| Address: Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, 201301 |
| Website: www.amazon.in |
I am quoting below the mail that i have sent to jeff bezos which contain all the information about the issue. Please note that the issue here is not about the product but about amazons policies and service and its mistreatment of the customers.
Dear sir,
I’ve been a customer of amazon for about a year now and have placed multiple orders. However, in this particular instance, i’ve had such a horrible experience of ordering with amazon that has left me wondering if amazon has also gone the flipkart route in india of not delivering on anything that it promises. The case in point is regarding order#[protected] for which i’ve contacted amazon so many times that the time i’ve spent on calls and chats is probably more than the time i would have needed to go to the market and buy the product from there. Even so, i still decided to spend time on writing this email to you describing the happenings in this particular order because i am tired of being repeatedly lied to and contradicted by different members of the amazon team. You might already have it all on records in any case through multiple calls and chats that i’ve had with amazon representatives but i’d like to state the basic issue one more time for you to understand while clearly everyone else from amazon has failed to do so.
I had first contacted amazon about a particular mobile sometime last week asking if i can order 2 of the same item (Which has limit of 1 item per customer) as i wanted to gift 2 phones to my parents. I was told that i’ll have to contact the seller directly and will wait for 3-4 days but it can happen. I, however, wanted the delivery sooner as i had to take the phones to my parents place by myself. So i placed an order for 2 different phones and phone covers on 15th july. Also, since the items are not available at my zip code, i asked a colleague of mine and placed the order at his address who would then bring the items to me in the office. What happened after that is as below:
19th july, 4:00 pm: delivery of 1 item attempted. Could not be delivered as the house was closed. I asked the delivery person if the delivery could be made before noon the next day. He said that it will be done.
19th july, 5:00 pm: delivery of second item attempted. Same thing happened as above with the same assurance.
19th july, 7-8 pm: i contacted amazon customer care representative regarding missed delivery. I was told that the item will be delivered the next day before noon.
I asked my friend to stay at his home till noon and come to office after that so that he can receive the items for sure.
20th july: no delivery attempted/no contact made by anyone
20th july, 7:30 pm: contacted amazon customer care representative again and asked about the status. Was told the delivery will be made the next day. Again, i could not ask my colleague to stay back at home every day so i asked the representative that since there are a total of 4 items to be delivered (All from 1 order and split into 4 packages) and all are to be anyways delivered by friday, 22nd july, can all the packages be delivered on friday before noon. That way, i told him, that i’ll not have to ask my friend to stay back waiting for the package on 2 days. I was told that the courier team (Ats) has been contacted it will be done.
21st july, 8 pm: i saw that the status on 2 of the items has been updated on the website as ‘pickup scheduled with the courier’. Again contacted amazon on chat and asked about it. I was told that it’s just reported that way and the packages will be delivered to the given address by noon. I requested if all the packages can be delivered at once but i was told that there are multiple courier centres and it cannot be assured that all the packages be delivered together but they will be delivered before noon for sure. I was fine with 4 different packages as long as they were being delivered before noon. I repeatedly told the representative about the requirement of it to be delivered before noon being because of me being in noida where my colleague would bring the gift items from his home in delhi where the delivery is being made. I had to leave for my parents place at 7 in the evening from noida and could only take the items if they were delivered before noon on friday, 22nd july. I was assured it will be done and that i am worrying unnecessarily.
22nd july, 9 am: none of the items were out for delivery yet. Called up amazon customer care this time. Reminded that the package as to be delivered by noon and was again assured that it will be done. Was told that i’ll receive update about out for delivery in half an hour. Was also told to not worry and that it’ll be done. And that courier has been contacted and informed about it being a high priority delivery.
22nd july, 9:15 am: true to amazons word, got a message regarding out for delivery with the delivery persons phone number. Only problem is that the phone number was incorrect. The person at the other end was not a delivery person and not from amazon either.
22nd july, 9:20 am: contacted amazon again telling about the issue. Was told again that it must have been some mistake. Was confirmed this time that the package will be delivered before 11:30 am. I was told to not worry about the package and that i’ll just receive the call from the person when he is at the doorstep around 11 am.
22nd july, 11:30 am: still no sign of any delivery person so contacted amazon again. This time i was told that ‘we can never assure anyone of any time frame of delivery. I apologize that someone promised you so but we can only have the delivery by 8 pm. We cannot do anything about that.’ then i was told about the procedure of how contacting the courier team works and how the person will follow a map and cannot make an exception and in fact cannot be contacted at all about making a ‘priority’ delivery. Soon after i was asked if i’d like to change the address of delivery and that the item could be delivered to that address today itself without ever explaining how amazon can contact the person about a new address but not about a timely delivery. I was told to wait for just a little bit longer in any case.
22nd july 1 pm: after asking my friend to wait back for one more hour and not come to office before 1 pm, the item was still not delivered and i contacted amazon again. Again i was repeatedly told that amazon does not have a policy of making any promises and they have no idea why someone did so. And this is all being told to me when all the promises made by previous representatives did not come true. After telling the representative 4-5 times that the address is now closed and that there is no one to receive that item there anymore, i was being told that amazon will make sure that i receive the package before 8 pm. I don’t know why there was an issue with the simple understanding that an order cannot be delivered to a closed door.
22nd july 4 pm: delivery was finally attempted (All 4 items by 1 person). As expected, there was no one at home. The delivery person called me up and upon asking him he specifically said that he was not informed about any time requirement for the delivery. He was not contacted by anyone regarding delivery before noon. So clearly, either amazon representatives lied about having conveyed it to the delivery person or he lied about not being told.In all, it was amazon team lying to me as a whole.
