OT - Amazon closed my account for being a CAG

[quote name='exaznkid']Well, I was excited to play Fatal Frame 2 since i never actually got to finish that unique game that i liked so i guess i was too giddy to expect this much failure since i thought like new meant it would at least be in working condition, I did try wiping off the smudge but not surprisingly it was permanent and it wouldn't come off and i doubt my xbox 360 managed to solidify the smudge in the 3 minutes it was trying to read it, even if it worked I would still feel disappointed that my like new (I'm liking these red letters :lol:) game is actually not even close to good, and was actually defective, a proper reason why i should return it,
now back on topic (kinda) I am more worried that they might call bullshit on me for not returning a like new game, mostly because what I received was far from like new[/QUOTE]
:lol::applause:Excellent use of the emphasis with the RED letters.;) Either way, I likely would have returned it too. What third party seller was it from, if I may ask, as I know there are some which are fulfilled by Amazon that are known for overstating condition.
 
That sucks you got no warning, but thanks for sharing it with us. Without any defined limitations, it will definitely influence my Black Friday purchases (busy shipping = things more likely to break and Amazon could respond with more bans).

I'd definitely never buy any cloud-based media from Amazon, that's for sure after this.

And maybe I'll also stop asking for Amazon giftcards on CAG too (if I don't plan to use them right away). I will stop offering them as an alternative to PayPal, that's for sure.
 
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OP im sorry that you lost the GC on your account. i dont get why when you called them on the phone, they didnt say you were banned but they told you via email.

this makes me a little paranoid since i have about $244 in GC that i really need to get rid of
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']:lol::applause:Excellent use of the emphasis with the RED letters.;) Either way, I likely would have returned it too. What third party seller was it from, if I may ask, as I know there are some which are fulfilled by Amazon that are known for overstating condition.[/QUOTE]
thank you very much, compliments are always appreciated regardless of intentions :), I bought them from textbooksrus-fba, they seemed legit because they were sponsored by amazon, and they sold textbooks(the hidden doorway to college success) as stated by their name

but now i can see how the screw up is possible, because they are a third party seller and they sell textbooks (the greatest college scam)
 
You guys that have a few instances spread out over a long period of time have absolutely nothing to worry about.

As someone else had already mentioned, it's performing this bad CAG behavior in a relatively shorter period...likely a month or a year.

During their regular reconciliations performed in/out of house, there's likely a threshold of material nature to call centers, agents, or without respect to materiality to customer accounts over a period of time to which those with credits over this threshold trigger potential for a closer look...not all...but all that passed the threshold have potential to be selected at random.

This isn't make believe...it occurs every day & everywhere by individuals (accountants) charged with monitoring / auditing. It's accountants in some shape or form that initiates these bans...I can assure you that.

It's business...nothing personal...the OP pressed their luck.

Amazon doesn't have the time, money or care to look at all of their customers activity at line item...it's not cost beneficial or realistic.

It would take an accounting staff 30 times their current size to even attempt to do such.

Not gonna happen...but if you keep putting your name in the pot...don't cry when your name gets pulled.

It could be likely each of our incident are tallied to date, but I doubt it, it would be bad business practices for that to get out, and it would have.

---------

If you think their customers are the only audience they have, you are foolishly mistaken.
Their largest audience are their investors, those willing to dump millions/billions of capital in their company.
They could care less about less than 0.01% of their customers being banned for bad behavior...drop in the lake.
Whomever banned you got a pat on the back...deserved from my perspective.
You hurt their bottom line...you WILL get their attention...simple solution...don't get in the hat.

It's easy to see the obvious...because the obvious is obvious...try visiting the outside of the box.

PS - Jeez their stock over the last 12 month period...wish I rode that gravy train.
 
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[quote name='confoosious']Ive considered this but is it legal to restrict returns on a subset of customers?[/QUOTE]

I'm sure there would be a new user agreement to sign, but I don't know how well it would hold up in court if it came up to it.
 
For those that are calling this a pity party for me, I have nothing to say to you. Nothing in my posts illicits that. I just wanted to share my experience to fellow CAGs of my own experience of being a little too cheap.

I have nothing to gain by sharing my story.

Nothing.

Ever since I posted this, I've gotten 4 PM's so far of other CAG-ers who also have their Amazon accounts closed. So I know I'm not the only one it's happened too.

I admit I was sort of a PITA, not in the way I communicated, but my "PERSISTENCE" to keep trying if I don't get the deal I deserved to get. Because I was never rude, my previous posts here and on SD cautioned and implored other members to be nice in dealing with Amazon's CS.

Looking back, I think I did raise a "red flag" for my persistence.

Here's my experience on what I did, so people can see how everything happened since I know a lot of you guys have done something similar.

1) Sucker Punch - Amazon misadvertised the right set, using a customer uploaded pic that says BR+DVD+DC, but really only shipped the BR copy. Result = Offered me a $5 credit.
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...=301660&page=3
Click to expand...

I had no issues with this. I just simply showed the Amazon CS the link with the picture and he/she gave me $5 in credit for me to keep it.

2) Motorolla Smartphone - Amazon wouldn't allow me to cancel an order I placed a week before, because the price of the Smartphone I bought had gone down $17. Result = Offered me a $17 credit.
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...27#post8790227
Click to expand...

This took me 2 requests, basically the 1st chat said he/she couldn't cancel my shipping soon order. I asked if they could at least apply the price difference, they said sorry it can't be done since price changes all the time.

Person then said I can just refuse the shipment with it arrived and place a new order. I said well, what's the difference between just giving me the price difference now rather than wait to ship it back and replace the order?

I even mentioned that this process would cost Amazon more money to do to pay for the return shipping expense. Person said sorry. So I sent an email instead. I got a reply that basically said, okay I'll apply the difference for you, no problems.

