Amazon.com complaint

I know... you're saying right now... "What, ANOTHER customer service complaint?!"

Yes.

Amazon.com is on the top of my list tonight.
First the disclaimer - I'm a HUGE fan of Amazon.com. I order a lot of books and other items, and really enjoy the easy at which money can flow out of my wallet and boxes show up on my doorstep.
That is... until something goes wrong.
A few months ago, I ordered a book.
I have a "prime membership" which basically means I pay a yearly fee (I think it's around $80!) so that I can have "FREE" 2-day shipping. It doesn't make sense to pay for this unless you order about 10 items from Amazon per year, and I do.
So, I get the usual email confirmation that says my order was placed.
I get the follow up email the next day that my order was shipped.
Then the following day (under normal circumstances) I get my package.
Not for this book. I go online to their "where's my stuff" page to find out where my box is...
Only to learn that there is a generic "in transit" status in the shipping status.
Hmm, that's odd I thought, usually there is a detailed tracking list as is with most UPS packages.
I learned (in a round about way, that my item - although the website SAID it was in stock) was out of stock at the time that I ordered it. And that in fact, UPS never got a package, but only the paperwork to initiate the billing. Long story short, about a week later I received a replacement order (at no additional charge).
Well, I'm stuck in the same loop - again.
This time though, I'm more worried, because the package is a Christmas present. I thought I was ordering it with PLENTY of time, but now I'm nervous that they're going to mess me up.
I called and spoke to 2 different customer service representative from India, and got absolutely no where, other than empty assurances that I would 'definitely' receive my package this Monday... and if I don't get it by Wednesday to give them a call. Ya, real confidence there... You'll get it for sure on Monday unless you don't. Nice.
I also emailed the customer service, and also got the same response from another person with an Indian name, who really failed to address all my concerns in my email.
I'm SO frustrated with the entire country of India tonight. How can an entire country take over EVERY customer service phone-line of every major American company? Really Corporate America? You can't afford to pay American's to represent you to your American customers?
While usually, they are overly polite, all you have to do is 'challenge' their canned script once, and you immediately get their attitude.
Amazon.com... I expect more from you. In this day and age, to be told that your package has been shipped, but we have no idea where it is - is ridiculous.
I have little doubt, that with additional phone calls the problem will be straightened out, (hopefully in time for Christmas), it's the frustration level of dealing with people who speak poor English, and offer zero common sense solutions to a shipping problem.
I asked the woman... isn't there like a "level 2" customer support that I can talk to? And either she played dumb, or she again lied to me, she said no... if I called back, I'd just get to talk to another person from India who will tell me the exact same thing she did. Grrr.
I've learned now... unless the item is shipped and packed by Amazon.com (and not a third party) chances are high that I will have a problem. I'm very disappointed.

Venting...

Well, how do you work this blog thing again? It's been a long time. In fact, just today, (somewhere on the intertubes) I saw someone proclaiming the end of blogging! That Twitter has taken over (and that in a year or two, some other service will replace twitter = gasp). I have to say based on my experience, I don't think I'd go that far as to claim the end of blogging. I think it still serves a purpose, and (like this post) sometimes you need to have more than 140 characters to put out to the world.
First off... Happy Halloween! It's always been one of my favorite "holidays". I don't really celebrate it though... although this year I bought myself a .99¢ tiny pumpkin on a whim. But I don't hand out candy or anything like that. I live in an apartment complex, and to me, it's just not the same as a neighborhood. (old man alert) Back in MY day, we used to have to walk blocks and blocks (miles?) to get a good haul of candy. Nothing like wearing a plastic mask that his just legally shy of putting a plastic bag over your head, because the 'air holes' to breath through are large enough to prevent long lasting brain damage from lack of oxygen. Not to mention how you usually ended up dressing for the chilly weather, but never failed that by the third house, you were sweating to death! Ah... Good times :)

