Amazon - Customer Support is Awful (Escalation Options & Experiences)

y2s

Disciple
Hello,

Just want to share my latest experiences that have been quite bad.
  1. These guys do not have a mechanism for email complaints so you have to call or chat.
  2. They do not provide a reference number for complaints on call or chat
  3. They promise resolution in X days. But you will not hear back from them even if 2x days have past.
  4. When you get in touch again, the process is repeated -
Profit!?

Some of my recent experiences -
  • Oct 2020 Diwali Offer - Spent 30k on card in 1 transaction to get additional Rs. 1250 Cashback. Still have not received the cashback. Made a complaint 2-3 times, some agents say they will get it done, others argue I am ineligible for the offer until I make them check the transaction ID. At the end they ask for a couple of days and I never hear back with a concrete YES or NO
  • Dec 2020 Ordered some biscuit tins that arrived damaged. Raised a complaint. Still have not heard back at all. Have not followed up as not really worth the time.
  • Feb 2021 Raised a request as Sandisk denied warranty on an SD card I bought from them a couple years ago. Apparently the card is fake. They asked for service denial letter which I provided and assured of resolution in 5 Days. Today on the 10th day, I follow up on their chat and the agent says I have not provided Job Sheet and can't help without it. WTF??? Why didn't they ask about this when I was making the complaint?
It's almost as though they want to irritate their customers into not claiming refunds - . This is flabbergasting as I have always seen Amazon as a consumer centric company.

While I usually am the kind to vote with my wallet, The problem is that there is not too many alternatives and the govt banned the savior aliexpress as well. So I am somewhat stuck with them for certain Items. Also when things work, they work really well.

Is it only me that's having these awful experiences or has Amazon gone to shit?
 
Well been a prime ember since day one.
Not a single compliant
I always call them and things are sorted pretty professionally
They have even refunded me many times if the items aren't returnable and are found wanting.
But yes i buy all sorts of things specifically from amazon only and having a great track record with them.

Can trust them without a hitch.
Tough luck at your end mate.
 
Well been a prime ember since day one.
Not a single compliant
I always call them and things are sorted pretty professionally
They have even refunded me many times if the items aren't returnable and are found wanting.
But yes i buy all sorts of things specifically from amazon only and having a great track record with them.

Can trust them without a hitch.
Tough luck at your end mate.

Same, have been a prime member since day 1 too. Have maybe had 1-2 returns since 2014 and have spent quite a lot of money with them over the last few years. Have always been satisfied by the service. But things took a turn for the worse over Diwali time for me as can be seen in my OP. Glad to hear things for you are still same as before. Gives some hope.

Yes they are professional over the phone/chat. My problem is they ask for x days to resolve the issue but never ever follow up nor do they resolve issues.

Anyways I have sent off an email to Jeff Bezoz with a link to this thread. Let us see if they take it more seriously -
 
Same, have been a prime member since day 1 too. Have maybe had 1-2 returns since 2014 and have spent quite a lot of money with them over the last few years. Have always been satisfied by the service. But things took a turn for the worse over Diwali time for me as can be seen in my OP. Glad to hear things for you are still same as before. Gives some hope.

Yes they are professional over the phone/chat. My problem is they ask for x days to resolve the issue but never ever follow up nor do they resolve issues.

Anyways I have sent off an email to Jeff Bezoz with a link to this thread. Let us see if they take it more seriously -
Well if you ask me, the best way to solve such issues or any issue would be to lodge a compliant with the ministry of consumer affairs via pgportal of govt of India.

I even bent flipkart and got a refund for a couple of fake n95 masks that they sent, and subsequently refused to entertain my compliant saying that the items are non Returnable.
I was furious coz this was something utterly important that too at the peak of covid in delhi and within a week of lodging the complaint, got the refund.

If you feel something is not being looked at despite being genuine then Complaint there
 
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So just received a call from Amazon, probably some escalation team as the lady said she was calling on behalf of Jeff Bezoz. She processed refunds for all the issues on the spot no questions asked. They actually gave me a higher refund than I asked for too. This is the customer support I remember. Pity I had to write to bezoz and start this thread to get it. I wonder which worked.

My refund in this case was relatively small in value but it was about the principle. Happy to have gotten a resolution but extremely unhappy about the time and effort I had to put into it. Really, really hoping this was a one off experience -
 
Thats pretty impressive!

Have always had great experience with Amazon and still do. They are failing now by adding many fake sellers but if you only buy prime they will 100% fix the issue.
 
Indian market is so big, no one company can handle and give same quality of customer experience. We should have 2-3 players with equal market share so that no one company becomes too big and arrogant like what Amazon is becoming these days.
 
Amazon Business Support is super crap. With the current merging of Daman and Dadra Nagar Haveli UTs into one, had to send so many reminders and its still not done - first not accepting new GSTIN, and then not allowing pin code with GSTIN.

Stopped ordering for that region since August 2020.

Apart from this, no issues. I got a refund for some cake mix which was posted veg, but recipe required egg. Gave away to someone who could use it.
 
The solution to all bad Amazon CC is just one: jeff@amazon.com

I sent just one email to that address maybe 4-5 years ago, and had to send two more just this year (2021).

Tier 1 CC has gone to the dogs. Still better than Flipkart though.
 
Indian market is so big, no one company can handle and give same quality of customer experience. We should have 2-3 players with equal market share so that no one company becomes too big and arrogant like what Amazon is becoming these days.
Yeah fastest large growing economy .. hence you should also be invested in equities.
 
