Yay Amazon, Boo Canada Post
I ordered three books from Amazon last week. Parcel arrived this morning with a dent in one edge. Opened the box: two books are in good shape, one has a gash right through the back cover and 175 pages (and it’s a hardcover book). Went downstairs to the Post Office outlet, was told, “Oh, sorry, um, no, that’s not our responsibility.” I assume she meant, not the responsibility of her outlet, but when I called the number she gave, I discovered that she meant it wasn’t the responsibility of Canada Post—I accepted the parcel, so they’re not responsible. (Yes, I pointed out that the box only had a dent, and asked how I could have checked the contents without opening it, which apparently is a de facto acceptance of the contents. You can guess how satisfactory the response was.)
When I got back to my office, I went to Amazon.ca, clicked “Help”, and filled in the customer support form to say, “Book damaged in transit, can you do anything for me?” 15 minutes later I had an email message saying that a replacement would be shipped today, could I please return the damaged book, they’d pay the postage, here’s a label to print out to put on the package.
So thank you, Amazon—excellent customer service, and I’ll be back. And boo to you, Canada Post—I’m a passionate believer in public services, but “service” is exactly what you failed to provide once again.
Footnote: one day later, I have the replacement book. Thanks, Amazon—I’ll be back.
This is thanks to Amazon’s Negative Operating Cycle. Amazon turns inventory every 20 days and standard retail payment terms are typically 45 days. Hence from day 22 (the day the customer pays) to 44, they have a Cash Float whereas they enjoy customer money before they have to pay the retailers. So they could sell everything at cost and still turn a profit. Talk about efficiency.
http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2009/06/01/presentation-revealing-design-treasures-from-the-amazon/
This may be CP’s fault; it sounds like an example of “not if, but how-many” self-insurance. I’m sure it has a real name, but I don’t know what it could be
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When you ship a package, it’s worth buying insurance, because the insurance is much cheaper than the cost of replacement for a single package.
Amazon, however, ships so many packages that it’s cheaper for them to replace damaged books than it is to purchase the insurance from Canada Post.
HP used to do the same thing with rental cars, which is where I first learned about it…
Gotta love CP. I sent a package to a friend in Newfoundland a few weeks ago. Canada Post gave me a tracking number. Waited a few days, still no record of the tracking number in the system. Went to the post office to ask about it: “Oh, the tracking number won’t show anything in the system until *after* the package has been delievered”. Um, gwah?
“not my job” scales with company size; it’s friends are “I’m just doing my job” and “I’d like to help but the computer won’t let me do that.” Other incentives mute or magnify the incentives.
In this case Canada Post is a 3rd party so they really couldn’t care less. Amazon cares _even if it was the Post’s fault_ because if they don’t make you happy then you will never use Amazon again (Amazon can also stop using Canada Post if this is a common problem).
Just for fun: suppose instead that you were just griefing Amazon by ordering books, destorying one, and returing it. Or griefing Canada Post by doing the same thing (you’d be griefing whomever compensated you for your own damage). Either one could start declining you service or reimbursement after a couple iterations.
And what if you were part of a DDoS? Amazon would notice that its deliveries over a wide area had suddenly gone funky. Canada Post could notice that a particular delivery guy, or region, or everybody had gone South (the last could imply a work stoppage DDoS) and investigate.
Buy yeah, I looked at the Canada Post web page. The first 20 items on their FAQ are about jobs, union rules, etc. The other links on the “About Us” page are links to management bios, their policy on environmental sustainability, and the like. I have no idea if they are a government agency but everything smells like big company “not my job” scaled very large.
Blaming Canada Post seems like a safe bet.
I totally agree with you, Amazon gets customer service. I’ve experienced this too – http://vocamus.net/dave/?p=75. I use them all the time because of this.
Living in the country, I’ve had Canada Post leave Amazon boxes half sticking out of our mailbox in a rain storm (“We didn’t realize you were home to accept the package” “You didn’t check!”). Canada Post does not get customer service.
Dave
Obviously no one aformentioned tried to file an official complaint(Written official complaint form) for damage/lost good, even if you know all the answers required ,it’ll take at least 20 Minutes (Excluding data required gathering)30 to 45 is the general rule.Payment, if it ever comes your way, will be at least 30 days away more like 40-50.No matter you explain your customer you have to wait from Canada Post.You want your customer happy & back ? You say the hell with Canada post I’ll replace upfront save the time an employee takes to fill the form and…Keep the customer.He’ll be happy, back for everything else ,will say I am a champion in service and will tell it’s friends too. Free advertising!… How do you think that worth?.By the way, it has been said to me by a former Canada Post clerk that long form filling & long delay in response are deliberatly set to discourage you from doing claims.