Posted by Bezos was smart to take the money and run.
But it is something I look for: service so bad it is illegal.
Amazon is a scam company and the leader in an industry filled with it. This explains my inside familiarity. I have learned to take my online purchases of hundreds of dollars a month elsewhere.
With Amazon it starts with geographically dispersed–we are all supposed to be impressed–employees or representatives hiding behind a Seattle 206 number. Their only function is to sit at a computer and say no. The “system” (their word) knows everything, so all they have to do is regurgitate. They are unrecorded and unsupervised; they are unfamiliar with the U.S. market and its consumers, as well as applicable laws; English is often a second language. A main reason they are there is they are cheap and they want the relatively menial jobs, but the much larger purpose is they are malleable–no matter what, they will support the company line. They are hired as a blank slate, with no knowledge other than what they are told. The Amazon name as a huge American company has appeal.
They don’t have email addresses or direct phone numbers. They are not allowed to make outgoing calls. The foreign assistants are not empowered to do anything and that is not surprising given their at-home or wherever loose affiliation with management and the rest of the company. The policy I have observed is they are allowed to send one email through a blind address–patronizing, not helpful boilerplate–but they are not allowed to respond to a reply. It goes through, they and others can see it, but it is only about customers helping them instead of them helping customers. There is no dialog, individual effort, or equitable solution; “here is what I did” or nothing at all. A feeble offer to rate the experience may follow.
I don’t think the experience is different for paying Prime members. Perhaps what is driving me is when I asked for an English speaker or someone in the U.S. The woman I in Washington state was outstanding; she seemed to understand my location in the Rocky Mountain foothills, she was experienced with my problem of showing up with two items and one label (a problem neither she or anyone else since has corrected), and she simply offered me the $200 in rugs free. It was so surprising I regressed into accepting labels for an anywhere drop-off as I am used to. I’m not looking for anything free or for special treatment, but I do take the position that I speak for others too, so you should listen to me.
It is not that Americans won’t do it, it is that Amazon must be a terrible place to work. Everyone employed there must know they are basically package pushers and reading between the lines for more is a fool’s game. It is the way they are organized and managed and it is 100% intentional. Incidents where it comes to light are not accidents and nothing is for the first or only time. Disperse it get rid of it and move on should be the motto.
Where I live (Colorado), it is illegal.
This is an indication of the arrogance: “What language am I speaking?” was the reply.