Customer service? I think not
Final update (26/12/16 16:30): Following a Tweet from me Amazon’s Social Media Team got in touch and resolved the issue, finally. Well done them and thanks to the lady who sorted it out for me. Case closed. I’ve left the blog post below for information.
My son received 2 gift cards from a good friend of our this Christmas. Both the cards were purchased at the same time direct from Amazon and were delivered direct to us. Both cards arrived at the same time in the same package. No 3rd party retailers were involved.
My son was able to redeem the first card but the second one – with a value of £20 - simply wouldn’t work.
So, I contact Amazon customer services using their online email facility but the results are shockingly poor and have left me feeling like I’m being taken for a ride.
So far they have strung me along with an exchange of 11 emails and one long phone call. I’ve included the whole thing below because of it’s absurdity. In short they start by saying the card was not authorised by the ‘retailer’ and that I should contact them. I point out Amazon was the retailer – no 3rd parties involved. They respond by asking for a PDF of the card which I send. They then ask me to provide the following gem of information:
“If you're able to see the any 3 consecutive digits of the claim code, other than the first 2 or last 4, please reply to this e-mail with these numbers along with the 16 digit card number located on the back of the card.”
Remember, I’d just send them a PDF of the whole card. You have to assume I’m being strung along at this point.
To rub salt in my wounds Amazon includes the following message at the bottom of each email:
“Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.”
That starts to look like a bit of a joke. Anyway, so far no I’ve not been able to resolve the issue. To cut a long story short, Amazon has taken money from a friend of mine and provided nothing in return. What a great way to make money!
The whole email trail follows if you are interested (I’ve omitted the card number for obvious reasons).
The email trail
25/12/16 13:25:20 from me
A gift card given to my son does not work. It's for £20 and has number ****-******-*****. Please advise.
25/12/16 15:34 from Amazon Customer Services
Hello,
I'm sorry to hear you've had trouble using the Gift Card you received for your son and I’ll be happy to help you today.
I’ve checked your account, and can see that according to our records the Gift Card wasn't activated by the retailer it was purchased from.
Unfortunately, we can't activate this Gift Card for you as it was not created on our system.
The best action to take in this situation is to bring the Gift Card back to the point of purchase with your receipt, where the retailer can reissue a new card for you to use. If you no longer have the receipt, please contact the shop where the card was purchased to resolve this.
Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated.
If you need any further information or assistance, please let us know by replying to this e-mail so that we'll be happy to help you further.
We look forward to seeing you again soon.
25/12/16 17:43 from me
Sorry, but I think you are mistaken.
Two gift cards arrived at the same time and were purchased by a friend direct from amazon.co.uk, not a 3rd party. The 2 cards arrived in the same package and came direct from you. One card worked, the second did not. I believe the mistake is at your end.
Andrew French
25/12/16 18:12 from Amazon Customer Services
Hello,
I'm sorry to hear that you were unable to use one of your Gift Cards.
We will be happy to take the necessary action.
If you have received the Physical Gift card, I request you to attach the picture of the front and back side of Gift Card.
Please attach the picture as a PDF, JPG or PNG file.
If you have received the Email Gift card, I request you to just copy and past the entire gift card information, and send it to us.
I am sorry in making you to write back to us, but this will help us in resolving this issue for you in an efficient manner.
Thank you for you patience and understanding in this regard.
We look forward to seeing you again soon.
25/12/16 19:08 from me
Please find the PDF attached as requested.
[I attached the PDF to the email]
25/12/16 20:54 from Amazon Customer Services
Hello Andy,
Firstly, please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by this situation.
I understand the level of disappointment this has caused to you. If I had been in this situation, I would have felt the same.
You have been a loyal and supportive customer with us since a long time, I highly appreciate your support with us.
It's never our intention to cause inconvenience to our honest and valuable customer like you.
Further to your email, I understand that the 2 Gift card were purchased by your friend but one Gift card is working another one is not working.
In this situation to help you further, I have checked your friend account omitted@omitted.co.uk and see that he/she purchased only one gift card from our direct store and the order number for the one is #***-*******-*******.
I have checked the image you have provided to us and can see that according to our records the Gift Card wasn't activated by the retailer it was purchased from.
Unfortunately, we can't activate this Gift Card for you as it was not created on our system.
The best action to take in this situation is to bring the Gift Card back to the point of purchase with your receipt, where the retailer can reissue a new card for you to use. If you no longer have the receipt, please contact the shop where the card was purchased to resolve this.
Should you require any additional information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Once again, please let me apologies for any inconvenience this has caused. It is never our intention to cause any sort on inconvenience to our valued customers like you.
We look forward to seeing you again soon.
25/12/16 21/31 from me
No, you have misunderstood again.
The account you reference (omitted@omitted.co.uk) is not the purchaser of the gift cards but the recipient! The card you site as having been ‘purchased’ was not purchased at all but was redeemed. It is the one card that did work (as per email trail below). The card we are talking about here did not work.
