4 ms·

Part of me thinks this was faked/exaggerated at the time, except... Once on Amazon, I ordered an open tent. Basically, it is just an aluminum frame, 12 feet×1

by b112 4y ago

Part of me thinks this was faked/exaggerated at the time, except... Once on Amazon, I ordered an open tent. Basically, it is just an aluminum frame, 12 feet×12, 8 feet high, with canvas, to keep the sun off when presenting things at outdoor events. The one I received took 5 weeks to arrive, and was supposed to be new. But it was used, with scruff marks on the posts. I sent pics, and said "Hey, this is supposed to be new! What gives!!" An immediate "Sorry" with a "We have shipped a replacement." was the response. Really, all I wanted was a discount, mostly to compensate me for the paint I needed to buy. But OK, I said thanks. And waited. 8 weeks later, I again contacted them. "Where is my replacement? Do you have a tracking number? It has not arrived yet." Another immediate response, "We have shipped you a replacement..." Whatever, I think. Scam, I think. 1 week later, it arrives. I notice the ship date, and realise it was the original replacement. Worried, I contact them, and explain that the first replacement had arrived, all is good, it was just late, can they cancel the replacement's replacement? I received a response "We have shipped a replacement." And yes, I now have 4 of the things. I did not try to contact them again, for fear of ending up with more. They got 5 stars though.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
I had a similar issue. I really think that it is cheaper for them to write things off, than to receive replacements. I had an item shipped from China, and it arrived a day past when it was due (actually, it arrived in the late evening of the due date, so I guess you could say it "arrived as scheduled"). In any case, on arrival day, it had not arrived, so I sent in a complaint, and it was refunded immediately (Amazon is actually really good for that). The problem was, it arrived, and I wanted to rescind the refund. That's where things got complicated. After trying various things, Amazon finally just told me to keep the item (and the refund). In point of fact, I felt bad, because I know it was a low-margin mom and pop store (albeit Chinese mom and pop). I don't think it was one of those massive "fraud factories." But it was actually impossible to return the money.
- radlad 4y ago
  I have always assumed that for items which are shipped from Amazon fulfillment centers, if stolen or lost during shipment, Amazon is covering the cost not the vendor. But I don't know if that's actually true.
  - Alupis 4y ago
    The reality is Amazon rarely pays for anything on the merchant side. FBA gives up an enormous amount of control, and in our experience results in Amazon Customer Service Reps issuing returnless-refunds for nearly every single contact, regardless of the cause. But, it's a numbers game. Do enough volume and anomalies, including blatantly obvious fraud, don't matter. For smaller merchants though, it can be brutal. It's to the point where FBA wouldn't be worth it at all for anyone operating their own warehouse and what-not... except for the fact that Amazon "boosts" FBA offers in search results and gives FBA merchant offers a larger share of the "Buy Box"... so you miss out on a considerable amount of sales if you do not FBA. Most of the "real" operations (ones that exist off of Amazon as well) do both FBM and FBA just to cover all the bases, but not be dependent on Amazon. But... I digress...
InCityDreams 4y ago
Very USA... >Really, all I wanted was a discount, mostly to compensate me for the paint I needed to buy. Ad the time to seal off an area, shake the cans.... Jack up the price, 3 for the price of two, when it all fucks up, give 20% off...they fucking love it. Save 8.1%. Sold. Save $10.00 if you buy 3. Sold. Return the fucking thing. It's not what you wanted. Or, start the haggle BEFORE you enter into the negotiation. Thankfully, a company i just dealt with explained/ replied to every question very clearly that if i got fucked, they will pay. Ha. I doubled my order. But, if i need to paint anything....it goes back (the items have to be failsafe). Or, i would have requested 'sub-standard paint job...no problem". My credit card/ bank do not understand 'quality', or 'taste', or 'dissatisfaction'. I do, and I'm the customer.
- derefr 4y ago
  Sending the item back requires more effort than painting it. If you don't own a car (which is one of the main reasons you would order things like a tent for online delivery instead of going to your local outdoor/sporting/camping goods store where you could inspect them personally) then you need to somehow get a tent-sized and tent-massed box to the post office. (Remember, this isn't an ultralight-camping backpack tent; more a piece of yard furniture. It isn't necessarily portable.)
  - Alupis 4y ago
    It depends, obviously, but sometimes return shipping costs are too much (when factoring in original shipping costs, product cost, margins, etc), so the merchant may opt to send a replacement without a return, or issue a refund without a return. I wouldn't assume this is how an issue will be handled, since it depends on the merchant and what the specific issue was. Those mattress-in-a-box things on Amazon are notorious for this. Once you get it out of the box, there is nearly zero hope of getting it back in. Shipping a full sized mattress would be very expensive due to it's irregular shape and dimensions - so I've heard even minor defects result in refunds. Ripe for abuse... so it's best to steer clear of those sorts of products unless you can absorb the loss.
dreamcompiler 4y ago
My brain just flashed on packets and time-to-live and ACKs getting out of phase. Which doesn't happen in TCP. Moral: Always use sequence numbers in customer service communications.
squeaky-clean 4y ago
My back-and-forth with support wasn't as funny as these, but I had the same thing happen with a subscription to the print edition of Computer Music Magazine in 2019/2020. It took them over 4 months to ship my first issue. With magazines you usually get the issue for the month after you subscribe, so I waited 6 weeks before emailing support. They told me it should have been sent, they would send a replacement. Repeat this every month-ish and after the 3rd try I gave up. About a month after my last contact I got 4 copies of the April issue. A month later I got 4 copies of the May issue. And so on for the next year. Rather than ship me a new December (or whenever it started) issue, they just kept giving my account a new subscription and calling it a day.
JJMcJ 4y ago
When the Sorcerer's Apprentice works on Customer Support.
projektfu 4y ago
My sister received 3 bur-type coffee grinders in a similar sequence of events. So now I have a nice grinder.

