I purchased couple of items for my baby from Amazon.com. I've been a customer for several years and I buy things from them on and off. The day after I bought the items I noticed that the price for both items had been reduced. I emailed Amazon and I was told that it is unfortunate but their prices keep changing and they cannot adjust their prices. Now this is something that every brick-and-mortar retailer does and also scores of other online retailers. I called Amazon and talked to a customer service rep who told me that they do not offer a lower price adjustment but because I have been a long time customer she would give me a $10 Amazon.com gift card. I even asked her if the GC expires and if I can buy items from other sellers from Amazon.com, etc. After 2 days when the GC did not show up in my account I again emailed Amazon and they again said the same thing "it is unfortunate etc. Etc. And they cannot do anything". I called them up and after talking to several CSRs and their supervisors was essentially told they used to adjust prices if the price went down but stopped doing this since October. This was never communicated to customers and is extremely difficult to even search and find on their site. One supervisor told me that their customer service departments is spread over several countries and it is almost impossible for them to track down or obtain records of phone discussions (though I'm sure they would do it if it was in their interest).
It was clear that even if the initial CSR had made a promise they were not a bit interested in fulfilling it and kept telling me that they will train/discipline the CSR (the only person who made an attempt to be helpful and make a customer happy). Almost everyone I spoke to had a somewhat different reason/story as to why my request should not be fulfilled. I eventually asked them to close my account and remove all my information from their mailing lists, etc.
I'm not angry at the CSR or their supervisor but rather dissapointed with their inadequate training in handling unsatisfied customers and their narrow vision.By not making a fairly minor adjustment and then going back on their promise, they not only lost a longtime customer but also gained a strong critic.
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