Amazon service: Can you believe it??

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Apr 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

aeonx	23 Apr 2002
Greetings all. I just had an experience with the Amazon Customer Service crew again. I'm stunned. They are absolutely f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c! I've had quite a few dialogues with them, and they have shown an utterly great service every single time, no matter the subject. They have helped me locate tarot decks if they didn't have them, helped me out with finding book box sets etc.. A few weeks ago, I ordered the Universal Waite. Yesterday I got the package, and I was sooooo exited. However, I was quite surprised when I opened the package, finding the Vampire Tarot instead! No UW there... :( This morning I sent them an e-mail, asking about the UW, and what to do with the VT. Since I've only had good experiences with Amazon, it was no problem for me sending this deck back and getting the UW. Now, listen to this: I received the answer from them now, and because of their mistake, they told me that I could keep the VT! They had placed a new order on UW for me, and this cost me nothing! Aren's that just great? Wow, I had to write a long thank-you mail back. :P Hurray, hurray, hurray for Amazon in the UK!! :)

Jenny-Li	23 Apr 2002
Wow - now that is good service, really! Ive never ordered anything from Amazon yet, since - well you all know about my "thing" against credit card business on the internet by now...! But this, and the fact they have just about everything, makes me start thinking... maybe time for a re-evaluation...! Jenny :)

aeonx	23 Apr 2002
Hi Jenny-Li. I had the same opinion as you for a long time, but I *HAD* to buy tarot decks some place. :D I've never experienced any bad with the use of credit cards on the Internet, since I leaped into it. Contrarily, I've only had great experiences, and I'm not afraid that somebody'll tap my bank account. Actually, in a data-book I've read, the authors states that they have never had any problems either, after shopping through the net since 1995! :P So I would say go for it! You have no idéa what you're missing out on. But I would only use 'secure' sites; known sites as for example Amazon. :)

Jenny-Li	23 Apr 2002
Hmmm - I just might go ahead and do that, they do seem to know what they're doing over there.... Most of the more common decks I can get here, and one of the Swedish Internet bookstores actually have some Tarot-stuff as well (i.e. their SUPPLIERS have it - the people at the Swedish site probably don't know what it is they're selling... But that's OK, I usually know (more or less) what it is I'm buying...!) but next time I'm trying to get hold of something that they don't have, I will definitely go to Amazon UK. And once I'm there I'll bet nothing can stop me... ;) Thanks for the encouragement! Light and love, Jenny :D

Geenius at Wrok	23 Apr 2002
Amazon itself is a pretty good company. That being said, there are two reasons why I usually shop elsewhere instead. First, local independent businesses need all the patronage they can get. They're the ones on the front lines making sure that niche interests—such as esoterica—don't get swallowed up in the marketplace's overwhelming wave of homogenization. Second, Amazon makes no guarantee about how its products will be shipped. Sometimes the stuff comes by U.S. Postal Service, which is great. But sometimes it comes by UPS, and UPS is a horrible company for anything involving residential delivery. It was created as a business-to-business shipper, and that's the only area in which it ever displays any competence. Its customer service is surly and unhelpful, and I've even caught the company fudging its tracking records. If Amazon would simply agree to honor the customer's preference of shipping company, I'd probably use it more. Users of Amazon UK, Amazon Germany etc. may not experience these same issues.

truthsayer	23 Apr 2002
i haven't experienced any problems w/ amazon yet but then i have my orders sent to my post office box. i have found that it's so much better to pick it up from the post office. the one thing i dislike is some of the things you might order take up to a month to be sent to you however other things on the order only take 24 hours to be shipped. but you won't get the order until the item that takes a month to come in becomes available. i've changed a few orders to take out the one that causes the shipment to be held up. i don't understand why they do that. i had a question about the amazon shops and sent an email. they had an answer back to me in less than 24 hours. i was impressed. as far as patronizing local stores instead, i would if what i wanted was available here. since i live in fundyville, there just isn't much choice in esoteric items. i buy what i can locally but so much of what i'm interested in would require at 2 hour trip out of town. even then i couldn't count on getting what i'm looking for. i also have medical problems that prevent me from traveling far to look for what interests me. it's so much easier to look online and click a few buttons. i hope amazon continues to give me good service. it's taken a load off me as far as the frustration of spending literally years trying to find a deck or book.

