133 - Andakosh
Trust me, there's a classic pay-off at the end of this, I swear.
I spent two hours today trying to get a refund for an old "Amazon Local" voucher (it was Amazon's version of Groupon) that we never used.
The website says "Simply request a refund and you will be credited within 3 to 5 business days". No mention of *how* to request said refund - no link, no phone number, nothing.
So I click on the "Contact Us" link, which takes me to a web form. I put in all the information, describe the situation, hit submit and... "OOPS! Something went wrong! Please use *THE WEB FORM* to notify us of what you were trying to do!"
Multiple tries on the web form all lead to that same error, so i click around their Help Section looking for ANY other way to contact them and find a phone number. "Havng trouble with our Web Form and wish to speak with a Customer Service Representative? Call this number during regular business hours Monday thru Friday blah blah blah" COOL! It's 11 in the morning on a Tuesday! You don't get more regular than THOSE business hours!
I call!
I get a recorded message saying "Thank you for calling Amazon Local during regular business hours! For assistance with your Amazon Local order, please hang up and use the Web Form located at Local.Amazon.Com"
This in and of itself is plenty frustrating, that they have a special recorded message at a special phone number that you can call to have them tell you not to call them. But this was only the beginning!
I foolishly decided to call Amazon Customer Support.
I gave my information, order number and story to SIX DIFFERENT PEOPLE. SIX DIFFERENT PEOPLE assured me that they could help me. SIX DIFFERENT PEOPLE tried and failed, regardless of how much I told them "I already tried that" and/or "The last person already tried that". FIVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE transferred me to different departments that would surely be able to take care of this issue - Customer Service to Prime Customer Service, Prime Customer Service to Kindle Support(?!?), Kindle Support to Business Billing (!!?!?), Business Billing to Prime Customer Service, and Prime Customer Service to General Customer Service.
The last lady I spoke to finally gave up after doing all the things I told her that everyone else had already tried ("Well let me just call that department and... hmmm, just the recording asking us to use the website. Well then we'll just use the web form to - Error? Guess I better figure out which department to transfer you to next..."). When I protested at the thought of yet another transfer, she said "Well then I will give you a SPECIAL TREATMENT and call you back TOMORROW".
Ugh. Fine. I've wasted two hours today on this, whatever. Good luck, lady.
But then - and here's that payoff I was telling you about - she ended the call with "But before I let you go, Mister Pierce, please to let me know, have we answered all your questions and are you satisfied with the service that we have provided you today?"
***UPDATE*** Mere SECONDS after I posted this, I got an email from the last lady I spoke to, where she said (copy and paste here)
I wonder if this means I won't get my "Special Treatment Callback" tomorrow?
I spent two hours today trying to get a refund for an old "Amazon Local" voucher (it was Amazon's version of Groupon) that we never used.
The website says "Simply request a refund and you will be credited within 3 to 5 business days". No mention of *how* to request said refund - no link, no phone number, nothing.
So I click on the "Contact Us" link, which takes me to a web form. I put in all the information, describe the situation, hit submit and... "OOPS! Something went wrong! Please use *THE WEB FORM* to notify us of what you were trying to do!"
Multiple tries on the web form all lead to that same error, so i click around their Help Section looking for ANY other way to contact them and find a phone number. "Havng trouble with our Web Form and wish to speak with a Customer Service Representative? Call this number during regular business hours Monday thru Friday blah blah blah" COOL! It's 11 in the morning on a Tuesday! You don't get more regular than THOSE business hours!
I call!
I get a recorded message saying "Thank you for calling Amazon Local during regular business hours! For assistance with your Amazon Local order, please hang up and use the Web Form located at Local.Amazon.Com"
This in and of itself is plenty frustrating, that they have a special recorded message at a special phone number that you can call to have them tell you not to call them. But this was only the beginning!
I foolishly decided to call Amazon Customer Support.
I gave my information, order number and story to SIX DIFFERENT PEOPLE. SIX DIFFERENT PEOPLE assured me that they could help me. SIX DIFFERENT PEOPLE tried and failed, regardless of how much I told them "I already tried that" and/or "The last person already tried that". FIVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE transferred me to different departments that would surely be able to take care of this issue - Customer Service to Prime Customer Service, Prime Customer Service to Kindle Support(?!?), Kindle Support to Business Billing (!!?!?), Business Billing to Prime Customer Service, and Prime Customer Service to General Customer Service.
The last lady I spoke to finally gave up after doing all the things I told her that everyone else had already tried ("Well let me just call that department and... hmmm, just the recording asking us to use the website. Well then we'll just use the web form to - Error? Guess I better figure out which department to transfer you to next..."). When I protested at the thought of yet another transfer, she said "Well then I will give you a SPECIAL TREATMENT and call you back TOMORROW".
Ugh. Fine. I've wasted two hours today on this, whatever. Good luck, lady.
But then - and here's that payoff I was telling you about - she ended the call with "But before I let you go, Mister Pierce, please to let me know, have we answered all your questions and are you satisfied with the service that we have provided you today?"
***UPDATE*** Mere SECONDS after I posted this, I got an email from the last lady I spoke to, where she said (copy and paste here)
I relayed your information to the team trained to handle this scenario. You should hear back from them in the next 1-2 business days.
I wonder if this means I won't get my "Special Treatment Callback" tomorrow?