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Amazon customer service – It doesn’t get better than this!

The Kindle!

The Kindle! (Image courtesy- Amazon)

I’ve just experienced what might be the best customer service in my life! It is definitely the best so far. The story goes like this. Eyeing an eReader for a long time, I had ordered a Kindle back in November. Since I one of my friends was travelling to India from the US, I got my Kindle delivered in the US. Once I laid my hands on it, it was definitely one of the most prized gadget I ever owned (yes, there are emotions involved).

The Kindle worked flawlessly for a couple of months and I kept reading on and on until that day! Yes, I was travelling to Riyadh and had put my Kindle inside my bag. When I took it out, I saw my screen frozen with some horizontal and vertical lines on it. That was it. My Kindle was broken. And my heart as well. I was in such a state of shock that I didn’t even bother to contact the customer care to get it repaired. Since the Kindle was damaged because of possible baggage mishandling, there was no way I could dream of a warranty claim.

After about a month, once I gathered myself, I simply called the Amazon customer care from India to check on the options of getting it repaired ( of course at my cost). It was like a routine call and little did I expect that it would turn out to be the best ever customer care experience I have witnessed to date (and possibly will ever witness). I explained my situation. And the executive on the other side listened to me patiently. Once I was done he said, let me see what I can do for you. And beyond that, it was like a charm. I can keep writing about it, but let me be precise for the readers:

  • Amazon offered me to *replace* my Kindle free of cost under warranty.
  • Amazon offered to ship my Kindle free (priority International shipping) to India (note that my Kindle was shipped to the US originally.)
  • Amazon agreed to bear the custom clearance formalities, custom duties etc.

As if the above was not enough, Amazon agreed to pay for the shipping charges incurred to ship my defective Kindle back to the US.

I have no words to appreciate this gesture. Kindle is by the the best eReader out there. I might have purchased a new one even if Amazon did not offer a free replacement. But they did. And I am a customer for life!

I have my new Kindle already with me. Amazon has not just replaced a piece of hardware. It has given back a lot more which I can’t even explain.

Thank you Amazon!

 

Update: I have stopped tracking this post. But it seems that Amazon is still amazing people with its customer friendliness! Here’s a more recent experience from one of my colleagues:

The Rare Case Of Replacing An Out Of Warranty & Broken Kindle (For Free)

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Amit Srivastava
 

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 59 comments
Harsha - April 1, 2011

Now, that really amazed me!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations!!!!!!!!! 🙂

Reply
    vikas singh - December 5, 2014

    hi amit
    noticed you have lot of freinds with kindle problems ,we are repairing All KINDLE products like
    KINDLE HD and KINDLE FIRE please let us know if you have any problems we repair water damaged,broken screen ,broken LCD cases
    We are also repairing all APPLE products since 1997

    regds

    Vikas

    Reply
      a - January 13, 2015

      Vikas, pls contact my email ID. Need to repair Kindle

      Reply
      anupam - February 19, 2015

      I accidentally wiped my kindle fire hd 7 including OS, now kindle is stuck in orange bootloop. meanwhile I tried few tools like kindle fire utiltiy, SRT, KFhd but of no use ,, how can you help me in this regard?
      thanks

      Reply
        vikas singh - July 30, 2015

        Hi
        Sorry to know that you are having that problem with your kindle well you could bring it to us we are specialising in all hardware and software problems for complete range of Kindle products .

        we are

        ZION TECHNOLOGIES
        245A,SANT NAGAR,FIRST FLOOR ,
        EAST OF KAILASH
        NEW DELHI 110065
        CONTACT PERSON

        JULIAN JOHN – 9810124668
        VIKAS SINGH – 9971115336

        Reply
    mk - April 13, 2015

    Congrats to you. But I ve faced exactly the reverse.
    1st they dont ve any service centre.
    there is no authorised centre as well.
    these people have declared my kindle as dead and put up a sorry face, saying they cannt help it.
    I think, everyone, within warrantnty period will treat u that way, post that it will treat you like this.

