the UGC: What Up, Amazon?

What Up, Amazon?
September 07, 2007

Dear Amazon,

We've been friends for quite a while now. In 1998, my college oceanography instructor had casually mentioned that we could order the class book, Atlas of the Oceans, from you, and I was instantly smitten.

Since then I've used and abused your wish list capabilities, and have ordered countless gifts for friends and myself, to have them happily arrive at my doorstep. Your inventory and services seem to grow at an exponential rate. I'm truly amazed, Amazon.

But this is the thing...
Every once in a while, I feel like you're just not trying all that hard. I can understand the multiple shipments of things in the same order. I'll put up with that. But when you started moving things around and made it hard for me to find the wish lists of my friends and family I was a little annoyed. But this last order, this is the thing that makes me want to quit you all together.

I placed an order at the end of August and chose free super saver shipping. The estimated shipping date was early October. After a few days of thinking about it, I decided I was willing to fork out the extra cash to hopefully expedite the order a bit, and I changed my order to one day shipping. Much to my surprise my order was now shipping on the 6th! Of Spetmeber! I was THRILLED. Until I started tracking the package.

I went to the UPS site only to find that my order was being shipped via ground. How could this be, Amazon? I changed my order to ONE DAY shipping. I'm paying for ONE DAY shipping. You're sending it GROUND?

I contacted one of your friendly Customer Service Representatives who explained that, "We may use any appropriate ground or air shipping service necessary to ensure that your order is delivered within one or two days, depending on the delivery option you selected. These delivery options do not directly correspond to any carrier-branded shipping services." He continued to tell me, "We understand that customers who select Two-Day or One-Day delivery want to receive their orders faster, and we will only use an alternative shipping method when we know your order will arrive by the estimated delivery date."

I get it Amazon. You shipped my package ground because you knew ground service would get it here in one day. This doesn't change the fact that I paid for ONE DAY SHIPPING. Also, now UPS doesn't realize the urgency of delivering this package because it lacks the bright red stickers indicating "I WANT THIS AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE".

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, Amazon. I'm not sure what to do next, but I'm seriously considering severing my relationship with you and not ordering another thing.

Your customer of over 9 years,
Whitney B

P.S. I may stop ordering, but I don't know if I can kick the wish list habit. Of course, there's always Kaboodle...

UPDATE (9:44am on Saturday): Just got an e-mail from Amazon. They're refunding the shipping I paid! Woot! Now, if only UPS would show up with my package, I'd be a happy camper. Grrr.

$\"Tops\"$ \n\n\nDear Amazon,\n\nWe've been friends for quite a while now. In 1998, my college oceanography instructor had casually mentioned that we could order the class book, Atlas of the Oceans, from you, and I was instantly smitten.\n\nSince then I've used and abused your wish list capabilities, and have ordered countless gifts for friends and myself, to have them happily arrive at my doorstep. Your inventory and services seem to grow at an exponential rate. I'm truly amazed, Amazon.\n\nBut this is the thing...\nEvery once in a while, I feel like you're just not trying all that hard. I can understand the multiple shipments of things in the same order. I'll put up with that. But when you started moving things around and made it hard for me to find the wish lists of my friends and family I was a little annoyed. But this last order, this is the thing that makes me want to quit you all together.\n\nI placed an order at the end of August and chose free super saver shipping. The estimated shipping date was early October. After a few days of thinking about it, I decided I was willing to fork out the extra cash to hopefully expedite the order a bit, and I changed my order to one day shipping. Much to my surprise my order was now shipping on the 6th! Of Spetmeber! I was THRILLED. Until I started tracking the package. \n\nI went to the UPS site only to find that my order was being shipped via ground. How could this be, Amazon? I changed my order to ONE DAY shipping. I'm paying for ONE DAY shipping. You're sending it GROUND? \n\nI contacted one of your friendly Customer Service Representatives who explained that, \"We may use any appropriate ground or air shipping service necessary to ensure that your order is delivered within one or two days, depending on the delivery option you selected. These delivery options do not directly correspond to any carrier-branded shipping services.\" He continued to tell me, \"We understand that customers who select Two-Day or One-Day delivery want to receive their orders faster, and we will only use an alternative shipping method when we know your order will arrive by the estimated delivery date.\"\n\nI get it Amazon. You shipped my package ground because you knew ground service would get it here in one day. This doesn't change the fact that I paid for ONE DAY SHIPPING. Also, now UPS doesn't realize the urgency of delivering this package because it lacks the bright red stickers indicating \"I WANT THIS AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE\".\n\nTo say I'm disappointed is an understatement, Amazon. I'm not sure what to do next, but I'm seriously considering severing my relationship with you and not ordering another thing.\n\nYour customer of over 9 years,\nWhitney B\n\nP.S. I may stop ordering, but I don't know if I can kick the wish list habit. Of course, there's always Kaboodle... \n\nUPDATE (9:44am on Saturday): Just got an e-mail from Amazon. They're refunding the shipping I paid! Woot! Now, if only UPS would show up with my package, I'd be a happy camper. Grrr.

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