Lee	23 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by truthsayer the one thing i dislike is some of the things you might order take up to a month to be sent to you however other things on the order only take 24 hours to be shipped. but you won't get the order until the item that takes a month to come in becomes available. i've changed a few orders to take out the one that causes the shipment to be held up. i don't understand why they do that. Hi, truthsayer -- I think when you buy from Amazon, there's a place where you can choose to either have all your items shipped together, or to have each one ship when available. But I guess if you choose to have them ship when available, then you'd have to pay separate shipping charges. -- Lee

purplelady	23 Apr 2002
Amazon is the Only company I've ever ordered from online! (So far, but lately I've been discovering some online metaphysical stores that look Great! ). I am also funny about giving out credit card online. I've sent money orders many times to amazon with no problum. I do always look at the "availability" and only order the 24 hr, 2 to 3 days (have to admit this can mean up to 2 weeks!) or in rare instance 1 to 2 week availability. I guess I just don't want to chance them not having it available and me waiting forever and wondering. They have always answered me within 24 hours if I E mail them with a problum or question. I definitely agree with geenius at wrok, 95% of their shipments have come to me UPS. And while it hasn't really been a problum before, now it is. Because I'm working now and may not be at home to answer the door. UPS must deliver to the door and if you're not home they come back 2 more days to try again. After that I think it gets shipped back to the company! If Amazon would send it United States P.O. they have a special large box at my apt. complex for this so I wouldn't have to worry about tracking my package and having to be at home to answer the door. I've noticed the other stores I've looked at online ship United States P.O. so I may try that in the future.

StormCloud	23 Apr 2002
Hmmm, we use UPS all the time, and they will drop at the door when we aren't home. Which is a lot, cuz we both work. We just called the main UPS office near us and asked them to drop it even tho' there's no one home. We like our UPS guy - he even stopped me once when I was coming home. We live 'way out there'. I was about 5 miles from home, and he recognized my car and flagged me down to give me a package. Saved him the extra trip.

Emily	23 Apr 2002
I've ordered quite a few decks and books off Amazon and they usually come in a couple of days, very good service. But tonight I decided to cancel my order for the Universal Waite, I ordered this deck on the 11 January (I posted about this in the 'Primal Scream' thread) when it was still in stock, then a couple of weeks later it went out of stock and I've waited from then till now (just over 3 months) so tonight I cancelled it. Also went through my bank statements and found that they had cashed the cheque for this deck on the 23 January. I've only every had good service from them so I'm hoping that their customer services department doesn't let me down and they reply to my email lol :)

truthsayer	23 Apr 2002
i checked an order and saw that it was being shipped ups instead of my po box. i sent an email and in just a couple hours someone had checked and my order was on the right track. the message also said that you can call them when you place an order and request how the order is shipped to you. so if you don't like ups, you need to tell amazon in order to get what you want.

aeonx	24 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Geenius at Wrok But sometimes it comes by UPS, and UPS is a horrible company for anything involving residential delivery. Users of Amazon UK, Amazon Germany etc. may not experience these same issues. I've never had any problems with shipping and delivery, I use Amazon in the UK. :) Lucky me, I'd gone crazy with that company.. :P

aeonx	24 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Emily But tonight I decided to cancel my order for the Universal Waite, I ordered this deck on the 11 January *pout* I'm still waiting for mine... But I'll rather be on the list when it finally is back in stock. :(

truthsayer	24 Apr 2002
i think i can see the reason that amazon's sales have increased 21% in the past quarter. you'd think they'd personally send us a thank-you card or something! LOL

Emily	24 Apr 2002
Actually after my somewhat nasty posts about Amazon, I might have been a tad too hasty lol. I had two very nice emails from them this morning, my cheque had been cashed in error and they offered to keep the money for future orders or send a full refund. I decided on the refund because later on I will order the Universal Waite again but if they've got money held for me, the temptation will be too great and before I know it I'd be ordering another deck or I Ching book and I really really want the Universal Waite lol I don't blame you for hanging on aeonx, but nearly four months is a long time and in the time I've waited for the Universal Waite to come I've ordered and received from Amazon - the Spiral, Hanson Roberts, the Tiny Universal Waite, Robin Wood and the Celtic Dragon tarot so I have enough to keep me busy for a while lol :)

