The Shit Companies Blog

In Part 1 I explained that I was convinced that O2 were blocking calls as they see fit to try and keep my calls entirely in the O2 walled garden. I also explained how on the 4th of this month I called about it but their agent denied it, but I called customer services on the 20th and the new agent admitted it. Well yesterday the 26th October I called again and the first agent denied it and the second agent seemed to indicate it was true but told me to put the question in writing. Full details of the call now follow...

I called back after the first agent hung up (because I told him that I recorded all outgoing calls). The new agent said that the system was frozen (typical) and to call back later. I said I had a question and before I could finish saying it she put me in a queue. A new agent answered who said the system was down and she would pass me to someone else. Another agent answered after the second lengthy queue but said that she was on the wrong billing system. She said she was on the “Dice” billing system and internally they need the “Companion” billing system! She said she would have to pass me over to an agent with access to the correct billing system. I was queued again.

Agent number five answered (Peter). All I was calling for was to ask what the O2 policy on blocking calls was – how they decide which numbers to block and what the general strategy is. I wanted this information to make a more informed choice of which operator to keep a subscription with (if any at all, I’m getting that sick of them over the years). I hate operators blocking legitimate numbers that represent VoIP calls or cheaper international calling services.

He proceeded to vehemently argue that O2 are not blocking discrete numbers. He even went as far to say that it would be a violation of privacy. He had the word “privacy” mixed up with “ethics”. I’m used to deciphering O2 call centre speak. It seemed that no matter how much I pointed out to him that I had already established by basic logic and the last call on the 20^th that O2 were blocking calls, he continued to forcefully argue otherwise. At one point he said with great sarcasm “you know better than we do and we work for the company”. What a scream. Where the hell do they find such agent assholes? Yes I do know better than him, not because I wear an O2 badge but because I am not an amoeba.

One of my biggest hates about call centers (which O2 often exibits) is that often instead of taking a step forwards calling them, you take two steps backwards. I’d already established on the 20^th with an O2 agent that they did indeed selectivity block calls. But this agent in line with what I perceive as the norm from O2 agents, wanted to keep spouting his mouth arguing, talking complete rubbish and not once pausing to listen to reason. He tries to claim as per the agent on the 4^th that it is a SIM fault or a handset fault. Wow amazing handset fault; if you try to use most services that offer discounted calling, the handset has a unique fault that flashes “network blocked”. This must be a very handy fault that develops on handsets from O2’s point of view. He even tried to educate me that maybe it is because I could be forgetting to remove the ‘0’ from the ‘0800/0808’ prefixes when I dial.

The part when I knew I had a top class O2 zombie was when he read out the two freephone numbers that I’d been complaining about being blocked then asked if it is premium rate numbers that I am having problems with. Fu$# the guy just read out the two numbers I have a problem with (both freephone) and then he asks if they are premium rate FFS. How thick do you have to be to read out two free phone numbers then ask if they are premium rate numbers? How the hell does this guy get out of bed and put his own clothes on in the morning? I can only guess his mother is still packing his lunch box.

One thing he does get right is a shared sentiment - he stated in relation to my call blocking claims that

“it’s like having a BT line and suddenly you ring up Harry over there and you can’t get thru to him and then your going to ring up BT and say excuse me this number is blocked, they [O2] can not do that”

Hole in one for change! He gets what I am saying O2 are doing at last! But he thinks that I am the ludicrous one fully believing that O2 would not be doing such a thing. If the poor chap would listen to the facts in front of him it would be very clear that indeed O2 are.

Again I repeated to him that I’ve already established that O2 are blocking calls during the call on the 20^th but he retorts in Rumsfeld like language

“well you haven’t as it does not say it over here [onscreen] this is what you think you’ve said or somebody said to you now if he said this to you he is absolutely wrong”.

To make me begin cringing he even tried to say to argue that there needs to be an agreement between O2 and the called party in place before a call can be successful to that called party! The poor chap was mixing international roaming agreements into the equation. The agent was completely incapacitated in the listening faculty. He could not get off the subject of call bars, premium numbers, international roaming agreements and faulty customer hardware. Yet the complaint was about two UK freephone numbers! He just could not get it thru to him no matter how much I repeated it, that two freephone numbers are blocked.

It took me 43 minutes in total to clear past this guy! But it is OK O2, I’ve got hours to spare paying premium call charges to 0870s to talk to your morons. It makes me love your brand more, increases my loyalty and makes my monthly spend higher. But to be honest, when I see the adverts on TV campaigning “O2 – See What You Can Do” I sit and wonder what your call agents can actually do, starting with putting their socks on each day.

Without warning I was placed back in the queue. After sometime agent number six answered (Duncan) who claimed to be a supervisor. He seemed indicative that there was a dynamic discrete list of blocked numbers. But said I would have to write to the following address to find out:

O2 Complaints Review Service
PO BOX 116
Leeds
LS11 5DS

OK so that took pretty much an hour of my day and six agents to have an address given to find out an answer to my simple question. The agent claimed that numbers may be blocked if O2 suffer a direct loss as a result of them. He seemed to think that calling (and paying O2 for calls to) UK freephone numbers were causing O2 a direct loss! It seemed to be his opinion that "direct loss" meant using any service which achieved the users aims at a lower cost and not bypassing O2 tollbooths at any point.

I will write to the address above...no doubt a Part 3 will be produced. I chopped out the hold music and the first 4 agents, you can find the call here (15 meg MP3).

On the 4/10/2006 whilst in the UK, I went to do what I had been doing for years which was to place an international call to the girlfriend’s cell phone via a discounted international provider (call18866). Instead of getting a connection to the international provider who would then provide me with the usual “which number do you want to dial?” type prompt, the phone piped and went dead. It was quite clear it was not even attempting to set the call up.

So I tried to call a completely separate company which provides a similar service (superline) on a different number prefix and the handset said “network blocked”.

Now there are two reasons why I pay a UK cellular subscription:

1) keep a static contact identity (a static UK telephone number)

2) security and knowledge that I can call just about from anywhere to ANY telephone number (leaving premium number barring etc. aside).

With complete rage I called O2 customer service. The agent denied that there was any number blocking going on and said maybe I had not paid my bills with these other companies Etc. or maybe I should clean the SIM card and all this type of nonsense. I very harshly and very clearly put it to him that logic dictates the numbers are being blocked (reminder, O2 customer service have not had the required training in logic even to the level that comes natural to the rest of us). Why should two freephone numbers to two separate companies suddenly stop working that just happen to provide discounted international calling services? (A note for readers outside of the UK, “tollfree” numbers are not free from a UK cell phone).

The agent kept arguing that “the calls were indefinitely [sic] not blocked”. Four times I said to the agent I think that you are meaning the word “definitely”. On each occasion he said that he did mean “indefinitely”. The poor chap could not comprehend that he was using the wrong word and I quickly had to give up on him going further in understanding the logic that the calls were being blocked. The following day I left the UK.

When I returned back to the UK on the 20^th October I again tried to use third party discounted international calling services to call the girlfriend’s cell phone. Again one service number pipped out and the other said “network blocked” as before. Again I called O2 in rage mode. Even though it was the middle of the day the O2 customer services number connected but then played the ringing tone for so long I gave up. I repeated this another three times. Since I was dialing their 0870 I was being charged premium to hear ringing!

On the fifth attempt I got an agent who had a shit attitude but was straight with the score at least. He said the numbers represented discounted calling services and that when O2 find such numbers they add them to a dynamic block list. I argued that I found this a breach of contract and found it totally unacceptable. He said that according to the contract I had signed with O2 they had the right to block every single outbound call I ever placed and could still force me to pay the monthly rental charge until the end of contract! I asked him to at least refund all the failed calls to O2 customer service and he refused! He finished by exclaiming the companies I was trying to dial were “fraudulent” because they used O2 airtime (crazy I know).

You can guess who I will not be renewing the contract with? (I’ve got more than one O2 post pay phone and was in their top 5% spenders list and had been a customer since the late 90s). The problem is I am not currently sure who I would switch to instead, I had considered T-Mobile but this put me off. I would love to get rid of the cell phone operator completely but there is not enough coverage of alternatives (like WiFi) yet. But I can say one thing for sure, cell phone operators on the whole continue to increase feelings of brand resentment and as soon as a new technology player offers a means to evade them I will as I imagine many others will do. What I would like to see is a flat rate plan that covers international calling and data but I don’t think I will ever see the day from a telecoms operator. It's not only their customer services who are fu$%ed but their time plus distance business model going forwards.

O2 never cease to amaze me in their ever down spiralling customer services. Today’s shocker was that on politely informing the call centre drone that I record all outgoing calls he said that he was within his right to hang up. I pointed out the fact that O2 announce that they may record calls prior to me being connected to an agent. Thru some logic I still don’t get (probably means there is none as the agents have not had training in logic) he repeated that he was within his right to hang up if he was being recorded by a customer.

It was OK for O2 to record customers but it was not OK for a customer to record a conversation with O2 agents. Quite staggering double standards. I presented him with the reason for my call which was to ask for a confirmation that O2 are selectively blocking calls to certain numbers if they feel those numbers are lowering your phone bill (for example Superline, Call18866, Call1899). After putting this question to him he said he was going to exercise his right and hung up.

Find it hard to believe? I do – but call is here (3 meg MP3).

Note that if you want to know how to get around the call block, contact me. All it achieves is to completely outrage the customer and further enforce brand disloyalty.

Back in March 2006 I had a weatherseal double glazing agent visit my home. I agreed that night and he asked for a deposit of a good few thousand pounds. I refused and said that I would give him 500GBP. Eventually he accepted. In April I had heard nothing from Weatherseal and so I called the sales agent. He said the windows could not be fitted as the area was a conservation area. I asked him to send the deposit back.

A month or so passed by and no deposit was received. So I called the agent up and he said that he now works for East Anglia double glazing and could not help. So I called up the main Weatherseal number and they promised to post out the cheque for the deposit that I had paid within 2 weeks.

But by the end of June I still had not received a cheque so I wrote them a letter dated 28/06/2006 requesting it.

At the end of July a cheque was received for 450GBP. Knowing that calling would be a waste of time, I wrote them another letter dated 31/07/2006 demanding the missing 50GBP.

I heard nothing back so I called them on 07/08/2006. Since the cheque for 450GBP was the wrong amount I had torn it up and had made a request for a cheque for the right amount of 500GBP. The Weatherseal agent said I would be charged 10GBP for re-issuing a cheque even if the amount was wrong on the first one! The Weatherseal agent also disputed that I had paid 500GBP, instead declaring I had paid 450GBP. She was completely resolute that it was 450GBP and ended up making me post her the contract registered post to prove it was 500GBP. I am so lucky I did not pay the original deposit demand! I recorded the call (10 meg MP3 file here) and for any prospective Weatherseal buyers, have a listen – do you really want to pay thousands to a company that speaks to you like shit even when your in the right, and even when you are in the right demanding your own money back wants to deduct 10GBP?

On the 10/08/06 the same Weatherseal agent (Karen) left a voicemail to say that she had received my contract and indeed it was 500GBP that I had paid. She said that she would have the cheque for 50GBP posted out the following week.

By the 23/10/06 no cheque for 50GBP had been received. So I called up Weatherseal and spoke with an agent called Becky. So pretty much said that she does not know why my cheque had not been sent out because it was marked on the computer as warranted and remarkably she could not confirm when it would be sent out! She said it had been delayed because Weatherseal changed bank accounts and cheques had been cancelled. No matter how hard I pushed her she could not tell me when the cheque would be posted. Instead she said she would call me back but never did. Again I recorded the call and any prospective Weatherseal buyers should listen! Bear in mind that I’ve been waiting 6 months for to get my deposit back after Weatherseal said they could not complete the order yet on the call (4 meg MP3 file here) the Weatherseal agent can not even say when the cheque will be posted even though I had been told on the voicemail left on the 10/08/06 that I would have it the following week!

Rumours are surfacing on the Internet that Weatherseal has gone into liquidation but will remerge soon with the same name (they will change from Weatherseal Holdings to Weatherseal xxx with the same directors). This would tally with the bank account change story but I wonder if I will ever see my cheque and I wonder about the people who have paid up thousands of pounds?

For example I saw this posted on Blagger dated 24/10/06:

“BUYER BEWARE
I am an ex weatherseal sales manager and i can confirm that weatherseal went into liquidation in september (check companies house for around the 12th to the 18th) FACT
I can also confirm that three of the the directors messrs blackhurst, reilly (the nicest guy of the three) and webster (used to own force ten windows in scotland) have set up again undoubtedly as weatherseal somethingorother ltd. FACT
They will probably play heavily on they're 43year history, this died in the late 80's with the original company, remember as of now they are only in business ONE month.”

All I can say at this stage is that you have been warned big time and I thank my lucky stars that I refused point blank to pay the normal deposit.

*** Update: I went to their website late last night and clicked arrange an appointment. Today at lunchtime I received a call to arrange an appointment today! I then received within the space of 30 minutes of that call two confirmation type calls. So they are grease lightening quick on following up sales leads and making sales – but take six months+ (ongoing) to give you the deposit back if they can not carry out work. Says it all really. If I go to the Companies House website there are a stack of companies that start with "Weatherseal" in the name - I don't have time to make sense of the results but try your own search here.

I've had lots of bad experiences with the UK cellular operator O2 this year and really ought to blog the details when I have got time.

In the meantime, I called O2 tonight simply to ask if a phone was eligible for an upgrade (in the UK if you are on a post-pay phone, it can be upgraded to another handset at a heavily discounted price every 12 months). The thick agent gimp said that it was not eligible until December this year and that because it was not eligible the phone I wanted would be £150GBP instead of the discounted price of £50GBP. I pretty much accepted this but just as I was away to hang up I asked her which phone I had upgraded to last December. She claimed that I had upgraded to a Nokia and I informed her that I really could not remember a Nokia phone on that account. After the usual the "system says" line I challenged her again because I remembered the phone upgrade previously had been in the month of May last year since I been at a memorable concert and the upgraded phone had just arrived the same day. She then laughed and said that she had made a mistake (it was obvious that she either did not know what year it is currently or she was unable to add 12 months to a calendar month). Thick cow.

I recorded the call (and yes for company legal bods I did say that I was recording at start of call). Please find an MP3 of the O2 agent gimp here (2 meg). If you are pushed for time, jump to 1:55.

In Part 1 I detailed the saga of trying to gain an online login to my Amazon Credit card account in order to settle the first bill (which I have STILL not even received a copy of), which eventually I gave up on achieving and cancelled the card as a result.

In Part 2 I detailed how Amazon did nothing to help and instead screwed up my normal Amazon login. To date the associates account still does not work, but I’ve been leaving off placing the international call to Amazon customer services for fear that they will screw something else up more important.

In this Part 3, I detail how to my utter surprise, I can not break free from the Amazon credit card (a Halifax, Mastercard and Affinity Cards combined offering) and instead I am receiving daily harassment by phone and mounting charges, all completely unwarranted and there appears to be nothing I can do except blog about the experience. I feel so much pity for those in a lesser position (the elderly Etc.) needing to deal with these scum bags.

In Part 1 it was very clear that I cancelled the card on the 24^th August 2006 after the very first bill and for good reasons. It is also very clear in Part 1 that I went to every effort to ensure it was cancelled including being forced to make international calls to pay 53 pence (around 99 US cents) by bank transfer after the first agent I tried to cancel with gave the wrong final balance and the second agent (ironically the customer retention agent) would not waiver the 53 pence.

I’m abroad (outside the UK) most of the time. I’ve set the UK mobile voicemail to say do not try reaching me on my UK mobile number and instead redial a UK fixed line number which diverts to me (courtesy of Skype In) otherwise if I take the call I am hit with the extortionate O2 incoming international mobile call rates/minute.

It was therefore somewhat unusual that sometime in the week beginning the 9^th October that my UK phone would ring once or twice a day with no caller ID and that the caller then did not bother following the voicemail instructions. By Sunday (yes Sunday) 15^th October 2006 I was getting fed up with the daily ringing (often multiple times a day) with no caller ID and decided to answer and to absorb the call rate to find out who it was.

It was Halifax in relation to the Amazon credit card. I said that I did not have an account with them and had not done for months, had cleared the balance in full the very first month so there could be no reason to be calling me. But the lady argued that I was due money and said she must take me thru security. I asked her to follow the instructions on the voicemail and dial my fixed line number otherwise I would be facing double digit charges for the call. She agreed but never did call! Going my her attitude it was fairly clear she was not going to bother calling the right number and I was left with the impression she had a list of numbers to dial down and was more interested in clearing numbers than issues.

Every day the UK mobile would ring, often multiple times a day until the 21^st October 2006 when I happened to be in the UK. I answered and again it was the Halifax. It was an African woman who had a very poor grasp of the English language. She claimed that I was due 40.97GBP including a late payment fee. I said that I could not be due any money as I had categorically cancelled the card and paid in full on the 24^th August. I explained my efforts to cancel the card after the first month but she could only keep repeating in a rude fashion that I was due 40.97GBP. I asked for a manager and she said one was not available. She said one would call me back. I stressed how important it was to call me on the right number (fixed line) and was assured a manager would call me back on it. I registered a complaint that a) I was not due money as I had cancelled the card and had still not seen a bill b) that they stop ringing the UK mobile and contact me on the proper number.

By the 23^rd October I was getting very sick of my UK mobile still ringing (I was back out of the country) and nobody from the Halifax had called the fixed line number. So I called up the Halifax up (international) and spoke with a Micheal Flynn. He sounded reasonable and I repeated the story to him. He explained that sometime after I cancelled the card NCP car parks had decided to claim backdated money against the card number and the Halifax had decided to honour it. He said the time they had taken to do this was unusual and that he supported my case. I said I was still quite happy to pay this item even though it was a great inconvenience since they (Halifax operating the Amazon Mastercard) don’t take telephone payments, their Internet site does not work and it would be my third bank transfer trying to clear the damn thing, but they must remove any late payment fee. He said that he understood where I was coming from but they did not have the power to reverse fees and that somebody else would call me in complaints. He registered a second complaint and said that I should expect a call. I stressed not to call the UK mobile, to call the fixed line and failing that call an alternative number in the country where I am based. I requested a copy of the bill since to date I’ve never received a single bill, relying instead on phone conversations to establish the details.

Yesterday (24^th October) the UK mobile seemed to ring like mad again with no caller ID so I knew it would be the Halifax. This is unreal since I’ve called them internationally twice to say ring a different number if you are calling and told them before when they called me to ring a different number. I fully suspect now that their phone barrage which resulted in me answering the UK mobile a few times to them will have caused me a greater bill than their erinaceous yet outstanding late fee. Eventually on the 24^th I gave in again and answered the phone at 17:25pm UK time. I asked the girl’s name in order that I can begin to track down who is doing the screwing up. The girl said “Lisa” and I asked for more details, like call center or extension but she refused. I asked that she call the correct number/s and she said she could not take them as I had not cleared security. I had they were already on file as I had already lodged a complaint twice this week that they are dialing the wrong number. She had the typical Amazon Halifax Mastercard attitude of “don’t give a shit, this is all fun and games” and hung up. As expected she never did call the right number/s back.

I fired this email off to Amazon after the call:

24 October

----------------

I want someone senior to contact me. Otherwise I have no option now but to seek Internet and other media exposure. Please do not reply with cover blankets Etc.

After my first month with the Amazon credit card I cancelled it for good reasons which I have previously detailed. Leaving these issues aside I can not stop the barrage of harassment I am receiving daily over this card.

It is in everyone’s interest that this is sorted out. I’ve been dealing with this issue since 21 August and we are nearly into November.

