Once the darling of the Internet world, what the hell happened to Amazon?
I worked for Amazon.co.uk from the day it launched in 1998 through to 2004 and in that time saw the company change from an organisation which prided itself on it's high level of customer service to a corporate behemoth that was so utterly bloated and listless that all it cared about was profit margins.
I've always held back from commenting about the company due to a sense of .. loyalty .. I suppose but looking at the site today I think it's time to pass comment on what is an instance of unadulterated corporate greed. Checking out the price and availability of XBox 360 games this afternoon, I couldn't help but choke on my digestives when I noticed that due to short supplies of some titles the company is charging a "finder's fee" of at least £10 for titles including Call of Duty 2, Dead or Alive 4, Project Gotham 3, Full Auto and others.
I understand that most (probably all) companies are motivated by the need to make money and satisfy investors, but blatantly advertising the fact you're fleecing the poor punter for an extra tenner is beyond the pale - shame on you Amazon... can you imagine walking into a newsagent for a copy of <insert magazine title here> and being told: "We've sold out but we'll get you one if you pay an extra £10" ...
As an aside, while working for Amazon I used to buy all my online stuff from Play.com as the prices were often better and the delivery service made Amazon look like a bunch of amateurs - how was it (I wonder) that Play could deliver within three working days and the company I worked for took up to two weeks - I had deliveries from Australia faster then Amazon could send a parcel from Milton Keynes - 100 miles away from my home ...
Shame the dot com boom has passed and the bandwagon is full as life at Amazon would have made for a great book ...
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