
Kindle 2 Fails Man's Drop Test, Forces Amazon To Pay Him $400 - yan
http://consumerist.com/5360174/epic-kindle-2-fails-mans-drop-test-forces-amazon-to-pay-him-400
======
jmintz
FWIW: My Kindle2 stopped working a few weeks after I bought it (something
weird with the screen). Not sure why it broke, if it was defective or if I
dropped it (it was in my backpack with a ton of textbooks so it pretty easily
could have suffered shock). I called Amazon, spent less than 7 minutes on the
phone with them (including hold time) and they overnighted a new Kindle2 to
me. They didn't charge my credit card (and said they wouldn't unless they
didn't receive the broken one back within 30 days).

This was one of the top3 customer service experiences of my life. I was and
continue to be a huge fan of Amazon, primarily for their customer service.

Just thought I would share my experience... :)

~~~
teeja
It appears that the quality of their customer service depends on the
willingness of customers to stand up for themselves when they are wronged.

It's people like this gentleman who've led to your highly responsive
experience.

~~~
GrandMasterBirt
I had a similar experience with Direct TV. They installed my dish without
permission from my building management, I got a takedown notice, and didnt
want to pay the 430 dollar termination fee. Turns out they could not install
without permission and they did. This is beside the fact that they totally
fucked up my order. And their service sucks ass.

I called multiple times and sent 5 emails, each getting closer and closer to a
lawsuit. $400 from someone willing to fight is less pricey than a day or two
in court. They just don't want to give this to anyone, if you are willing to
fight you will usually get what you deserve.

In this case, the guy already had laws listed and probably just made it clear
that there will be a day in court. Its cheaper to take the $400 hit.

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boredguy8
"Admittedly, if everyone did this it would cease to work, but..."

If there's enough people who need to do this to the point that it would no
longer work, there actually _would_ be a class action lawsuit.

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dabent
Strange thing is, this story makes me more likely to buy a Kindle or Amazon
product because I know that if push comes to shove, they will back their
product.

~~~
sophacles
I'm not sure this counts as backing. The guy threatened a class action
lawsuit, and they backed down. This could also mean either it was cheaper to
pay $400 than defend against such a suit or that there was merit in the suit
and the guy could have gotten a lot more.

~~~
scott_s
He _credibly_ threatened a lawsuit. That is, he made it apparent in his letter
that he was familiar with consumer law through the information he presented to
them. I doubt a letter that said "I dropped my Kindle, send me $400 or I sue"
would have the same effect.

~~~
gloob
True, but having to threaten a lawsuit in order to get a refund hardly counts
as the company "backing their product".

~~~
sachinag
Agreed. And to think I was downvoted for my screed against puffery:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=887482>

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lionhearted
He asked for probably very close to the most he could get without a
counteroffer. Most likely Amazon's lawyers are full-time and don't bill by the
hour, but they have better things to do than send letters back and forth three
times before finally agreeing to pay the guy $200 or $300 or whatever.

That said, it is kind of bad etiquette to rub it in someone's face publicly
when they submit to your demands. The guy gets his new kindle, $200 for his
hassle, and 15 minutes of internet fame, but maybe at a slight cost to his
long term reputation. If I was thinking of working with someone and googled
them and saw this, I'd avoid doing any sort of business with them if possible.

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madair
That sounds more like a shakedown than anything. Shame so many people laud it.

~~~
_dan
I do agree, but I don't think it was undeserved. They had a chance to replace
a device that was considerably less durable than advertised, but refused to do
so.

Judging by other reports in this thread (and other good things I've heard
about Amazon's customer service), there's a decent chance they would have
replaced it if he'd feigned ignorance and claimed it "just stopped working" -
which means he told the truth from the outset.

His offer of a $400 settlement seems like a very reasonable number (I assume
he had to pay to replace the ebooks he'd bought for it, plus the time without
the device, and the $200 he'd paid for the replacement).

The only mistakes were on Amazon's part: selling an unreasonably delicate
product, presenting evidence that supposedly proved its durability, and
failing to replace it when it didn't live up to their claims.

A replacement device plus $200 seems very fair to me.

~~~
madair
Companies try to make tough products. They want to show that they tried for
and tested for such things. All you're asking for is more fine print. Fine
print makes America stoopid.

(Don't stick your head in this bucket, you might drown.)

~~~
pyre
No offense, but if a company advertises a product as 'can survive a 4ft drop
unharmed!' but it completely breaks after I accidentally drop it 2ft...
Something is seriously off. It has less to do with fine print and more to do
with trust in advertising.

~~~
paulbaumgart
If he mentioned how long he'd owned the Kindle before he broke it, I didn't
catch it. But, assuming it was a while, I can imagine over time it becoming
less fall-proof as it gets knocked around. The Kindles dropped in the videos
were presumably brand new.

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juliusseizure
I hope people realize that these costs are embedded in the final price of the
product. The only person who wins is Mr.Gowder.

~~~
RevRal
Paul Gowder isn't complaining about Amazon forgetting to tell him that his
coffee is hot. Good for him, flexing his rights over something reasonable.

*E: I hereby disown this comment :)

~~~
juliusseizure
He did nothing wrong. Just pointing out that Amazon doesn't really care. Some
way or the other, you (the customer) is paying for it.

~~~
RevRal
I see. I misunderstood you then. Yeah, it's a little like when taxes are
raised (not sales tax). The consumer pays for it.

------
raptorex
What. Electronics are fragile. Nobody owes you $200 if you drop them.

~~~
teej
Misleading advertising is considered unfair competition in the state of
California [1]. If you are advertising that it can withstand a certain amount
of force, and it can't, then you are certainly owed that $200.

[1]: [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-
bin/displaycode?section=bpc...](http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-
bin/displaycode?section=bpc&group=17001-18000&file=17200-17210)

~~~
raptorex
Well OK, but speaking as somebody who got a quick free replacement when my
kindle had a problem that actually was Amazon's fault, I still think it's sort
of lame. In my opinion Amazon was demonstrating that the kindle is relatively
durable, which I think is true after owning one for a long time. This guy
dropped a bag with a kindle and a macbook in it. Like somebody in the comments
there pointed out, that's not really what was in Amazon's video. For all we
know, he dropped a macbook on a kindle, got $200 and a replacement, and that's
'epic'.

~~~
Timothee
I agree with you. When I read the thing, my first thought was: "oh great,
we're applauding somebody who is pushing this lawsuit-happy society?".

He dropped it, too bad for him, be a big man and buy a new one. I wouldn't be
surprised if his credit card company could have even swallowed the costs as
part of the CC benefits.

Additionally, I feel like Amazon is "one of the good ones" in terms of
customer satisfaction and customer support. Going the legal way on them is
doing a disservice to everyone else.

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GrandMasterBirt
There was a comment in the blog "when do we believe everything in
advertisement".

There are laws against false advertising. You can't do it, major fines and
lawsuits. Otherwise I'd sell toothpaste claiming it cured cancer. Prove me
wrong, and if you do, good for you, you win a death by cancer.

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carmen
accidently V3 was at bottom of my backpack (a thin tube of nylon w/ no
padding) and i stacked up a bunch of groceries on it, droped it off my
shoulders onto green line floor etc, also its fallen off 4 foot tables onto
hardwood, no probs

OpenInkpot is kinda slow w/ PDFs tho, probably going todowngrade to factory
Firmware

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dkokelley
$200 for _"...diminution of utility and value of the device as well as of the
e-books I have purchased for that device, in light of the fact that the
replacement device, too, can be expected to be far more fragile than
advertised and prone to destruction under the slightest stress."_

Brilliant.

