone unanswered in the reply  

I do agree issues occur and the manner in which they are addressed is the most important factor but for me it's a question of short term satisfaction vs a long term satisfaction and a one off bribe doesn't buy my custom.

I didn't think the rest of your questions were worth answering.   They were just all random speculation to try and create a false narrative that by experiencing what was a very good customer service experience to resolve my issue it would mean in a few months I could be blackballed from Amazon or receive milkways instead of an iPhone :-)

I can only comment on what happened which was a slightly wrong item arrived (first time I can remember this happening) and my refund was authorised within 5 minutes and the funds were returned in 2 hours.  I genuinely thing that is excellent service.

People need to be more forgiving of mistakes.  We don't live in a 100% perfect world so as long as the remediation process is good I see no reason to complain.