In this age of self-service, bad customer experiences are quite often the things that we write and tell our friends about. In a shift away from this tendency here is an example of a great experience for the customer
Back in October I accepted a trial membership to Amazon Prime, where one of the main benefits is express shipping at a very reduced rate for yourself and friends or family members that you invite into your membership. I accepted the free-offer in order to expedite the shipping of my order at the time. They were clear that at the end of the trial, they would charge my card on file unless I would cancel the membership prior to this date. I made a note on my calendar to make sure I would cancel the membership before being charged.
My deadline fell on a weekend that I happened to be out of town and without my computer, not that it would have mattered because I had completely forgotten about Amazon at this point. On monday morning, I verified my Amazon account and it said my credit card had been charged for the annual fee and extended my amazon prime membership for a full year. I was bummed. It was a lot of money for something I rarely use and would not be worth the value I was being charged and most of all it was my own fault.
There was a cancel button next to the my prime account details, I was tempted to click it since I was just a couple of days late and it was a weekend. Then fear settled in, what if I cancel my membership but I still retain the charge, that would almost be worse since I had just paid for a full year. I decided to find more information online about canceling the service. An FAQ answer cleared thing up for me, I could cancel my membership at any time and as long I had not used the privileges of the membership, I could get a full refund. Brilliant!
I went back to my account details and clicked the cancel button. I received an email message letting me know that my request had been received and that my account was being evaluated before issuing a refund. A few minutes later, I received confirmation that my charge would be refunded as a credit because I had not used the benefits of the membership.
Our records indicate that you have not used your Amazon Prime membership benefits, so I have requested a refund of $79.00 for the
membership fee. The refund should be processed within the next 2-3
business days and will appear as a credit on your next credit card
billing statement.
I went back to Amazon for another purchase and although the express shipping would’ve been nice, I felt better buying from them knowing they care about the customer experience. That is far more valuable to me in the long run than saving a few bucks on one order. Thank you Amazon for treating me like a valuable customer, or at least making me feel like one.
The parents have started asking what I would want for Christmas this year but I haven’t put much thought into it. Looking for ideas, I ask what is on your holiday list this year?
update: thanks for all of those recommendations. Just kidding! I’ll make this a list to post some of the things that I have come across and I would not mind finding them in my stocking or under the tree. The list is not posted with any sort of preference.
Sarah and I flew out Friday evening to visit with friends in Dallas for a couple of days of Texas fun. We hit Chuy’s and Knox St. Pub on Saturday night on what resembled one of our good nights from college. Down to the sound track at the pub!
Sunday morning was recovery time until football time came around and we lounged around the tv, recalling the best moments from the night before. That afternoon we went back to downtown to grab some burgers from Jake’s and catch the middle of the Cowboys-Giants game. We made it back to the house in time to catch the end of the game. Eventually we went back to the airport so I could catch my flight back home.
I still cannot believe that USC could not get past the Bruins for their tickets to Glendale. Blair and I agreed they are a second half team but they could not move the ball past the Bruin defense. Given the score from that game and the Florida win over Arkansas, I am happy to see the BCS got it right
for the championship game. Ohio State returns to Arizona for a chance to win another National Championship. If I am a real state agent in Ohio, I would probably look for a strategic partnership with a Phoenix rental company given how often OSU comes to bowl games here in Phoenix.
I had to miss our championship game but I was glad to hear we won 2-0 over the Bosnia FC and claimed the title for this season. Apparently there was some controversy from the other team after our second goal. They received a number of red-cards and the referees called the game. I don’t have all the details but we won!
Rhonda has some photos from the wedding available through her website’s (smalldarkspaces.com) online order feature. You can browse through the collection and order as many prints as you would like of your favorite photos.
We received an email from Rhonda letting us know that some photos are online and available on her her website. To access the photos you can go to smalldarkspaces.com and click on online ordering
where a list of events, including ours, will be displayed.
Click on the Sarah & Octavio link and enter the password (if you are not sure on the password, let us know). You can view the photos either in thumbnail or full size and add them to your shopping cart. You will be able to select sizes and other options when you choose to add a photo to the cart.
Update: received another email from Rhonda today (Nov 30th) and she has added more photos to both her online order website and her Flickr account.