3) Deus Ex Human Evolution - I basically pre-ordered this months before release for $10 credit. Amazon changed their pre-order credit to $20 in August, but when the item was shipped out to me, I only received $10, negating their price pre-order guarantee. Result = Offered me a $10 credit.
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...77#post8785777
Click to expand...

This one was what caused me the "red flag" maybe. I basically told them that I only received $10 credit and not the $20 credit which was advertised a month later. Person said he couldn't find "proof" it was $20. Since I couldn't find any proof either, I basically asked him to check this item's history and even linking him to the CAG thread about it (above). He still wouldn't budge.

I then sent an email asking the same thing. I got a response saying that this would be forwarded to the marketing team and I would hear back within 48 hours. A good 5 days later, still nothing.

I chatted with them again, pointing out that I haven't received an email response. We got into the whole sorry but the $20 promo never existed. I asked them to check their records check anything and the guy simply said he can't do that. I had to find links to forums here and SD that basically talked about people getting the $20 credit. Guy finally said he would speak to a manager, and after 30 minutes of this chat, finally gave me the extra $10 credit.

4) Foldable Table "with Bag" - (Okay this isn't in CAG) but basically the title was Foldable Table, but the description says "with Bag" and yet I was just shipped the table. They said the Bag was a limited time offer. True, but I showed them the link that description still says "with Bag" (they forgot to take it off) btw the bag was selling for about $20 by itself. Result = Offered me a $15 refund (not credit - fine with me).
Click to expand...

People from SD who complained about this too got anywhere from $20 - $25. I just got $15 for it. This I had little to no problems with. Just showed the link containing the description and yet the guy kept pointing out that it was a limited time offer, but since that wording was no longer on the site, but still had the "with Bag" listed on the description, he simply said he would need to speak to supervisor to approve the deal, and offered me a partial refund for me. I honestly wanted the bag more since it's been OOS since.

It was me complaining basically at least once or twice a week in such a short span that got me the boot.

Learned so much about Amazon's policy during this experience. Everytime you log on to contact Amazon, not only will they keep a record of it, but they will compile those records which gets reviewed by Supervisors on a weekly/monthly basis. Guess my name popped up one to many in that 1 month.

For those that have their complaints and contacts spread out, you guys shouldn't be too woried.
 
If anyone would like a good read, their last letter to their shareholders in the 2010 AFR has a nice surprise...throwback letter from 1997!

If we were all forced to read public company AFRs, there would be no 99% or 1%...
 
[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']Ever since I posted this, I've gotten 4 PM's so far of other CAG-ers who also have their Amazon accounts closed. So I know I'm not the only one it's happened too.[/QUOTE]

Are others ashamed to share their stories of being shafted by the man?

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']I admit I was sort of a PITA, not in the way I communicated, but my "PERSISTENCE" to keep trying if I don't get the deal I deserved to get.[/QUOTE]

Ding ding ding...we have a winner!

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']Amazon misadvertised the right set, using a customer uploaded pic that says BR+DVD+DC, but really only shipped the BR copy.[/QUOTE]

Please show me where Amazon states they stand behind customer uploaded images.
I read it's in Beta and not official...

I also am inclined to believe you ordered it knowing you would contact them afterwards...the sole reason you purchased it was to dispute it later and net it at a lower price.

How do they know you didn't upload the image?
How does it make sense to you that you would have a valid leg to stand on?

Would you also have countered a dispute upon a comment someone made as a review that wasn't in line with the product...preposterous!

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']Motorolla Smartphone - Amazon wouldn't allow me to cancel an order I placed a week before, because the price of the Smartphone I bought had gone down $17. Result = Offered me a $17 credit.[/QUOTE]

I seriously doubt they extended the offer first...

In your head:

"Hello, I purchased an item last week, I see you have it cheaper now."

"Sir, say no more, I've already deposited a $17 credit to your account."

Reality:

"This telephone I got last week is cheaper now...that ain't fair...I spend a lot of money...blah blah blah...I deserve a difference in price...blah blah blah...I spend a lot of money...blah blah blah."

"Sir, I understand your frustration, unfortunately our prices constantly change (image that) and we do not have a policy for post purchase price changes."

"Aaargh...(20 minutes pass while that poor CSR listens to your bullshit)"

...And you eventually get what you demanded so the CSR doesn't get chewed out for their average time per call doubling for the day.

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']Person then said I can just refuse the shipment with it arrived and place a new order.[/QUOTE]

This is their honest (albeit being of no benefit to Amazon) attempt in helping you if you are truly concerned about being overcharged.

See, they stepped outside the box...just for you!

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']Deus Ex Human Evolution - I basically pre-ordered this months before release for $10 credit. Amazon changed their pre-order credit to $20 in August, but when the item was shipped out to me, I only received $10, negating their price pre-order guarantee. Result = Offered me a $10 credit.[/QUOTE]

This was not a flagged item if it was legitimately an error on their part.
As they would have discovered this soon enough and extended it as they do many times.
This is one of the largest online businesses after all...they kind of know what they are doing.

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']I had to find links to forums here and SD[/QUOTE]

This should be an automatic ban in my opinion.

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']and after 30 minutes of this chat, finally gave me the extra $10 credit.[/QUOTE]

See above ^

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']They said the Bag was a limited time offer.[/QUOTE]

See above again ^
or do yourself a favor and thoroughly read their guidelines on promotional offers.

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']they forgot to take it (image of promotion) off[/QUOTE]

You can read can't you?
Surely the terms of the promotion were stated?
And you didn't see the offer in your cart?
Yet you continued with the purchase that you reviewed and confirmed?

Were you trying to get one in after the fact, relying on those soft CSRs again?

