We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It's our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.
– Jeff Bezos (CEO, Amazon)
Sunday, March 29, 2012 (DAY 1,119 – 1,120)
Most every single purchase I've ever made via Amazon has always been an extremely positive experience, however, I felt that not only was it necessary, but also my responsibility in a sense both as a consumer and to notify Amazon even more so, including their CEO Jeff Bezos about this absolutely HORRIFIC experience on all levels! Since I worked for close to 12-years for a billionaire, Mark Cuban, that was also concerned with how our customers personally felt about our product, which was a national television network, HDNet (now, AXSTV), AND he often personally responded to emails or through other forms of social media from viewers directly, I hope in some ways that this blog entry will effectively cause Amazon to review these MASSIVE flaws in their system, even as just one consumer, because paraphrasing a quote from the fictitious character, Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara), from the iconic Netflix show House of Cards, "now days you are just speaking to one person, but to a thousand!" And this, is the age we live in and this is also to show how I have ALWAYS documented each and every customer service experience going back years including how well-organized I am in general when it comes to business. I feel that this is partially innate to my character as well as has been instilled in me more so from my previous boss, Rachael Weaver, Senior VP of Network Programming, that I had the pleasure of working with for more than a decade and learned a lot about business management and how each thing I do typically serves a specific purpose whether or not others notice or see it at that particular time. Therefore, this is my documented horror story of utilizing the world's largest online shopping site, where I also received one of the world's WORST customer service experiences I have EVER endured!
Most every single purchase I've ever made via Amazon has always been an extremely positive experience, however, I felt that not only was it necessary, but also my responsibility in a sense both as a consumer and to notify Amazon even more so, including their CEO Jeff Bezos about this absolutely HORRIFIC experience on all levels! Since I worked for close to 12-years for a billionaire, Mark Cuban, that was also concerned with how our customers personally felt about our product, which was a national television network, HDNet (now, AXSTV), AND he often personally responded to emails or through other forms of social media from viewers directly, I hope in some ways that this blog entry will effectively cause Amazon to review these MASSIVE flaws in their system, even as just one consumer, because paraphrasing a quote from the fictitious character, Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara), from the iconic Netflix show House of Cards, "now days you are just speaking to one person, but to a thousand!" And this, is the age we live in and this is also to show how I have ALWAYS documented each and every customer service experience going back years including how well-organized I am in general when it comes to business. I feel that this is partially innate to my character as well as has been instilled in me more so from my previous boss, Rachael Weaver, Senior VP of Network Programming, that I had the pleasure of working with for more than a decade and learned a lot about business management and how each thing I do typically serves a specific purpose whether or not others notice or see it at that particular time. Therefore, this is my documented horror story of utilizing the world's largest online shopping site, where I also received one of the world's WORST customer service experiences I have EVER endured!
Since I am a huge fan of motivational and inspirational speeches, I took a note from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, where he said, "...how, in this age of cynicism can I convince people? And I said, I know, I can show them.." And, that's what I want to begin with is showing that even more than 3-years after both leaving HDNet, my former company, but to also show that even as busy as Mark Cuban was and as brief as his response was (#LOL) that not only did I work for him for more than a decade, BUT to demonstrate that he was just as responsive with his employees as he was, like I mentioned with personal viewers. *Notice the date and time stamp from when I emailed him from my previous work email address–again proof that I worked for HDNet if anyone questions that–and the date and time stamp of Mark's response (same-day!).
Unfortunately, I did not take a screen shot when I made this purchase, once again because I had NEVER had a problem with purchases via Amazon, even though this was being shipped internationally to Korea, but I did take the time to take a screen shot today (April 8, 2015) of the exact same product, notice how I highlighted "Refine by" and it is clearly selected items for International Shipping to "Ship to Korea, Republic of" therefore there is absolutely NO CONFUSION, because several of the numerous customer service agents from Amazon that I spoke with CONSTANTLY tried to blame me for purchasing an item that was not available for for international shipping and/or I read the information incorrectly. Seriously! As a CSR for Amazon your first inclination; "IS TO BLAME THE CUSTOMER!" This was the first indicator–obviously–that clearly something was wrong. And, I should mention, in all honesty through my previous Amazon purchases in the United States (shipping domestic) I never had to even contact customer service, therefore this was MY FIRST EXPERIENCE with Amazon's customer service, and when companies–even third party organizations–ask on a scale of h10-10 how satisfied were you, I truly wish there was a NEGATIVE scale, because this was exactly
#1. How poor my experience was overall.
#2. The massive amount of time wasted, especially as I have an urgent timeline.
#3. Being blamed as a so-called "IGNORANT" customer!
