Let's talk this one through...

I was telling a co-worker on Thursday about the Good Omens purchase and how I got a bad cover. 

I had shown him what I received and what Amazon was selling; how people were getting the non Crowley cover even though the character is clearly supposed to be there. 

My co-worker said I need to contact Amazon and see how they can fix this. I ordered the book with a character and I didn't receive what was paid for and advertised. I told him that I'm okay with this, although I'm bummed there isn't a character on it, it makes the novel a little eccentric. He said that that's not the point. It's misleading, especially where Amazon is the one who sold it to me.

I thought about it through out the day and I guess it bothered me enough, that I ended up doing a chat with Customer Service. 

What started out as "I wanted to tell someone how I received a poor quality cover of a book", turned into "We're starting a return for you and you'll get a replacement for it"; all in the span of forty five minutes. My co-worker helping me with things to say, kept saying "I'm getting aggravated for you because of this". 

Let me backtrack a little with the conversation.

I had started off by saying "I am not looking to return the book, but I wanted to make a comment about receiving the Good Omens paperback with white cover. Part of the graphics are missing on it. I know “covers may vary” (you receive either the black cover or white cover. Both have different character) and the white one I received is missing the character. It has only the title, author and a splash of tiny color; the main character is missing from the center of the cover". 

The associate apologized for the issue and they would help me with this. 

At this point in time, I said "it may be a quality control thing as the whole book looks okay. Just the cover is missing information". 

They again apologized for it, and offered me a promo credit. I asked if they could also send a corrected copy (at no charge) but they said that was not possible. 

Considering there are other people who have reviewed this book and stated they received the non Crowley cover, I really wanted to make sure this would no longer be a problem on future orders. 

I didn't make that last comment, but the response I received for asking for a corrected copy was "you can re-order the book". I asked if there was any guarantee that I'd get the cover as advertised and the answer was "I will take this as a feedback and escalate it on high priority to the concerned department and make sure necessary actions are taken on this and you do not face this situation again.

Be assured that this will not repeat again". 

~NOTE the last line: "Be assured that this will not repeat again"~

I asked if there was an expiry date on the promo and they informed me I have one year to use it. 

As I didn't get a full answer about the guarantee over re-ordering the book, they instead handed my concern to a "lead". This would be associate number two of the chat. 

Once I confirmed the purchase with the second agent, I started again with what the problem was - there's a lack of quality control over the printing and I wanted a guarantee that should I re-order the book, it would arrive as promised. 

This triggered a "return" and "damage" on their end, so the next part of the conversation was the agent informing me they want (/need / etc) to start the process of having me return this copy and get a replacement sent out, unless I wanted a refund. But I'd need to return the book. 

I asked again, what the guarantee was of getting the correct version if I'm sending this one back and getting a new one. I wasn't interested in sending it back (to begin with) if only to get the same no character cover. 

This agent couldn't help me further, and switched me to another person. I immediately started the conversation with "I was offered a promo credit and would like to accept that, please".

Unfortunately, the answer I got from that was "I have escalated your feedback and can help you with a return label". No acknowledgement of the credit.

The agent insisted on creating a return label, to which every mention of this, my co-worker was getting angrier because he wanted me to see this through and hoped Amazon would help me. 

Keep in mind, I'm not trying to swindle, screw or bash the company (as much as it may seem like I am, at least in the latter). I am writing this out now, in my blog, to let other readers know that these things can happen. You have to choose how you want to contact the company and decide what your end game is. I wanted them to be aware that they need to have better eyes on what they ship out, if people are getting things that are falsely advertised. 

Back to the conversation with the third agent.

They kept insisting on creating a return label when I asked about that promo credit. I was told that I was "given incorrect information. Unfortunately, we don't have the option or authorize to issue any compensation or promo credits.I hope you understand my limitations". 

Because this was a completely different department I was dealing with, I missed my chance on getting the credit. I had no other choice now but to return the book.

The agent had continued the conversation by starting "While I genuinely wish to help you, I'm unable to make an exception to our return policy. The return of the physical item is a mandatory requirement for processing refunds. This policy protects both our customers and our business.

The seller needs the item back for inspection, repair or resale; without the item, the refund cannot

be processed, as it would result in a direct financial loss for them.

As I'm from the Specialist team , resolutions are restricted"

It boggled my mind because the 'seller' is Amazon, not a third party storefront. I don't know how they will repair the cover, but I'm sure someone will tear out the pages of the book and rebind them with a new back page stating the date of printing (like I received). My co-worker was just as crazed as I was at this point. He was waiting for me to finish this conversation because it was turning into a bad cycle of crazy. 

I asked to be connected to someone who could help me further, so I was transferred to yet another person. 

They immediately stated that the way it's understood, I'm writing about a damaged book. I replied stating it's "not a fully damaged item. It has a cover that is missing graphics on the cover.

It is how the company printed the book and Amazon sold it" and they wanted to go forward and help with a return or replacement.

Can you tell why this took almost an hour and both my co-worker and I were getting upset?

Again, I asked about a replacement and guarantee I'll get the correct cover. I even stated "I do not want a replacement if you can't help me with this and send me the right one". I was assured they will do right by me and I will receive the proper copy. 

I begrudgingly agreed to receive a return label and mail back the copy I received. I was told I'd get the replacement today, Saturday, and all will be good. 

Guess what came in the mail!

Yup, the same cover, missing the same character!

This time, it came in a bubble mailer and the back cover was not only bent and some pages crooked, but the spin also was damaged and part of the top cover too. 

Trust me, I'm not happy about this. 

Luckily, I hadn't shipped the first book back in case I needed to send Amazon images of both books as reference to what I had received. 

I immediately got on the Amazon chat and wanted to make sure they knew about this. 