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']People from SD who complained about this too got anywhere from $20 - $25. I just got $15 for it.[/QUOTE]

Boo-hoo

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']...and yet the guy kept pointing out that it was a limited time offer...[/QUOTE]

As he should have.

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']but since that wording was no longer on the site...[/QUOTE]

YOU CAN READ...I was worried for a moment. :bouncy:

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']It was me complaining basically at least once or twice a week in such a short span that got me the boot.[/QUOTE]

Ding ding ding...you sure like winning don't you?

Can't quite figure out your failure of understanding terms & conditions though with your talent.

[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']For those that have their complaints and contacts spread out, you guys shouldn't be too woried.[/QUOTE]

Thanks genius!

But for those struggling:

If your guidance and interpretation of T&Cs don't come from other anonymous douche bags on CAG & SD your not in the dumb ass boat...congratulations! ;)
 
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I dont have time to read all this but I got an extremely similar email from Amazon last year (too many incidents blah blah blah..almost exactly the same). I've posted about it before but I was very fortunate in that they gave me a warning basically and let me off. I asked way too much for credits and discounts. I deserved the warning. I've learned my lesson.

It sucks that they just closed your account without a similar warning. That's all I needed to stop bitching. They can be/are extremely strict with their bans. Good luck.

Edit: 4 complaints in a month is excessive I'd say. How often did you order from them? How many incidents before those? Dont lie. I know it's easy to complain a lot when it's so simple to abuse the CS. You do and you end up paying for it though as we've seen.

Hopefully others see this and realize they're going to end up fucking themselves and possibly family members if they dont stop.
 
Thanks for the warning OP. Sucks you lost your account. I dont know what I would do if I couldnt buy from Amazon. I must get 2-3 packages every week from them.
 
idk pushing on an amazon rep to get credit or more money is something i dont see eye to eye with, though I can't imagine how that would be grounds for a COMPLETE ban, and since i'm assuming you didn't get a warning than you should probably talk to them about it or maybe it wasnt you that caused the banning and maybe someone you know perhaps, like a brother, sister or cousin that may just be a more aggressive deal seeker than you are
but guys come on, stop busting his chops, i mean the guy is going through enough already and idk, i feel that it is a little rude to assume that he was one of those pushy little folks that yell into the phone when things don't go their way, however if you are you shouldnt be surprised to get banned, if you try pulling that at any retailer you can expect a humiliating escort from security and possibly a ban from the store, the only thing i can really sympathize with you is the lost credit which is actually ur money, until someone here informs me that it is legally yours no longer,
i guess if there is any time to be persistent it would probably be now, anyway good luck to you, i hope things can get better for you OP
 
I don't recall what the issue was but I remember a CSR "mistakenly" filled out a "concessions abuse" form on me and "accidentally" sent it to me. I think it had to do with a watch, a $2K watch; and I called back and spoke to a supervisor who I'd dealt with before when UPS "lost" my rock band package. He assured me it was accidental because she was a temp. The CSRs signature did say she was a seasonal temp, but since then I've cut back on the number of times I reach out to them for issues. Thankfully, I haven't had many but the thought of not being able to shop at Amazon...:cold:
 
[quote name='Muthafodder']Are others ashamed to share their stories of being shafted by the man?



Ding ding ding...we have a winner!



Please show me where Amazon states they stand behind customer uploaded images.
I read it's in Beta and not official...

I also am inclined to believe you ordered it knowing you would contact them afterwards...the sole reason you purchased it was to dispute it later and net it at a lower price.

How do they know you didn't upload the image?
How does it make sense to you that you would have a valid leg to stand on?

Would you also have countered a dispute upon a comment someone made as a review that wasn't in line with the product...preposterous!



I seriously doubt they extended the offer first...

In your head:

"Hello, I purchased an item last week, I see you have it cheaper now."

"Sir, say no more, I've already deposited a $17 credit to your account."

Reality:

"This telephone I got last week is cheaper now...that ain't fair...I spend a lot of money...blah blah blah...I deserve a difference in price...blah blah blah...I spend a lot of money...blah blah blah."

"Sir, I understand your frustration, unfortunately our prices constantly change (image that) and we do not have a policy for post purchase price changes."

"Aaargh...(20 minutes pass while that poor CSR listens to your bullshit)"

...And you eventually get what you demanded so the CSR doesn't get chewed out for their average time per call doubling for the day.



This is their honest (albeit being of no benefit to Amazon) attempt in helping you if you are truly concerned about being overcharged.

See, they stepped outside the box...just for you!



This was not a flagged item if it was legitimately an error on their part.
As they would have discovered this soon enough and extended it as they do many times.
This is one of the largest online businesses after all...they kind of know what they are doing.



This should be an automatic ban in my opinion.



See above ^



See above again ^
or do yourself a favor and thoroughly read their guidelines on promotional offers.



You can read can't you?
Surely the terms of the promotion were stated?
And you didn't see the offer in your cart?
Yet you continued with the purchase that you reviewed and confirmed?

Were you trying to get one in after the fact, relying on those soft CSRs again?



Boo-hoo



As he should have.



YOU CAN READ...I was worried for a moment. :bouncy:



Ding ding ding...you sure like winning don't you?

Can't quite figure out your failure of understanding terms & conditions though with your talent.



Thanks genius!

But for those struggling:

If your guidance and interpretation of T&Cs don't come from other anonymous douche bags on CAG & SD your not in the dumb ass boat...congratulations! ;)[/QUOTE]
You really are a motherfodder ass.

Good job in displaying it too :applause:

If you read the Op's original post, most of your questions have already been answered rather than you basing on assumptions.
 
