12-01-2007, 02:18 PM
Later Edit: The problem seems to be resolved so you can skip reading about it unless you are interested in hearing about an issue with Amazon and how they eventually responded in a positive way. Original post:
I'm just blowing off steam about what happened with my order at Amazon for the Microsoft Office Student Edition for $100 off and free upgrade to the new Office in 2008. Intellectually I know it's a pretty small thing in a the world of too many really bad things happening, but dang, I was looking forward to getting that deal. I have Office X and I don't really have a strong need for a new version but I would have liked to have gotten it for such a great price.
I almost never seem to get the jump on those kinds of outstanding deals, but this time I read the post someone (sorry, I don't remember who - but I thank them) put up here about getting Office from Amazon for $125 with a $100 rebate and then for the cost of shipping you can get the new Office when it is released in 2008. So, I was really jazzed that I got on it right away and was scheduled to get the package yesterday. It never came. When I checked the status of the order at Amazon it said that the package had been sent back because of having the wrong address. It took me awhile to find the place where you can get Amazon to call you back, and when I did that I got what seemed to be a call-service person in India.
I explained that I was concerned that I would not receive a replacement in time to get it to Microsoft for the $100 rebate. She talked to her supervisor who told her to tell me that I could mail in the rebate form with just a print-out of the email confirmation of my order. When I told her that the rebate specifically says I needed to have the cover off the Office package, she talked to supervisor again. He told her to tell me that Microsoft would honor the rebate without the cover being included. I don't believe that is true and I told her I didn't see how he could know that to be true. I really think that supervisor was just trying to blow me off in a manner that could have cost me the $100 rebate. She put me on hold again to talk to him and came back saying that I would get a refund on my credit card and could order Office again - except now it is $5 more and, to make sure I got it on time for the rebate, I would have to pay more for expedited shipping. I told her to just do the refund and I'd skip the rest.
I fired off an email to Amazon and got a fairly quick response. The email essentially said the same thing as what I had been told online - signed by a guy with an Indian name so as far as I know it was the same supervisor who handled the issue in the first place.
I had given Amazon the right address for the order - which they verified - and they were probably correct that the shipper had made a mistake. I don't blame them for that, but I think if they had wanted to be more costumer friendly they could have chosen, since it wasn't my fault either, to send me Office at the price I originally paid with quicker shipping for free to make sure I got it on time for the rebate. Instead the best they chose to offer was for me to pay $5 more for a new order and then more for expedited shipping.
Like I said, in the realm of all things this is a small deal and I am not out any money so I shouldn't be all that displeased. But I have to confess that I was looking forward to getting the deal so I'm a bit ticked and disappointed. Because of Amazon's inflexibility on this I will be much less inclined to do business with them - I'll look to some other outfit first. I have been shopping at Amazon on a fairly regular basis, so this decision on their part will, over the long haul, probably cost them at lot more than the couple of bucks they would have had to pay for expedited shipping it would have cost to keep me as a happy costumer.
I'm just blowing off steam about what happened with my order at Amazon for the Microsoft Office Student Edition for $100 off and free upgrade to the new Office in 2008. Intellectually I know it's a pretty small thing in a the world of too many really bad things happening, but dang, I was looking forward to getting that deal. I have Office X and I don't really have a strong need for a new version but I would have liked to have gotten it for such a great price.
I almost never seem to get the jump on those kinds of outstanding deals, but this time I read the post someone (sorry, I don't remember who - but I thank them) put up here about getting Office from Amazon for $125 with a $100 rebate and then for the cost of shipping you can get the new Office when it is released in 2008. So, I was really jazzed that I got on it right away and was scheduled to get the package yesterday. It never came. When I checked the status of the order at Amazon it said that the package had been sent back because of having the wrong address. It took me awhile to find the place where you can get Amazon to call you back, and when I did that I got what seemed to be a call-service person in India.
I explained that I was concerned that I would not receive a replacement in time to get it to Microsoft for the $100 rebate. She talked to her supervisor who told her to tell me that I could mail in the rebate form with just a print-out of the email confirmation of my order. When I told her that the rebate specifically says I needed to have the cover off the Office package, she talked to supervisor again. He told her to tell me that Microsoft would honor the rebate without the cover being included. I don't believe that is true and I told her I didn't see how he could know that to be true. I really think that supervisor was just trying to blow me off in a manner that could have cost me the $100 rebate. She put me on hold again to talk to him and came back saying that I would get a refund on my credit card and could order Office again - except now it is $5 more and, to make sure I got it on time for the rebate, I would have to pay more for expedited shipping. I told her to just do the refund and I'd skip the rest.
I fired off an email to Amazon and got a fairly quick response. The email essentially said the same thing as what I had been told online - signed by a guy with an Indian name so as far as I know it was the same supervisor who handled the issue in the first place.
I had given Amazon the right address for the order - which they verified - and they were probably correct that the shipper had made a mistake. I don't blame them for that, but I think if they had wanted to be more costumer friendly they could have chosen, since it wasn't my fault either, to send me Office at the price I originally paid with quicker shipping for free to make sure I got it on time for the rebate. Instead the best they chose to offer was for me to pay $5 more for a new order and then more for expedited shipping.
Like I said, in the realm of all things this is a small deal and I am not out any money so I shouldn't be all that displeased. But I have to confess that I was looking forward to getting the deal so I'm a bit ticked and disappointed. Because of Amazon's inflexibility on this I will be much less inclined to do business with them - I'll look to some other outfit first. I have been shopping at Amazon on a fairly regular basis, so this decision on their part will, over the long haul, probably cost them at lot more than the couple of bucks they would have had to pay for expedited shipping it would have cost to keep me as a happy costumer.
