When I got Kindell the Kindle, I immedately bought a cover to keep him safe. Of course, I went to Amazon, my all time favorite store! I picked a beautiful red one - my favorite color. The day after I placed my order, I got a confirmation email that my item had shipped already - how exciting!!!
So, I spent the next two weeks running to the mailbox everyday: did it come today? Is it here yet??? Well, it never was... After such huge daily disappointments, I went back to my order confirmation and then the shipping notice. There was nothing to suggest any kind of delivery delay, but I did notice there was no tracking information. Hmmm.... what's up with this, I wondered...
After a few more weeks of it not arriving, I tried to contact the vendor. There was a long distance (of course) phone number, and not toll free, but when I called all I got was a recorded message advising that packages travel from overseas and often take weeks to arrive! This is the FIRST I was hearing of this! Just to make sure, I went back & reverified the information I had, includiing researching other items for sale by the same vendor & can find NOTHING to let the buyer know it's an international purchase. Even more frustrating is that once the recorded message ran its course, the call is disconnected - there is no opportunity to leave a message or any additional information on how to reach the vendor. So frustrating!!!
I can be tenacious and after I researched the seller online outside of Amazon in search of some contact information, I sent a message to the seller through Amazon's "contact seller." I never heard back. My last recourse was to reach out to Amazon. They were soooo helpful but said they could not get involved until 3 months had passed. At this point, I only needed to wait 2 weeks to hit that mark. Incredibly, after 3 months, the package had still not arrived, and I still had no further information from the vendor. True to their word, Amazon stepped in on my behalf and contacted the vendor through their means. They confirmed the package had been shipped, but there was no tracking information because the vendor sent it regular mail. Aaarrrggghhh! So... if it's lost in the mail there's no recourse? There's no way to find out where it is right now??? How close, how far? Delivered, mis-delivered, left with a neighbor, sent to a wrong address, waiting @ a post office in another state or right around the corner? Better yet, if it finally arrives but I say it didn't, then the vendor cannot prove otherwise? You know, this really just doesn't seem like good business (common) sense to me!
But, you know, about a week later, it did arrive! Finally, and I was a happy girl, but this customer service faux pas just didn't sit well with me. When I got the email request for feedback, I gave it. Yep, my honest opinion.
A few days later, the company emailed me and asked me to remove my negative feedback. I refused. They apologized but I said, "not good enough." I explained that while I would never do business with them again, they needed to make some changes for their other customers, namely, identifying themselves as an international company, to send their packages via a trackable method AND to provide a means for customers to contact them directly, not just some bogus state-side message that asked for continued patience! They promised to make changes, now would I please retract my negative feedback. Um, nope! So, they appealed to my logical side. My pocket book. They offered to refund me in full. I declined, again. They offered AGAIN. I asked them if they'd make the changes I requested. They promised they would. I pondered it for a few days, then relented. Yeah, I sold out and deleted my feedback. Before you can do that, Amazon wants to confirm the retraction is of your own free will and not because of pressure from the seller. I just hate to lie! I didn't know what to do... I wanted Amazon to know that the seller had pressured me, but I had given my word to the vendor that I'd delete the negative comment. My inner conflict was decided by posting a blog about the whole thing.
I don't feel good about my decision, even though I ended up getting the cover for free. I think I'd rather have spent the money and had an honest transaction. Blogging about it doesn't help me feel any better. Yeah, to answer my own question, I did sell out.
~sigh~