#4. And, lastly, being BLATANTLY lied to, which was confirmed from the last person I spoke with that FINALLY resolved this entire situation within 30 seconds! YES, 30-seconds it was resolved, when I spent more than two-hours on the phone, numerous emails, as you can see, and barely given ANY type of compensation!
This was PROBLEM NUMBER ONE! Continue to read about what the second and overall major problem was, and currently still is in my opinion...
#1. How poor my experience was overall.
#2. The massive amount of time wasted, especially as I have an urgent timeline.
#3. Being blamed as a so-called "IGNORANT" customer!
#4. And, lastly, being BLATANTLY lied to, which was confirmed from the last person I spoke with that FINALLY resolved this entire situation within 30 seconds! YES, 30-seconds it was resolved, when I spent more than two-hours on the phone, numerous emails, as you can see, and barely given ANY type of compensation!
This was PROBLEM NUMBER ONE! Continue to read about what the second and overall major problem was, and currently still is in my opinion...
After making this purchase, which as you can see by the date stamp clearly stated that "Want it tomorrow, April 9? Order within 12 hrs 10 mins and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout," which I did in my order and originally I ordered this product on March 29, 2015 and was guaranteed to have it by March 31, 2015 by paying the additional $18.53 for Global Expedited Shipping to have by this date, because it was extremely necessary to have as early as possible–for personal reason that I would rather not divulge at this time, and to be honest I don't feel that I need to justify this to everyone–but this was a massive company flaw.
Therefore, after ordering this purchase, once again because of my previous great experiences with Amazon, I took several hours in creating a "Public Wish List" of very detailed and specific items that I researched, thus the reason for spending several hours in creating this Wish List and this list totaled MORE THAN $1,000 USD! I even took the time to email Amazon customer service with a simple question, which I tried to find on their website–again trying to be an intelligent consumer–which my question was, "If I were to create a Public Wish List, and if I were to send this link to family and friends, would it be similar to a Wedding Registry–meaning once someone maybe purchased an item for me from this list and sent it to the shipping address I sent to family and friends in the United States, would their system automatically populate to remove the item purchased thereby not allowing for duplicate purchases of the same item?" Pretty simple, right? NOPE! And this is where PROBLEM NUMBER TWO began!
Therefore, after ordering this purchase, once again because of my previous great experiences with Amazon, I took several hours in creating a "Public Wish List" of very detailed and specific items that I researched, thus the reason for spending several hours in creating this Wish List and this list totaled MORE THAN $1,000 USD! I even took the time to email Amazon customer service with a simple question, which I tried to find on their website–again trying to be an intelligent consumer–which my question was, "If I were to create a Public Wish List, and if I were to send this link to family and friends, would it be similar to a Wedding Registry–meaning once someone maybe purchased an item for me from this list and sent it to the shipping address I sent to family and friends in the United States, would their system automatically populate to remove the item purchased thereby not allowing for duplicate purchases of the same item?" Pretty simple, right? NOPE! And this is where PROBLEM NUMBER TWO began!
First of all, once I noticed the "Estimated deliver date" of course I immediately contacted Amazon customer service both by email and by phone, which with the time difference here in Korea, often meant that I was staying up until either late night or getting up very early in order to ACCOMMODATE their ridiculous limited Customer Service Hours! Really! You are a the the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States, and according to some site, the largest Internet-retailer in the world, and yet you have this poor of overall customer service! Absolutely, embarrassing
and shameful Amazon!
and shameful Amazon!
This was the response from my request about setting up my Wish List–pretty straight forward, didn't raise any flags at this point, however I was still concerned about the product I had already purchased prior to setting up my public Wish List, because I was waiting on a reply from Amazon customer service.
Once again my simple question emailed to Amazon customer service.
The response from Amazon's online customer service, was relatively prompt and DECEPTIVELY SEEMED to be be informational. *I also want to pause and mention what I truly feel are major problems with Amazon is the fact that the CSR's for Amazon, which understandable are utilized through call centers globally to reduce wait time, but the fact that they only provide you with their first name and last initial, ZERO operator ID or any reference numbers to track exactly WHOM I spoke with and WHERE they may be! I began noticing immediately being an American when I was speaking with someone that had a thick accent and I asked to be transferred to a US representative–not because I do not like foreign customer service reps–but more of the fact that like anyone when time is of the essence it's just much easier to explain your situation and obtain how the problem will be resolved by another native English speaker, pure and simple. The other issue I had was in HOW Amazon verifies via phone customer service of identifying the correct party, which again is understandable, BUT the fact that they require you to provide your BILLING ADDRESS to verify your account is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous, ESPECIALLY when being done on an overseas or international call where the line may or may not be secure! I expressed this EVERY TIME I spoke with a different CSR from Amazon as a major flaw in their system for protecting the personal identity of their customers, especially when their are COUNTLESS stories of identity theft and hackers breaching systems!