I had started the conversation with "This is a quality control issue with Amazon sending out the book. Second time I received it, it is missing half the graphics on the cover, and now the book is bent. I have not sent the original order back yet, to see how this would arrive. I am willing to keep that first copy and send back today's copy. In exchange, I would also like the amount paid for the book returned to me via credit to my account for the troubles I have had with this order. Apparently this book isn't in stock like I was led to believe".

Before anyone says I'm doing something bad, again, think back to my original conversation with them: I'm reporting a printing issue but want to keep the book. It snowballed into a return fiasco. 

I had to go through the prompts about a dozen times before I was able to chat with someone in Customer Service. 

The first person who I worked with today, asked me to upload images of the book being wrong and damaged (the bent pages). Which is why I waited on sending the first one back - I figured they'd want to see what I got. I complied and we moved along. 

The associate saw the images and said that I need to return this book back in order to get a replacement or refund, so my query was partially answered. 

I asked them "Does this mean you are not carrying the book at all? It is again, quality control and false

advertising. I really wanted a copy of the book and am willing to keep the first copy, send back the

second, with a refund to my account so I can purchase the more accurate book somewhere else in

my own time" because it wasn't really clear and I did want to originally keep the book. I wasn't trying to be difficult, even though it seems that way. 

The answer this agent gave me was they could offer a promo credit, but then before I could answer, I was passed to another associate. 

The second person for today wanted me to elaborate on what was going on, so I stated everything that has been happening with this and how it's turning into a mess. They apologized for everything and wanted to start the return process on this new book. In order to do anything for me, they need both copies back. I said that doing so doesn't help the original message and what type of hassle this has been, in order to have what was advertised. 

This got me pushed to a third person.

I explained to this associate what's been going on and asked that they refer to both Thursday's chat and today's chat. The associate said they saw all the notes and wanted to confirm how many books I had at the moment. I stated I have the original order, which made the conversation on Thursday, and now I have the replacement, received today, for today's conversation. I reiterated both books are incorrect and as much as I'd be willing to keep one, now we're at the point I'd like some sort of refund because I don't want to keep getting a bad replacement.

I was told that if I expect a refund, I need to return both, so a return has to be submitted for both. I stated I originally wanted to keep one, but was offered a promo credit for the trouble. I'd like that honored if I can't get a full refund. I'm also keeping one of the books because that's originally why I wrote in.

This got me to another agent. 

The final agent in this chaos went over everything that has been going on. They wanted me to confirm what I've got, what I've shipped, what I've done. I explained everything, again, even though it was all in the chat. 

They too, informed me if I expect a full refund, I had to return both books. At this point, I was done going in circles, much like I've been doing here to explain it. 

I stated that I'd like to keep one of the books and that the first agent stated I could do that, if I returned the original one. They would also issue me the promotional credit for all of this inconvenience. I would like that to be honored. 

The agent agreed that they would issue me the credit as long as I return the first book. I told them I didn't need a label because I already had the one they sent me Thursday. The final statement from Customer Support was "Alrighty I'll issue you the Promo Credit. Please make sure you send back the original order". 

I said I would, and I did. I taped everything back up (I had originally put it all in an envelope to be mailed out) and I went to the UPS Store. Yes, I even sent back the better copy of the two, as I said I would. 

It's just maddening because the website states that "covers may vary", but because there's no one watching what is being sent out, there's no eyes on the quality of the item. Amazon is responsible for shipping this, and I wanted them to know about what I received. Especially since a lot of other people are commenting they got the bad cover as well. I don't know the exact number of people making reports for replacements, but there were a few who stated they got a second copy from Amazon with the same issue. You'd think the more people who talk about it, the more the company would do something. 

You'd think. 

I'm so sorry to go on this big tangent and I thank you for sticking with me. I'm also sorry this happened because it shows how this company is making brick and mortar stores lose patrons. Other companies are raising prices because they can't compete with the online retailer and it sucks. I'd love to have gotten the book locally, but if it's 10-20 dollars more in store plus a 30 minute drive to not know if it's in stock, what's the point? 

I have to reiterate, I am not sitting here trying to bash the company and demand stupid things. I've paid my membership dues and I've gotten a lot out of it. This is one of those instances where reviews really count and you have to take the risk of ordering because things vary so much, you really don't know if you'll get the right package. It is unfortunate because this is a big competitor and it's so easy to stay at home and do an order. 

The world is changing rapidly and people want everything "now!!!" and they also get greedy. I'm more upset that this was the first time I received a product where it wasn't accurately described. I could understand if it was a third party selling it and the main company had some sort of promise or guarantee to work with the customer, but here Amazon was the seller and they do have an "A-Z Guarantee" but both times they sent me the product, it was a fail. I want and wanted to read the book. I wanted to tell them what was going on. I had no intention of it spiraling like this. If this place is the only location selling the book, what choice do I have? B&N and BAM both said they didn't have the book in stock in local stores. I could have checked thrift stores, and that's like searching for a needle in a haystack. I could have gone to eBay and what promise do I have for there? Markups and such a plenty, and I haven't used my eBay account in a while. 

I wish it was better and once I know Amazon receives the book, I'm going to rate my experience over there too. Talk about the shipping process and the cover only. Not rate the level of the story. I'm still excited to read it, but I'm not excited over how I got to read it. 

To each their own and let this be a big lesson for everyone: Always do your own research and advocate for your best interest. I totally understand where they were coming from, based on a profit and loss situation, but every opportunity to make good was hit with a brick wall. At what point do you just stop and give up? Don't go through with things? That's your choice. You have to make sure you're doing what you feel is necessary. 

So, if you're reading this, my co-worker, now you know the end of the story if I forget to tell you.

Cheers;

See also:

* Good Omens page on Amazon (scroll to bottom to see reviews)