The Alice-in-Wonderland world of Amazon Customer Support
Amazon.in says that more than half of India’s online shoppers shop on its website. All the more reason for them to fix the insanely long and complicated Customer Service labyrinth that I encountered when I recently purchased a smartphone through them.
The phone turned out to be defective and so I went on the website to request a replacement. (No, the problem was not with the SIM card, I checked.)
Amazon asked me to download an app called Smart Chk to run diagnostic checks on my phone. The download failed.
I was then directed to download the app from Google Play. This was starting to get inconvenient but having no other option, I went to Google Play but found that Smart Chk no longer exists; it has been replaced by an app called Blancco Diagnostics.
I was a little wary about downloading an unknown app but did it anyway (How come Amazon did not mention that Blancco had replaced Smart Chk?). But when I tried to run the app, it asked for a PIN to be entered or a QR code to be scanned. I had neither.
There was a 1 800 number listed on the error message screen but it did not work.
So I went back on the Amazon website and opted for the call back option to try and solve the issue.
An Amazon Customer Service rep came on the call and I narrated the history. He was courteous but asked me to repeat the process of downloading and installing the Smart Chk/Blancco app (even he was not aware that the app had changed). When I told him that I’d already done this, he requested me to delete my download and redo the download-and-install process.
When I repeated the app download-and-install process and arrived at the screen asking for a PIN, the rep provided me with the PIN. The app started to run but aborted midway.
The rep made me redo the whole process. Same result; the Blancco app aborted midway.
The rep then said that since the online diagnostic tool did not work, Amazon would send a technician to my place to check my phone.
All right, I said. When would the technician come?
The earliest free slot for the technician is in a week’s time, said the rep. He can visit you in seven days from now.
I was flabbergasted. I told the rep that had I purchased the phone from a physical store, the dealer would have checked the phone and given me a replacement over the counter. After all, the phone is brand new and under warranty.
I understand your situation, the rep sympathised. But this is our process.
Can you register a complaint regarding your process, I asked the rep.
I would not be able to do that, he said. But give me 24 hours and I will definitely get back to you to see if we can get the technician to visit you earlier.
Wow.
So having spent nearly an hour on the phone juggling an online support form, a non-functioning 1 800 telephone number, and a failed diagnostic app, I was told that I would have to wait for a week for a technician to inspect my phone.
Soon after the call, I started receiving emails at frequent intervals asking me to rate the Amazon Customer Service experience.
I ignored the first two emails. When the third one popped up in my Inbox, I replied narrating the whole sorry story of what had transpired.
That last email got results.
Customer Service emailed me a response asking me to call a 1 800 number (not the previous one) to discuss a phone replacement or refund.
But the new 1 800 number did not work either. When I emailed Customer Service asking them to either call me or give me an alternate number, they asked me to use the call back option on the Amazon website. I did that and a rep told me that Amazon was processing a replacement phone.
Sure enough, the replacement arrived and the exchange went through without further ado.
So why am I complaining?
My story had a happy ending. But it would be all too easy to say All’s Well That Ends Well and forget about the irritants and glitches on the way.
So I want to record the hassle. I want to highlight the tortuous process that Amazon has for returning defective smartphones.
I hope someone in Amazon reads this and makes the process easier for customers. Because the current process is riddled with inefficiencies and errors.
The process asked me to download a diagnostic app (Smart Chk) which turns out to have been replaced by a new app (Blancco Diagnostics). Neither the Amazon website nor the rep mentioned this change.
When the app failed, the error message screen directed me to call a 1 800 number for support. This number did not work.
When I finally spoke to the Customer Service rep, I was told the Blancco Diagnostic app requires both SIM cards in a dual SIM phone. Where does that leave people like me who use only one SIM card? Why would I want to borrow someone else’s SIM card just because the app cannot handle a single SIM?
When the Blancco app aborted, the Service rep told me that a technician would visit me in one week to inspect my phone. To save time, I asked if there was an authorised service centre I could visit. I was told they didn’t have any in Bangalore. That is ridiculous.
When Customer Service responded to my final email, I was directed to call a 1 800 number to discuss the issue. That number also did not work and we were back to the call back option on the online form.
This has made me think. Why do we shop on Amazon?
We shop because it is convenient, the prices are lower, and we are assured of an efficient redress if something goes wrong with the product or delivery.
In light of my experience, I have revisited these assumptions.
Yes, online shopping is super convenient. But with authorised outlets all over the city, shopping at a physical store is not difficult all, especially in a product category like a smartphone where you have already done your research and are sure of the model you want to buy. You just need to visit a store that has your desired product.
No, prices are no longer all that lower on Amazon. I checked prices of the phone I ordered on Amazon both on the manufacturer’s site and at retail stores. To my surprise, the prices were exactly the same.
No, Amazon Customer Service was not efficient. Had I bought the phone from a retail store, the dealer would have most likely accepted my complaint, checked the item, and replaced it immediately. Remember, I initiated the complaint almost immediately after receiving the item.