Once again, my updated email of my deliver date changing when I attempted to change my order details to have these two items shipped separately if that meant receiving, mainly the Silicon Power 2TB Rugged Armor A80 2.5-Inch USB 3.0 Military Grade Portable External Hard Drive, which when I refreshed my browswer, it actually made the estimated delivery date to be EXTENDED!
I began both emailing and calling their customer service about this issue, and of course when the ORIGINAL promised delivery date of April 2 arrived and no email indicating tracking information, of course that's when I called, but once again I had to account for the time difference!
Notice the time stamp in this email "Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 12:14am, beginning my call at 11:26pm in Korea and spending ore than 30-minutes speaking with two different people, but MOST of this 30-minutes was spent on hold waiting to be transferred to speak with a US Amazon Customer Service Agent! And even when I did get on the phone with them, again read how LITTLE information they had for me! Of course my trust level in this company–Amazon–is deteriorating faster than a team of fat kids in a dodgeball competition!
Notice how in the email the highlighted "Shipping Refund" is NOT even correct! But, then further below it is a different–correct amount! This was just ANOTHER AMOUNT OF WASTED TIME that I had to do on my own my continuing to check my AMEX account! RIDICULOUS the WASTED AMOUNT OF TIME I HAD TO SPEND AGAIN WITH THIS 15 to 16-HOUR TIME DIFFERENCE!
Once again ANOTHER call that I recorded the person I spoke with and the amount of time again, this time the call was more than 40-minutes of what I called again TOTAL TIME WASTED! PROBLEM NUMBER TWO: The main issue I was having was that my wonderful friend from the US that I met traveling almost 3-years ago, James Davermann, jumped at the chance and ordered me not one item, but four or five items from my Wish List, and that's when I noticed it was NOT populating correctly, by removing the items that he chose to purchase for me as gifts! Thus PROBLEM NUMBER TWO, and the continued wasted time dealing with Amazon's HORRIFIC customer service!
As soon as it was IMPLIED that I was an ignorant consumer when it came to technology being asked if I had "REFRESHED" my browser, but that's when I immediately went through the standard typical CSR Tech-Book questions: I told them immediately;
#1. I have tried this on both a PC and MAC using both Google Chrome and Safari.
#2. I have reset the cookies and cleared the history on both.
#3. I have tried this on my iPhone, also doing the same clearing the history and resetting the browser.
Michael V. immediately apologized and said, obviously you have done everything correctly on your end, but then researched through whatever HORRIBLE detailed notes I'm sure are listed in my so-called calls to various nameless–practically–unidentifiable Amazon CSR Reps. I told him I could no longer continue to just sit and wait on the phone while THEY–AMAZON–took their sweet time investigating this issue. Plus, notice the date and time stamp again!
#1. I have tried this on both a PC and MAC using both Google Chrome and Safari.
#2. I have reset the cookies and cleared the history on both.
#3. I have tried this on my iPhone, also doing the same clearing the history and resetting the browser.
Michael V. immediately apologized and said, obviously you have done everything correctly on your end, but then researched through whatever HORRIBLE detailed notes I'm sure are listed in my so-called calls to various nameless–practically–unidentifiable Amazon CSR Reps. I told him I could no longer continue to just sit and wait on the phone while THEY–AMAZON–took their sweet time investigating this issue. Plus, notice the date and time stamp again!
Amazon STILL somehow CONFUSED about WHY THEIR system is not re-populating!
These automated follow-up survey emails not only became annoying, but pretty much INSULTING!
When I woke up and noticed this email telling me as a customer that it is MY RESPONSIBILITY to contact Amazon about a problem that is CLEARLY on their end, I was absolutely furious, BUT, I will say I never took out this frustration on the individual customer service reps by yelling or swearing or any of that–because when I was 18-years-old before I began my career in television I worked in a call center for Dish Network for about four month
–and have experienced both sides. I was professional with them in my speech but VERY DIRECT in both my complaints and concerns as a consumer, business professional, and business owner!
–and have experienced both sides. I was professional with them in my speech but VERY DIRECT in both my complaints and concerns as a consumer, business professional, and business owner!
After numerous calls and emails, this CSR representive John, that was just a general customer service representative was able to navigate and resolve the Wish List issue within :30 seconds! The previous Amazon customer service reps that I spoke with not only told me that they had TWO different managers in the Wish List Department TRYING to figure out WHY, MY Wish List was not populating correctly–LIE #1–I was also told from previous CSR's that this was an unusual technical situation–LIE #2–No, it was a SIMPLE checking of a box that is right there on their website and again was resolved with a COMPETENT customer service rep, John, in seriously :30 seconds!!