Geenius at Wrok	24 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by StormCloud Hmmm, we use UPS all the time, and they will drop at the door when we aren't home. Which is a lot, cuz we both work. We just called the main UPS office near us and asked them to drop it even tho' there's no one home Sometimes this works if you live in a single-family house (although when I did, I almost always got at least one yellow sticker and had to call the depot to remind the company of the arrangement). But if you live in an apartment building, forget it—UPS won't leave the package at all. Quote: Originally posted by truthsayer so if you don't like ups, you need to tell amazon in order to get what you want. Oh, I tell every company I order from to use Priority Mail instead of UPS. But Amazon makes no promises, even if you do request one shipping method over another. One time I placed an order for four items and asked that they be shipped Priority Mail. The customer service rep said it would be done—except then the order was split into two parts "to expedite shipping." The part with one item was sent Priority Mail. The part with three items was sent UPS. :mad:

Kissa	24 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Emily my order for the Universal Waite, I ordered this deck on the 11 January I got my Universal Waite in one week from www.Tarotworld.com. It costs 21€ plus 6.80€ for shipping. Tarotworld is the site of the swiss publisher AG Müller (Old Path, Cat People etc.) Check their site ! Sure you won't have to wait for 3 months. Moreover, the Universal is really worth it, I like it a lot. It is my study deck. Kissa

Kissa	24 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by aeonx Greetings all. I was quite surprised when I opened the package, finding the Vampire Tarot instead! (...) they told me that I could keep the VT! Hum hum aeonx, I am not sure I would like the idea of these vampires *accidentally* inviting themselves at my place ... ;) Kissa

purplelady	24 Apr 2002
Stormcloud- that may work if you live in the boonies like you say! But I live in a large apartment complex, and truthfully I'd be afraid to have them leave it on my doorstep because the neighbors Could take it , or the neighborhood kids could decide to take it. Although at my old complex I remember seeing packages left at other people's doors. You just have to hope no one decides to steal it. Truthsayer, I could swear amazon.com posts on their site that they do not deliver to P.O. boxes!

fairyhedgehog	25 Apr 2002
I use amazon uk a lot, and they have been very good. They /do/ make me wait a long time for Tarot decks though - at least 4 weeks for both Whimsical and Universal Waite, which I wouldn't have thought were particularly rare. For books they are usually very quick. I didn't give my credit card details online - you can phone them through. Although I /would/ give them online now because I've come to the conclusion that it is safe if you deal with a reputable company like amazon. If you live in the UK and want to buy jewellery and other stuff, I recommend http://www.witchesmoon.co.uk - they also carry a few lo Scarabeo tarot decks, but Solandia won't get the commission on these :( They are friendly and helpful, and the P&P is very reasonable. You can order by post or phone as well as online. Regards, FH

blumoon	25 Apr 2002
i know very little about shipping in the US...could someone explain the difference between the US postal service, UPS and priority mail? thanks :)

aeonx	26 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Kissa Hum hum aeonx, I am not sure I would like the idea of these vampires *accidentally* inviting themselves at my place ... ;) Kissa *l* Well, I didn't like the deck either, so now I'm negotiating a trade... :P The VT is too dark and negative, I think...

Kissa	26 Apr 2002
Quote: Originally posted by aeonx The VT is too dark and negative, I think... Don't forget to spray essence of garlic everywhere as soon as they are gone ;) !!!! Wish them a nice trip to wherever they go though ! :) I had seen pics of the deck and IMHO too, it seems quite dark. I couldn't sleep in the same room than this deck !!! Kissa

jade	26 Apr 2002
aenox, it's sooo nice to see you praising them for their work well done! good karma stuff happening for you. love jade :)

aeonx	27 Apr 2002
Kissa: yea, I sent them on their way... :P jade: I'm hoping that good karma stuff is coming my way soooooon, like tonight. :D I'm hopelessly in love. Ach. Men! :P

The Amazon service: Can you believe it?? thread was originally posted on 23 Apr 2002 in the Chat board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Chat, or read more archived threads.