Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Amazon woes

I know that it has been a long time since I posted anything on here and I feel like I am such a hypocrite.  I love reading others blogs and do it often, yet I cannot keep mine up for those few who have followed me.  Suffice it to say that I have been very low-key and did not feel my experiences were worth posting.  However, something happened recently that got my dander up, thus I am here.
I have had a Kindle now for almost 4 years.  First it was the Kindle keyboard and then my Fire.  I love my Kindle.  I can keep all of my books on it and carry it in my purse to read when I have the chance.  I read on it ALL of the time.  My Fire has been my constant companion for 2 years now.  I have never had an issue with my Kindle.  I love my Kindle (yes, I know that I said that already, but I really love my Kindle. 
In the middle of December, I was forced to accept an update to my Kindle.  Normally this is not an issue as I prefer to have it up to date.  However, after receiving this update (that I was not asked to accept, I turned my Kindle on and it proceeded to download automatically) my charger is now a low power charger.  This is the very same charger that I have been using since I bought the Kindle and worked perfectly that same day. 
So, I chatted with customer support and we did some things to fix the problem with no success; after informing them that I was not going to pay for a new charger that worked just fine an hour before the update, I was sent a new 9 watt charger and cable to try.  I also received an email:
“Hello,
Thank you for contacting Amazon.com Kindle Support.
I'm sorry to hear about the problem you had with your Kindle device.
As we discussed in chat, please charge your Kindle using new charger and see if it fixes the issue.
If you still have the same problem, please come by chat or give us a call so will replace your Kindle device.
I've also made a note of this to your account so that once you'll contact us back the next person will be able to see our conversation and will straightly replace the Kindle for you without any query.
You can reach our Amazon.com Kindle support using the below link:
If you want to contact us over the phone then please visit our Help pages (http://www.amazon.com/help), click the "Contact Us" button, enter your phone number through the Phone tab, and we'll call you.
Contacting us through the website allows you to verify security before a call is placed and ensures we have your account information ready when we call you.
Here are our customer service phone numbers:
- U.S. and Canada: 1-866-216-1072
- International: 1-206-266-2992
- Kindle Support U.S. and Canada: 1-866-321-8851
- Kindle Support International: 1-206-266-0927
We're available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Here's how:
2. Click the orange color "Contact Us" button on the main Amazon Help page.
3. Please sign in into your account.
4. Click the "Call us" button from ‘How would you like to contact us’ after the appropriate issue selection.
5. For Call us, select your country and enter your phone number in the window. Choose a time frame ("Right Now" or "In 5 minutes") and click "Submit." We'll call you right back!
Thanks for choosing Kindle.
Best regards,
Salomi E.”
I never asked for a replacement, I only wanted this problem fixed or the update removed.
The charger arrived in 2 days and I plugged it in.  I was greeted with the low power charger message.  So, I call them as suggested and spoke to another service person that was finally able to get the issue solved.  For a whole 2 days.   
So, I called back and the service person wanted to run through all of the things we had already done again.  I told her that I only wanted the update removed so my Kindle would go back to what it was before and I was told that was not possible.  I was also told that I could not get a replacement as mine was out of warranty.  I told her that I knew that it was, but it was someone from her company that had offered a replacement with NO QUESTIONS ASKED in the first place. 
I was told that I would have to buy a new Kindle if I wanted the problem solved.  I let her know that I felt this was bad business practice on their part.  My product worked perfectly, I received an update that I was not asked if I wanted, and then the product no longer worked in the same condition.  Easy way to make your customers buy a new product every couple of years.  I am very disappointed in a company that I have been a loyal customer of for many years.