Amazon Customers Vote a partial Scam?
Ok, before you stop reading, I’m not suggesting they didn’t sell any XBox360’s, because I know someone who got one, plus, I got the Bike that was runner up.
With that said, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m talking about Amazon’s weekly customers vote deal. Every week they allow customers to vote on a ‘deal’ that they would like to have happen (there’s 4 possible deals). The one with the most votes actually happens on the thursday.
Now, this Thursday’s deal was an Xbox360 Core System for $100. That is a good deal! So good, I was refreshing like mad to get it. You see, there were only 1000 of these units to be sold.
It started well, but at about 1:58PM EST (2 minutes before the sale started), amazon.com because completely unresponsive, and continued as so for 15 minutes until all was sold out. Now, I know someone who was able to refresh several times and contemplate purchasing one while there was still stock. He ended up with one, seemingly without any trouble.
Here’s the juicy part. I think this is a partial scam by Amazon.com. I’ll tell you why.
After the disappointment I decided to try the Bike that was runner up and also for sale. Well, I got it fine, though I never added it to my shopping cart. I don’t really want to buy the bike, so I didn’t.
Now, what happened to that item? Did it go back in the pool for someone else to get? Nope. The claim code gets emailed to me, and I’m able to still claim the discount until tomorrow evening.
See where I’m going with this? What IF I don’t plan on claiming this deal? Well, the deal is in limbo, and nobody gets it, and amazon doesn’t have to pay for the discount. Good deal for them!
Now, I’m not arguing the mechanics of the contest, or that it’s necessarily bad, it just irks me a little bit to know amazon is probably not losing out as big as they would have you think. Let’s face it, I doubt many who have a claim to the cheap Xbox360 will turn down the offer, but they could, and I bet it happens a few times.
In conclusion, Amazon may not necessarily be losing out in all cases as bad as it seems. Even still, that doesn’t mean they aren’t doing something nice by having the deal in the first place. I would however like to see the system changed. They should give customers 5-10 minutes to checkout and actually pay for the deal, and if they fail this, the deal should go back in the pool. They should also increase their serving capacities for the main page so that everyone has a better attempt at obtaining the deal. It bugs me that someone was able to refresh several times while I could not once see the page until the deal was over.
Tis a sad day 
November 23rd, 2006 at 4:35 pm
I was on the arpa net backbone on a 1Gbs network with an atomic clock stratum 1 time source and couldn’t get in (in time), the people clostest to or on the same network as amazon.com had a very big advantage. Amazon also accepted http requests for the new page before the 11:00AM PST time (their server was backed up) so instead of dropping early requests at the server; people with early requests got the order page 1st. Is that fair? I think it was badly managed.
November 23rd, 2006 at 5:21 pm
This is the 2nd time they’ve mishandled something like this in a week. They mishandled this and they mishandled the Wii launch. I SAY WE BOYCOTT AMAZON. WHO’S WITH ME?!
November 24th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Who cares whether or not a couple people do not claim their prize? That doesn’t mean that it is a scam. Sure, it was not very organized, but it was like winning the lottery. You can’t expect to win the xbox360 just because it’s there, only an incredibly small fraction of the people trying succeed. Just because Amazon does not put the claim code back into the pool if you do not use it doesn’t mean that it’s a scam. Would you rather have that small chance of getting an item for very cheap, or would you rather just not have it at all. I personally didn’t get one, but I’m not too bummed out about it, I never expected to get it, I just thought I would give it a try.
November 24th, 2006 at 10:52 am
They should of given smaller amounts spaced out over time. OR changing the contest to if u purchase something that day, u can win the XBOX 360 at the huge discount. I mean bringing down their web server isn’t exactly the smartest idea, this would of provided constant traffic to amazon.
November 24th, 2006 at 10:54 am
A scam? I like the Amazon system more than yours.
November 24th, 2006 at 11:11 am
To Thegetawayplan9,
What do you mean ‘mishandled’?? Amazon runs its business in the way that it chooses. You only cry mishandled because they didn’t choose to run their business in the way you wanted them to proceed.
November 24th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Have you never used ticketmaster, or bought tickets to an event? This is the way sales with limited units work.
November 24th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
“A scam? I like the Amazon system more than yours.”
So you’re saying you’d rather have less chances to get the deal? Do you work for amazon or are you just not so bright? Please correct me if I am not understanding your statement.
“Have you never used ticketmaster, or bought tickets to an event? This is the way sales with limited units work.”
It seems to me in ticket master, if someone reserves a ticket and doesn’t pay for it, that the ticket is not lost forever. Otherwise they would have nobody sitting in those seats. You bet those tickets go back into the pool, it’s in their best interest to do so! Unless you are replying to an above comment and you are suggesting recycling claims would be a good idea, then I agree completely.