Prime Stupidity
I was recently beyond excited when Amazon launched its “Prime” service for Canadians. It’s a no brainer ~ $80/year and you get free two-day shipping. It really doesn’t take much ordering to justify the membership fee. I immediately signed up for a trial.
I placed several orders and was more than happy with the service… Until such time as I used the ‘1 click’ option from mobile.
Call me old-fashioned, but when a button says “Two-Day: 1-Click — Free” I expect free shipping.
When I noticed the regular non-prime shipping cost with this order, I sent the following e-mail:
Why is this order showing a charge of $6.48 for the 2-day shipping? I’m currently on the Prime trial – 2-day shipping should be free!
Before I got a reply, I cancelled the order and placed it again on-line.
Nonetheless, in a timely fashion the following response came in:
Hello from Amazon.ca.
I’m sorry for any inconvenience caused you.
Due to some technical error, you have been charged for shipping though you subscribed Prime trial for this order#702-2037823-2174660. I apologize for this inconvenience.
Also, I’ve researched your order, #702-2037823-2174660, and can verify that it was cancelled and you haven’t been charged for it. An authorization may be visible on your account, but (depending upon the policies of your bank) this should be removed shortly.
However, I’ve verified that you’ve placed a new order#702-0311141-2751459 for the ” One for the Money / La prime (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)” yourself through Your Account after we received an e-mail message from you.
I’ve see that you haven’t been charged nay shipping charges for this order.
For your reference, here is the order cost details:
Subtotal: CDN$ 14.83
Shipping
&
Handling: CDN$ 0.00
GST : CDN$ 0.74
PST : CDN$ 0.00
—————————–
Order
Total : CDN$ 15.57
—————————–You can view the update to your order here:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/css/summary/edit.html?orderID=702-0311141-2751459
If you still have any questions or do need to contact us in the future, you may send us an e-mail via this online form:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html
Again, I apologize for any inconvenience caused you.
Thanks for shopping at Amazon.ca. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Did we answer your question?
If yes, please click here:
http://www.amazon.ca/rsvp-y?c=yfuacbuw3491382358If not, please click here:
http://www.amazon.ca/rsvp-n?c=yfuacbuw3491382358&q=caffPlease note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.
To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.
Best regards,
Kavin G.
Amazon.ca
Your feedback is helping us build Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company.
http://www.amazon.ca
Cool! Timely response, one time glitch… No problemo, it happens. Let’s move on with our respective lives.
…and then later I ordered another item via my iPhone and the 1-click button and the same issue recurred… Alright, let’s send another e-mail… This time I’m a little bit more annoyed:
Twice I’ve used 1-click shopping from my iPhone to order an item that qualifies for free 2-day shipping with to Amazon Prime.
On both orders I’ve had to go back, cancel the order and place it on a desktop browser as both orders had shipping charges.
The first time, I wrote an e-mail and we agreed it was a strange one-time glitch.
The 2nd time (just now) is more annoying. I shouldn’t have to babysit this. I’m still a trial user of Prime and intend to let it renew. I can see it has incredible value… but this kind of thing needs to be fixed… I want to go click happy and buy items without having to audit the results. Kind of ridiculous.
Thanks.
Once again, in a timely fashion, I receive the following courteous response, I’m still more or less happy:
Hello Denis,
I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you in using our website.
I will need to look into the problem with error in the shipping charges for prime subscription, and it’ll take a bit more time than usual.
I just wanted to let you know I’ll write back in 2-3 business days with more information regarding this.
Thanks for giving me time to find the best solution.
Did we answer your question?
If yes, please click here:
http://www.amazon.ca/rsvp-y?c=cecaawcw3522775809If not, please click here:
http://www.amazon.ca/rsvp-n?c=cecaawcw3522775809&q=caffPlease note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.
To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.
Best regards,
Loojence
Amazon.ca
Your feedback is helping us build Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company.
http://www.amazon.ca
A reasonable amount of time passes… I then receive the following follow-up (added emphasis is mine):
Hello Denis,
This is to followup the recent conversation that we had regarding the shipping charge issue for 1-Click purchases.
I have checked with our technical team and confirm that there is no problem form our side.. I also confirmed that, to make sure your Amazon Prime membership benefits always apply to your order, we encourage you to make the Two-Day Shipping as default shipping method in the 1-Click settings.
If you wish, you can update your 1-Click settings to ensure that the default shipping method is Two-Day Shipping for all 1-Click orders. However, please be aware that this will also apply Two-Day Shipping to 1-Click orders placed for items not eligible for Prime and appropriate shipping charges will apply.
If you want to change your 1-Click settings, click the “Your Account” link on the top right-hand side of the Amazon.ca homepage. Go to the Settings section and select “1-Click Settings” under the Account Settings heading.
Again, I would like to apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced and express our gratitude for the patience you’ve displayed thus far.
Thanks for giving me time to find the solution. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Did we answer your question?
If yes, please click here:
http://www.amazon.ca/rsvp-y?c=byeavyvw3522252002If not, please click here:
http://www.amazon.ca/rsvp-n?c=byeavyvw3522252002&q=caffPlease note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.
To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.
Best regards,
Loojence
Amazon.ca
Your feedback is helping us build Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company.
http://www.amazon.ca
How is there not a problem?! I clicked the 2-day free shipping. I was charged for shipping. That’s a problem! Unfortunately, you can’t just reply to their e-mails and maintain continuity, instead I clicked the link indicating my problem has not been solved and wrote:
Feedback from recent trouble ticket just pretends this problem didn’t exist and suggested I change my default settings.
I disagree. If I click a button that says “Free 2-day shipping” I expect free 2-day shipping.
Unimpressive follow-up.
One last time, in a prompt, courteous but equally useless fashion, I receive a reply:
Hello from Amazon.ca,
I’m sorry; your package won’t be delivered on the weekend. There’s no weekend service for our Express, Priority, Two-Day, or One-Day delivery options. Canada Post and Xpresspost operate Monday through Friday, and do not make deliveries or pickups from the fulfilment centre on the weekends.
I apologize if this was not made clear on our website. For future reference, you’ll find a detailed description of our shipping options on our website at this URL:
http://www.amazon.ca/help/shipping
Again, I’m sorry for any inconvenience that caused you.
We hope to see you again soon.
I can totally see how my statement could have been misconstrued. I certainly hoped there would be more context around their system for these kinds of follow-ups, however!
At this point, I throw my hands up in the air, give up and write a bitchy blog post… Perhaps it will receive the attention from someone who cares enough to look into this issue further.
I’ll even tweet this, hang on a sec…
Hey @amazon, fix your 1-click free Prime shipping, please! denis.lemire.name/2013/02/05/pri…
— Denis Lemire (@denislemire) February 6, 2013
Done!