I'm a huge fan of Amazon.com, as I think readers of this site already know. My primary credit card is an Amazon.com rewards card because at this point, you can buy just about anything at Amazon.com.
Over the past two weeks, I have had two reasons to contact Amazon.com's customer service and I could not be happier. Both times, Amazon.com fixed a problem that they hadn't created in the first place, which is a great way to keep a long time customer happy.
The first time I contacted customer service, it was because I'm an idiot. Sort of. I purchased a gift for a friend, not realizing that I didn't have her most recent address. I should have put two and two together, but somehow, after her last move, I didn't get her new address copied into my address book. I tracked the package and when she didn't say anything after it had been delivered, I bugged her about it, thus ruining the surprise. And then I discovered my mistake. I had shipped it to her old address!
I contacted UPS about this to see if the package could be picked up and redelivered, and they said that it was absolutely possible, but that I had to contact Amazon.com to do that. I contacted Amazon.com and their response was that if the package was delivered, they couldn't have it picked up, but once it was returned, they would credit my account. My concern was what happened if the people who received the package didn't return it? It was a pretty sweet gift, if I do say so myself. I was willing to pay an extra delivery fee to have the package retrieved and re-delivered, as I had made a mistake, so the extra steps were my fault. Amazon.com quickly responded that they believed the package would be returned, but they immediately credited my account so I could place a second order, this time using my friend's correct address.
The second contact with Amazon.com's customer service was in regards to an Amazon Grocery item. At the beginning of the month, I ordered two boxes of ClifBar Mini's. Each box has 18 bars in 3 flavors. Unfortunately, ClifBar voluntarily recalled a number of products, including their Crunchy Peanut Butter bars, one of the three flavors. That meant that a third of my order had to be trashed. I contacted Amazon.com in the hopes that perhaps I could get 1/3 of my money refunded. Sure, it wasn't their fault that the recall happened, but I figured it didn't hurt to ask.
While that message was processing, I got an e-mail from Amazon.com notifying me that my order contained items that were recalled, a good move on Amazon's part. An hour or so later, I got an e-mail saying that they were refunding my money - not just 1/3 of the amount but the entire purchase price, even though after contacting ClifBar, I know that the other two flavors are safe to eat.
Very impressive service. I couldn't be happier. In both cases, Amazon.com fixed a problem that they hadn't caused, and in one instance, the problem was completely my fault. I will definitely continue as a happy Amazon.com customer.