#AmazonWin

[stevekenson]

So, Amazon basically acknowledges the problem and says they’re fixing it. I’m sure I won’t be alone in keeping an eye out to make sure that happens, but, so far as I’m concerned, that’s an end to it (and a successful one, at that). Hopefully, if it was a glitch or an outside hack, Amazon’s IT dept. has learned a valuable lesson, and if it was a company decision somewhere along the line, hopefully Amazon has learned a valuable lesson.

Comments

[harmfulguy.livejournal.com]

I hope Amazon's PR folk will indeed learn some needed lessons from this incident, but I'm not holding my breath.

[lonespiritwolf2.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there are still a lot of conflicting stories out there so I'm not sure who to believe. All I know is that Amazon has treated this very poorly from the on-start and they still haven't officially apologized for the error.

I'm not mad for myself (well, maybe a little) because I can (and will) buy from other vendors, I'm mad for the authors who's book sales were hurt by this "glitch" in the system. I no longer trust Amazon.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

they have apologized, see below.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/amazon/archives/166329.asp?source=mypi

as for treating it poorly "from the on start"...personally, i'm willing to cut them some slack because it took place over not just a weekend but a holiday weekend. code implemented midnight saturday and then propigated. ::shrug::

[lonespiritwolf2.livejournal.com]

Actually, that was not an apology, that was them saying it was embarrassing. From on-start, started back in February. If you want to debate this further, I don't think we should do it in Xomec's journal.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

ah! i am in complete agreement with you there. and yes, a formal apology would be nice.

[dewinblaidd.livejournal.com]

Yup that's pretty much exactly what I was alluding to in that paragraph on my journal.

No one company should have that much power.

[rainbear.livejournal.com]

And yet, after my email (http://rainbear.livejournal.com/448146.html) to them, this is the reply I got:

Hello,

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.

(snippage of "clicky here if this resolved your issue..." crap)

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

Best regards,

Rajeshkumar P R
Amazon.com
We're Building Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company

Yes, I'm a "nobody" as far as they're concerned. I spend a few hundred, up to a thousand or so, dollars a year at Amazon. I still want an explanation for the conflicting stories. Y'know?

[garan-du.livejournal.com]

You know, if the merchanting of pr0n is giving them trouble, then they should just stop selling it. That would obviate the need for these idiot filters altogether. That, or make that part of the catalog impossible to access unless one is logged in with an account that has a valid credit card attached to it (akin to the age verification requirements on the websites of many pr0n vendors).