Complaint / Review
Amazon.com
"Sorry our rep. Lied to you... But tough cookies."

I made a purchase last year at Amazon.com, the check was mailed, but an unexpected medical expense came up. The medical costs wiped out my checking account, to the point where I could not even afford the "stop payment" fee. So I called Amazon.com and explained the situation. I asked their customer service representative what the policy was and if there were anything I could do to prevent the overdraft from occuring.

He looked up my information and infromed me that he could see on his computer that I had cancelled the order and that since I cancelled before the check was recieved it would be held until I placed another order.
I was so nervous about overdrawing that I asked him twice more. "So you're certain that the check will NOT be cashed until I order something else?" He assured me, adamantly, that this was the case.

The following week Amazon did, of course, attempt to cash the check. Twice. Resulting in overdraft fees in excess of one-hundred dollars. When you're on a fixed income $100 may as well be $1,000. I tried to work it out with them, and when that failed I contacted the Better Business Bureau. I spent an additional $30 repeatedly faxing the same infromation to the same number. Five months later Amazon.com informed me that they had no such "hold" policy and that they were sorry for the misunderstanding.

If I were to walk into any department store and be mislead by one of their staff the store would attempt to 'make things right' I worked for over two decades in such jobs. I find it reprehensible that Amazon.com is unaccountable for the assurances made by their staff.
If you have an issue with Amazon.com which an associate of theirs assures YOU will be handled
appropriately/resolved.

I urge you to demand this in writing, and get a name and employee number. I had a name, a date, and a time for the call in my case, and they were never even asked for. I had to agressively keep the communication open and insist on giving the information to Amazon.com.
I find it doubtful that this information was even noted.