tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post3500308519238778282..comments2024-03-18T22:39:50.137-07:00Comments on A Kindle World blog: That $89 Kindle-2 Black Friday special - Amazon explains. New $100 gift card-a-day. Update.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-25041050228612491912010-11-29T07:46:46.983-08:002010-11-29T07:46:46.983-08:00They are fools, they're by and large the same ...They are fools, they're by and large the same crowd that would show up a day after a promotion ends and be enraged that they're not allowed to make use of it.<br /><br />This is the internet, people should after a decade expect and realise that any promotion, no matter how large or obscure, will be sold out in seconds if the number of items on offer is limited.<br />That's the nature of the beast. If Amazon is anywhere to blame, it's because they let themselves get talked into joining the whole black friday limited number clearance sale phenomenon (something that even in physical stores often leads to shouting matches and even violence as people are too late for the discount items seconds or minutes after a store opens).jwentinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03231225414960320582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-36601543702799176592010-11-29T01:45:42.110-08:002010-11-29T01:45:42.110-08:00j,
There are no 'complaining fools' -- No...j,<br /> There are no 'complaining fools' -- Not often would a big announcement be made by the official Amazon Team on their Facebook page, without their expecting that hundreds of thousands, at the least, would get the news (that's why they are there) and people would be watching and hovering over the 9 AM button.<br /><br /> That something is sold out, for probably 99% of watchers, within A SECOND is not the best use of PR attempts, especially when not much is said about it afterward.<br /><br /> The reaction is what it was, and it's not for us to dump on other customers whose expectations were that they had a few MINUTES at least (the Woot! sale took 8 hours, it turns out). Too many had pressed immediately and reacted with understandable frustration.<br /><br /> It is a measure of the bad effect of this whole thing that we have to see customers blasting other customers. That is not what I'd call good PR for Amazon.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-72764937754117938132010-11-28T23:41:33.677-08:002010-11-28T23:41:33.677-08:00Happy employees don't need to be kept happy wi...Happy employees don't need to be kept happy with steep employee discounts.<br />Employees who need steep discounts to be happy aren't going to stay happy long.<br /><br />This man wasn't amused about your assumption of steep employee discounts and employees getting special treatment for goldbox deals, his displeasure probably wasn't about the fact that he didn't get the discount you thought he did.<br /><br />As to the length of the special discount deal, that was only to be expected.<br />They could have had 10 times more units, 100 times more, and they'd still be sold out in seconds or minutes at most, and people'd still scream bloody murder and claim Amazon defrauded them because they didn't get what they wanted.<br />That's just how people are, sadly, utterly irrational.<br />If anything, Amazon will hopefully learn from this to never announce upcoming deals in advance ever again, or maybe to scrap such things altogether.<br />As a result, the complaining fools do everyone else (and themselves) a massive disservice.jwentinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03231225414960320582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-91045486207779704862010-11-28T15:39:24.242-08:002010-11-28T15:39:24.242-08:00Mike, I didn't see an email alert on this note...Mike, I didn't see an email alert on this note. Odd. Was in IE and saw it there but usually use Firefox.<br /><br /> I got whiplash from your double thought there though just now -- first the employees rumored to get advanced placement (I -highly- doubt that) and then the poor employees getting an anemic discount (I don't doubt that one).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-28175582550385718312010-11-27T15:47:01.863-08:002010-11-27T15:47:01.863-08:00suze2000,
Glad for that bright note where you ar...suze2000,<br /> Glad for that bright note where you are. It was needed. Sorry about the US-centric policy of the gift-a-day.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-44177742731161847882010-11-27T15:14:53.641-08:002010-11-27T15:14:53.641-08:00Sadly that $100-a-day sweep is only open to US res...Sadly that $100-a-day sweep is only open to US residents. <br /><br />On a bright note, the number of books available in Australia has skyrocketed since the UK Kindle store opened. I assume that's because of the commonality of spelling. But honestly, I've never minded reading US spelling. It's not right, but it's not jarring (like bad grammar is, for example). :)suze2000https://www.blogger.com/profile/14751509331857401084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-32076537440796100972010-11-27T11:20:31.213-08:002010-11-27T11:20:31.213-08:00Yes, Amazon got egg all over its face over this on...Yes, Amazon got egg all over its face over this one. Thousands of Kindles or not, people expect a special offer to last longer than a fraction of a second. At brick-and-motar sales, people can at least see who won by elbowing their way to the front of the line. Here, they're just mystified that all their preparations came to naught.<br /><br />It'll be even worse if the rumor on that same Gold Box forum that Amazon employees got advanced placement proves true. I know their employees would be tempted. I live in Seattle and ran into an Amazon worker with a Kindle at a bus stop. When I teased him about getting a good deal on the price, he wasn't amused. He said the employee discount for Kindles was pitiful.<br /><br />That's bad corporate policy. Companies should make sure their employees are their strongest cheerleaders. You don't do that with anemic employee discounts.Mike Perryhttp://www.inklingbooks.com/noreply@blogger.com