The hits keep on coming.
I got another semi-automated mail from Amazon.
Hello,
This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.
It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles – in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon’s main product search.
Many books have now been fixed and we’re in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.
Thanks for contacting us. We hope to see you again soon.
Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:
If yes, click here:
http://[elided]
If not, click here:
http://[elided]
Please 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,
Sharmila S
Amazon.com
We’re Building Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company
http://www.amazon.com/your-account
I clicked the “No” link.
I got a page that allowed me to have them call me, which I tried first, but was denied because apparently my area code (410) is not valid for their form.
I then input this message in their e-mail response form field instead:
I attempted to have you call me, but the number I provided (410-579-3439) was rejected with the feedback “The area code you have entered is not within the country. Please check your entry and try your call again.”
This marks the 3rd time I have requested that my account be closed. I don’t care what your good reasons are. I don’t care that you made a mistake. It is a mistake that makes me not trust you.
Please close my account and purge my credit card numbers from your system.
Regards,
Malcolm Gin-Hopwood y Silva
I wonder how many more emails will be required. I wonder if I will need to call them eventually.
I DO understand that they’re getting hammered by negative PR and their customer support infrastructure is probably just swamped. I still don’t think that automated poor customer support responses are the way to go, even if you have some customers (like me) who are not responding to your actions in the way you hope they would be.
I think there are many reasons not to shop at Amazon, but I’m keeping my account open. I really like their universal wish list feature.
Also, my friend who works at A9 gave me an explanation that sounded true and reasonable to me. It’s more detailed than the PR response above, but doesn’t contradict it.
@crayonbeam, yeah, that makes sense. I still think that they should have process control that keeps them from making these sorts of mistakes (technical if they be) and from having different support levels give different querents different answers (making them look like they’re covering stuff up).
I did used to use them to buy hard-to-find obscure products (like Ace Hardware furniture moving felt pads for hardwood floors, or moving straps – for cradling large pieces of furniture between two folks’ forearms, leaving hands free to maneuver them through doors and hallways, etc.).
But I haven’t used them for much recently. I think I have a wishlist (video games) that is old and needs updating/redoing anyhow.
And I do firmly believe I should use independent store aggregators if at all possible when I link (like Google Shopping or IndieBound.org, or whatever). So this provides impetus for me to do what I believe is right anyhow (though I did like how there were Amazon 3rd party resellers in the mix and it made me feel better about stuff I did via Amazon anyhow).
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