This has always bothered me. People always say that Twitter and Google can't offer real support because they would be able to handle the number of incoming requests.
But that's exactly what companies like Amazon and Wal-Mart do every day. For crying out loud, even Comcast (COMCAST!) has better support than Google or Twitter for their paid products.
Amazon is pretty top tier. Just being able to email jeff@amazon.com about an issue is huge (and I've seen people recount what happens when they get the forwarded "?" email).
Also they will correct any mix up almost immediately and will almost always credit you when you ask (or at least throw in another free month of prime).
Exactly, but the thing is, Amazon looks like they went in completely ready to compete with the big boys like Wal-Mart on this level. All of the major retailers have call centers and phone numbers posted in their stores for people to call in. Major manufactures like John Deere and Ball and even Phillip Morris have consumer call staff.
When Google and Twitter say they can't handle incoming calls or respond with anything other than automated email, what they are really saying is 'fuck you, we have no competition'...which works great until there is competition.
try being a seller on amazon. Customers scam you all the time and you just have to take it. If you decide to fight it, your sales stats go down and an automated bot will ban your account.
when you appeal, there is nobody that will help you. The only support is email, which is a series of automated responses. Nothing more.
and emailing jeff@amazon.com? That hasn't worked in many years.
sellers make amazon a large percentage of their profits, yet they can't even given them any real support. If you look in the main seller forums, there are countless stories of people with long-term businesses getting banned for reasons like this with absolutely no recourse. They are abusing the monopoly they have on the online marketplace.
on top of all of this, amazon gets to keep your customers. They aren't really yours anyway, since you can't send them any company contact info or collect an email address.
They will also only admit this when it can. Ensued to their advantage. If a seller sends you a wrong or broken item, you will have to pay for return shipping. I asked amazon reps about this and they say because i am a customer of a 3rd party selling on amazon, they won't reimburse me.
But that's exactly what companies like Amazon and Wal-Mart do every day. For crying out loud, even Comcast (COMCAST!) has better support than Google or Twitter for their paid products.