by b112 4y ago

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

I had a similar issue. I really think that it is cheaper for them to write things off, than to receive replacements. I had an item shipped from China, and it arrived a day past when it was due (actually, it arrived in the late evening of the due date, so I guess you could say it "arrived as scheduled"). In any case, on arrival day, it had not arrived, so I sent in a complaint, and it was refunded immediately (Amazon is actually really good for that). The problem was, it arrived, and I wanted to rescind the refund. That's where things got complicated. After trying various things, Amazon finally just told me to keep the item (and the refund). In point of fact, I felt bad, because I know it was a low-margin mom and pop store (albeit Chinese mom and pop). I don't think it was one of those massive "fraud factories." But it was actually impossible to return the money.

radlad 4y ago
I have always assumed that for items which are shipped from Amazon fulfillment centers, if stolen or lost during shipment, Amazon is covering the cost not the vendor. But I don't know if that's actually true.
- Alupis 4y ago
  The reality is Amazon rarely pays for anything on the merchant side. FBA gives up an enormous amount of control, and in our experience results in Amazon Customer Service Reps issuing returnless-refunds for nearly every single contact, regardless of the cause. But, it's a numbers game. Do enough volume and anomalies, including blatantly obvious fraud, don't matter. For smaller merchants though, it can be brutal. It's to the point where FBA wouldn't be worth it at all for anyone operating their own warehouse and what-not... except for the fact that Amazon "boosts" FBA offers in search results and gives FBA merchant offers a larger share of the "Buy Box"... so you miss out on a considerable amount of sales if you do not FBA. Most of the "real" operations (ones that exist off of Amazon as well) do both FBM and FBA just to cover all the bases, but not be dependent on Amazon. But... I digress...

InCityDreams 4y ago

Very USA... >Really, all I wanted was a discount, mostly to compensate me for the paint I needed to buy. Ad the time to seal off an area, shake the cans.... Jack up the price, 3 for the price of two, when it all fucks up, give 20% off...they fucking love it. Save 8.1%. Sold. Save $10.00 if you buy 3. Sold. Return the fucking thing. It's not what you wanted. Or, start the haggle BEFORE you enter into the negotiation. Thankfully, a company i just dealt with explained/ replied to every question very clearly that if i got fucked, they will pay. Ha. I doubled my order. But, if i need to paint anything....it goes back (the items have to be failsafe). Or, i would have requested 'sub-standard paint job...no problem". My credit card/ bank do not understand 'quality', or 'taste', or 'dissatisfaction'. I do, and I'm the customer.

derefr 4y ago
Sending the item back requires more effort than painting it. If you don't own a car (which is one of the main reasons you would order things like a tent for online delivery instead of going to your local outdoor/sporting/camping goods store where you could inspect them personally) then you need to somehow get a tent-sized and tent-massed box to the post office. (Remember, this isn't an ultralight-camping backpack tent; more a piece of yard furniture. It isn't necessarily portable.)
- Alupis 4y ago
  It depends, obviously, but sometimes return shipping costs are too much (when factoring in original shipping costs, product cost, margins, etc), so the merchant may opt to send a replacement without a return, or issue a refund without a return. I wouldn't assume this is how an issue will be handled, since it depends on the merchant and what the specific issue was. Those mattress-in-a-box things on Amazon are notorious for this. Once you get it out of the box, there is nearly zero hope of getting it back in. Shipping a full sized mattress would be very expensive due to it's irregular shape and dimensions - so I've heard even minor defects result in refunds. Ripe for abuse... so it's best to steer clear of those sorts of products unless you can absorb the loss.

dreamcompiler 4y ago

My brain just flashed on packets and time-to-live and ACKs getting out of phase. Which doesn't happen in TCP. Moral: Always use sequence numbers in customer service communications.

squeaky-clean 4y ago

My back-and-forth with support wasn't as funny as these, but I had the same thing happen with a subscription to the print edition of Computer Music Magazine in 2019/2020. It took them over 4 months to ship my first issue. With magazines you usually get the issue for the month after you subscribe, so I waited 6 weeks before emailing support. They told me it should have been sent, they would send a replacement. Repeat this every month-ish and after the 3rd try I gave up. About a month after my last contact I got 4 copies of the April issue. A month later I got 4 copies of the May issue. And so on for the next year. Rather than ship me a new December (or whenever it started) issue, they just kept giving my account a new subscription and calling it a day.

JJMcJ 4y ago

When the Sorcerer's Apprentice works on Customer Support.

projektfu 4y ago

My sister received 3 bur-type coffee grinders in a similar sequence of events. So now I have a nice grinder.