Prior to a birthday, I ordered a Kindle case from Amazon as this year’s choice of present. Ordering on the Thursday three days before the big day, I felt that ‘next day delivery’ (supposedly guaranteed) would be the safe bet - so I coughed up the additional postage costs and breathed a sigh of relief.
Despite the confirmation email reinforcing the purchase and delivery time, the item did not arrive the next day after all. I decided to call Amazon’s customer services to find out why, and was rather astounded to learn that the driver simply ran out of time (so much for the guarantee). This is simply inexcusable in my view, as if it were I who had run out of time, I would’ve made it my business to ensure that it gets completed on schedule as there are people depending upon this service who have paid good money.
Worsening matters, I was then informed that the delivery couldn’t even be made the following day, as Saturday deliveries are classified as ‘special deliveries’. However, having paid and expected for postage for the previous day, surely it should have been prioritised?
Apparently not. The lady went on to say that there was ‘nothing they could do’ aside from delivering on Monday - despite missing the birthday, and thus the entire point of the order.
An email on the following Monday morning offered an estimated delivery time, and I duly ensured that a family member was home to sign for the item upon its arrival (they even cancelled plans especially). I shouldn’t have been surprised at this stage, but the parcel was still not delivered, and another call to customer services was required.
On this occasion, the driver had apparently not been able to open his truck, as the key to the lock had gone missing. By this stage, I’d virtually lost interest and was well and truly fed up of the continuous excuses.
The item finally arrived on Tuesday, five days after paying for ‘next day’ delivery and with the birthday now firmly in the rear-view mirror. Unfortunately, it’s incidents such as these that can really dent your faith in a brand, and it’s highly unlikely that I’d ever call upon Amazon for this service again (or indeed, any other).