I’m Having Trouble Understanding This. Can You Help?

Amazon's logo or Peyronie's disease?

Before I tell you the story, I need to give you some background.  Full disclosure and all that, so that you don’t think this is coming from a feeling of getting ripped off.  I just genuinely do not understand how this company does what it does.

The gist of it:

• I have been shopping online for years.
• I have been shopping online with Amazon for years.
• Up until this last purchase, I’ve never had a problem with anything ordered from Amazon.
• Even though there was a problem, I am satisfied with the end result and I will continue to shop Amazon.
• I just don’t understand what happened – or why.

We ordered three sets of curtain rods for the new house.  It was a bit of an unusual order in that two of the three sets were long rods (one was 180 inches, another 240”).  All three were of the same style and color, made by the same company (the aptly-named “Rod Desyne”), and all three were handled by “Amazon Fulfillment.”  Here’s where it gets weird:

• All three were shipped in the same size box.
• Each rod set was shipped on different, separate days.
• Two came by USPS and one by UPS.

Still, it wasn’t until I was putting up the third (and longest) rod that I noticed that two small parts were missing from this last shipment.  Yeah, I should have checked all three first when they arrived – stupid me.  I went online to see about getting those two missing parts (which came in a small box inside the bigger box).  There were only options for return or replacing the whole item, and since part of it was already up, that wasn’t happening.

So I used the online chat feature to see if I could get the two small parts that were missing from the third rod sent to me.  The customer service rep only gave me two options – return the item (like I said, not happening) or accept a $15 credit for the missing parts.  I asked if I could use that $15 toward ordering the two missing parts, and was informed that I’d have to buy the whole rod ($15 didn’t cover it by a long shot).  I told the rep that wasn’t acceptable, and disconnected the chat.

Then I noticed that you could have a rep call you.  I thought that maybe if I actually spoke with a real person, I’d have a chance to explain what I needed and actually get results.  I clicked “call me” and just like that, the phone rang.  I spoke with a real person (who sounded like English was their first language) and explained my situation.  Unlike the first rep, this one had a way to get those missing parts to me.  Sort of.  Here’s what he said:

“We’ll ship you another complete rod set.  Take out the two missing parts and then send the rest of it back to us.  All on our cost, of course.”

Rather than ship me just what I needed, they shipped me the whole thing, all over again, and then, after taking my two parts, I sent it back to them with the label they provided.  Just like he said – no cost to me.  And while it was “easy,” it certainly could not have been cheap to do this.  I received confirmation yesterday that they’ve received my return, so we’re all good (and now I can talk about it – I didn’t want to jinx it before everything was deal with).

So here’s what I don’t understand.  Yes, this act “kept the customer satisfied” but couldn’t the same results be achieved with a simpler and LESS EXPENSIVE method?  I have to assume that I’m not the only customer who received an item with missing parts.  Do they do this with EVERYONE?

Remember, Amazon made more than ELEVEN BILLION DOLLARS in 2018.

They also paid ZERO in Federal Income tax.

I don’t understand that, either.  Anyone have a clue?  Post it.  Thanks.