The Pain of Ordering Online

Let me start by saying the following:

• I LOVE ordering online most of the time. You can get great deals, better selection than most stores, and the product comes right to your home. It's a great time saver and you can usually find free shipping deals that eliminate that issue from the decision-making process.
• I did most of my Christmas shopping this year online. Soooooooo convenient and kept me out of the packed stores.
• In particular, I like Amazon. I can always find what I want there, it's at a good price, and they get it to me relatively quickly.

All those said, I have a rant coming. Exit now if you don't want to hear it.

I ordered an audio book from Amazon the other day and they ship it to me a few days later. It came in a cardboard envelope (not a box) and when I got it, it was CRUSHED! Not the CD itself (I'm assuming it was ok, I didn't open the CD package), but the flimsy package of the audio book was crushed. And who would expect anything different? It was put into a cardboard envelope that probably pushed on the product even before it was shipped. Then, with the handling caused by shipping, there's no wonder that it was damaged. Who packed this thing anyway, a five-year-old?

Now comes the pain of ordering online -- the dreaded return (actually an exchange as I wanted a new one). If this was a store, I would have to drive back, so in that way, the pain of getting a return authorization, packing the item back up, and getting it sent back isn't that much different. Then again, if I bought an audio book at a store, I could see that it's not crushed. It's just a useless waste of time and effort and one I don't appreciate from any retailer.

Furthermore, try TALKING to anyone at Amazon (or emailing them). Just try. Your chances are better of breaching Fort Knox. Amazon has set up a system designed so it's very difficult, if not impossible, to have a conversation with a person. What sort of conversation would I like to have with them? Consider these facts:

• The product is not saleable. There's no way that anyone will buy it at anywhere near retail.
• They're going to have to pay to have it shipped back.
• They're going to have to pay to ship me a new one.

So if the product is worth half of its $15 cost, then it's now worth $7.50. And if you deduct $3 for shipping it back and another $3 for shipping me the new one, the net value to Amazon of going through all of this is $1.50.

What about me having a conversation with them, detailing the above, and us reaching some sort of compromise? If I agree to keep the damaged (but, I assume, still working) product, how about they refund part of my purchase price? Anything they would get above $1.50 is a better deal for them than the process detailed above. But try talking to someone there about this -- just try. Nope, not gonna happen.

If I saw a damaged product in a store, I'd ask for a discount and odds are I would get one. But how do you do this with Amazon and other online retailers? You can't.

Now the glitch is that if they actually did this some people would be calling in and claiming their product was damaged when it really wasn't. Or if Amazon required a photo to back up such a claim, maybe the buyer would damage the product themself to try and get a discount. This is probably why they don't make such offers. But still, in my case, when the product was so blatantly mis-packed -- don't they have some sort of exception to develop a win-win solution for the issue?

As I processed the exchange I left them feedback in a couple of places about the packaging, so they know what happened. What did I get back? A canned email response. It left me less than heart-warmed, as you can tell.

Amazon does have one of the least painless systems for returning items. However, there was an even better solution than a return in my case. And I'm not happy about the fact that it wasn't an option I could pursue.

Ok, I feel much better now... ;-)

Comments

[KH]

Shipping is the price you pay for those great deals online. You'd pay more to buy that product in a brick and morter store that you could return to and talk to someone at etc.

My policy is--for cheap stuff (ie your audiobook), if it comes damaged I just eat the cost. You are right--you don't get anything out of trying to send it back. For example, Amazon accidentally sent me (& charged me for) two identical paperback novels when I'd only ordered one for a Christmas present. I just kept it & gave it to a different kid when the opportunity presented itself.

But Amazon did take back an expensive electric lawn mower that I'd purchased----30 days after I'd received it, and after I'd used it several times. It developed a short or something and the mortor would die after 30-90 seconds. I did not even have the packing crate anymore, yet they sent someone to pick it up and I got my money back! I happily paid for the $100 shipping--because it saved me almost $500 that I would have had to pay for this inferior product.

I like it that Amazon doesn't have a phone number for customer service---I don't want to have to sit on hold forever to get help. Just send an email and then just check back at the site a day or two later (I also don't allow them to email me--really cuts down on the spam.)

I order from a couple other companies online--women's clothing stores mostly--and the ones that make returns difficult don't get my repeat business. I like J Crew because you can send anything back with the postage paid sticker included with each order. Sure, you still have to pay shipping (it is deducted from your refund), but I really appreciate not having to stand in line at the post office waiting for the package to get weighed so I can mail it. Just put the sticker on and mail it by dumping it in the package intake--very simple.