    Reply
Amit Srivastava - April 1, 2011

@Harsha: Thanks!

Reply
Arpit Patni - April 5, 2011

Good..nice to know.
BTW between ipad vs kindle, wht u suggest?
I know the big difference in price..but do extra features worth the diff. or Kindle is gud enuf?

Reply
Amit Srivastava - April 5, 2011

Hey Arpit,

Well Kindle is purely meant for reading books. Nothing more. And it is the best at it.

iPad offers much more and is definitely worth the price.

Reply
shruti - April 9, 2011

Impressed. Now that u have got ur kindle collect lots of books and share 🙂

Reply
Amit Srivastava - April 10, 2011

@Shruti: Absolutely 🙂

Reply
Karan - April 26, 2011

I wonder when will the Reliance’s and Tata’s of this part of the world will delight us with this sort of customer service!

Reply
Amit Srivastava - April 26, 2011

@Karan: Yeah that’s true. But I am noticing slow and gradual changes with a few of them. Let’s hope it changes for the better in our lifetimes 🙂

Reply
Sumit Arora - May 8, 2011

Hi Amit………..
I am experiencing the same problem with my kindle. My didi got it for me from US. It just keeps on showing vertical and horizontal lines.What should i do? Are there any service centre in India? Please help

Reply
Amit Srivastava - May 9, 2011

@Sumit: Callup @ 1-877-453-4512 or 1-206-922-0844. There should be a quick resolution to your problem.

Reply
Sumit Arora - May 10, 2011

Thanx amit……….. i have contacted them and they are sending me a new one at my address without any shipment charges. Amazon, indeed provides best customer care service in the world.

Reply
max mule - August 8, 2011

kindle is purely guess what

WASTE OF MONEY

Reply
Sanjay - January 2, 2012

Hi amit,
could i get in touch with you personally as i seem to be facing the same problem. Which customer care did you contact, and what all queries were asked regarding the same. Hoping eagerly for a reply.

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - January 2, 2012

    @Sanjay: Call-up @ 1-877-453-4512 or 1-206-922-0844. I’ve also dropped you a note.

    Reply
Archana - January 20, 2012

Hey amit that’s great.I think free internet around the world ddoes count for a lot ya.slow as it might be..wonder why apple did not add whispernet

Reply
Manvendra Singh Inaniya - March 7, 2012

What if my kindle is out of warranty. Any idea about how much they will charge.

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - March 8, 2012

    Manvendra, call them up. To your amazement, they might replace it even beyond warranty. Just try!

    Reply
Santhosh - May 24, 2012

Hi Amit,

i faced exactly same problem just now had conversation with customer support team . They told me that they will replace the kindle and had sent the mail . They asked me to updated my credit card details and said they will charge the amount for new kindle and refund the amount back . i have a query how can i contact you ?

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - May 24, 2012

    Hi Santhosh,

    Amazon did charge my account as well. However, the refund was processed immediately. In fact, the refund came first and then by card was credited with the amount 🙂

    Reply
vyoma gajjar - July 18, 2012

my kindle ius frozen !! and it doesnt work ..i m highly taken aback by the kindle services !!
and the indian number i cannot call !! i am not able to contact them anyhow !! kindly help me contact them soon..i have got so many books from the kindle store and all of them seem to be wasted..pls pls help me soon..

Reply
vyoma gajjar - July 18, 2012

how do i get i replaced ?? pls tell me the address !! how do i send it back !! will they return it as it was..pls lemme know !! i am really tensed…

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - July 19, 2012

    Callup @ 1-877-453-4512 or 1-206-922-0844. Amazon team will guide you. There’s no India service center.

    Reply
RSV - September 17, 2012

Hi Amit,

I have the exact same experience – bought Kindle during my trip to the US last month and now its frozen and dead.

I just spoke with an extremely unhelpful csr at amazon who says shipping to and from will be done only for a US address since it was originally shipped to the US.

