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Amazon’s great customer service [not sarcasm – keep reading]

I’ve been shopping too much via Amazon, lately. Last month, I commented on my misadventures with FedEx delivery, the crux of which involved FedEx and Amazon’s websites (and employees) failing to tell me where the package was – what are computers for?

More recently, we ordered a sink for the kitchen. Amazon promised free “white glove delivery”: the delivery company would call us to schedule a convenient delivery time. Once again, Amazon’s website simply stopped updating early in the process with no clear indication what city the package was in. The delivery company was CEVA, which I’d never heard of. Their website indicated the sink arrived in Albuquerque 11/26 and was scheduled for delivery by 11:59pm on 11/28, two days earlier than we expected it. No call, no text messages, no email. Late on the original delivery date, we called the national office, and spoke with a nice person who confirmed the sink was in Albuquerque and that she left a message with the local office. We called the local office the next day. “Yes, it’s here; we can deliver it tomorrow.” That would be two days later than Amazon promised, five days after it arrived in a warehouse 5 miles from us. We asked if we could pick it up and they said yes. So, we found our way to the industrial area and the building that looks like it should be abandoned as soon as possible.

Understand, I’m not objecting to picking up a 150 pound package. I just don’t consider that “white glove delivery” – somebody made a promise that was misleading. I think CEVA should have been embarrassed and offered delivery the day we called.

More irritating is that Amazon’s website again failed to indicate where a package was days before delivery. Worst of all: neither company used the text or voice numbers or email we provided to communicate with us. Had we known the sink was in town, we would have picked it up two days early and been delighted.

In fact, we received text messages after we picked up the package ourselves that it “had been delivered.” Maybe they weren’t covering their asses, but at that point it looks like the system worked. The system emphatically did NOT work.

I thought Amazon should know that CEVA was not living up to the “white glove” promise (though its employees are very nice and helpful when contacted). It’s Amazon’s response that leads me to blog about this. Here’s the email with small omissions. It turns a frown upside down.

Hello Mark,

I’m very sorry that this has been a disappointing experience for you.

I’ve issued you a $25.00 promotional certificate, which you can use the next time you order an item shipped and sold by Amazon.com. Note: the promotional certificate doesn’t apply to items offered by other sellers on our website and won’t cover the shipping costs of an order.

You’ll see your available promotional balance at checkout–this amount will be applied to your next qualifying order automatically without entering a claim code. Your promotional balance doesn’t appear in Your Account but will always display when you place an order. For more information about using your promotional certificate, including the terms and conditions for using the certificate, visit our Help pages: [link removed]

I’m forwarding your feedback about CEVA to our shipping department–I know they’ll want to hear about your experience.
We’re aware that our choice of delivery services reflects on our business as a whole, and we appreciate your feedback. We hope to see you again soon.

Did I solve your problem?

If yes, please click here: [link removed]

If no, please click here: [link removed]

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,
Erin R

Perhaps Erin is really Siri or Eliza and this letter is the work of consumer psychologists, but it seems sincere and from a decent person. I don’t actually care about the money – I didn’t pay extra for the “white glove delivery,” beyond Prime membership. But I love the empathy in the first paragraph and the fact that my details may actually improve the process. Finally, the simple mechanism for me to respond “Did I solve your problem?” Yes, Erin, you did. Thank you.

Election

Newt Gingrinch is an asshole

My Man Newt – NYTimes.com

By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: November 29, 2011

Franker than ever as he announced plans to retire from Congress, Barney Frank told Abby Goodnough in The Times that Gingrich was “the single biggest factor” in destroying a Washington culture where the two parties respected each other’s differing views yet still worked together.

Newt is the progenitor of the modern politics of personal destruction.

“He got to Congress in ’78 and said, ‘We the Republicans are not going to be able to take over unless we demonize the Democrats,’ ” Frank said. …

The Republican also weaves an alternative history of his own life, where he is saving civilization rather than ripping up the fabric of Congress, where he improves the moral climate of America rather than pollutes it.

… Gingrich is a megalomaniacal opportunist who brazenly indulges in the same sins that he rails about to tear down political rivals.

Republicans have a far greater talent for hypocrisy than easily cowed Democrats do — and no doubt appreciate that in a leader. …

Maybe the ideal man to fix Washington’s dysfunction is the one who made it dysfunctional. He broke it so he should own it.

My Man Newt – NYTimes.com

read

The City and The City, by China Miéville (sci fi, 2 stars)

Just finished this book, which won a sci fi award in the past few years. China Miéville has written several award winners and topped several ‘best’ lists, so I wanted to read something by him. The story is a police procedural, with the narrator being a cop in an Eastern European city, who is investigating a murder. The sci-fi aspect is that there are two cities that intersect / overlap / occupy much the same space. Separate cities that require boarder crossings, but occupy much of the same space, it seems. The premise was fascinating, but the actual description of how these two cities co-exist disappointed me.

At times the language was challenging, not merely because of references to the two cities, which speak different languages, but also because the English sometimes read as if translated. I could not decide if this was intentional, underscoring the foreign scene.

On the whole, this was better literature than Nevada Barr, but not nearly as compelling or exciting.

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams