Quote:
Hi,
I am a Prime member and I pre-ordered South Park : The Stick of Truth on Thursday 6 March 2014 11:25 (approx) for "£28.00 (or less)".
The UK release date for this game was Friday 7 March. I expected Prime to deliver it on the release day using 'Release Day Delivery', as that is what the text during the checkout process seemed to suggest. Usually placing any order with Amazon Prime before 12am gives enough time for to be delivered next day. After 2pm or so it usually means next-next-day. Therefore I would have accepted delivery on Saturday the 8th (today) as being acceptable, but only because I only placed the order on Thursday.
However the item _still_ wasn't marked as despatched this morning! I want to play the game on my 4-day weekend using holidays from work and so I've been forced to cancel that Prime order and pay the premium price of 39.99 from a digital download service (Steam). (Other options would have been a lengthy trip into town buy a physical copy from a game-shop, or more likely, a very large supermarket).
I would have expected, on release day, an apologetic email from Amazon explaining the delay.
Now if I go to the Amazon page for a PC copy of the game I see that
a) It is now £30 for a Prime order, which is an increase of £2
b) It will take 1 TO 3 week to deliver!
That 3-week proviso was _NOT_ around when I ordered and was definitely not communicated to me since placing my order. I have no idea if that is only applicable to orders placed today or if it was also applicable to my order because Amazon has told me nothing about the delay. I assume, given the delay, that it applies to my order.
I have incurred an extra £11 financial cost and, due to the delay of playing the game, mental anguish and the loss of a social talking point. On the other hand, Amazon have incurred a loss in Prime's reputation in the minds of myself, my friends and my colleges as I will communicate to all of them how useless Prime is when that speedy delivery is actually needed, especially now that it comes with a basic and expensive version of LoveFilm which I don't really want. They've all been asking is Prime useful, I guess the answer I tell them will be no?
Some questions:
a) When did Amazon realise the delivery of the game would be late?
c) When were Amazon planning to tell me that my pre-ordered game, which claimed release-day delivery, was going to be up to 3 weeks late?
c) Why am I paying for Prime if I can't get proper delivery when I need it?
d) Do Amazon feel the £11 premium (+ mental anguish) was worth the loss in Prime's reputation? Is there any financial compensation Amazon could offer? That might restore this balance?
Thank-you for your time,
"Pod"
Sure, I completely over egged the pudding -- Really, I was not 'forced' to buy from Steam at that £11 premium, I can easily wait, and there is not the slightest bit of mental anguish. Infact I didn't need to send the email at all (though the extra £11 sucks -- I imagine if I ordered a few days before-hand I would have gotten a copy just fine?). I just want to try and get some free money out of them. What will I get? £0? £11? £28? £30? A months worth of prime?
(also, "accepted as acceptable"? I should wait longer after getting up before writing things)