Don't Back Down

Back in January (the 18th, I think, in case Amnesia comes calling), I ordered up a Leatherman Skeletool CX from Amazon. The price at the time was $79.85, with free shipping. I was happy, though for perhaps the first time in the history of times I've ordered from Amazon, I was going to have to wait for a while, since they were low on stock. I figured it would be worth the wait for this sweet little tool.

As it turned out, the wait would be a long one. On February 5th, I tweeted about how the product was delayed, while the price had gone up (the page at Amazon now shows another company not Amazon, as the primary supplier - though Amazon still offers it at $79.85, with free shipping, on the alternative link). On February 8th, I tweeted that now it was shipping earlier than expected, but it was still to arrive by March 18th. Guess what. Still not here.

A really lengthy forum post at Amazon details that even if you were one of the first in line (some people ordering as early as November), you may not have your Skeletool CX yet - while some people who ordered in February did get theirs.

Amazon, meanwhile, tells you, if you dare to ask, that it "hasn't been released". Further reading of the thread will inform you that not only has it been released (since several customers of Amazon have it), but customers of Sharper Image have received it, as have customers of REI and that you can even get it on eBay!

Now I'm one of those people who not only wants to make the time I've sacrificed count for something (hey - I've been waiting for two months), but I want to make sure that Amazon realizes that if they did screw up and post it for the wrong price, that they need to make things right. But at the same time, I want the tool that I ordered. So after several rounds of back-and-forth, I managed to get them to say that they would ship the other items on the order (which, incidentally, was a set of bits for the tool, which shipped previously - big concession, Bezos!), and they also wrote off the shipping - which was already free!

At this point, I'm getting ticked. So I check out eBay for myself. Sure enough, there are literally dozens of the tools on sale there. And not just one-off auctions, but many listings where people are putting up whole lots of them. So I decide I'm done. I promptly order a Leatherman Skeletool, for just $45 plus $5 shipping, and it arrives the very next day! Yes, I downgraded. Sue me. I decided that I didn't really need the fancy CX model (and I could have had it for something similar to what Amazon had it priced at, rather than waiting in line even longer.

For those of you who think it's about the delay - it's not. What it's about is that there are literally dozens of these tools out there now, and Amazon is telling people who have been waiting months that "it's not shipping". The problem isn't about the delay. It's about the fact that those who have been waiting longest (and this isn't even me - it's the guy who ordered in November) aren't getting theirs first. It's about being treated like dirt, when obviously the tools are out there.

I've never been unhappy with Amazon - until now. Normally the process goes well and is completely and utterly painless. Not this time around. This time it was horrid, and when asking for assistance from customer service, it was like being told to sit back down and take it. Without even being given any vaseline.