So as the ecommerce battles rage on, Amazon and the rest of the online sellers will have to reflect on what exactly are their competitive differentiators?
The phone turned out to be defective and so I went on the website to request a replacement. (No, the problem was not with the SIM card, I checked.)
Amazon asked me to download an app called Smart Chk to run diagnostic checks on my phone. The download failed.
I was then directed to download the app from Google Play. This was starting to get inconvenient but having no other option, I went to Google Play but found that Smart Chk no longer exists; it has been replaced by an app called Blancco Diagnostics.
I was a little wary about downloading an unknown app but did it anyway (How come Amazon did not mention that Blancco had replaced Smart Chk?). But when I tried to run the app, it asked for a PIN to be entered or a QR code to be scanned. I had neither.
There was a 1 800 number listed on the error message screen but it did not work.
So I went back on the Amazon website and opted for the call back option to try and solve the issue.
An Amazon Customer Service rep came on the call and I narrated the history. He was courteous but asked me to repeat the process of downloading and installing the Smart Chk/Blancco app (even he was not aware that the app had changed). When I told him that I’d already done this, he requested me to delete my download and redo the download-and-install process.
When I repeated the app download-and-install process and arrived at the screen asking for a PIN, the rep provided me with the PIN. The app started to run but aborted midway.
The rep made me redo the whole process. Same result; the Blancco app aborted midway.
The rep then said that since the online diagnostic tool did not work, Amazon would send a technician to my place to check my phone.
All right, I said. When would the technician come?
The earliest free slot for the technician is in a week’s time, said the rep. He can visit you in seven days from now.
I was flabbergasted. I told the rep that had I purchased the phone from a physical store, the dealer would have checked the phone and given me a replacement over the counter. After all, the phone is brand new and under warranty.
I understand your situation, the rep sympathised. But this is our process.
Can you register a complaint regarding your process, I asked the rep.
I would not be able to do that, he said. But give me 24 hours and I will definitely get back to you to see if we can get the technician to visit you earlier.
Wow.
So having spent nearly an hour on the phone juggling an online support form, a non-functioning 1 800 telephone number, and a failed diagnostic app, I was told that I would have to wait for a week for a technician to inspect my phone.
Soon after the call, I started receiving emails at frequent intervals asking me to rate the Amazon Customer Service experience.
I ignored the first two emails. When the third one popped up in my Inbox, I replied narrating the whole sorry story of what had transpired.
That last email got results.
Customer Service emailed me a response asking me to call a 1 800 number (not the previous one) to discuss a phone replacement or refund.
But the new 1 800 number did not work either. When I emailed Customer Service asking them to either call me or give me an alternate number, they asked me to use the call back option on the Amazon website. I did that and a rep told me that Amazon was processing a replacement phone.
Sure enough, the replacement arrived and the exchange went through without further ado.
So why am I complaining?
My story had a happy ending. But it would be all too easy to say All’s Well That Ends Well and forget about the irritants and glitches on the way.
So I want to record the hassle. I want to highlight the tortuous process that Amazon has for returning defective smartphones.
I hope someone in Amazon reads this and makes the process easier for customers. Because the current process is riddled with inefficiencies and errors.
The process asked me to download a diagnostic app (Smart Chk) which turns out to have been replaced by a new app (Blancco Diagnostics). Neither the Amazon website nor the rep mentioned this change.
When the app failed, the error message screen directed me to call a 1 800 number for support. This number did not work.
When I finally spoke to the Customer Service rep, I was told the Blancco Diagnostic app requires both SIM cards in a dual SIM phone. Where does that leave people like me who use only one SIM card? Why would I want to borrow someone else’s SIM card just because the app cannot handle a single SIM?
When the Blancco app aborted, the Service rep told me that a technician would visit me in one week to inspect my phone. To save time, I asked if there was an authorised service centre I could visit. I was told they didn’t have any in Bangalore. That is ridiculous.
When Customer Service responded to my final email, I was directed to call a 1 800 number to discuss the issue. That number also did not work and we were back to the call back option on the online form.
This has made me think. Why do we shop on Amazon?
We shop because it is convenient, the prices are lower, and we are assured of an efficient redress if something goes wrong with the product or delivery.
In light of my experience, I have revisited these assumptions.
Yes, online shopping is super convenient. But with authorised outlets all over the city, shopping at a physical store is not difficult all, especially in a product category like a smartphone where you have already done your research and are sure of the model you want to buy. You just need to visit a store that has your desired product.
No, prices are no longer all that lower on Amazon. I checked prices of the phone I ordered on Amazon both on the manufacturer’s site and at retail stores. To my surprise, the prices were exactly the same.
No, Amazon Customer Service was not efficient. Had I bought the phone from a retail store, the dealer would have most likely accepted my complaint, checked the item, and replaced it immediately. Remember, I initiated the complaint almost immediately after receiving the item.
So as the ecommerce battles rage on, Amazon and the rest of the online sellers will have to reflect on what exactly are their competitive differentiators?