I have not given you the purchaser’s account name because I do not have it.
What I can say with a certainty is that both cards were purchased at the same time. They both arrived together in the same package direct from Amazon, not a 3rd party. THERE IS NO 3RD PARTY RETAILER TO CONTACT. AMAZON WAS THE RETAILER OF BOTH CARDS.
I suggest you credit my son’s account (omitted@omitted.co.uk), the intended recipient of the card, with the £20 value and cancel the card itself. You can then take whatever steps are necessary to sort out the confusion at your end.
If you are unable to resolve this matter – which is of your making – please provide details of how I may make a formal complaint. At this point Amazon have taken £20 for nothing in return.
25/12/16 23:02 from Amazon Customer Services
Hello Andy,
I'm sorry you weren't able to redeem the Gift Card to your account.
Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by this.
If you're able to see the any 3 consecutive digits of the claim code, other than the first 2 or last 4, please reply to this e-mail with these numbers along with the 16 digit card number located on the back of the card.
If you're not able to provide 3 consecutive digits, please reply to this e-mail with the serial number and attach a scanned copy of the card as a PDF, JPG or PNG file.
Please reply to this e-mail with the serial number located on the back of the card and attach a scanned copy of the card as a PDF, JPG or PNG file.
Once received, we'll attempt to validate the card and claim it to the account associated with this e-mail address.
As a representative of Amazon.co.uk, I want to assure you that as our valued customer, your satisfaction is our top priority and be assured that your future order would better reflect our commitment to your satisfaction.
I highly appreciate your patience, cooperation and understanding in this matter.
If you need any further information or assistance, please let us know by replying to this e-mail so that we'll be happy to help you further.
We value your business with us and we are looking forward to serve you more in the future.
25/12/16 23:50 from me
This is a disgrace. Just look how long this email trail is. You are asking for information ALREADY SUPPLIED.
I have ALREADY SENT YOU A PDF of the card which includes the full serial number so why you are asking for that is beyond me. Anyway, I have reattached the PDF. The serial number is ****************, but you can see that in the PDF anyway.
And of course I can see the claim code. We have been trying to enter it into your system to redeem the card. I am pretty sure you are making unreasonable requests now simply to string me along without you actually doing anything. Anyway, in answer to your question about the claim code here are 3 consecutive digits other than the first 2 or last 4: ***. You can check them against the attached PDF if you’ve got nothing better to do. They appear after the first hyphen in the claim code.
And as a reminder, there is no 3rd party retailer. Amazon sold the card.
Do not reply to me asking for any further information. YOU HAVE IT ALL. Credit my son’s account (omitted@omitted.co.uk) with the monies owed (£20) immediately.
26/12/16 04:45 from Amazon Customer Services
Hello,
I'm sorry to learn about the issue you experienced in relation to the Gift Card. I've reviewed our previous correspondence with you.
The information provided in our last message correctly represents our policy at this time.
As my colleague previously mentioned, I’ve checked your account, and can see that according to our records the Gift Card wasn't activated by the retailer it was purchased from.
Unfortunately, we can't activate this Gift Card for you as it was not created on our system.
The best action to take in this situation is to bring the Gift Card back to the point of purchase with your receipt, where the retailer can reissue a new card for you to use. If you no longer have the receipt, please contact the shop where the card was purchased to resolve this.
Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated.
If you still face any issue then I kindly ask you to get in touch via phone. This way, you can speak to our live customer support team who can ensure we resolve this concern to your satisfaction. I'm sorry we don't share account and order information through email address due to security reasons.
I realise that, at this point, asking you to contact us again would be disappointing; however, we really feel that the best way to assist you with this concern is over the phone.
We're available 7 days a week 06.00 to midnight, local UK time. Freephone (within the UK): 0800 496 1081 International customers can reach us at +44 (0) 207 084 7911.
Amazon cares about our customers, and we're working to improve our service and selection.
Your patience and understanding is highly appreciated in this matter.
I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
26/12/16 10:31 from me
Why don’t any of you read the previous emails?
As I said many times, AMAZON IS THE RETAILER.
Anyway, you can read all about it here: http://www.andyfrench.info/2016/12/amazon-gift-cards-how-amazon-can-take.html
Pay the money you owe.
26/12/16 13:30 No email this time – phoned Amazon customer support
I called Amazon Customer Support but they refused to deal with me even though I tried explaining that my son was only 16. They insisted on talking to him direct. Frankly, that’s outrageous.
Anyway, a long call ensued with my son having to read all the numbers on the card several times to the customer services representative and answering many questions.
The outcome? Contact the person who bought the card and ask them to contact Amazon, despite the fact that I told them he’s out of the country on an extended holiday.
Fobbed off again.
26/12/16 16:30 Contacted direct by the Amazon Social Media Team
OK, following a Tweet from me Amazon’s Social Media Team got in touch and sorted the issue out. Success at last and well done the nice Amazon lady who dealt with it. It was nice to talk to someone who could deviate from the script!