I just want to say to those talking about smudges on disks and just wiping them off... i hope you guys do it properly. With a high quality microfiber cloth in a straight pattern from center ring to out. I think a lot of the used games i see that are scratched to fuck are from tards wiping discs with their shirts, or god forbid, paper towels.

For just a few light fingerprints i usually run it under some water, wiping outward with my hands then dry it off with a good absorbent microfiber cloth. If it was grungier you can use a tiny bit of mild soap. Just make sure its non abrasive and doesn't have moisturizer or anything. If its really grungy you can spray the disk down with some high % alcohol and wipe it down away from the spindle. That should get rid of any grime or smudges. If it doesnt then there are problems with the disc

With my OCD my process goes:
Rinse under water with a dab of soap, dry, alcohol spray, wipe down, then a final water rinse just to get rid of any residue that may have been left behind... excessive yes, but i dont know where these things have been =P

still, even for most of you out there i would hope you would at least use a proper microfiber cloth when just wiping a disk down. @exaznkid. Im surprised you even tried anything. If i got a disk 'like new' in a generic case like that and smudged to hell i would have sent it back immediately
 
[quote name='Kenshindono']I just want to say to those talking about smudges on disks and just wiping them off... i hope you guys do it properly. With a high quality microfiber cloth in a straight pattern from center ring to out. I think a lot of the used games i see that are scratched to fuck are from tards wiping discs with their shirts, or god forbid, paper towels.

For just a few light fingerprints i usually run it under some water, wiping outward with my hands then dry it off with a good absorbent microfiber cloth. If it was grungier you can use a tiny bit of mild soap. Just make sure its non abrasive and doesn't have moisturizer or anything. If its really grungy you can spray the disk down with some high % alcohol and wipe it down away from the spindle. That should get rid of any grime or smudges. If it doesnt then there are problems with the disc

With my OCD my process goes:
Rinse under water with a dab of soap, dry, alcohol spray, wipe down, then a final water rinse just to get rid of any residue that may have been left behind... excessive yes, but i dont know where these things have been =P

still, even for most of you out there i would hope you would at least use a proper microfiber cloth when just wiping a disk down. @exaznkid. Im surprised you even tried anything. If i got a disk 'like new' in a generic case like that and smudged to hell i would have sent it back immediately[/QUOTE]
I'm the same way usually when I get a used game, though I don't go to quite those lengths. But I DO remove any stickers from whatever store I bought them from. Then I use those same stickers to remove any residue by peeling and resticking the stickers over and over.

As for using "microfiber" cloth versus a shirt or another soft cloth to wipe down the discs I've found that as long as you're gentle there are zero issues with using a shirt or other cloth to wipe discs down....well at least Blu-Rays anyway. If you're talking about a standard DVD or CD, then yeah, anything other than one of those microfiber cloths may scratch the crap out of them.

Oh and FYI: I've seen the folks at places like GS using Windex on a game disc before. I don't know if the chemicals in that stuff does anything to discs, but it sure makes them shine.;)
 
I find it funny that you guys are yelling at him for trying to get the best deal possible. This is CHEAPassgamer right? The whole point of this website is to try and get the best deal, and if you are able to make it better, then guess what? YOU DO.

/rant over
 
[quote name='Daw19yoyo']I find it funny that you guys are yelling at him for trying to get the best deal possible. This is CHEAPassgamer right? The whole point of this website is to try and get the best deal, and if you are able to make it better, then guess what? YOU DO.

/rant over[/QUOTE]

Good luck with your future ban.
 
I hate to be the one to say this but I get the feeling that here's more to this story than the OP's letting on. I've seen/read about many people who abuse Amazon's return/error/credit policies before getting banned. I doubt $47 is the only real issue here.

I mean, if this was WM or Gamespot, I would believe OP but Amazon is pretty fucking cool when it comes to CS. Ultimiately though, Amazon (and any business for that matter) can deny you business for what ever reason they want.
 
This thread is tl;dr, but if I ever get wrongfully screwed by a company, I just contact http://www.bbb.org/. It's not likely that anything will happen from it, but at least your complaint will be on file.
 
This thread is tl;dr, but if I ever get wrongfully screwed by a company, I just contact http://www.bbb.org/. It's not likely that anything will happen from it, but at least your complaint will be on file. I've filed a couple against Go Hastings and their shit customer service.

[quote name='HanawayCoca']You really are a motherfodder ass.

Good job in displaying it too :applause:

If you read the Op's original post, most of your questions have already been answered rather than you basing on assumptions.[/QUOTE]

Muthafodder is a rep from Go Hastings. Of course he's going to act like a jackass in defense of a corporation. Y'know, there's nothing worse than an individual with a low yearly salary trying to "con" a multi-billion dollar company and their overindulgent CEOs! :lol:
 
I can't get banned if I don't buy anything....it's only because I CAN'T buy anything...(I would have bought that Alan Wake Download code by now)
 
[quote name='Blade']Muthafodder is a rep from Go Hastings. Of course he's going to act like a jackass in defense of a corporation. Y'know, there's nothing worse than an individual with a low yearly salary trying to "con" a multi-billion dollar company and their overindulgent CEOs! :lol:[/QUOTE]

I'd respond detailing my profession, benefits, pay-scale, but I get more enjoyment in you believing what you do.
 
[quote name='Muthafodder']Are others ashamed to share their stories of being shafted by the man?



Ding ding ding...we have a winner!



Please show me where Amazon states they stand behind customer uploaded images.
I read it's in Beta and not official...

I also am inclined to believe you ordered it knowing you would contact them afterwards...the sole reason you purchased it was to dispute it later and net it at a lower price.

How do they know you didn't upload the image?
How does it make sense to you that you would have a valid leg to stand on?

Would you also have countered a dispute upon a comment someone made as a review that wasn't in line with the product...preposterous!