22nd july 6:15 pm: being really set off by repeated contradicting statements from different people at amazon, called up amazon again and talked to a senior executive hoping someone can explain to me why amazon is giving me contradictory statements. I was again burdened with plethora of apologies and excuses and statements regarding the procedure – the very same one in which the customer has to call up amazon and ask them to make sure the package is out for delivery – and all the diplomatic statements. Tired of being harassed so much and getting late for my departure from noida, i left.
23rd july, 6 am: receive messages for 3 items being out for delivery.
23rd july 8 am: i contact amazon again regarding why the fourth package is not out for delivery. I was told that probably the status has not been updated and that they have requested for the status to be updated. I was again told a number of things ranging from procedural limitations to ‘there being some problems off late with amazons courier service’ - which frankly is not my concern as a customer.In between the 1 hour call, i somehow got messages regarding the contact details of people delivering my 3 items – this time again 2 different people are delivering it even though i’ve requested them to be delivered together and all the packages are clearly being sent from the same centre and could have been sent together just like yesterday. After being told that amazon customer care representatives do not have the contact details of the courier centres or the delivery people, i provided the representative with the phone number of the delivery person as contacted to me. I was put on hold and was told that they have been personally informed to deliver the 3 items before noon today. Also, i was told that even though the estimated delivery date as already passed, there is yet another delivery date that amazon has in mind and that my items will be delivered before 16t july for sure. Also, i was told to wait and see till noon today about the 3 packages and was told that i will definitely get a call regarding the status of the 4th item as well.
23rd july 9:30 am: i contacted the delivery person and was again told that he will deliver before noon but that he was definitely not contacted by anyone regarding the package delivery before noon. So again, either the senior executive from customer care lied as well or the delivery person lied again. The senior executive that i talked to today had verbatim confirmed me that he had talked to the delivery person on phone and confirmed delivery before noon. This is when i got frustrated and started writing this mail.
As of now, it’s noon here. 2 of the items have been delivered. 1 item is still out for delivery and will most probably go back because no one will be at home after this. I am still waiting for update on 1 item which was originally supposed to be delivered before noon on 20th july.
Dear sir, i do not know what amazon’s policy is and what is not. I do know that amazon promised me certain things – knowingly/unknowingly, wrongly/rightly – which were never fulfilled. Moreover, amazon later denied having made any such promises. Also, either the customer care representatives or the delivery team is clearly lying to me. But for me the entire procedural setup – even including the part where i have to get in and inform that my items are not being delivered – belongs to amazon. There is not even a third party involved in the same. And still, i’ve heard so many versions for the same policies that i do not know what to believe in.
I had asked a simple question to your representatives yesterday and i am asking the same to you. I am not even in noida anymore right now which is close to delhi. I am at my parents place where i come once in 3-4 months. I am in my first salaried job and i wanted to gift my parents something. I had even told them that i have ordered mobiles for them and i’ll be bringing them with me. Now, if amazon representatives had told me on 19th july itself that they cannot guarantee delivery before noon on any day, i’d have cancelled the order. I do not have a lot of money to spend so i’d have received my refund by friday morning and would have gone to a local store and bought the gift for my parents. But i was promised that it will be done. And i was promised the same even till friday morning 9:30 am. I am right now at my parents place and don’t have the gift i promised them. I don’t know about amazons policies but as superficial as it may sound to you, i’d have liked to stick to my promise i made to my parents. Even if i cancel the order now, there are no shops here at my parents place where i can buy good mobiles from. Amazon does not deliver these items to this small town because of some policies i am not concerned with. The only option that i am left with is to go back to noida, get the item from my friend when and if he gets it and then probably send the same to my parents via courier. I am not very convinced about sending such costly things via courier and i am sure you understand because amazon does not deliver such costly things at that zip code as well. When a multi-billion dollar company like amazon does not want to deliver such high priced things to a remote zip code, how can i be convinced to risk this amount from my multi-thousand savings? Even if i do send it to them via courier, i’d have still liked to see their expressions when i give them the first gift from my own earnings. Thanks to amazon that is definitely ruled out. Sir, what is a customer supposed to do in such a case when very clearly amazon could have been clear upfront instead of making false promises which apparently could not have been made in the first place? What is a customer supposed to do when he has pro-actively been contacting amazon regarding the packages to make sure they are even sent for delivery and yet the customer is being played around by the delivery team and the customer care team? What is a customer supposed to do when a company that calls itself the most customer centric company changes its stance the moment it fails to deliver on its promises? I have been told a number of times since yesterday that i can cancel the order and get the refund and yes i do value my money a lot but what would i do with the money when it can’t be used for the simple act of wanting to gift your parents something? I don’t need to be told that i can cancel the order and get a refund – that is obvious – but i instead need to know on what basis does amazon decides it’s policies regarding making promises to customers and what it means with being customer centric when it can’t deliver such a small promise on the part of amazon – and yet which means a lot to the customer - for 4 days straight?
I apologize if at any point during the entire process and in writing this mail i’ve offended anyone or made any mistake. I also apologize to the customer care representatives who i have used a harsh tone with because they were still doing their jobs and telling me things that they have been trained to say with whatever limited resources they have. I do not wish this to be a complaint against an individual having made any false promises but about amazon not being clear about what it can promise and what not.
Amazon India customer support has been notified about the posted complaint.
