There is TONS of valuable information to add to this discussion thread!
I've read this and many similar threads and I would like to add my feelings to the topic.
I too was banned from Amazon.com for being a "bad customer". As the author of this thread honestly stated...it is a SLAP TO THE FACE and carries with it ALL KINDS OF CONNOTATIONS and IMPLICATIONS.
And I've seen all of the threads by people embracing Amazon.com and taking their side. This makes me ill and some of the statements in this discussion thread are an absolute disgrace by ANY STANDARDS!!
Amazon.com is just another USA CORPORATION. It is a business with ONE OBJECTIVE AND ONE OBJECTIVE ONLY - MAXIMIZE PROFITS.
Everything else is SMOKE-SCREEN AND DECEPTION!!
"We care for our customers!" (Because it helps to maximize profits)
"We go the extra mile to satisfy you, make your purchase experience as pleasant as it can be....yap yap (We do this because competition is fierce and our sole objective is to maximize profits. The more consumers "like us" and see us as "a good, fair, honest business" we will maximize profits.
REST ASSURED that part of this objective means sacrifice and what would appear to be LOSS for Amazon.com.
If the average customer returns 3% of all purchases made per year at Amazon.com.....and those returns yield a cost factor of X to Amazon.com...then you can REST ASSURED that these variables are all considered in their elaborate profit/loss strategy.
"Well....Amazon is not unreasonable because I have made a lot of purchases and done my fair share of returns. They have not banned me!!"
True for most people. HOWEVER!!
If Amazon.com discovered that they could BAN any customer who ever returned a SINGLE ITEM and maximize their profits....YOU BET YOUR IGNORANT BOTTOM LINE DOLLAR THAT THEY WOULD DO EXACTLY THAT!!!
EVERYTHING done by ALL BIG CORPORATIONS in this country are based on elaborate equations that consider public relations, consumer opinions and maximizing profits.
Does ANYONE HONESTLY THINK THAT AMAZON WOULD SAY, "Well...we've made billions upon billions of sales dollars on this anniversary of our inception and to GIVE BACK to the people....we will reduce prices on all items by 10% across the board....just to be appreciative and show the world that IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT MONEY FOR US!!"
BELIEVE ME...THEY COULD DO THAT MORE OFTEN THAN MOST OF US WOULD BELIEVE. WILL IT EVER HAPPEN?? There is only one way it could happen - if the bean counters could show the high-level executives that doing so would yield higher profits in a larger timeline.
AMAZON does not BAN USERS BECAUSE THEY ARE BAD PEOPLE OR BECAUSE THEY APPEAR TO BE DISHONEST OR SHADY....THEY BAN PEOPLE BASED UPON MATH EQUATIONS AND WHO FALLS WITHIN THE "RED FLAG" NUMBERS.
And while it APPEARS to be fair and just behavior from a retail monster....the TRUTH is that it is a VERY DANGEROUS trend and one for which we ALL SHOULD BE....AT VERY LEAST.....GUARDED AND SUSPICIOUS!!!
Like all other MONSTER CORPORATIONS in the USA....AMAZON employs a CLASSIC BUSINESS STRATEGY:
HIDE A BAD MOTIVE BEHIND A SEEMINGLY GOOD INTENTION
IS COINCIDENCE that all other retail monsters have followed suit with Amazon's very arrogant, controversial and DANGEROUSLY INDEPENDANT move of selectively banning patrons and customers??
NO COINCIDENCE WHATSOEVER!! As long as people will accept it....as long as the "BOLD, BRAVE MOVE" doesn't negatively impact consumer perception and opinion....they will ALL JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON!! WHY? BECAUSE IT INCREASES PROFITS!!!
So lets TRULY EXPOSE Amazon for what they are doing: Hiding a BAD MOTIVE behind a GOOD INTENTION:
"Some consumers EXPLOIT our return policies and in order to advert passing the cost onto all customers in the form of increased general prices....we have enacted a security system that weeds out all "UNDESIRABLES".