I seriously doubt they extended the offer first...

In your head:

"Hello, I purchased an item last week, I see you have it cheaper now."

"Sir, say no more, I've already deposited a $17 credit to your account."

Reality:

"This telephone I got last week is cheaper now...that ain't fair...I spend a lot of money...blah blah blah...I deserve a difference in price...blah blah blah...I spend a lot of money...blah blah blah."

"Sir, I understand your frustration, unfortunately our prices constantly change (image that) and we do not have a policy for post purchase price changes."

"Aaargh...(20 minutes pass while that poor CSR listens to your bullshit)"

...And you eventually get what you demanded so the CSR doesn't get chewed out for their average time per call doubling for the day.



This is their honest (albeit being of no benefit to Amazon) attempt in helping you if you are truly concerned about being overcharged.

See, they stepped outside the box...just for you!



This was not a flagged item if it was legitimately an error on their part.
As they would have discovered this soon enough and extended it as they do many times.
This is one of the largest online businesses after all...they kind of know what they are doing.



This should be an automatic ban in my opinion.



See above ^



See above again ^
or do yourself a favor and thoroughly read their guidelines on promotional offers.



You can read can't you?
Surely the terms of the promotion were stated?
And you didn't see the offer in your cart?
Yet you continued with the purchase that you reviewed and confirmed?

Were you trying to get one in after the fact, relying on those soft CSRs again?



Boo-hoo



As he should have.



YOU CAN READ...I was worried for a moment. :bouncy:



Ding ding ding...you sure like winning don't you?

Can't quite figure out your failure of understanding terms & conditions though with your talent.



Thanks genius!

But for those struggling:

If your guidance and interpretation of T&Cs don't come from other anonymous douche bags on CAG & SD your not in the dumb ass boat...congratulations! ;)[/QUOTE]

What were you hoping to accomplish by posting all this? :lol: :roll:
 
After the bans from a few years ago, I am very hesitant to contact Amazon unless it is something really major like getting expired food from them (that has happened a few times).
 
[quote name='Muthafodder']
---------

If you think their customers are the only audience they have, you are foolishly mistaken.
Their largest audience are their investors, those willing to dump millions/billions of capital in their company.
They could care less about less than 0.01% of their customers being banned for bad behavior...drop in the lake.
Whomever banned you got a pat on the back...deserved from my perspective.
You hurt their bottom line...you WILL get their attention...simple solution...don't get in the hat.

It's easy to see the obvious...because the obvious is obvious...try visiting the outside of the box.

PS - Jeez their stock over the last 12 month period...wish I rode that gravy train.[/QUOTE]

This. Everyone keep thinking how they spent thousands of dollars or shopped for year would meant something.
 
[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']For those that are calling this a pity party for me, I have nothing to say to you. Nothing in my posts illicits that. I just wanted to share my experience to fellow CAGs of my own experience of being a little too cheap.

I have nothing to gain by sharing my story.

Nothing.

Ever since I posted this, I've gotten 4 PM's so far of other CAG-ers who also have their Amazon accounts closed. So I know I'm not the only one it's happened too.

I admit I was sort of a PITA, not in the way I communicated, but my "PERSISTENCE" to keep trying if I don't get the deal I deserved to get. Because I was never rude, my previous posts here and on SD cautioned and implored other members to be nice in dealing with Amazon's CS.

Looking back, I think I did raise a "red flag" for my persistence.

Here's my experience on what I did, so people can see how everything happened since I know a lot of you guys have done something similar.



I had no issues with this. I just simply showed the Amazon CS the link with the picture and he/she gave me $5 in credit for me to keep it.



This took me 2 requests, basically the 1st chat said he/she couldn't cancel my shipping soon order. I asked if they could at least apply the price difference, they said sorry it can't be done since price changes all the time.

Person then said I can just refuse the shipment with it arrived and place a new order. I said well, what's the difference between just giving me the price difference now rather than wait to ship it back and replace the order?

I even mentioned that this process would cost Amazon more money to do to pay for the return shipping expense. Person said sorry. So I sent an email instead. I got a reply that basically said, okay I'll apply the difference for you, no problems.



This one was what caused me the "red flag" maybe. I basically told them that I only received $10 credit and not the $20 credit which was advertised a month later. Person said he couldn't find "proof" it was $20. Since I couldn't find any proof either, I basically asked him to check this item's history and even linking him to the CAG thread about it (above). He still wouldn't budge.

I then sent an email asking the same thing. I got a response saying that this would be forwarded to the marketing team and I would hear back within 48 hours. A good 5 days later, still nothing.

I chatted with them again, pointing out that I haven't received an email response. We got into the whole sorry but the $20 promo never existed. I asked them to check their records check anything and the guy simply said he can't do that. I had to find links to forums here and SD that basically talked about people getting the $20 credit. Guy finally said he would speak to a manager, and after 30 minutes of this chat, finally gave me the extra $10 credit.



People from SD who complained about this too got anywhere from $20 - $25. I just got $15 for it. This I had little to no problems with. Just showed the link containing the description and yet the guy kept pointing out that it was a limited time offer, but since that wording was no longer on the site, but still had the "with Bag" listed on the description, he simply said he would need to speak to supervisor to approve the deal, and offered me a partial refund for me. I honestly wanted the bag more since it's been OOS since.

It was me complaining basically at least once or twice a week in such a short span that got me the boot.

Learned so much about Amazon's policy during this experience. Everytime you log on to contact Amazon, not only will they keep a record of it, but they will compile those records which gets reviewed by Supervisors on a weekly/monthly basis. Guess my name popped up one to many in that 1 month.

