Monday, January 26, 2015 – Five Stars to Amazon and Margaret

We all know Amazon changed our lives. I always imagined Orwellian warehouses filled millions of items where programmed robots fetch the ordered item. But there are actually people in charge and people who care about their reputation and your customer satisfaction. Here’s the backstory.

Last Christmas I ordered two paperback copies of the book The 100 Year Decision – Texas A&M and the SEC by R. Bowen Loftin with Rusty Burson. The odds of the books arriving in time for Christmas were against me before I even placed the order. I knew Dr. Loftin had self-published the book so the distributor would likely not have a large inventory. Also, the deadline for “arrive by Christmas” was rapidly approaching. Nevertheless, I placed my order and was thrilled to see the seller mailed the package on December 19. Christmas came and went. Then New Year’s came and went. Finally, the books arrived.

I know you have all ordered something from Amazon. Often you receive an email requesting feedback. You probably never respond, but perhaps you should because people actually read and respond to your feedback. I pay attention to other peoples’ feedback when I am shopping on Amazon. I have answered those feedback requests from Amazon for over two years. When the request for feedback regarding the most recent transaction appeared, I gave it three stars or a neutral rating and said something like “seller sent in plenty of time, but delivery caused late arrival.”

And now to the present. A about a week ago, I received an email from the seller, Margaret, asking if I would consider removing my neutral feedback. She went on to say she was a small distributor/seller for Amazon and feedback was critical. I suspected the book would be from a small entity from the start because of the nature of the book. Then she offered to return my shipping and handling charges. I found this incredible. Amazon/Margaret was not even the problem, yet they were willing to make it better.

Following Margaret’s instructions, I went back to my feedback, and revised my rating and comments. I gave the transaction five stars. This time in the comment section I said “Five Stars to the Seller who mailed the item in plenty of time for Christmas delivery, but only three stars to whoever was in charge of delivery and did not get it here in time for Christmas.”

Within seconds a credit to my Amazon account was made and a thank you email from Margaret appeared in my mailbox.

Thank you Amazon and thank you Margaret for helping to make the world a better place.

Now if you will excuse me, I must go order something from Amazon.