Amazon sells well over 350 million products. More than 95% of them are Marketplace products, with Amazon just the middleman.
I’d love to see the OP do the math on the number of employees that would be needed to handle that many products and how they would fit the training into an ordinary lifetime.
I’m a fairly tall guy. The other day, I was in Walmart, and a short-ish woman asked me if I could reach something off the shelves for her.
I told her no, because I’m not getting paid by Walmart to do customer service work for them.
No, actually, that’s not what I did. Actually, I grabbed the item for her and was glad for the chance to help a fellow customer.
All companies that are Internet-based do this sort of thing. Most tech companies have online discussion forums under the guise of creating a cohesive community of their users, when what they are really trying to do is get you to try a bunch of options before you finally contact Customer Service. Many users actively participate and sometimes I have gotten better answers from other users than I get from a customer service drone reading a script.
Crazy idea: what if you actually patronized businesses that hire knowledgeable salespeople, and paid the markup that pays their salaries?
It’s all just a trick to get you to work for them for free. Just like those self checkout things, and pumping your own gas.
When i really need a professional to help me, i do just that. I’m usually pretty happy with crowd sourced info.
I like this post very much.
I, for one, and totally baffled by this thread. Does the OP really expect Amazon to have on-staff experts sitting by to answer questions about every single item they sell? WTF?
Amazon sells sex toys. That would be an interesting job description.
Do those come with a “Satisfaction Guaranteed” promise?
I think the OP and everyone else who responds to these emails with “I don’t know” and the like somehow thinks that Amazon is directing the questions personally to them. Amazon sends these emails to everyone who has purchased that product. If you would like to assist and can assist a potential purchaser of the product by responding, then feel free to do so or not.
The OP has let his hatred of Amazon confuse his thought process on this. As others have pointed out, Amazon does not hire salespeople knowledgeable in every product it sells, and as a purchaser, wouldn’t you rather hear from actual users? If you are thinking of buying a Ford F150, do you trust the salesperson at the dealership or would you rather hear from people who have purchased that truck and give you their opinions?
digs go paint a 10000 dollar sign
good for you i would of done the same
its not a hatred for amazon but its more that i was threatened to be kicked off for mentioning the richest man in the world is asking me to answer his customers questions
i do patronize businesses that have knowledgeable salepeople and have no problem paying more . but these are becoming a thing of the past because corporations like amazon , walmart, etc , . become servants the big corporation follow your destiny . it gets your item tommorow . to each there own
I’m another one that will gladly answer a question another customer has and I also submit reviews. Before I put anything in my cart, I look at the questions/answers and also the reviews. I usually find them very helpful in my decision-making.
Like most others, I don’t mind answering questions or reviewing products I’ve purchased. It helps others to make decisions, something I did all my working life. The only time I’ve been annoyed by an Amazon transaction was when I bought a pair of oven mitts and the 3rd party provider hounded me to make a positive review. He must have sent five emails, pestering me about it.
I bought snake tongs I was very pleased with. I gave a glowing review and answered a few questions. When the seller updated the design they sent me a free pair asking me to try them out and let them know what I thought.
Once again, 95+% of the products are from Amazon Marketplace. These are the businesses and individuals themselves. They put up the product, they supply the descriptions, they set the prices, they get the orders and they do the shipping, which means they are never available the next day. Amazon provides valuable services. It lists them as a host, makes the products available through search, handles the transactions, and - to this thread’s point - allows hundreds of millions potential customers ask and receive answers to questions from the hundreds of millions of other Amazon users. This service is incredibly valuable. It enables actual customers to report on their actual experience, providing tiny details that would never normally be included in a review.
I need to add that the other few percent of products, a mere 12,000,000, work exactly the same way. Amazon stores these in their warehouses, but virtually every one is also made by other businesses and individuals, with Amazon acting as expedited shipper. This certainly has an effect on local storefronts, but in the long run boosts the vast majority of businesses handled this way. And it provides the same service of allowing potential customers to get quick answers to questions, much more easily than going to a store or finding a separate website.
There are reasons to be critical of Amazon. IMO, though, providing a crowdsourcing answer service is the exact opposite - a huge advantage to the customer the likes of which has never been available before in retail businesses. It is one of Amazon’s true advances.
Could you copy and paste what they said? Becuase I doubt they said “dont talk shit about the might tzar or you will be kicked off”