For those that have their complaints and contacts spread out, you guys shouldn't be too woried.[/QUOTE]

This should be be added to the front page. If it is just 4 incidents it didn't look too bad, but you kept calling them until you got what you wanted. Remember each phone call you made caused money, and at some point they just decide it was not worth it.
 
What I don't get are all the people jumping all over the OP for issue #3. When they offer promotional credits on preorders they always say these are extended to all existing preorders. So there seems to me to be absolutely no question he should have gotten the $20 instead of $10 (as it bumped up to $20 after he preordered it - and thus it should have been extended to his preorder as well).

Now, if this $20 promo never really existed (there seems to be some dispute about that) that is a different matter. But if it really went from $10 to $20 he should have gotten it and I would have argued the same thing with Amazon CS and it would never cross my mind that that would count against me in any way.

True enough that we don't really know the absolute truth here but if the story he gave is mostly accurate the banning seems totally uncalled for in my opinion. They could give a warning, sure - but banning and wiping out credit it way too harsh. My wife has a huge catalog of Kindle books and I have several hundred dollars in gift card credit sitting on my account. If they wiped out my account and her account because I returned one item, emailed about their trade-in partner (NorAm) breaking one of my discs and then rejecting the trade-in because of that (really happened about 2 weeks ago), and contacted them about a missing preorder credit I'd be pretty damn pissed. And if they did, I would expect my gift card credit sent to me as a check - or at a minimum I should be allowed to spend the rest of it first. I mean, we're not talking massive fraud by the OP here - just a slightly elevated case of nagging CS too much. I mean, c'mon :roll:.

I am curious, OP, about your other activity during that time, and whether you are a Prime member or not. Ie, were these the only things you bought that month (and had a problem with each one), or what? It seems the more you buy, the more issues you may have (just statistically based on the volume) so hopefully they take that into account at least. I mean, I have the occasional issue with a purchase or trade-in, but the vast majority of them go just fine.

In any case, I want to thank the OP for telling his tale in such detail despite the jackass responses he's gotten from a few CAGs. I don't see him getting anything out of posting his story here except providing a warning to others. If it causes people to cut down on Amazon CS abuse or at least be aware of the potential for such a banning, then it is worthwhile no matter how you feel about his particular "transgressions". I don't want other people who have had similar issues scared off from posting because they are afraid of being attacked by other CAGs.
 
damn interesting indeed....maybe the TC is hiding something he doesn't want to reveal. Not saying he is but, Amazon gave him no warning so something seems fishy.

Wondering how long the TC has been a amazon member/prime member and also the number of returns/value of returns he has made recently.
 
I don't care about the amazon defense force, the fact that these amazon banning stories are so common and can be read all over the internet is enough for me to say fuck their tablet initiative.

Investing in a hardware platform like that could mean spending a huge amount of money with that company on digital goods - i simply do not want to risk any future problems a year or more from now that I might have with amazon.com physical purchases causing my account to just be banned without notice or warning, and losing access to all of that content.

I fucking hate apple. With a passion. But this amazon banning bullshit? It's enough to make me consider an overpriced ipad instead of a kindle fire.

Again, I don't care if this happened to one person or a thousand people, or 50 thousand people, the fact that this is real, acceptable customer service policy by amazon is enough to turn me off to them in a HUGE way.
 
crazy story. Glad I have not been using my kindle special offers because usually there is a problem relating to those lol. I will hold off on contacting them for unimportant things. hopefully you can get your credit back. I would demand at least that.
 
[quote name='Ratchet & CAG']Learned so much about Amazon's policy during this experience. Everytime you log on to contact Amazon, not only will they keep a record of it, but they will compile those records which gets reviewed by Supervisors on a weekly/monthly basis. Guess my name popped up one to many in that 1 month.[/QUOTE]The fact that you just figured out this now is a bit concerning.

Every online company will keep records of all of your customer service inquiries. Some of them don't quite have it as regimented and processed as
Amazon does, though a company the size of Amazon is tracking your purchasing habits, your returns and your customer service inquiries. They do this to track trends for customers that are good customers and are worth retaining because they contribute to the company's growth as well as tracking problem customers ("devil customers", as Best Buy classified them previously and I'm sure still does) that are more trouble than the income they bring the company.

Best Buy does this with their Reward Zone program (as I've had a Premier Silver Reward Zone membership canceled due to "program abuse" a few years ago, so I know what you're talking about) as well as other shopping metrics by credit card numbers, returns (why do you think they went to driver's license needing to be produced for returns) and other shopping habits.

I still think there's more to your story than you're letting on, because unless it was a fluke of chance that had you showing up prominently once on some report somewhere, I don't see how you could have been banned from Amazon with the purchasing history you're claiming.

Companies can decide without recourse to prevent you from shopping there, for any reason they wish. It's private property to be in one of their stores, and if they decide it's not worth their time and potential hassle to have you there and take your money, they can prevent you from shopping there. This is no different in that respect, as Amazon must have determined that your money isn't worth the apparent and potential hassle you're giving them.

I've had my own hassles with Amazon CS, including multiple levels' inquiries and I know that they track my inquiries all the time as I always do it via email with a very few exceptions. I don't say anything there that I wouldn't say to them on the phone or in person to someone's face.

As I've received a hand-written note a number of months ago from someone at Amazon thanking me for all my business, the tracked customer metrics also go the other way.
 
I would also like to add that Amazon probably LOVES this kind of "press" instead of hating it.

It lets people know that they won't be screwed with. And also, if you're the type of customer that would be worried about whether you would get banned, then they probably don't want you as a customer anyway. You've self selected your way out of their potentially devil customers.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']

Best Buy does this with their Reward Zone program (as I've had a Premier Silver Reward Zone membership canceled due to "program abuse" a few years ago, so I know what you're talking about)

Companies can decide without recourse to prevent you from shopping there, for any reason they wish.[/QUOTE]

Out of curiosity, why was your membership canceled? If you don't want to share what happened I totally understand.

