embarrassing and ham-fisted

[gwynnega]

Well, I just received Amazon's Email of Apology. "An embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error" is a step up from "glitch."

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Amazon.com.

This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that
prides itself on offering complete selection.

It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed
titles - in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such
as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This
problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected
not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon's
main product search.

Many books have now been fixed and we're in the process of fixing the remainder
as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this
kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.

Thanks for contacting us. We hope to see you again soon.


Sincerely,

Customer Service Department
Amazon.com

Comments

[moondancerdrake.livejournal.com]

I will admit my book is finaly back on the main search, but that hasn't changed my feeling about Amazon's policies as a whole. I've seen several emails they sent people through this, and each time thier stories on why this is happening/happened changes.

[gwynnega]

I'm glad your book is back on the main search.

Their story does seem to keep changing. Regardless of how and why it happened, though, it seems clear that their bottom line is making money, and that they realize Amazonfail had potentially costly consequences for them.

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

I got the same email. It would be better if they'd actually apologized, I think; there's no "apology" or "apologize" or just plain "sorry" anywhere there. I'd have included at least one of those words if I'd been writing that blurb (that having been one of my tasks at Amazon for quite a while when I worked there).

[gwynnega]

You're right--a direct apology would've been much better.

[usedtobeljs]

[hugs and stuff]

[gwynnega]

::waves::

::hugs::

[sovay]

Well, I just received Amazon's Email of Apology.

I am not sure it is in fact an e-mail of apology. But at least it acknowledges that right now they really look like shmucks.

[gwynnega]

No, if it had been a true email of apology, they would've actually said they were sorry! It was instead an Email of Embarrassment.