Ok, onto my rants today...
I pulled into my bank this morning to make a deposit, when MUCH to my surprise, they had changed the name and all the signage on the building! What the?! I pulled into the drive-thru and asked the 17 year old girl, is this still "my bank"? She said yes. I said "Is all my money still here?" She said yes. I asked "didn't they send out some sort of notice?" She simply shrugged her shoulders. Nice customer service there huh? I hesitantly gave her my paperwork, and they did deposit it, and from talking with my sister who went through a similar situation, It wasn't like this was uncommon for the days we live in. But still. So after I drove away, I asked a few friends and family members if they knew about the name change, and perhaps I just didn't pay attention? No. two people I talked to, had no idea either. k, now I'm a little miffed. I decided to pay the branch a visit on the way home to ask some questions (and basically to give them a hard time about not telling me). I got a bit more of a shoulder shrug, but still it was a half hearted explanation. Basically, they made it sound like "Oh, the bank sent out some notices in the recent statements that maybe you threw them out without looking at them". (I just got home and went through my recycle, and no - no notice!). I asked them for a 'copy' of this mythological notice... and big surprise, they didn't have any. After taking up about 10 minutes of their time, it basically came down to... we did it, nothing changed other than the name, and we're sry you didn't know about it, is there anything else I can help you with?
I'm not mad enough to withdraw all my money and switch banks over this. Too much of a hassel, and I suppose they know this. But still... just 'burns me up' that this is how banks and financial corporations treat their customers today. We're just peon's to them, and they could care less about us. I noticed... all 5 of the people behind the desk today were under the age of 20. That's just sad.

Rant #2...
I know, this is getting long. I'll try to keep it short.
I've got a new enemy. I'm kinda proud, that overall, I have no personal enemies in my life. I still hold a few grudges against some people (like from 20 years ago, that I never see anymore). But as of last week, I have a new enemy. My neighbor. It is ashame in a way. I wasn't close or anything like that, but I always helped her out. I called and stayed with her the time she locked her self out of her apartment, I helped her carry heavy furniture in for her, I even tried to fix her computer, and I've never asked her for anything, except one time long ago, I asked her to turn her music down. Well, that's what triggered all this again. Last Sat, she had people over, and from about 8pm, til 11:40 she was playing her music loud. It bothered me, but I figured, I didn't want to be a grouch about it. It's Sat night, people were over, etc... I didn't say anything. But then... it happened again on Tuesday night. I had a rough day, and just wanted to come home and relax, but instead was met with the loud thumping of Latino bongos. I went down and asked her to turn it down. She did... for about 3 minutes, then to my surprise she turned it back up again. Nice. I thought of starting up my speakers, and all, but figured, no... that's what they want is to get a rise out of me. So I didn't say anything, or retaliate in any way.
Well, I bumpped into her again tonight on the way in. I asked her flat out... why did she turn the music back up? She said "I checked with the office, and 'quiet time' is from 10am til 10pm" So basically a big "screw you". So trust me... I'll be heading back up to the office to confirm this (I suspect she's wrong). And I'll file a complaint. I also won't give her the time of day anymore. Mess with the bull, you get the horns! Some people. If nothing else, this is yet another reason, to motivate me to start looking for a new place to live. (not like I need another reason, I've got plenty). I just hate to have to spend more money to rent a place.

Ok, rants over. See... none of the above would have fit in 140 charaters on twitter ;)

Lowes Customer Service follow-up

A few days ago, I posted a rant about my experience at a local Lowes and the frustration I had in finding some wire. Well, this morning someone "anonymous" left a response that made it sound like he/she worked there. For all I know, this was left by a Home Depot employee trying to make Lowes look bad. I was all set to give a point by point rebuttal to this person's comment but instead I think I'll just re-post it here and let it speak for itself. Let's just say that if this came from a Lowes employee, that it simply reinforces my decision to not shop there.

