Clever Claws that you are, Mr DT Brown, I'm sure you recognize that hedge-fund COA outfits and PayPal are working the same side of the street: What the customer thinks she's getting and what the vendor delivers aren't the same thing. I'd expect a COA dealer and PayPal to make good on their implied or in the case of PayPal stated guarantee. PayPal suggest that if you have a problem with a seller they'll step in and make it right. PayPal will, after you jump through various online hoops, as you saw for yourself. Just wait until PayPal implements its AI customer service.
Oddly enough the best customer service I've ever experienced was courtesy of Amazon. I bought a hub for my Mac and it arrived without any documentation. It was complicated enough that I couldn't guess what connectors went to which ports. After diligently searching the vendor site I found user's manual — in Chinese.
At that point I went to Amazon's customer service, explained my problem, and an agent actually called me. His original take was it should be simple enough to set up. I explained I don't plug things into my laptop and hope for the best. He went to the site, found the manual in Chinese or at least in a language that wasn't English. At that point I asked if I could just return the device and he said, "Sure." I dropped it off at the returns desk of a Whole Foods (owned by Amazon) and by the time I got back to my car my account had been credited.
I don't shop at Whole Foods because they won't allow workers to organize. I realize that Amazon is the Great Satan, but they've got great customer service. Maybe they threaten uncooperative vendors with hellfire. Besides, my soul is so blackened by this point dealing with Satan is the least of my troubles.
Good column, as always. A few more details about how this forgery scam works would be appreciated. I've given up trying to manufacture ghost guns on my 3-D printer.
It's always hard to tell who owns the items sold on Amazon and who pays for the return. Part of the reason that Amazon has such a generous return policy is that it has foisted the cost of returns onto suppliers and third-party sellers. When I published a magazine, one of the bookstore chains had a "pay on scan" program, that supposedly meant they would pay us for sales in less than the 4 months it usually took. They might have paid a little faster, but what really happened in that they went from paying for magazines to taking them on consignment and paying when they were sold, except if a magazine was stolen, which happened all the time, we didn't get paid for it because it wasn't "Scanned" at the checkout stand.
So basically, Amazon makes it easy for customers to return items because they put the squeeze on their suppliers. COA outfits don't stand behind the items they sell. PayPal takes its own sweet time dealing with refunds and does a sloppy job doing so.
I agree, dealing with dealers who belong to the ABA and similar associations is probably the way to go. But I buy 100+ used books of poetry a year. I rely on bookfinder.com, but most dealers are selling through Amazon, ABE, and eBay. Saving a buck here and fifty cents there is a big deal.
And to say something potentially unpopular: Customers didn't make the Amazon problem, yet were always being asked to help solve it. Amazon vans are up and down my street all day. I guarantee that my neighbors aren't buying books. Sure, we're enabling Amazon, but all the heartfelt cries to take our business elsewhere simply mean paying more. Amazon isn't alone in putting mom and pop businesses (including bookstores) out of business: unconscionable rent increases, restrictive parking regulations, and unfair business practices are doing just fine by themselves.
Bob Wilson (late of Phoenix Books) told me his landlord doubled his rent. When Larry McMurtry agreed to take over Phoenix and pay the new rent, Bob's landlord told him he didn't want a bookstore in the space.
Clever Claws that you are, Mr DT Brown, I'm sure you recognize that hedge-fund COA outfits and PayPal are working the same side of the street: What the customer thinks she's getting and what the vendor delivers aren't the same thing. I'd expect a COA dealer and PayPal to make good on their implied or in the case of PayPal stated guarantee. PayPal suggest that if you have a problem with a seller they'll step in and make it right. PayPal will, after you jump through various online hoops, as you saw for yourself. Just wait until PayPal implements its AI customer service.
Oddly enough the best customer service I've ever experienced was courtesy of Amazon. I bought a hub for my Mac and it arrived without any documentation. It was complicated enough that I couldn't guess what connectors went to which ports. After diligently searching the vendor site I found user's manual — in Chinese.
At that point I went to Amazon's customer service, explained my problem, and an agent actually called me. His original take was it should be simple enough to set up. I explained I don't plug things into my laptop and hope for the best. He went to the site, found the manual in Chinese or at least in a language that wasn't English. At that point I asked if I could just return the device and he said, "Sure." I dropped it off at the returns desk of a Whole Foods (owned by Amazon) and by the time I got back to my car my account had been credited.
I don't shop at Whole Foods because they won't allow workers to organize. I realize that Amazon is the Great Satan, but they've got great customer service. Maybe they threaten uncooperative vendors with hellfire. Besides, my soul is so blackened by this point dealing with Satan is the least of my troubles.
Good column, as always. A few more details about how this forgery scam works would be appreciated. I've given up trying to manufacture ghost guns on my 3-D printer.
It's always hard to tell who owns the items sold on Amazon and who pays for the return. Part of the reason that Amazon has such a generous return policy is that it has foisted the cost of returns onto suppliers and third-party sellers. When I published a magazine, one of the bookstore chains had a "pay on scan" program, that supposedly meant they would pay us for sales in less than the 4 months it usually took. They might have paid a little faster, but what really happened in that they went from paying for magazines to taking them on consignment and paying when they were sold, except if a magazine was stolen, which happened all the time, we didn't get paid for it because it wasn't "Scanned" at the checkout stand.
So basically, Amazon makes it easy for customers to return items because they put the squeeze on their suppliers. COA outfits don't stand behind the items they sell. PayPal takes its own sweet time dealing with refunds and does a sloppy job doing so.
I agree, dealing with dealers who belong to the ABA and similar associations is probably the way to go. But I buy 100+ used books of poetry a year. I rely on bookfinder.com, but most dealers are selling through Amazon, ABE, and eBay. Saving a buck here and fifty cents there is a big deal.
And to say something potentially unpopular: Customers didn't make the Amazon problem, yet were always being asked to help solve it. Amazon vans are up and down my street all day. I guarantee that my neighbors aren't buying books. Sure, we're enabling Amazon, but all the heartfelt cries to take our business elsewhere simply mean paying more. Amazon isn't alone in putting mom and pop businesses (including bookstores) out of business: unconscionable rent increases, restrictive parking regulations, and unfair business practices are doing just fine by themselves.
Bob Wilson (late of Phoenix Books) told me his landlord doubled his rent. When Larry McMurtry agreed to take over Phoenix and pay the new rent, Bob's landlord told him he didn't want a bookstore in the space.
Carthago delende est