Am following up with them over email referring to yours and other folks’ positive experiences. Am hoping it gets resolved – will keep you and others here posted on how it goes.

I have been an amazon customer for 13 years now in the US, and a Zappos delighted customer for 7 + years. My thought earlier was that Amazon hopefully learnt a thing or two about customer service after acquiring Zappos, but still quite some ways to go I suppose. Thanks for sharing.

Would request the couple of folks above to come back and give an update on how their experience was so that we can have more evidence when speaking with amazon on this.

Sri

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - September 19, 2012

    Hi Sri,

    Thanks for the comment. It does sound like Amazon may have updated the policies. The replacement is shipped to a US address.

    Let’s hope your manage to get a replacement here!

    Good luck 🙂

    Reply
    vikas singh - December 5, 2014

    hi

    keep it hooked on to a power supply for 24 to 48 hours usually the battery goes in a deep discharge
    resulting in a dead kindle
    and then reset once it comes on

    http://www.wikihow.com/Reset-a-Kindle

    john

    Reply
Rajesh - September 25, 2012

I was going to buy Imported Kindle from ebay.in.
But by reading RSV update I am bit confused now.
Can someone please update if they have any issue in 2012 and customer service.

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - September 26, 2012

    Kindle is now available at Chroma stores in India. You could buy from there.

    Reply
keaton - December 14, 2012

hi i have a kindle fire all of a sudden it hung and when i push the power button to put it on it opens up to some team recovery project . what should i do !!

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - December 16, 2012

    I guess you should immediately contact customer care.

    Reply
    vikas singh - December 5, 2014

    hi

    please do this as shown in the link

    http://www.wikihow.com/Reset-a-Kindle

    it will solve your problem

    regs

    vikas

    Reply
Tony - December 20, 2012

You, my friend, are truly the exception to customer service by Amazon.com. In the past 2 weeks, 4 different people told me 4 different things. They even used the word “guarantee” my gift card issue to be deposited. To date, no change. To date, they are sending me emails that go against every conversation we had. Luckily, I save copies of all of the conversations. Bottom line is that Amazon will only do what they want-there is no concern for the customer here. They say wait 2 weeks, but after you show them the facts, they say 24-48 hours. Then they send you an email saying 2 weeks. So you wait. All of that time wasted and all promises broken. I am done with Amazon. As a buyer and a seller.

Reply
Arun - January 10, 2013

Your purchase history on kindle store might have contributed for the replacement. But still it’s cool.

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - January 13, 2013

    hmmm…not really. Actually when I got it replaced, the purchase was 0 :). But I understand that now the replacements are limited to the country where you purchased. Or maybe, I was really lucky!

    Reply
a rama rao - March 4, 2013

my son send us amazon kindle 1 year back from USA
we kept this idle for two months. Now we are unable to start
the kindle although we charged it completely. Presently we are stayed at south delhi r k puram, new delhi. kindly advice us nearest center for repairing.

Reply
ritwik - June 23, 2013

I bought kindle dx from homeshop18 on 20 oct, 2012. They shipped it from US. Today due to an unfortunate event of accidental exposure of pressure by hand, my Kindle Dx 3G 9.7″ screen got cracked at a point and slowly the ink has spread all over. I called up Homeshop customer care, they had no clue, so they said they will call me back tomorrow with information about options related to screen replacement. I looked up in google, ebay and few other are providing Dx 9″ screen at 100$ approx cost, even if i am left with no option other than buying a new screen, how do i get it fitted on my kindle device? Any help? thanks in advance.

Reply
Jaspal Singh - July 30, 2013

Hi Amit,

I have bought my kindle from UK, 7 months back. It has got some problem now. I can not dial the customer care no. you have mentioned from my phone. I can see you have helped a lot of people on this. It will great if you can guide me. Thanks

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - August 27, 2013

    Haven’t been able to keep-up with the responses lately! I hope you somehow managed to get the replacement.

