A (mazon) Better “Earth”
When Jeff Bezos launched Amazon in 1994, one of the reasons he gave for naming his new company “Amazon” was due to the enormity of the region and its river. Also, it began with the letter “A.” One website said this was an “epiphany” after “pouring over the “A” section of the dictionary.” Thank goodness for the epiphany or Bezos would have had to pour over other letters in the dictionary. As a former hedge fund executive, I’m guessing he thought “work smarter, not harder.” Why go any further when I have what I want right here? It is interesting, to me at least, other notable characteristics of the Amazon. One of them being, “Science is pointing to the risk that the Amazon could reach an irreversible tipping point, triggered by climate change and deforestation. This would mean it could no longer be able to sustain itself.” Taken in another context, Amazon may one day be no longer able to sustain itself due to the change in climate and a raping of the land. The company wanted by so many, yesterday I found to be needlessly wanting.
The U.S. economy has gone from manufacturing-based, to technology-based, to service-based where we are today. And companies suck at it.
Amazon’s initial retail sortie was book sales. Noble, but it would have been nice if employees read some of the company’s offerings before believing they alone knew how to do everything. Amazon has grown from less than 100,000 employees in 2009, to over 1.6 million in 2023. In keeping with the trend of less personal, limited contact, and difficult accessibility that many megacorps utilize, capitalizing on our social species becoming less and less social. So much so, that often when we have a real need to speak with a human being, not complete a survey online, not fill out a form online, not send an email, not respond to a series of robotic queries, but a live person who may be able to resolve an issue quickly and efficiently (think good customer service), this person is often an outsourced employee with English being their second language. Sometimes things get lost in the translation. Like the kid’s game “Telephone.” Except in the world of customer service, this lack of understanding becomes the opposite of what the job title indicates. Yesterday, this lack of understanding was glaring.
The U.S. economy has gone from manufacturing-based, to technology-based, to service-based where we are today. And companies suck at it.
Yesterday, I called Amazon with completely altruistic intentions. There was an issue with a driver, NO, NOT A GODDAMN DELIVERY!!!, that occurred when picking my daughter up from elementary school. As my wife and I do every Monday through Friday, we try to get to the school by 1:00 for a 1:47 dismissal. We do this to expedite the pick-up process and subsequent return home. The earliest arriving parents begin to line up around 12:30. The policies and procedures set forth by the school are clear regarding drop-off and pick-up. However, no less than twice monthly do we receive flyers either reinforcing current procedures or notifying us of new rules that have been added. A couple of these rules have required more school manpower to implement. Still, as with any set of rules or proper protocol, some parents just don’t give a shit. They remain with their own status quo much to the chagrin of the “Karens and Kevins.” The Amazon driver picking up his daughter fell into the “I don’t give a shit” category.
After sitting our requisite 40 minutes, an Amazon driver appeared, entering via an exit lane. My wife and I mused, he must have an urgent delivery or package pickup to disregard traffic directions. Mind you, there are accessible areas within 50 yards to park your vehicle and walk to the school. The driver chose not to take advantage of this option. When the line started to move, the driver squeezed into line with the parents who have been waiting patiently. I thought it took a bit of nerve to disrupt traffic flow, a school verboten, to drop off or pick up a package. Much to our surprise, the driver parked in a handicapped spot (Hey, I’m only going to be a minute). This would be my time for a rant, as a handicapped person who sees this type of behavior all too often. We thought an Amazon driver doing this did not reflect well on the company. Next, the driver exited his Amazon truck empty-handed. Must be an important package pick up we thought. The driver then walked to the entrance gate before the driveway that snakes to the very front of the school. My wife and I were puzzled. Well, he did have an important package to pick up, his daughter.
My wife and I were now incensed. She took pictures to forward to Amazon. What we had here was a sure insurance liability issue. The driver was putting his uninsured, unauthorized daughter in the vehicle without a booster seat which she obviously legally needed. I found the driver’s indifference for not only school rules and regulations, but his daughter’s safety was troubling. If there is an accident, Amazon could be liable, accused of negligence or worse. It goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway, the driver would then inconvenience other parents and disrupt the pick-up process by having to back out of the handicapped space, retake a place in line, and exit school property. I didn’t think this was the negative image Amazon wants to portray to the public since drivers are the only human representation of Amazon the majority of the public has. I decided when I got home, I would call customer service to advise them of the possible legal ramifications of this driver’s actions. Just trying to do the right thing for the company. Oh, how misguided my naiveté.
Prior experience told me finding a customer service phone number for a megacorp is no small task. Once my wife was able to locate a number, I placed the call. I was routed to another part of the world as expected. But my mind said I would be transferred to someone with empowerment once I tell of the liability at issue. Wrong again. I thoroughly explained what I just wrote here . . . twice . . . to two different people. This took 45 minutes. The response I got left me hopeful for a quick and easy resolution. Oh, I’m sorry Dr. Berstler. That’s three incorrect assumptions. Thank you for playing! I was told there would be a feedback email within 24 hours which would ask a few questions, and there would be a place I could attach the pictures that confirmed my assertions. The email arrived within the hour! Progress! my brain exclaimed before reading. The email was a generic placation that one would get if there was a poor delivery or a wrong package. I replied as much, and that the information was incorrect. An immediate email response came from Amazon! Paydirt! Moving up the food chain. Perhaps appropriate actions could now be taken toward an employee who would breach and tarnish Amazon’s rigorous customer service and safety standards. Within the hour another response from Amazon. There had to be multiple people involved now. Amazon must be truly concerned. Perhaps they’ll thank me for bringing this potential legal maelstrom to their attention. I read the email with disbelieving eyes. Enclosed was a rambling explanation for why the information in the previous email was incorrect, and how the company is unable to share what transpired over the phone, even though “this call is being recorded for customer service purposes.” Again, the information was not even close to why I called and what happened. I was dumbfounded, and later just dumb.
Amazon did not give a crap about what happened. They did not give a crap there was a communication problem due to English being the second language of the people I spoke with. They didn’t give a crap I signed both emails Dr. Wade Berstler. They chose to presumptuously address me as “Wade” afterward. Oh, now we’re friends. Newsflash, the writing skills of the customer service professionals weren’t any better. The email stated how seriously they were taking the issues I brought up. The message I got from the responses is quite the contrary. By the way, I was asked in the second email a series of questions. Every answer I gave during my phone conversation with the two people who listened intently (Hahahahaha) to my concerns. I replied back I was not going to correspond anymore via the written word. If someone from management thinks this behavior of a driver is inappropriate, then they could give me a call. I refused to do their job for them. I closed my last email with this: “I am embarrassed for myself that I would reach out to help Amazon avoid potential litigation, and have virtually all facets of what transpired be inaccurate. This is the epitome of not caring about a customer concern that could be beneficial to Amazon.” This is the slogan they closed their email with; "Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company."
Do you know why Amazon has such a low population density? Unfavorable climate, heavy rainfall, lack of accessibility. I understand completely. Quite a metaphor.