Please don’t tell me to call customer services Etc. We are way beyond that point. Please have someone senior ring me any day after mid day on +43 6507417316. (that is 0043x from the UK).

Failing this I will promptly and effectively seek great exposure via various media outlets and will involve appropriate regulating 3^rd parties.

Summary so far: I cancelled Amazon credit card back in August after the first bill (although bill still has not been received) as the online login would never work (making Internet payments impossible), and they would not take payments over the phone. Amazon’s only contribution was to screw up my independent Amazon login. Now out of the blue months later I am receiving daily harassment calls (sometimes multiple) from Halifax demanding money which I feel utterly helpless to stop without giving in and paying their unwarranted late payment fee. I am also utterly helpless waiting for my complaints to be dealt with by having a manager call me back on the right number. It is worth noting that I’ve asked twice now that the issue is resolved in writing instead of phone and this was refused.

In Part 1 I detailed the saga of trying to gain an online login to my Amazon Credit card account in order to settle the first bill (which I have STILL not even received a copy of), which eventually I gave up on achieving and cancelled the card as a result.

In this shorter Part 2 I detail how instead of helping me gain the necessary online login for the credit card in order to pay the bill, Amazon intellectually challenged zombies instead destroyed my ordinary Amazon login and my Amazon Associates login rather than resolve the credit card login. Even today (nearing November) the Amazon Associates account does not work. Anyhow…

As detailed in Part 1 I called (internationally) Amazon customer services on the 24^th August to explain that the login was still down for card holder login.

By the 28^th I had cancelled the card but owing the mentally challenged agent on the 24^th at Amazon customer services, I could not log into my Amazon account which is COMPLETELY separate from the Amazon Credit card.

I fired this email off to Amazon:

28th August

-----------------

Still no email or contact back from Amazon. I tried calling internationally to Amazon customer services on +44 800 279 6620 but I get only an announcement that I am calling outside of business hours, and that business hours are 8pm-6pm. The kicker is that it was 5pm UK time when I called.

I now have three issues instead of one.

The first issue is my experiences with the Amazon Mastercard which still remains unanswered even though I have cancelled the card now as a result. Again I copy all emails on that issue in reverse chronological order.

The second issue is the poor (in fact complete lack of) response from Amazon. I want answers as to why I have been stonewalled and on calling up have received broken promises such as on the 24th when I was told I would receive an email within 15 minutes. IN CASE there is technical problem an alternative email address is xxxx@xxxx.com and you can call me on xxxxxxxxxx (leave voice mail if not answered).

The third issue was that on the 24th August I was unable to log in to the Amazon.co.uk website. When I called about the Mastercard issue on the morning of the 24th August I mentioned that I could not log in. The person said this was due to me having two accounts against the same email address. I said that nothing, including passwords had been changed for many years, so I find it hard to believe that without action at the Amazon end, the system decides to reject me from logging in. I also said I probably should have two accounts as one is for Amazon Associates which is separate. The person wanted to delete one and I told him not to. He said that instead he would reset the password and so I agreed. I felt VERY uneasy about this since I use Amazon.co.uk almost daily and have done for many years and I have not changed any login details thus there was no reason that suddenly one morning I could not login. I suggested that it could be due to someone at Amazon.co.uk making changes in respect of the card issue I had raised (which if so, would be another mistake since the IDs should not be connected). He said this was not the case, although I am still highly skeptical. To make matters much worse, on logging in today, all my shopping history, wish list Etc. is GONE. Whereas even after the password reset it was still there. This is NOT acceptable as I need the order history for expense tracking Etc.

AGAIN I REQUEST ESCALATION ON THESE THREE ISSUES. Failing that I will start putting into writing these issues and then will seek to broadcast my experiences with others on the Internet.

As it was to later turn out I was quite right. A child could see the logic. I’ve used my Amazon account for years without changing the password and use it almost daily. After calling up and complaining that I was unable to register for online login for the Amazon Mastercard (completely separate) I was unable to login to my normal Amazon account. It did not require much intelligence to deduce that the Amazon monkey who was completely clueless about Amazon’s credit card decided to fu$# with my Amazon account details.