    Reply
harpreet singh - August 21, 2013

Dear Friend,
I am facing a problem with my kindle fire hd it was all well since last one year but since yesterday my kindle is not getting charged no led comes on when i put it on charge .i am in India Delhi can u suggest some repair center in delhi

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - August 27, 2013

    Hi Harpreet, I believe you can walk into any of the Croma stores as they’ve started selling Kindles in India officially. I am not sure, but logically they should provide you with the service.

    Reply
Mayank - February 12, 2014

Hi amit, my sister brought kindle fire hd from us last year becoz of my mistake it got broke and i am not able to see anything.pls help me out, how to reach service center. At this moment i am living in delhi,india.pls help me out

Reply
    Amit Srivastava - February 19, 2014

    Hi Mayank,

    I believe the best way is to call Amazon customer care center once. I think they have changed their policies now (I was lucky to get a replacement easily). However, it is worth calling them once. Alternatively, you may visit one of the Chroma stores and see if they can help. Though they may charge.

    Thanks,
    Amit

    Reply
Mayank singh - February 12, 2014

Hi amit, my sister brought kindle fire hd from us last year becoz of my mistake it got broke and i am not able to see anything.pls help me out, how to reach service center. At this moment i am living in delhi,india.pls help me out

Reply
Lion Khan - March 26, 2014

Hello. I bought my Kindle from Oman and currently I am in Delhi, India. I have the same problem as yours. The screen got damaged, maybe due to the device being in bag for a long time. What am I supposed to do?

Reply
mk - April 13, 2015

Waste of money, dont but anything from amazon

Reply
Alexey John - June 20, 2015

My Kindle 3 the LCD screen got damaged my son accidently placed his hand and pressed. I accidently left the kindle on the bed. I am located in Kerala India. Kindly help me out.
Regards
Alexey John

Reply
vikas singh - July 30, 2015

Hi
Sorry to know that you are having that problem with your kindle well you could bring it to us we are specialising in all hardware and software problems for complete range of Kindle products .

we are

ZION TECHNOLOGIES
245A,SANT NAGAR,FIRST FLOOR ,
EAST OF KAILASH
NEW DELHI 110065
CONTACT PERSON

JULIAN JOHN – 9810124668
VIKAS SINGH – 9971115336

Reply
Rahul - September 7, 2015

Hi Amit,

Landed on your page thru’ a Google search… not sure if the thread is still active. Would anyone know someone who repairs a Kindle device in Mumbai. I have a Kindle 3rd Gen and screen has gone bad.

Cheers!!

Reply
priya - March 22, 2016

Amazon provide the best customare care services and the delivery the product quickly.

Reply
Reena - April 30, 2016

hi my kindle has frozen & is not switching off. it is the top of the line one please help

Reply
Reena - April 30, 2016

hi. my kindle has frozen & not switching off. I have tried holding the on off button for 2 minutes also. the model is the top of the line. please help

Reply
shiv kumar - May 17, 2016

e book reader not working since two month ago
shivkumar
h 54 ina colony pkt a new delhi
mol.9999424992

Reply
gopalakrishnan - December 4, 2016

My Amazon fire phone has accidentally fell down, front glass has broken but display is working properly. I have a doubt is it LCD screen or front glass. How shall I change the front glass. I am in Hyderabad India. Kindly send me amazon customer care number or mail ID. I am worrying a lot. Please help me

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Rahul Gupta - December 5, 2016

Great story of customer service, kudos to Amazon !

Reply
Dipak Bhattacharya - August 11, 2018

I am in IP Extn.,Patparganj, NewDelhi-92. ( mob no. 9717710041)

I have my son’s Amazon Kindle, not being used for years.

I intend to use it by uploading Books from Amazon kindle editions.I am also registered with Amazon and procured books and other products a number of times from Amazon in the past .

But I find it is not responding even charging it for quite some time.

Can you please tell me the contact nos and address of the nearest service centre, so that I can get the unresponsive

kindle fixed immediately.

Thanks,

Dipak Bhattacharya / Delhi.( 9717710041)

Reply

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