Stores may reserve the right to "refuse service to anyone", but realistically they need legitimate backing and evidence as to why. Constitutionality is always an issue, so they really can't just "prevent you from shopping there for any reason they wish".
 
[quote name='confoosious']I would also like to add that Amazon probably LOVES this kind of "press" instead of hating it.

It lets people know that they won't be screwed with. And also, if you're the type of customer that would be worried about whether you would get banned, then they probably don't want you as a customer anyway. You've self selected your way out of their potentially devil customers.[/QUOTE]

this is crazy talk. the customer should come first.This kind of attitude is crazy where they are nice and bend over backwards for you on complaints, until that final straw breaks their limits and they treat you like a criminal?

Why not just be polite about refusing those account credits and "special treatment" in the first place so they don't have to consider you a "devil customer"?

Or is it that you think its a good thing for people to read about these banning stories and as a result they should think "well, gosh i better not try to get any discounts at amazon or they might ban me! I'll pay full price, please!"

Nobody who shops anywhere should ever have to be worried about being blacklisted, and accidentally getting their whole family's accounts blacklisted as well. This is just egregious behavior on the part of amazon and if a major news outlet was to pick up on it, they'd be backpedaling hardcore.

Bottom line for me is that you can't do anything while shopping at amazon that they don't allow. If you talk to a CS rep and that rep agrees to match a price, take a return, or give a credit, that's their choice. You should not have to worry about being punished later on for it. It was fully in their power to say no to that request.

This kind of attitude towards the customer just means that you will eventually wear away at any goodwill built with your most loyal customers and send them somewhere else. I know we're all CAGs but as we've seen in the Kmart threads, even the best deals can't make up for horrible customer service.
 
[quote name='jer7583']
Bottom line for me is that you can't do anything while shopping at amazon that they don't allow. If you talk to a CS rep and that rep agrees to match a price, take a return, or give a credit, that's their choice. You should not have to worry about being punished later on for it. It was fully in their power to say no to that request.
[/QUOTE]

What if you harass a rep? And their supervisor? Or call 20 times to get $15 taken off of Madden? Aren't you wasting their time? Are they "allowing" you to waste their time so it's not your fault? No.

If the 20th CSR grants you a $15 concession, can you stick to your bottom line thinking? No. They wanted to get you off the phone and from wasting their time. They'll let the escalated account folks take care of it and see if you should be banned.

Do you remember the TRU $45 madden thread? How many people said "I called/chatted 10 times. Finally got my credit! Woot!" That's the type of customer they probably hate.

Bad customers are bad customers. I doubt any local news outlet would give a shit about you being a bad customer. If any investigative reporter called amazon, they'd say "we can't comment on a specific customer's purchase history..... however, we do monitor all of our accounts for a history of abuse." "off the record, Ron Burgundy, you'd have to have a lot of claims to even be considered for banning. there's no story here."
 
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[quote name='Jurassic425']Out of curiosity, why was your membership canceled? If you don't want to share what happened I totally understand.

Stores may reserve the right to "refuse service to anyone", but realistically they need legitimate backing and evidence as to why. Constitutionality is always an issue, so they really can't just "prevent you from shopping there for any reason they wish".[/QUOTE]They canceled my RZ account because I was using a promotion that was RZ Silver only to pick up games at a discount from that promotion and sell them to CAGs for cost + tax + shipping. They assumed I was abusing my membership by overbuying the games in quantities they didn't see as "normal" for a customer. There was no limit to the quantities listed on the promotion, so they suspended my account without warning. I went through multiple levels of conversation about it, including getting some contradictory information about what happened and found out the true reason to the situation. Like the OP, no warning about the situation and they just took the action they did due to "program abuse". They eventually cashed out all remaining RZ certs I would have earned from other purchases and that was the end of that RZ Silver membership.

I'm not sure of the constitutionality of preventing someone from shopping at a store, if the store has a legitimate reason and evidence to why it is necessary. Usually they only reserve it for someone that's a public nuisance or attempted theft against the store, though if they decide you're a nuisance to their store policies, they can serve you with person non grata and prevent you from shopping there.

[quote name='jer7583']Nobody who shops anywhere should ever have to be worried about being blacklisted, and accidentally getting their whole family's accounts blacklisted as well. This is just egregious behavior on the part of amazon and if a major news outlet was to pick up on it, they'd be backpedaling hardcore.[/QUOTE]Go feed it to the major news outlets and see what happens. This has been going on for years and it's never shown up anywhere I can imagine as "major news".
 
I'll try and remember a bunch of shit I almost got my account closed for last year. Prepare yourself:
  • Heavy Rain - asked for a $10 credit and got it
  • Mass Effect 2 cracked disc complaint (legit)
  • Halo Reach Legendary broken item (not legit..)
  • Speaker system a POS (legit)
  • Not receiving promo credit for a game (legit)
  • Rabbids Go Home price adjustment on a deal
  • Demons Souls Deluxe from Gohastings not in condition described (legit)
  • Diaper Bag defect (legit)
  • Had orders for 3 games. 1 had shipped. Amazon had a B2G1. Asked to B1G1 since the other had just been sent making it a B2G1.
  • Asked for a $10 credit
And here's where it got bad (this was all in about 2 months):

  • Asked for Black Friday price on a $100 item. Got $40 off
  • Asked for BF price on an Ipod before Black Friday. Got $75 off it. Took about 6 tries
  • Ordered 6x Dragon Ball Z when it was new (price error)
  • Ordered a PS3. Complained about defects and got a good sized credit (not legit...)
  • Goonies Blu Ray price error (Ordered 3)
  • And the straw that broke the camels back... a huge problem with Noram breaking/losing my shit. 2 simultaneous trades. (both legit. fuck Noram). Contacted them probably literally 10 times about it before they credited me.
On that last one got in a pretty bad half hour long argument with some jackass. I'm sure I was one as well. A very short time later is when I got the too many concessions email that said the same thing as the OP except they let me go with a warning basically asking if there was any way they could better serve me.