At face value...this seems HONEST, FAIR and INNOCENT ENOUGH. But in TRUTH...it is NONE OF THOSE THINGS!!
There are honest and dishonest people EVERYWHERE. It has been that way since the very beginning. Does ANYONE HONESTLY THINK that Amazon had to respond to an ABRUPT NEW TREND???
All of a sudden...there comes this MIGRATION of "UNDESIRABLES" who buy and return items OVER AND OVER AGAIN!! It's costing us SO MUCH MONEY!!! It will capsize us if we don't do something DRASTIC SOON!!"
Uhhh.....IN A PIGS EYE!! There have ALWAYS been desirable and undesirable customers. IT IS NOTHING NEW!! WHAT IS NEW, HOWEVER, IS THIS ARROGANT, INDEPENDANT ATTITUDE OF BIG BUSINESS TO THINK THAT IT CAN CON PEOPLE INTO THINKING THAT THEY CAN FREELY DESCRIMINATE AGAINST SOME BUYERS AT THEIR DISCRETION AND WITHOUT ANY SENSE OF FAIRNESS HONESTY OR IMPARTIALITY.
So Amazon executives (the scumbags that have always poisoned this planet on everyone's behalf in favor of greed and lust for power) start running some equations after banning a "PILOT GROUP" of undesirables. They wait to see how these people will react.
Will there be a public OUTRAGE and accusations of DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICES AND DISCRIMINATION? No??? Nobody making any BIG WAVES?? OK...PROCEED WITH A LARGER PILOT GROUP OF BANNED UNDESIRABLES AND LETS LAY LOW...STUDY THE STRATEGY AND IMPACT.
OK!! Now let's REALLY PLAY WITH NUMBERS!! IF WE CAN BAN THE TRULY DISHONEST, BAD CUSTOMERS...WHY NOT LUMP IN THOSE WHO ARE TOO PICKY...TOO "RETURN-HAPPY"???
Does ANYONE HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT AMAZON OR ANY OTHER RETAILER WOULD STOP BY BANNING ONLY THE OBVIOUS DISHONEST CUSTOMERS?
OF COURSE THEY DO. The degree to which big business behaves immorally...the degree to which big business misbehaves...partakes in illegal and criminal practices is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONATE to the level of passiveness, carelessness, apathy, laziness and selfishness of all consumers as a whole.
FIRST AND FOREMOST....AMAZON WANTS ANY BANNED CUSTOMERS TO FEEL ASHAMED......DISGRACED.....REJECTED....EMBARASSED....SCARED...AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
THIS IS WHY THEY IMPLEMENT A CUSTOMER BAN AS THOUGH YOU ARE AN EMPLOYEE BEING FIRED FROM YOUR JOB.
WHAT ARROGANCE!!! Why? BECAUSE AN ASHAMED CUSTOMER IS A QUIET ONE!!! AN EMBARASSED, BROKEN, REJECTED CUSTOMER IS ONE THAT LAYS DOWN QUIELTY (LIKE A DOG) WHEN THE BIG RETAIL CHAIN SAYS THEY SHOULD DO SO.
AND THE LAST THING THAT AMAZON OR ANY OTHER RETAIL MONSTER WANTS IS FOR PEOPLE TO BE POSTING OR TALKING AS I AM NOW. THE BIGGEST NIGHTMARE FOR AMAZON OR ANY OTHER RETAIL CHAIN IS A CONSUMER UNION - AN ORGANIZED, REPRESENTED AND WELL-INFORMED LANDSCAPE OF CONSUMERS ALL OVER!!
BANNING CUSTOMERS FOR EXCESSIVE RETURNS IS FRAUD. IT IS A CRIMINAL ACT KNOWN AS DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICES.
THAT IS WHY IT TOOK ONE OF THE BIGGEST GIANTS - AMAZON - TO TRY SUCH A BOLD, DISGUSTINGLY ARROGANT MOVE FIRST. THEY HAVE THE RESOURCES TO FIGHT AND SURVIVE....SHOULD CONSUMERS WAKE UP AND REJECT THEM FOR THEIR BRASH, UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIORS.
