Amazon Prime Letters

I haven't corresponded with anyone for a while, but I've recently started a new one with Amazon Prime. The first couple happened a month and a half ago and the last one was sent today. Take a look. I am interested to see where it goes. 

Dear Sir/Madam, 

I have just sent Life After Beth back to you and it is yet another example of a faulty disc being sent out. This is simply not good enough, particularly for a relatively recent film. You should be making sure that discs are sent out in perfect condition in a way that befits a service customers pay for. For compensation, please can you send me two or three extra rentals over and above my allotted amount. 

Yours faithfully, 

Thomas Sutton 

Hello Thomas,

I’m sorry to hear you’ve received another damaged disc.

Unfortunately our discs do degrade over time with regular usage.

We’re always grateful when our customers report broken or faulty discs, as we can then take action to fix or replace the disc. In fact, some faults may only occur during playback and we may not otherwise be aware of the problem.

We have now updated this information on your account to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

As preferred and also for this inconvenience we have added a two bonus dispatch which will be sent to you in addition to the normal subscription limits as a goodwill gesture.

We hope that you don't have any further problems and that you’ll continue to enjoy using our service in the future.

Should you require any additional information or assistance, please let us know directly by replying to this email and we will be happy to help you.

Thank you for contacting LOVEFiLM By Post support.

Warmest regards,

Arunkumar V.

Hello,

I am sending back Life After Beth for the second time because the disc is unwatchable. Given that it froze in the same spot as the disc you sent previously, I can only assume that you sent the exact same disc out to be again, even though I had reported it faulty in the first place. Please refer to my original complaint of 31st March 2015 and the subsequent response from Arunkumar V on the same day.

In Arunkumar V's message he said, and I quote, "We’re always grateful when our customers report broken or faulty discs, as we can then take action to fix or replace the disc.... We have now updated this information on your account to make sure that this doesn't happen again." Well guess what guys, it did happen again! And it was probably the same disc I complained about in the first place. You may not be surprised to here that I'm looking for some sort of explanation here and perhaps some compensation, but we'll get to that.

I'm going to level with you now. If I receive a broken disc, I always complain about it. Part of it is a selfless act, to make sure others do not suffer from the problems I have encountered. That's just the kind of guy I am. But the real reason for complaining is that you always compensate me with some free rentals. I like that. It seems fair.

However, I'm onto you now. Before, I had always thought that you were actually acting on my various complaints and doing everything within your power to make sure that faulty discs were not being sent to customers, as Arunkumar V suggested in his email, making sure that that kind of thing, I quote, "doesn't happen again." But now I'm not so sure. What kind of racket are you guys operating here?

Now I'm not a expert, but I've always thought that the economics of business was pretty straightforward. It has something to do with supply and demand. A lot of people want to watch movies and you provide them with DVDs. But this all goes to pieces when you start sending out broken discs. No one demands that, unless one just finds the shine on the back of a DVD titillating in some way. But there are easier ways to satisfy that sort of demand. Much easier.

So I'm looking for an explanation. Why did you send the DVD I had already reported at faulty back to me? Was it a jape? Did you think I'd find it amusing? I think that's unlikely and I suspect it may have more to do with the fact that you're milking something of a cash cow here, but you've got a cowboy at the udders. (That's a metaphor - make of it what you will). Now I'm not a sentimentalist, but I've been with you guys a long time and personally, I prefer the Lovefilm days. They were cheesy, even irritating, but I felt they cared. Now it's all Amazon Prime. I don't know, it just feels more clinical these days.

In addition to the explanation, I'm also looking for compensation and I mean BIG compensation. Last time, Arunkumar V was kind enough to send me two bonus dispatches. I was happy with that, but this time it's just not going to cut it. Not even close.

Now I've been taking a look around your Amazon website and I've seen a lot of top-flight goods: stereos, VCRs, toys. Now I'm just wondering. What can you offer me?

Warmest regards,

Tom