How I ordered a video light for $2500 on Amazon. Episode 2

In the previous episode, we found out that that’s OK for Amazon making you $2500 refund for 2 weeks after they had sent you a wrong package. But that’s not the end of the story.

After they compensated me $28 of a currency exchange difference I sent them another email:

Hi Rahul,

Thank you for compensating $28 in a gift card.

Last week was a total nightmare for me as I was talking to your CS representatives and their managers 5 times at least in attempts to refund my money properly.
And Amazon was making one mistake after another: first you sent me a wrong package, then you made a refund to my credit card when I was asking a GC.
So many inconveniences for my own $2500…
I’m sorry to say that, but my loyalty to Amazon decreased dramatically for this week. I hope you’ll have a chance to recover it somehow.

OK, I have some extra questions.

1.
Can you assure me now this is the end of the story?
Can you guarantee that some other Amazon department will not charge my credit card again for $2500 just because they still wanna issue a GC for me?

2.
Did you raise an investigation why Amazon sent me a wrong package?
I’d like to know the reason. That would be a tiny compensation for all the inconviences I’ve experienced with this unfortunate package Amazon sent me.

3.
After wasting 2 weeks on that back and forth I’m still brave enough to reorder the same item — http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Camera-Polaroid-Stabilizer-Accessories/dp/B0125B3OT0
Can you guarantee you’ll send me the right package next time?

They replied in a bit:

Hello Alexander,

I am sorry all your concerns where not addressed in our previous e-mails. I have confirmed your refund to your credit card has been processed and we are not able to switch it to a gift card refund. The refund will not be removed from your credit card.

Yes we did investigate the wrong item being shipped and found it was a human error in packaging.

The order was from a seller inventory so we have no further details.

This should not repeat on a new order, and while not a large compensation the gift card sent we hope you will use on your next order as a small apology for the inconvenience you worked through.

I hope this helps and we see you again soon.

Best regards,
Shane M.

And here I made a big mistake — I’ve reordered the same bundle.
I’ve smelt something wrong when Amazon dispatched a package and I received a delivery tracking which was stating the package weight is only 1.60 lbs. But I had nothing to do except waiting for a delivery to Shipito warehouse.
And a week later, guess what Shipito found in a box — just a stupid video light supplied with $2500 receipt for a camera:

Phahaha. They’ve sent me a wrong package 2nd time in a row!

It’s funny now, but I wasn’t even surprised, so soon after I sent Amazon another email. I told them everything what I think about a delivery service which is sending a package 8 times lighter than it should be:

Hello Amazon,

> This should not repeat on a new order

It did happen again!
I’ve ordered the same item and you’ve sent me a wrong package once again.
You’ve put a correct $2500 receipt into a package containing only a $20 video light:
<photos>

This is just ridiculous, frankly speaking I’m beside myself with rage.

> Yes we did investigate the wrong item being shipped and found it was a human error in packaging.
> This should not repeat on a new order

Amazon customer service lied to me about refund on my 1st order of this item, and you lied to me this time too — not a big surprise to me.

Here’s the tracking of this package
…
It says the weight is 1.60 lbs.

A product page of this item is stating clearly the weight is 12.8 lbs:
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Camera-Polaroid-Stabilizer-Accessories/dp/B0125B3OT0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01

The actual package you’ve passed to UPS was 8 times lighter than it should be!!!
What kind of delivery service are you if you can’t suspect a potential problem in this situation? Especially when we’re taking about a higher value $2500 order.

Why should I suffer for 3 weeks already for my own $2500 if you can’t do a simplest check ever before sending me a package???
Your delivery service is simply incompetent, I wouldn’t trust them with even $1 package now.

You’ve wasted my time, you’ve wasted my money, you’ve wasted my trust.
So rest assured I’m gonna report this situation not only here, but as higher as possible in Amazon top management team and in media.

Alright, what I want now:

1.
I want this complain to be forwarded to and processed by a customer service leadership team member.
I need a confirmation about that from whoever will see this email first.

2.
I want a refund of $2500 _now_ to my credit card.
I repeat: MY CREDIT CARD, NOT A GIFT CARD.
Don’t tell me you need to receive a package at your return center first. You’ve lied to me and mess it up so many times already, so you owe me one.
Not a big deal to you taking into account this package contains just a stupid $20 video light.

3.
I need to return this package to you once again, so start a return process and send me a return labels link if you please.

And they didn’t even apologize properly, seems like that’s all OK for them. They just got back to their favorite story about a freight forwarder hinting that I should return a package first (again!):

Hello Alexander,

I’m sorry your Camera kill arrived as only a video light.

Since this item was sent to a freight forwarder, I’m not able to replace or refund it. For more information about sending items via freight forwarders, please visit our Help pages:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201117950

Unfortunately, we don’t have any more information about this. I would recommend contacting your freight forwarder for more details.

You’re welcome to go to our Returns Center at www.amazon.com/returns if you’d like to send your item back for a refund. Also, since your order was shipped to a U.S. address, the Online Return center will print a domestic label. If you are returning internationally, you’ll need to arrange your own ship method to the address on the label.

We hope to see you again soon.

We’d appreciate your feedback. Please use the links below to tell us about your experience today.

Best regards,
Shane M.

In other words, Amazon official position is the following. If you order something to a freight forwarder address you’re a bad guy, Amazon is free to send you a wrong package then and they’re making a big favour when allowing you to return that wrong package and making a refund.

Nevermind, I gave Shipito an instruction to send this package back too and another week later Amazon made another refund to my credit card.

Here’s what I had in the end:

• I ordered $2500 camera again at the beginning of May, Amazon sent me a wrong package again, I sent it back.
• I got my money back in full amount in the middle of May (it’s been more than a month since I did my first order).
• Still no camera :(

Technically Amazon has just stolen 31 days of my life constantly feeding me with lying promises and without giving me anything in return. They just moved wrong packages back and forth across the US for my own $2500 wasting my time.

Now I’d like to give a piece of advice to all of you guys who persistently read this creepy story to the end:

• Never order the same item twice if you received a wrong package in 1st order.
• Never ever believe Amazon customer service — they will lie you multiple times with no remorse and have no responsibility for that.
• Always ask your freight forwarder to make photos of a package contents before forwarding it to you.

Phew, looks like that’s it :)
Did I eventually get Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera in some other way? That’s another story for another time…

P. S.
I can pass a full transcript of my conversations with Amazon customer service to any interested party upon request.