WHEN YOU MAKE A PURCHAS WITH AMAZON YOU HAVE A "BLANK CHECK" RETURN POLICY (with a few product-specific exceptions). THEREFORE...TO REJECT CUSTOMERS WHO ARE NOT BREAKING ANY OF THEIR POLICIES IS.....DANGEROUS AT BEST. IS IT DISCRIMINATION? It may very well be...and a superior court judge....millions of dollars in legal fees from now...will be the one to decide it.
But you can ALSO BET that AMAZON is watching the numbers. They are considering the risk of a class-action suit against them and other retailers and they act defensively and proactively to that regard - REST ASSURED!!
Bottom line? There have ALWAYS been customers who have exploited return policies of big retailers. That's why big retailers can charge so much more than competitors. People are willing to pay more because the overall experience and assurance during a purchase is worth the extra bucks.
And now they have betrayed that crucial aspect of their offering.
I will bet anyone a DIME TO A DOLLAR that many customers got screwed while being banned from Amazon and other retailers. The BIG GREAT STORE...upon decision to "FIRE" it's customer.....refused returns on any and all outstanding purchases.
That is breach of contract. It is 100% illegal, immoral and wrong and Amazon will make an extra TEN MILLION DOLLARS THIS YEAR ALONE by doing EXACTLY THAT.
Where along the line did it get lost? BUSINESSES - NO MATTER HOW LARGE - NEED CUSTOMERS!! NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!!
And if people WISED UP AND UNITED....AMAZON WOULD COWER AND RECANT THAT POLICY SO FAST IT WOULD MAKE US ALL LAUGH!!
AND IF YOU THINK FOR ONE SECOND THAT THOSE CUSOMERS THAT DO A LOT OF RETURNS THREATEN TO INCREASE COSTS TO EVERYONE.....I HAVE A BRIDGE TO SELL YOU!!!
THAT WOULD NEVER EVER HAPPEN!! IT COULD NOT BECAUSE IT WOULD PUT THE RETAIL MONSTER OUT OF BUSINESS. NO, THE ONLY THING AT RISK WITH "UNDESIRABLE CUSTOMERS" IS COMPROMISED PROFITS - NOTHING MORE.
So to all those who have been banned by Amazon because your returns do not coincide with their forecasts for the current year....I say this:
Buy through family and friends!! Amazon banned my account and I ordered (AND RETURNED) FIVE PURCHASES WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
Sure...it's a little inconvenient but Amazon can't stop me!! AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN A DISHONEST CUSTOMER TO AMAZON. I did TONS OF RETURNS for small-dollar items and they never cared.
It was only when I made a few BIG-DOLLAR PURCHASES AND RETURNED TWO OUT OF THREE OF THEM...THAT I WAS FLAGGED. AGAIN...ITS ALL ABOUT THE MATH....ITS ALL ABOUT MAXIMIZING PROFITS AND NOTHING MORE.
But when you buy online...you can't touch the product so it's sometimes hard to know if you want it or not. Take care of it...return it in new condition....and if they decide it cannot be sold because of a fingerprint....maybe they should re-think their return policies!!
Bottom line.....UNTIL THEY TREAT EVERYONE THE SAME WAY....THEY ARE ACTING AS CROOKS AND CHEATS!!!
IT'S OK TO MAKE RETURNS....UNTIL IT ANNOYS US THEN WE BAN YOU.
WHAT KIND OF ARROGANT CRAP IS THAT??? HAS ANYONE REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT??
WELL...BAN ME ALL YOU WANT!! I WILL BUY FROM YOU WHENEVER I DESIRE AND YOU CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT!! I MAKE THIS STATEMENT WITH PRIDE AND PLEASURE!!!
And I have EVERY CONFIDENCE that these arrogant jerks will get theirs. In the interim... TRUTH WILL OUT!!!
i sent a stinking email to there seller