I guess I don't understand why people grump about having to pay shipping when they shop online. It seems like a minor amount to me, in return for all the convenience. & I can see why a company who paid for shipping might quickly go broke.

[Brian]

One of the key things to remember about Amazon: It's not one big store. There are a bunch of little sellers that use Amazon to market their products. So each buying experience is a new and thrilling adventure.

I had a similar experience with one seller. I ordered a fancy pen as a gift and got the wrong one (and used to boot!). However, I did contact the seller using Amazon's tools and he was more than happy to make things right.

[Delphine]

I've returned products on Amazon, and one of the sellers gave me a partial refund because the item arrived late.

The thing I had a problem with is without Amazon Prime, the person making the returns would have to pay for the shipping cost. I've since signed up for Amazon Prime (share the account with 3 family members, paying $20 each a year) and eliminated the problem.

[SajitK]

Audio books on Amazon - nearly always the original cover is crushed. I buy audio books often ther, I have made peace with this. The CDs play fine though (dont count on displaying your audio book collection tho).

[JM]

Um, it's very easy to talk to someone at Amazon. They even have it set up so you can have a CS rep call YOU.

[FMF]

JM --

Ok, please give me the details.

[jim]

"If I agree to keep the damaged (but, I assume, still working) product, how about they refund part of my purchase price?"

I think they might not agree to that because of the fraudulent claims they get. You'd be surprised how often people try to lie their way to free stuff. You're of course telling the truth but what if Amazon automatically refunded money without return of damaged items? Then people would catch on and make claims of damaged items when there is no damage and get some free money out of Amazon.

[Mark]

Couple of comments:
1. Why not look into other ways to get audiobooks? I always hear great things about Audible. Or possibly iTunes? For something like an Audiobook you could probably pay the same and get instant gratification of having what you want in minutes.
2. Sounds like a problem with Amazon's customer service. They probably could do a better job in that department, I had something similar once where something I bought was $10 cheaper a few days later. Apparently they don't 'price-match' themselves, and I would have had to return and rebuy the item if I wanted to save $10. I didn't go through the trouble, but they lost a few points in my book there. The tough part is they are usually the winner on price 90% of the time, so you take the good with the bad I suppose.

[Cam]

A little more than a year ago, I received a package from Amazon that looked like someone had played soccer with it. It was impressively damaged, and the hardback book inside was scratched, dented, and the book jacket was ripped. This was a schoolbook for me, so I didn't care how it looked, but I wasn't going to pay full price for a copy in bad shape. When I put in a request for refund/reship on their site, I said just that, and that I wouldn't mind keeping the book and not wasting the shipping, etc. They emailed back and said I had the option to send the book back and get a pristine copy, or I could take a 15% discount on the book. So they do have the ability to refund part of your price...or they did a year ago!

[M in TX]

Amazon has received a bunch of flack in recent years about the waste in packaging and shipping materials -- using huge boxes to ship out flash drives, etc. I know they've gone through a conscious effort to reduce their packaging and shipping containers. I think they even offer "no packaging" options for those who detest trying to open those child-proof clamshell cases. In this case, it sounds like their efforts went a little too far with their shipping material efficiencies. Ooops.

[Budgeting in the Fun Stuff]

You are a better consumer than me...a few things I ordered at Christmas came smushed, but the CD's worked, so I blew it off. I'm lazy...

[Voshney]

I need to talk to people on the phone but Amazon does an excellent job responding back to emails within an hour or so

[Old Limey]

Amazon.com has a return policy called "A to z" that guarantees your complete satisfaction on any product offered for sale on their website. I used it once to obtain a 100% refund on a book purchase that was never shipped, and of course, never received.

eBay is also very good indeed on refunds for items paid for using PayPal.

The other way you can get satisfaction is to open a dispute with your credit card company - that also will work well if you have proof that something was not received, was damaged, or misrepresented.

The only time you could have a real problem is if you have a tracking number from USPS, UPS, or FEDEX that clearly shows that an item was delivered to your address but you never received it. The seller's conclusion is that it may have been stolen off your front porch. This has never happened to me but I live at the end of a very quiet little court in an area of very nice homes, with no pedestrian traffic, neither of us work, and we have a large urn containing flowers on the porch, behind which packages can be left where they are not visible from the street.

In 33 years at this address I have never had a single letter or package go astray, occasionally a letter gets left in a neighbor's mailbox but that is soon rectified.