This is how you take care of business. (Amazon price drop after I ordered)

[125037]

This is somewhat of a pointless thread, but I just felt proud for some reason because I always feel like companies try to push me (or consumers in general) over and was happy to have accomplished this. Maybe you can use it as insight for future situations that you may encounter. You have to stand up for what you feel and don't take the first answer if you're not satisfied with it. It's not "cheating" the company as some people say because if it was truely hurting/scamming them, they wouldn't have been able to do it no matter what the situation was.

You are now connected to Nirmala from Amazon.com.

Nirmala:Hello, my name is Nirmala. I'll be happy to help you today.

Me:Hi.

Me:I ordered the specified item a few days ago. I haven't even received it yet and the price dropped close to $20 already.

Nirmala: I’m sorry to hear about this.

Nirmalalease give me a moment I will check about the price drop William

Nirmala:Thanks for waiting William

Me:Sure.

Nirmala:I'm sure it's disappointing to see the lower price on the item you recently purchased. Our prices regularly change, and the price you paid when your order shipped on Feb 13, 2011 was the lowest price we were able to offer at the time. We consistently offer competitive prices on everything we carry because we know low prices are very important to our customers. You can visit our pricing policies in our Help pages to read more: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=468502

Me:I know there is always a time when prices will drop and you can't always expect to get the lower price. But many, many, companies (including Apple) honor price refunds if ordered within a small period of time of the price change. As I was saying, it has been such a short time, that it's not even here yet so I feel like I should be eligible for a refund.

Nirmala:I understand your concern William. I'm really sorry about this I suggest you to return the item after you receive it for a full refund and place a new order with the lower price.

Me:Of course I was thinking that as well but there has to be someone who you can talk to to approve what I am asking. In the end, I will get the lower price either way. But it puts more cost on Amazon's end because they already paid to ship this item once. If I return it, and buy it again, they will just have to pay to ship me another package (at their cost) so it makes no sense to suggest that.

Nirmala:Let me see what i can do to get this resolved as soon as possible.

Me:Thank you.

Nirmala:Under the circumstances, I'll make an exception for you and will issue you a refund for the price difference William

Me:I appreciate that.

Nirmala:Can you please hold on while I issue a refund?

Me:Sure.

Nirmala:I have requested a refund of $15.00 to your credit card. Once processed, it will take 2-3 days to show up...................


That's how you take care of business.

 

[Demosthenes X]

I'm in Canada, but ordered from Amazon.com a while back. About six weeks after I'd received my order, I got an email from them informing me they were refunding my credit card $6.24 because the export fee had dropped between when I placed my order and when it shipped.

It's not a lot of money, but they could easily have held onto it and I'd never have known a thing about it. Point is, I was really impressed with Amazon's customer service.

It seems weird that in your case they didn't just process the return difference to begin with, but in brick-and-mortar stores you usually have to bring the product in with you to get the difference back, so I guess that was their logic...

 

[stonyc]

Good job, you didn't get angry and you correctly pointed out the inefficiency of their initial suggestion to return and re-order.

 

[125037]

*snip snip*
It's not a lot of money, but they could easily have held onto it and I'd never have known a thing about it. Point is, I was really impressed with Amazon's customer service.

It seems weird that in your case they didn't just process the return difference to begin with, but in brick-and-mortar stores you usually have to bring the product in with you to get the difference back, so I guess that was their logic...

Maybe they were obligated by legal terms? And it's funny that you mention that second bit because I took the liberty to read through the link they provided and found the following interesting taking what she told me into account.

"We're working hard to make sure our prices are the best around. If you find a lower price on another website within 14 days after the date we ship your order, let us know and we'll credit your original payment method for the difference. If we lower our own price within 14 days after we ship your TV, let us know and we'll refund you the difference as well."

I know they are referring to TV's and it has to do with price matching, but the fact that they so openly state it and also give customers a 14 day window makes me wonder why she was reluctant to refund me.

And for what it's worth, it was a Wii that I purchased for $194.99 which is now $179.99.

 

[cmerun]

Awesome!

I know this thread is long dead... but I just had to post a thank you to the OP. I used your words and was able to manage a refund! This was after failing on my own attempt. I contacted Amazon through chat... they up and down refused even after telling them I would just plan on returning the item and repurchasing for the lower price.

Then I found this post and tried it out by going right back to chat support. See below.

Mohd:Hello, my name is Salman. I'll be happy to help you today.

Me:Hi Salman
Me:I placed an order a day or two ago
The item hasn't even arrived yet but the price has already dropped $17

Mohd:You are correct, but we do not have a price match policy at Amazon.

Me:I know there is always a time when prices will drop and you can't always expect to get the lower price. But many, many, companies (including Apple) honor price refunds if ordered within a small period of time of the price change. As I was saying, it has been such a short time, that it's not even here yet so I feel like I should be eligible for a refund.

Mohd:Okay, allow me a moment.
I can issue you a $16.30 promotional credit in this regard which you can use on Amazon.

----

Incredible! Thanks again!