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The above continues to show the ADDITIONAL amount of wasted time I spent on the phone with Amazon customer service! Even though this issue was FINALLY resolved, I continued to express my concerns as a consumer, and told John–after thanking him that my level of confidence in Amazon as a company has diminished to a point that I feel that I am prepared to dissolve my entire Wish List and NEVER use Amazon again for future purchases! And as much as I have issues with Walmart, I knew that due to the time limitation that I am working against–again no reason to divulge the exact personal reason–but it's extremely important!
One thing that I also thought was ridiculous, was that even with the verbal apologies I was NEVER offered any type of compensation, BUT I had to both REQUEST a refund for the Global Expedited Shipping ($18.53) AND make the comment that I felt due to WASTED TIME both via email and phone calls–not just because it was such a mess, but mainly because I have a VERY specific time constraint–but I had to ask about IF Amazon would even provide ANY type of compensation for this HORRIFIC Amazon Customer Service experience, complete Amazon Fiasco, and string of Amazon Lies! Finally, AFTER these requests I was told, yes they COULD refund the shipping charge–oh, how kind, THANK YOU SO MUCH AMAZON–and then issuing a ridiculous $15 promotional certificate! REALLY? I still have yet to use this–out of principle, which follows to my next point–and I am still unsure IF I will use it because of how AWFUL this experience was! I don't care for your–Amazon's–measly $15 compensation when I spent HOURS of my time on this issue that should have been resolved, again in :30 seconds!
Lastly, I will mention that I have EXTENSIVELY examined Amazon as a company, because I have actually helped a foreigner here in Korea prepare and obtain a job offer with Amazon! Therefore, being both a good English tutor as well as a former business executive, I knew that researching a company–even one as publicly known globally as Amazon–was important primarily for my student / client in helping him prepare for the extensive interview with Amazon. (Above and Below) is Amazon's exact set of principles. For obvious reasons, I will not name the individual that I assisted with the interview and the reason it is an approved offer and not accepted is due to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for processing work visas, but in this time I have also helped this particularly intelligently and extremely proficient (*job title–description being omitted on purpose) has also interviewed and received offers with my assistance with Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and has future interviews with other various large teach companies. And, in my personal opinion, slightly outside of this issue, whoever lands him as an employee is going to benefit in enormous ways!
Above is Amazon's Leadership Principles (verbatim) directly from their website (LINK) with the exception of my comments in RED.
*The reason I chose to do both the text and screenshots if because over time of course, companies change and update their site and I wanted, just as you can see from this entire blog, that I keep very accurate records and not only do I try to encourage and inspire others through my travels, but also, to educate! And this is a lesson in education and awareness in my opinion.*
*The reason I chose to do both the text and screenshots if because over time of course, companies change and update their site and I wanted, just as you can see from this entire blog, that I keep very accurate records and not only do I try to encourage and inspire others through my travels, but also, to educate! And this is a lesson in education and awareness in my opinion.*
AMAZON'S LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES:
Whether you are an individual contributor or the manager of a large team, you are an Amazon leader. These are our leadership principles and every Amazonian is guided by these principles.
Customer Obsession (*LIE, from my personal experience*)
Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.
Ownership
Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job."
Invent and Simplify
Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here." As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.
Are Right, A Lot
Leaders are right a lot. They have strong business judgment and good instincts.
Hire and Develop the Best
Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others.
Insist on the Highest Standards (*Lies, again, from my personal experience with NUMEROUS Amazon representives*)
Leaders have relentlessly high standards - many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and driving their teams to deliver high quality products, services and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.
Think Big
Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.
Bias for Action (*Really, speed matters? Well, apparently in my situation it was NOT a priority*)
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
Frugality (*Well, you wasted a lot of my time and now you may be losing my business and future business because of exposing Amazon's MASSIVE FLAWS*)
We try not to spend money on things that don’t matter to customers. Frugality breeds resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.
Vocally Self Critical
Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. Leaders come forward with problems or information, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.
Earn Trust of Others (*Trust is diminished in my opinion*)
Leaders are sincerely open-minded, genuinely listen, and are willing to examine their strongest convictions with humility.
Dive Deep
Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, and audit frequently. No task is beneath them.
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.
Deliver Results (*What results were delivered? I had to request and negotiate the MOST basic and MEAGER of customer service reassurance to save me as a potential future customer, and in FAILING to do so, this is WHY I made it a point to write this blog and post EACH and EVERY documented aspect of my HORRIFIC EXPERIENCE WITH AMAZON*)
Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.
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