A Sorry Tale
I wanted to send an amazon Gift Certificate. In the dim and distant past one rainy day in Wales I opened an amazon account.I have never bought a book from amazon. I had no particular grudge against them I just like 'real bookshops' -the way I like real food and real coffee. So they fall into the same category as Starbucks and Pizza Hut. Places I never go. Anyway I have no idea what name or password or email or credit card I originally stuck onto one of those interminable forms that all these companies use. So I chose an email address from my drawer-but of course they knew my name and address at once..and would I like to login from my 'email address on file?'. Well no actually I would just like to go on using this one. Anyway all seems well. I order the certificate and pay for it. They say they will send a confirmatory email-but didn't. Check the credit card statement, online. They have taken their money. Told my friend. In a couple of days she says she has got the certificate.
When she tries to use it however amazon say she cannot. There is a problem and would she like to contact me about it? amazon do not contact me. So I mail amazon as does she. amazon sends me a message saying they only communicate with the email address on file. Track this down. They do not have 'address-verification on file' for the credit card. They are contacting the bank. After a couple of days nothing..they have had their money for 5 days now..no certificate. Oh they say the bank is not replying. So I email the bank and also suggest to amazon that as they have $75 perhaps they would like to sort this out. The bank says. amazon have not contacted them AND EVEN IF they had the bank would not give amazon my address. The UK Data Protection Act forbids this. It is OK for me to give amazon my address-which of course they already have. And presumably if I enter it on some amazon form and when they process the card nothing whistles that would be OK. So what are amazon gouing to do-are they going to tell me where the form is to fill in? No. Please FAX a credit card statement with the address on it. This is an internet bank that does not issue such things-except at £2,50 a shot and Royal Mail takes three weeks to send it here........in the meantime amazon tell me..'they are "making arrangements" to send me $75..........who can be bothered with these companies.?
The bank is pretty good. It even sends small sums of money abroad at not that great expense.Most UK banks appear to want to charge $25 for sending $5.
While I am grousing...!! You know it takes 4 days to send money around the UK banks-5 in the case of LLoydsTSB...here I go to the ATM and through it can tap in the bank code and account number of any Thai bank account and send any amount of money instantly. Of course the banks are all Chinese!