Another thing I didnt add was that I rarely returned anything that had a problem. Instead I'd keep whatever it was and ask CS for a discount (promo credit).
 
[quote name='confoosious']What if you harass a rep? And their supervisor? Or call 20 times to get $15 taken off of Madden? Aren't you wasting their time? Are they "allowing" you to waste their time so it's not their fault? No.

Bad customers are bad customers. I doubt any local news outlet would give a shit about you being a bad customer.[/QUOTE]

Now, now. If they pick up on Xbox banning an autistic kid for "being too good at Games" they would run with this.

Now that was later proven that he got the recon armor from someone who hacked it for him, etc. but it did get some press.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR_HoOvIO_g
 
I'm sure you're just joking but there's a human interest aspect to the video game kid. Being a pain in the ass is not a human interest story.

btw, wasn't it ultimately resolved that kid actually did cheat? Or at least someone used his account to cheat.
 
Folks shouldn't be surprised about any of this. It's a call center, and you're a customer. Everything is reviewed (your accounts, your calls). They have folks whose entire day revolves around listening to customer calls, and reviewing accounts.

So, if you abuse the system, whether you're legitimately complaining about an item or simply milking it, they will notice. I'm also certain that some of it is automated in some manner. Meaning, that if customer z made 5 calls into customer service within an x amount of time, he/she will automatically go into bucket 'y'. Where bucket 'y' automatically gets all of your calls, and purchases reviewed.
 
[quote name='jer7583']this is crazy talk. the customer should come first.This kind of attitude is crazy where they are nice and bend over backwards for you on complaints, until that final straw breaks their limits and they treat you like a criminal?[/QUOTE]

Amazon already bent over backwards for the OP, I preorder plenty of stuff and their policy has always been that the order is final once its reaches the "shipping soon" phase, meaning that you can't cancel and no more lower price adjustments, maybe the OP didn't know that or maybe he did, but the fact is he badgered Amazon into breaking their policy to satisfy him on his 2nd complaint and then he just kept coming back for more
 
[quote name='confoosious']I'm sure you're just joking but there's a human interest aspect to the video game kid. Being a pain in the ass is not a human interest story.

btw, wasn't it ultimately resolved that kid actually did cheat? Or at least someone used his account to cheat.[/QUOTE]

Yes it was (somehow that wasn't in the orginal post but added in there now).

My point is wait until they have ban a family account that has a multiple family member and one of them being disabled in some way. That person would access the account and find that they cant because they have been perma-banned, and they will report it. Just like the lady in the story didn't have the full story (or give the full story) neither will that person and the news will run it
 
Those of you who think businesses will only treat abusers this way may be right... for now. But look at the bigger picture of consumer spending. Already, the richest 10% account for 50% of all consumer spending (http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2009/07/richest_10_account_for_50_of_c.html). That is only going to increase if the trajectory of growing wealth disparity continues. That means that it is not at all unlikely that businesses will begin (and some already do) to make the "rational" decision that it doesn't make economic sense to deal with non-affluent customers at all. It is not a stretch to think that in their minds middle-class consumers will become "devil" customers automatically, in light of the fact that they are more price-sensitive. This is already happening in major cities (e.g., NYC).
 
That's quite a leap. Businesses don't care where the money comes from as long as they make a profit.

If 90% of people who buy video games were below the poverty line, they'd cater to people below the poverty line. And if 99% of those 90% made them money, they'd still try to kick out the 1% that were abusers.

Businesses catering to affluent customers who are less price senstive? That's been a strategy since the dawn of business.

I'm not sure why you're turning this into a class issue. Businesses are very easy to figure out. Other than a few whose stated goal wasn't profit maximization and increasing shareholder value, they are out to make money. Money is money. The poor people are the ones who buy your products? Target the poor people. The middle class has your money, target them. The affluent have your money, target them.

There is always someone willing to meet a market demand. There is no class issue.
 
[quote name='io'].

In any case, I want to thank the OP for telling his tale in such detail despite the jackass responses he's gotten from a few CAGs. I don't see him getting anything out of posting his story here except providing a warning to others. If it causes people to cut down on Amazon CS abuse or at least be aware of the potential for such a banning, then it is worthwhile no matter how you feel about his particular "transgressions". I don't want other people who have had similar issues scared off from posting because they are afraid of being attacked by other CAGs.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I give the OP credit for having the balls to at least share knowing he was going to get flamed a bit while basically giving everybody a heads up to just be careful. It's easy to pile on the guy when he's down but I highly doubt the same critics would ball up to post up a similar experience if they had gone through one. Him posting on here is obviously not going to do anything for his appeals.

The OP's message to all the AMZ abusers out there is that to all the folks contactings CS to PM a deal they saw elsewhere 10x over to quit being a PITA or risk getting banned and just use the "report a lower price" link instead.
 
[quote name='ShockandAww']I'll try and remember a bunch of shit I almost got my account closed for last year. [/QUOTE]

Almost got your account closed? Holy shit I'm shocked you weren't banned.
 
I will say that if you only want to do business with the people in the world who are nice and civil you're missing out on a pretty huge percentage of rude people who have money.

I don't understand how these policies are defensible at all.
Offer customers special adjustments and changes to policy-
then ban those customers without warning or reason.
 
I sell regularly on ebay and I rather not have a sale than to deal with PITAs because you usually end up losing money on them
 
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