I have had good experience with customer care most of the times including being able to get refund on non returnable products, but sometimes I have faced difficulties. I have written to the Jeff email id couple of times and got things sorted out. One issue was that I was banned from writing reviews for no reason whatsoever.

Overall it is not like before but still far better than the idiots at Flipkart.

Their email id Cs-reply@amazon.in still works, you can try.
 
One issue was that I was banned from writing reviews for no reason whatsoever.

Their email id Cs-reply@amazon.in still works, you can try.

You were probably banned if you were posting 4-5 reviews / day, or someone complained to Amazon (usually a seller) that you are doctoring reviews for payments from other sellers. It happened to me also, and via some mails I was able to get my ban on reviews lifted. I used to put in a lot of reviews, was India rank #96 or something at one time. Then stopped, due to ban ideology, and not wanting to loose all my hard work reviews in one go due to some whim and fancy of Amazon.

Coming back to the main question:
Really do not know what to say about Amazon service. But I think it has dwindled over the past. I have been a prime member since it started. I order a ton of stuff. 2020=260 orders. At times if an atypical case is encountered they falter grossly. I ordered a 20000 mAh battery bank, and was delivered a USB lightning cable--no worries, this is what happened.

1. I put in a return and marked "wrong item received".
2. Return was initiated.
3. Courier guy came, refused to pick up, said item should be battery bank.
4. Explained to Amazon on phone issue, they said they marked "pick incorrect item". [And asked me to mail picture on incorrect item]
5. Repeat [3], Repeat [4], Repeat [3]
6. I called up Amazon quite annoyed. They said they will update some special form for pick up, which the courier company will see.
7. Got an SMS in morning for pickup to happen, I waited all day, no pick up. AWB closed [Delhivery Courier company -- they were the original dispatchers too] early morning before lunch.
8. I called up Amazon explaining [7].
9. Repeat { [7] and [8] } x 9 times
10. Finally Amazon relented and initiated an "advance refund", this Monday. [Not got refund as yet though].

Questions:
1. How come Amazon was not able to deal with such a simple issue for an incorrect item.
2. They still do not have an answer why ~7 times, Delhivery never came to my house and/or phoned me. [I asked each time]
3. Why they kept having me call them, they never called back.
4. Does it matter to be prime, apart from free delivery and some discounts.
5. Are we dealing with an entity too large.
6. Have the third party vendors ruined the brand -- which usually happens in India.
7. Is the joy-ride over for end consumers, and back to frowning brick-mortar shop-owners.

?
 
You were probably banned if you were posting 4-5 reviews / day, or someone complained to Amazon (usually a seller) that you are doctoring reviews for payments from other sellers. It happened to me also, and via some mails I was able to get my ban on reviews lifted. I used to put in a lot of reviews, was India rank #96 or something at one time. Then stopped, due to ban ideology, and not wanting to loose all my hard work reviews in one go due to some whim and fancy of Amazon.

Coming back to the main question:
Really do not know what to say about Amazon service. But I think it has dwindled over the past. I have been a prime member since it started. I order a ton of stuff. 2020=260 orders. At times if an atypical case is encountered they falter grossly. I ordered a 20000 mAh battery bank, and was delivered a USB lightning cable--no worries, this is what happened.

1. I put in a return and marked "wrong item received".
2. Return was initiated.
3. Courier guy came, refused to pick up, said item should be battery bank.
4. Explained to Amazon on phone issue, they said they marked "pick incorrect item". [And asked me to mail picture on incorrect item]
5. Repeat [3], Repeat [4], Repeat [3]
6. I called up Amazon quite annoyed. They said they will update some special form for pick up, which the courier company will see.
7. Got an SMS in morning for pickup to happen, I waited all day, no pick up. AWB closed [Delhivery Courier company -- they were the original dispatchers too] early morning before lunch.
8. I called up Amazon explaining [7].
9. Repeat { [7] and [8] } x 9 times
10. Finally Amazon relented and initiated an "advance refund", this Monday. [Not got refund as yet though].

Questions:
1. How come Amazon was not able to deal with such a simple issue for an incorrect item.
2. They still do not have an answer why ~7 times, Delhivery never came to my house and/or phoned me. [I asked each time]
3. Why they kept having me call them, they never called back.
4. Does it matter to be prime, apart from free delivery and some discounts.
5. Are we dealing with an entity too large.
6. Have the third party vendors ruined the brand -- which usually happens in India.
7. Is the joy-ride over for end consumers, and back to frowning brick-mortar shop-owners.

?

Something similar happened to me. The return pickup guy called, saying he is coming in a couple of hours, and marked as "customer refused pickup".
I was furious.
CC was of no help. Tried them thrice with empty promises. Ultimately, wrote to jeff@amazon.com, and item was picked up within 2 days, money refunded.
Amazon is also at the whims of these delivery/pick up people. ****ed up.
 
Well if you ask me, the best way to solve such issues or any issue would be to lodge a compliant with the ministry of consumer affairs via pgportal of govt of India.

I even bent flipkart and got a refund for a couple of fake n95 masks that they sent, and subsequently refused to entertain my compliant saying that the items are non Returnable.
I was furious coz this was something utterly important that too at the peak of covid in delhi and within a week of lodging the complaint, got the refund.

If you feel something is not being looked at despite being genuine then Complaint there
Nothing happens on that complaint. They are well immune their as well.
 
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