On the 31^st of August I called up (internationally again) Amazon customer services to explain that I could not log into my Amazon account (yet again). After a lot of hassle to get past the brainless shop floor Amazon monkey I managed to speak to somebody who sounded as if he had a brain. He quickly saw the logic and said that indeed the agent was wrong on the 24^th August as I suspected and had muddled the accounts up. He quickly resolved the login issue (to Amazon normal account) and said that he would have a word with the agent in question. Do remember that this was just resolving the login to Amazon not to Amazon credit card which is different and which I had already given up on resulting in card cancellation after the first bill!

Summary to date: ordered Amazon credit card (who partner with Halifax, Mastercard and Affinity Cards for the product). First bill failed to appear in the post so I tried to register for online services to pay it but initially nobody or none of the companies knew who to deal with to achieve this momentous feat. On finding out, the service was down day after day. They would not take a payment by telephony so I had no choice but to cancel the card. Amazon’s only “help” was to further compound matters by letting a brainless monkey loose on my Amazon account which resulted in that login screwed up to requiring international calls just to get that fixed, let alone resolve any card issue which I had called about in the first place.

As a regular Amazon user I thought it would be a good idea to take out an Amazon credit card. Boy in hindsight what a mistake. A mistake I wish to help others avoid, or at least help influence their decisions based on my experiences.

I had the card for only 1 month before I was pretty much forced to cancel it. I've now spent 2 stressful months to date trying to break free from the relationship, without success. Instead I continue to receive daily harassment and ongoing complete incompetence and the most disastrous attitude.

For the benefit of others I will provide an overview of my experience to date by means of quoting the various correspondences.

The people I feel really bad for are people on low incomes and with poor education as they tactics employed are even hard for me to continually bear (I’m a company director and used to disputes for example); I receive 2-3 harassment calls per day now. Yet the situation is extremely simple and even people inside the Halifax (who provide the Amazon credit card) agree whole heartedly that I am being mistreated, but appear unable to help.

*** WARNING DO NOT TAKE OUT AN AMAZON CREDIT CARD – TREAT THIS AS A REVIEW ***

On receiving the VERY FIRST bill, I went to login to pay the card and instead found I had to blow a whole morning on the telephone getting nowhere trying to inform somebody that the Internet login was not working. The problem was further compounded by the fact that nobody knew who was responsible and all parties pointed to each other. Once I got dizzy with the phone number loops and a morning wasted I fired this email off to Amazon:

21st August 2006
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I received my Amazon credit card recently and as I have the first bill looming and the first statement failed to arrive (I've reported it) I decided to view it online and went to:

www.amazon.co.uk/halifax

This then asked for Amazon username/password and then redirected me to here:

https://www.partnerandaffinitycards.co.uk/Servicing/Logon.aspx?brand=AMZ01

This page then states:

"To access the site you will need your Internet ID and password.

You created your Internet ID and password when you registered your account for the online servicing. [how the hell do you register the account for online servicing is the question. Nobody seemed to know the answer]

If you don't have your Internet ID and password available please ring our customer services team [which feckin number?] or refer to your Online Service Guide for further information [where is this?]. Unfortunately you will not be able to access your account without this information."

The page contains both an Amazon and a Halifax logo and provides no number to call. I proceeded as follows:

0845 850 7617 amazon card services, said it was nothing to do with them (!) and to call the following number:

0845 6020000 halifax, they said it was Amazon customer services that should be called as it was nothing to do with them:

0800 2796620 amazon cust services -> Said I should call Mastercard and it was certainly the right number:

0800 3896677 mastercard -> Said they only deal with new applications and to call Halifax on:

0845 850 7617 halifax serving -> Said to call Affinity cards on the following number:

0845 850 0519 Affinity cards -> Said it was easy and to simply register at:

https://www.partnerandaffinitycards.co.uk/Servicing/RegisterAuthenticate.aspx?brand=AMZ01

After entering my details (authentication) the site then spits back:

"Out of service Sorry, but the system is not available at the moment."

When I call back Affinity cards they just say yes there is a problem.