Anonymous said... i think you guys are lazy. when you mentioned the computer system, we can not just type in anything and it will tell us where it is, it would only give the price. Have you ever stoped to wonder perhaps the customer service ass. was new? so she got an aisle wrong? have you ever stopped and looked around to see how many products we sell, it is impossible to know where every thing is and what everything does. i think the customer service ass. was correct in sending you to the wire aile. and when the wire ass. was never paged, i call people on their portable phones all the time, to tell them they have a customer coming, perhaps that is why you never heard them page. and maybe they only had one ass. who knew about wire, is it not possible that while you were waiting for 10 min, maybe they were with another cusomer who had asked a question earlier. why not be a little more paitent? id like to see you try and work at lowes for one week and see how many mistakes you make. try to stop blameing everything on the world around you. you obviously had an idea of what you wanted, why not do something for your self instead of having people do everything for you?

Tech Tags: lowes Customer+service

Lowes Customer Service

So I've decided to attempt another robot build. My first attempt at what is called a beambot was a failure. I found the instructions confusing and must have either mixed it up, or fried something because not matter how many times I re-wire the little bot, it just don't work.
But I've got a new project in the works... It's called a mousebot. Similar to a beambot in several ways, but a little more bulky. So I found that I needed some wire (22 gauge single strand, and 22 gauge braided). It used to be that I'd head over to my local RadioShack, but they pretty much only sell cellphones, crappy radios, and crappy tv's. Where can one go to get wire? So I thought I'd head to Home Depot. On my way, I realized I was going to pass a Lowes. I thought, I might as well stop in to see if they have it, because I had looked a while ago at HomeDepot and nothing jumped at me that they would have this specific wire.
I went to the information desk...
Can I help you?
Sure... I'm getting ready to work on a small electronics project and I need some wire - 22 gauge to be specific.
Blank stare. You want wire?
Yes, but not like to wire a house, it's small wire like for soldering.
(She looks over to her supervisor, who apparently heard me)
Well, if we have it, it should be in with all the other wire (I assumed he meant the housing wire). I think it's in Aisle 18, I'll have them page someone because it's on big rolls, and they'll need to cut it for you.
(I was going to re-iterate that I wanted this for a small project, but I figured this was the best I was going to get. I wondered to myself, don't you guy's have computers that you can type in "22 gauge wire" and see what comes up?)
So I head off to Aisle 18. I get there and guess what... It's all wood. Ok, I start back tracking.
Finally I find it in Aisle 14. I look at all the various wire and I don't see anything close to what I need. I start to think, maybe I should just wing it, and get some speaker wire, or something. But no... I want 22 guage wire. So I see two Lowes employees standing by a computer talking about some forms they had. After a few minutes, the guy looks up at me standing there and says "can I help you?"
I ask if there is anyone around who can help me with the wire. (The original information desk never paged him). So the woman gets on the phone and pages Drew - Call extension xxxx. So I wait.... and wait... and then I start wandering around the aisle. Finally after about 10 minutes, I say, this is ridiculous. I go back to the desk where they were still talking about the forms.
Excuse me, is there a RadioShack near here?
Yes, there's one just a few stores down. (She seemed to be so happy to have given me an answer that she knew).
I say thank you and start to walk away.
It hits the woman... Drew never called or showed up.
She asks me, Did Drew ever show up?
I turned and said... nope, and proceeded to walk away.
And guess what... RadioShack had it! I probably paid 3x the amount I could have gotten it for online, but I got it and I'm happy.
Shame on you Lowes. You lost this customer, and next time I'll go either straight to RadioShack, or HomeDepot (or the internet).

On a totally unrelated note... I found this post online yesterday about some sort of miracle cure for a sore throat! (I'm not a doctor! Consult with a real doctor if you're looking for medical advice). This home remedy said to gargle with warm water with a teaspoon of Cayanne Pepper (Salt optional). I'll have to try it as this guy had phenomenal results.

Tech Tags: Customer+service lowes home+depot homedepot Radioshack consumerist.com