How to lose friends and alienate people
Three days ago I wrote that Amazon had missed several of their own delivery dates for my Xbox 360. Stung by the criticism their customer care department has swung into action … and cancelled my order completely.
No explanation was offered and my sources at Microsoft were mystified. I couldn’t find a telephone number on the Amazon site to call for a comment and when I wrote to them about the repeated delays I got a form email back with no contact details.
This is the gist of the email:
This item has now been cancelled from your order and we can confirm that you have not been charged for it.
Please accept our apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience caused.
There is no information on this email that tells me how to return the games and accessories I bought when I thought they were going to actually deliver the wretched thing.
It’s called a 360 because that is how many days you have to wait for it to arrive.
JohnMcGa wrote:
Well if it’s any consolation, it doesn’t look like you’re the only one: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/22/amazon_uk_xbox360_mistake/
Posted on 22-Feb-06 at 3:39 pm | Permalink
Matthew Stibbe wrote:
Apparently Amazon issued these cancellation notices “in error,” according to John’s source on El Reg.
The bit I liked most was the Amazon spokesperson’s comment that “we have always kept customers in the loop on ship dates.”
However, the system is still showing on my Amazon ‘open orders’ but without any due date so perhaps it hasn’t been cancelled after all.
Posted on 22-Feb-06 at 3:47 pm | Permalink
Matthew Stibbe wrote:
Further to this, check out this video on Google Video from http://www.smashmyxbox.com: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2631795034636589131
Classic quotes as the Xbox is smashed: “Can I have you controller?” and “Nice sledgehammer.”
Posted on 22-Feb-06 at 3:56 pm | Permalink
Matthew Stibbe wrote:
Further to this thread - I just got an email to say my Xbox 360 has in fact shipped. A month AHEAD of schedule. Come back Amazon, all is forgiven.
Posted on 28-Feb-06 at 3:45 pm | Permalink