Dear Amazon,
Yesterday morning, I received an email from your order processing system informing me that there is no longer a shipping estimate on the last item from my most recent order ([redacted]). This is just the latest frustration in a long and unnecessary series of events I have gone through to have my order fulfilled.
These frustrations have included price changes, continued shipping delays blamed on your supplier's backorder, mis-billed shipping and handling charges, and all while you continue to sell the same item from your US website, in stock and available to ship to Canada. While I understand it is against your current policy to transfer inventory between fulfilment centres, I am growing tired of these constant delays and repeated issues. If my order is not fulfilled by the end of this month at no additional charge to myself, I will take my business elsewhere.
On the 6th of April, 2010, I placed an order with Amazon.ca (see Order [redacted]) for three soundtrack CDs: WALL-E (ASIN B0017LFKMY) at the price of $14.99, Avatar (ASIN B002P5XXR0) at the price of $15.99, and How To Train Your Dragon (ASIN B00386EZJU) at the price of $17.99.
At the time this order was placed, the latter item was not immediately available, with a noted delay of 9-12 days until it would be shipped. As well, the price listed was close to the US list price, and I figured the savings on shipping would offset the additional sale price difference.
On the 14th of April, I noticed the list price on the third item was reduced to $14.99. As the order had not yet shipped, and I could not see an easy way to request the lower price, I cancelled the existing order and placed a new one (see Order [redacted]) for the same products. I noticed that the shipping estimate was changed to reflect the new order date, but thought little of it, and figured it would likely be shipped earlier.
Unfortunately, April 26 came and went with no news; on May 4th, I received an update that delays on the How to Train Your Dragon CD had pushed the shipping estimate back to May 13-17. Around that time, I noticed the following had changed:
My order originally had Free Super Saver Shipping, and was split into two shipments despite my request not to do so. Unfortunaly, the first shipment was shipped out that evening with a $5.93 charge attached ($6.71 after tax) that I did not expect, based on changes I did not ask for.
I sent a second message as soon as I could requesting that the shipping amount be refunded, and while it was processed overnight, it shook my faith in your ability to process my original order as requested. At the time I sent my second message out, I noticed an even larger shipping charge waiting for me on the second shipment (despite it's clearly being lighter and possibly smaller than the first while getting the same shipping method); fortunately this was removed from the invoice by the morning.
Sending that second inquiry so close to the first, despite the promises made, should have been completely unnecessary; the system responsible for splitting up my order should have handled it differently, given that it was counter to both my preference for a single shipment and my selection of super saver shipping; at the very least, I'd expect a person to actually check it and make sure I don't get charged shipping without having to complain after the first shipment is already out the door. The fact that the text at the bottom of the packing slip implies that I made the decision to accept multiple shipments doesn't help either.
Finally, yesterday I received notice that my order has experienced yet another delay; this time no estimated shipping date was provided (and the item no longer has a list price on amazon.ca). Instead, the email appears to suggest I cancel my order instead. If I do not get the remaining product soon, I plan to do so; given the manner this order has been handled, it's unlikely I will be placing another order with Amazon for the foreseeable future.
I look forward to having these issues resolved, and to our continued relationship in the future. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Richard [redacted]
I sent the above letter this morning to the only useful mail address I could find (on a packing slip; glad I kept those around). 4-6 business days from now, let's see if I get a response...
These frustrations have included price changes, continued shipping delays blamed on your supplier's backorder, mis-billed shipping and handling charges, and all while you continue to sell the same item from your US website, in stock and available to ship to Canada. While I understand it is against your current policy to transfer inventory between fulfilment centres, I am growing tired of these constant delays and repeated issues. If my order is not fulfilled by the end of this month at no additional charge to myself, I will take my business elsewhere.
On the 6th of April, 2010, I placed an order with Amazon.ca (see Order [redacted]) for three soundtrack CDs: WALL-E (ASIN B0017LFKMY) at the price of $14.99, Avatar (ASIN B002P5XXR0) at the price of $15.99, and How To Train Your Dragon (ASIN B00386EZJU) at the price of $17.99.
At the time this order was placed, the latter item was not immediately available, with a noted delay of 9-12 days until it would be shipped. As well, the price listed was close to the US list price, and I figured the savings on shipping would offset the additional sale price difference.
On the 14th of April, I noticed the list price on the third item was reduced to $14.99. As the order had not yet shipped, and I could not see an easy way to request the lower price, I cancelled the existing order and placed a new one (see Order [redacted]) for the same products. I noticed that the shipping estimate was changed to reflect the new order date, but thought little of it, and figured it would likely be shipped earlier.
Unfortunately, April 26 came and went with no news; on May 4th, I received an update that delays on the How to Train Your Dragon CD had pushed the shipping estimate back to May 13-17. Around that time, I noticed the following had changed:
- My order had been split into two shipments; I assumed that this was an automated process to appease customers experiencing a lengthy delay on their order, and didn't think further on the matter.
- The CD in question had gone up in price to $22.99, yet was still listed as out of stock. In contrast with the US list price of $17.98, the $5.01 difference already appeared ridiculous. The fact that your US site had the same CD on sale for $12.99 (a $10 difference) and it was in stock led me to inquire about the price difference, and how it could be justified given the likelihood one would be able to get it faster and cheaper (assuming they made the purchase at $22.99 and still got free shipping) by ordering internationally.
My order originally had Free Super Saver Shipping, and was split into two shipments despite my request not to do so. Unfortunaly, the first shipment was shipped out that evening with a $5.93 charge attached ($6.71 after tax) that I did not expect, based on changes I did not ask for.
I sent a second message as soon as I could requesting that the shipping amount be refunded, and while it was processed overnight, it shook my faith in your ability to process my original order as requested. At the time I sent my second message out, I noticed an even larger shipping charge waiting for me on the second shipment (despite it's clearly being lighter and possibly smaller than the first while getting the same shipping method); fortunately this was removed from the invoice by the morning.
Sending that second inquiry so close to the first, despite the promises made, should have been completely unnecessary; the system responsible for splitting up my order should have handled it differently, given that it was counter to both my preference for a single shipment and my selection of super saver shipping; at the very least, I'd expect a person to actually check it and make sure I don't get charged shipping without having to complain after the first shipment is already out the door. The fact that the text at the bottom of the packing slip implies that I made the decision to accept multiple shipments doesn't help either.
Finally, yesterday I received notice that my order has experienced yet another delay; this time no estimated shipping date was provided (and the item no longer has a list price on amazon.ca). Instead, the email appears to suggest I cancel my order instead. If I do not get the remaining product soon, I plan to do so; given the manner this order has been handled, it's unlikely I will be placing another order with Amazon for the foreseeable future.
I look forward to having these issues resolved, and to our continued relationship in the future. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Richard [redacted]
I sent the above letter this morning to the only useful mail address I could find (on a packing slip; glad I kept those around). 4-6 business days from now, let's see if I get a response...