Amazon.com Credit Card Scheme...a SHAME!!!!

[AGBF]

Amazon.com is issuing credit cards, promising $30.00 off a current order if one is instantly approved while ordering on-line and $30.00 off a future order if one is approved less instantly.

I applied for a card and was not instantly approved. I was sent paperwork which I completed; the card was approved; then I was supposed to be able to place an order and get an automatic credit. Hah!!! I was still not given auomatic credit when I placed an order. I had to write to them. It took ages. I am sure many people would have dropped the matter of the $30.00.

Well...I helped my father apply for a card. Guess what? He was approved instantly, but when I helped him place an order the $30.00 did not come off automatically as Amazon swore it would. We wrote to them via e-mail. We got a response unrelated to our e-mail. The form "letter" said that Chase, not Amazon, was in charge of approving credit cards.

Fellas, we were already approved! That wasn't the issue!

Am I being paranoid in thinking that Chase and Amazon are running a scam? Who else has had experiences ( for good or ill) with actually obtaining the $30.00 off offer used by Chase/Amazon to get consumers to sign up for a credit card? These are large, supposedly reputable institutions. I have been an Amazon consumer for years, racking up many thousands in sales for them. This is petty!!!! Whether it is deliberate or carelessness, they should clean up their act!!!

 

[TimeTraveller]

I''m sorry to hear of your bad experience, but I have to say that I love Amazon and they always come through for me.

I have an Amazon credit card from Chase and I was instantly approved and received the $30 credit for my order immediately.

Also, I have already received a $25 GC from Amazon after charging $2500. So I can definitely say from my own experiences that Amazon''s credit card deal with Chase is real and legit.

Sorry you had a worse experience.

P.s. The GC is good for up to two years. That''s plenty of time to use $25.

 

[Blue824]

Eww, how frustrating! They can''t say that you''re going to get $30 off and then not get it off....but when I went to Amazon, it seems as though they''ve put in a few loopholes. It looks like you must get approved the first time online or else there isnt the $30, so maybe it didn''t apply to you because you had to file paperwork through the mail?

On their website it says:

"In order to qualify for a promotional offer you received, you must follow the link in the promotional offer. If you apply for the Amazon.com Platinum Visa over the phone, via postal mail, or by using a different link, you will not be offered the same promotional package."

You''ve probably already looked at this section, but...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/3709711/104-9671161-1847961#qualifying

Thats pretty tricky though. And that doesnt explain why the discount wasn''t applied to your father. I would keep following up on it, that was an offer they showed and they shouldnt be able to get away with that!

I use amazon a lot, but the one frustration I''ve had is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to find a phone number to reach someone at!! Maybe you can call a chase credit card phone number?? Would that work? It should be listed with your account info and try going through them instead of amazon? On the back of my Chase CC it says the 24 hr number is 800.436.7927...maybe they''d at least be able to direct you to the right place?

 

[TimeTraveller]

Date: 8/9/2005 8:17:29 PM
Author: Blue824

I use amazon a lot, but the one frustration I''ve had is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to find a phone number to reach someone at!!

Blue, there actually is a toll free CS number to reach Amazon. I have it but am extremely reluctant to give it out in a public forum. The way Amazon is able to offer such low prices is to reduce the cost of staffing phone personnel and they certainly don''t advertise that they can indeed be reached.

If you really want to contact them via phone, PM me and I can give you their number. They answer immediately as well. You don''t have to wait for 30 minutes on hold like at Dell.

 

[Blue824]

Date: 8/9/2005 9:19:47 PM
Author: TimeTraveller



Blue, there actually is a toll free CS number to reach Amazon. I have it but am extremely reluctant to give it out in a public forum. The way Amazon is able to offer such low prices is to reduce the cost of staffing phone personnel and they certainly don''t advertise that they can indeed be reached.

If you really want to contact them via phone, PM me and I can give you their number. They answer immediately as well. You don''t have to wait for 30 minutes on hold like at Dell.

Oh I totally understand that they try to keep the phone calls to a minimum because of the cost, sometimes it is easier to get a direct & speedy response over the phone rather than waiting for emails though. I''ve only had one conflict with amazon, and it was resolved very quickly. Not a CC issue, but I hope that AGBF finds a speedy solution to her problems. That number might be useful to her.

 

[AGBF]

I did help my father to get the $30.00 off. I never meant to imply that Amazon wouldn''t, if subjected to enough pressure (phone calls, e-mails, etcetera), come through and honor its obligations. What irked me, as a longtime customer, was that it made it so difficult to collect that $30.00 off it promised. It irked me that the way the entire offer worked appeared engineered to deter people from trying to obtain what was promised. I still believe that the offer is intended to get people to sign up while discouraging them to push for the $30.00 back. I remain a customer, however. I have never found blatant dishonesty on the part of Amazon, and I have probably bought more from them than most other people in the world!!!

Deborah

 

[Mara]

There are a few options that immediately pop into my head..

a) User error

b) The Amazon eCommerce system is glitchy on the $30 code being embedded into the cart or on how it stores the discounts in user files etc.
c) Serious Amazon/Chase sketchiness going on

However since TT said he applied, got approved and got his credit just fine...I lean towards (a) or (b).

I would not immediately jump to the conclusion that Amazon or Chase have a 'SCAM' going on bilking people over $30. They are two large, well-known companies and it's an offer they are giving...I honestly don't think that $30 off makes people who spend $2500 a year WANT to get the credit card, they probably would anyway.

I personally have not heard of anyone having a problem, I know my girlfriend has an Amazon CC and loves it.

 

[EdSkinner]

I got a Amazon credit card. First you have to buy something from amazon not somebody else that has the same product for sale but listed on amazon''s site. Also there is a time limit of 4 months that you have in order to use the 30 credit. The only real scam is the insane interest they charge.

 

[maggie]

Well, I don''t know if it''s a scam or not, but I was beginning to wonder. That''s what brought me to this site. I thought it might be a scam because of my experience and did a search on Amazon scams and found this link.

I tried to apply for the credit card, filled out their form, hit the submit button, it started to process the information and then sat there for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, then my computer timed out and kicked me off the internet. I figured all my info went to some disreputable place and someone was out their stealing my identity!

Forget the e-mail option, others may get a response from Amazon but I have never gotten a response to any e-mail I''ve ever sent to Amazon (including one regarding this matter). I would LOVE to have their 800 number!

Not only did I have difficulty applying for the credit card, but it seems Amazon is changing their prices daily. Shopping for books for school I am quoted one price one day and then the next they have gone up. Also, several of the books I looked at had been replaced by newer editions by the publisher but Amazon was selling the old books. Now maybe they don''t know this but I find that hard to believe. And it may not matter to some but if you''re expecting to get a certain book with updated material and then get an older version it can make a difference.

Anyway, just my rant about Amazon. I think their service is not as good as it used to be.