Fingers
Well-Known Member
I need to build up my brewing libriary so I decide to order some books from Amazon.ca. I order Designing Great Beers, How to Brew, and Beer Enthusiast's Guide. I deliberately chose three books so that I would qualify for their free shipping.
Yesterday I get an email from them telling that the Beer Enthusiast's Guide is unavailable and has been deleted from my order. Any special offers associated with it have been removed as well. You guessed it. They removed a $15 book from my order and tacked on $8 shipping. When I found that out, my family very tactfully kept their distance until the histrionics abated. I then wrote this letter:
I had ordered three books to take advantage of the free shipping option. You canceled one book due to availability and then charged me shipping. That is not what I'd agreed upon. Please cancel the entire order. If the order is shipped anyway, I will not be held responsible for any charges to my credit card. Any unauthorized charges will be reversed and it will be the responsibility of Amazon.ca to retrieve their merchandise. For a nominal shipping and handling charge, I will return the merchandise within seven days of reversing the charges on my card.
The next day they had reversed the shipping charges and sent my remaining two books along. This made me happy, but it brought up a couple of other issues. First, it seemed very much like a form letter was sent to me. Maybe not, but it appeared to me that this might be something they do and will take the shipping off if challenged. It just seemed underhanded to me. Second, my letter said to cancel the order. It didn't say to take the shipping off or cancel the order. So they shipped the remaining books anyway and charged my card. What if I'd ordered a trilogy and the first book was the one that was unavailable?
I'll likely order from Amazon again but I'll have to keep an eye on them. I certainly won't order anything where I have to have all or none of the books I order. Anyone else experience anything like this?
Yesterday I get an email from them telling that the Beer Enthusiast's Guide is unavailable and has been deleted from my order. Any special offers associated with it have been removed as well. You guessed it. They removed a $15 book from my order and tacked on $8 shipping. When I found that out, my family very tactfully kept their distance until the histrionics abated. I then wrote this letter:
I had ordered three books to take advantage of the free shipping option. You canceled one book due to availability and then charged me shipping. That is not what I'd agreed upon. Please cancel the entire order. If the order is shipped anyway, I will not be held responsible for any charges to my credit card. Any unauthorized charges will be reversed and it will be the responsibility of Amazon.ca to retrieve their merchandise. For a nominal shipping and handling charge, I will return the merchandise within seven days of reversing the charges on my card.
The next day they had reversed the shipping charges and sent my remaining two books along. This made me happy, but it brought up a couple of other issues. First, it seemed very much like a form letter was sent to me. Maybe not, but it appeared to me that this might be something they do and will take the shipping off if challenged. It just seemed underhanded to me. Second, my letter said to cancel the order. It didn't say to take the shipping off or cancel the order. So they shipped the remaining books anyway and charged my card. What if I'd ordered a trilogy and the first book was the one that was unavailable?
I'll likely order from Amazon again but I'll have to keep an eye on them. I certainly won't order anything where I have to have all or none of the books I order. Anyone else experience anything like this?