I am a regular purchaser of books from Amazon. I have made nearly a dozen purchases and have been impressed by the service that I have been given. However, I'd like to draw your attention to one time (the most recent) when I ordered a book. The book was Microsoft Frontpage 2000 Unleashed published by SAMS. The price was cheaper than anywhere else I had seen it and so decided that I would buy, especially as the delivery time was "normally 2-3 days". (this was good because I was needed some fast help for my web site). 7 days later my book hadn't been delivered so I checked out the cool "where's my order" part of the web site and found that it was still on its way. I consoled myself with the fact that I had saved £15 on the rrp.
Three days later a package was delivered - but to my horror it was the WRONG BOOK!!! I doubled checked that I hadn't ordered this book instead of the one that I wanted and it turned out that I was right and they had sent the wrong book. Well, after a few calls to an "bad attitude" customer service rep and after they had told me that the book that I really wanted would take another 10 days I decided to cancel the order and request that my credit card be refunded.
I still needed the book! I called my local book store "Baytree Books" in Waterlooville - they ordered it and the next day it was ready to be picked up.
So what did I gain? What did I loose? I lost my confidence in Amazon for one - although it has to be said that on all the other occasions my orders were completed on time and without mistakes. The attitude of the sales rep really doesn’t encourage me to buy again from Amazon. (one month after this purchase my credit card was refunded). I lost time, waiting for the book that was advertised as “normally 2-3 days”. I also lost money because my local book store charged me the full price. Was it worth it? I dunno! But I’ll tell you this, local stores are fighting back!
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I buy all my books from amazon now! I find they're a lot cheaper than the high street even with the p + o charges! Excellent Op, really informative.
free4susan 22.06.2001 14:05
Good op, sorry for your troubles. I've used Amazon about 10 times and I've never had problems. Amazon is a particularly great service if you're living abroad, like me. If I'm buying more than a couple of books it is actually cheaper for me to buy them from amazon.co.uk and have them shipped to Germany than to buy them off amazon.de.
gennymutant 22.06.2001 13:34
It's a shame how it just takes one rude sales rep to put you off - probably not the fault of the company as a whole but perhaps they should at least teach their staff better manners! Good op - Dione
Advantages: Huge selection, good prices, fast and efficient, free deliver for £15+ orders Disadvantages: Delivery not always free and can be expensive, Items not always cheapest
Deru 29.05.2004 (29.05.2004)
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Review of Amazon.co.uk
Jun 22nd, 2001
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