So I had wasted a morning on the phone calling numbers, being presented with deep IVR menu trees, long hold music, speaking with intellectually challenged zombies just to find out that the Internet login service was down anyway!

I left the issue for some days waiting on a response from Amazon that never came. I hoped that the login issue would now be fixed as the lady at Affinity cards said the online login should “only” be down for some hours. But no, even days later the online registration that I badly needed to pay the bill was still not working. I asked to register over the phone but was told I had to do it online BUT I could not since it was still DOWN!

I tried calling Amazon Customer services on the 23^rd but got nowhere (later on I would find out that the retarded agent that day instead screwed my login to Amazon itself, so the call just created more problems to come). So I had no choice but to fire yet another email off to Amazon:

24th August 2006 (morning)
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I emailed Amazon on 21st August. Site said expect a 24 hour response. I still had no response by 23rd August so rang Amazon customer services around 8:30am (International call). The person who answered the phone said he would respond to the email within 15 minutes and it was clear he was doing his best to get off the phone ASAP (to clear calls quick I guess).

It is now the 24th and no response so I have to email again! Given much more of this I am going to tell Amazon to stick their card up their ass and put my experience into writing to them and to every concerned forum I can find.

By lunchtime I was so gut sick of the situation I decided just to cancel the card because if it was THIS BAD I was better to cancel it after the very first month as I could not afford the vast amounts of time and stress they were consuming – all I wanted was an online login so that I could pay the damned first bill!

I called up Halifax Bank of Scotland who are the people behind the card and said that I wished to cancel the card because I could not login and there was no help or will to resolve the situation; in addition it seemed the arm was not speaking to the leg in that no party seemed to know who was responsible for what (too many cooks came to mind – Amazon, Affinity Cards, Halifax and Mastercard).

I was told that before Halifax could cancel the Amazon credit card I had to clear the card in full (a few thousand pounds). I said fine and went to give switch (debit card) number and they informed me that they do not take payments over the phone (no phone payments and the issue is I can not pay by Internet!). So I called my bank and issued a BACS transfer of what they categorically told me was the full balance. I called them back and said that I had cleared the balance and to please cancel the card.

The Halifax (operators of the Amazon credit card) said I had to speak to a customer retention agent before I could cancel and after a long queue it was answered by Rachel in customer retention. She was far from a person to retain customers and read a few scripts with an attitude of “don’t give shit” this is all a fun game and lets see if we can wind the customer up. After she had read her unappealing scripts she asked if I still wanted to cancel, I said yes. She said that I could not cancel as 53 pence (yes half a pound) was still to clear. I informed her that I was told categorically by the agent before her what the balance was so it was not my mistake. Furthermore I asked her to waiver it to save everyone time. But no, she wanted the 53 pence even though it was the fault of the previous agent (for giving me the wrong total balance). I hung up, called my bank again (international call) and issued a BACS transfer for 53 pence!

I called Halifax back again and repeated that I wished to cancel the card. This time I was told that the card was cancelled in full.

I then fired off the following email to Amazon:

24th August 2006 (afternoon)
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Went to login online and still could not register at:

https://www.partnerandaffinitycards.co.uk/Servicing/RegisterAuthenticate.aspx?brand=AMZ01

Called Halifax as Amazon don't even reply to emails. They do not even take telephone payments! So I have done a BACS transfer to clear the entire

balance and CANCELLED the card! What a waste of time that was. Cancelled after first bill. (note that URL I gave has Amazon logo on it)

All Amazon has achieved is great brand damage and a complete waste of time.

Please have someone SENIOR review my emails and come back to me.

The summary so far: I ordered an Amazon credit card (they partner with Halifax, Mastercard and Affinity Cards to supply this). I had not received the first bill so I had decided to login online to check balance. I could not login as you needed to register. I burnt off a whole morning trying to find out which of the companies you need to register with since they all said each other in a loop. Eventually I obtained the details but then found out that the online service was down. I waited days but it was still down and the payment time was looming. Since nobody seemed bothered about fixing it I cancelled the card.