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  1. I have a love/hate relationship with Amazon. And, I’m right there with you about everything you said about our representatives doing their jobs, and passing the bills that will improve every American’s life.

    1. The thing is – you don’t have to use Amazon. Buy local. Go to the big box stores or little ones where there are all kinds of workers making if not a great living, one that is way better than those in those call centres.

      You may pay a buck or 2 more, but you will be supporting the local economy.

      But. People like to complain but never, ever want to do anything to if not fix the problem, than to do the right thing.

      That’s why people love the dollar stores and all the cheap, disposable junk they sell. The people who make all that junk could be ethnic slaves forced to live in factory camps.

      So. Don’t use Amazon if you really don’t want to make Jeff Bozo richer and richer and richer.

      He is a pig of a man and like a little boy wanting to go to space. For the price he paid, he could have helped to build housing somewhere in some country where it’s needed. Or even in his own country.

      So. Don’t use Amazon. The more we support these online stores, the more we will see jobs disappear and see all those interesting little stores on city streets run by artists or bakers or whatever, all of which that make city streets exciting and interesting.

      When you see those giant Amazon warehouses, with employees run ragged off their feet, I really worry about the future.

      So. Don’t put more money in Jeff Bozo’s deep, deep pockets.

      He’s just laughing at all of us – sheep buying and buying and buying stuff that we don’t really need.

  2. When I get a phone call from Visa, Amazon or pretty much anyone saying that my account has been compromised, I NEVER call the number they give. Always use the number on the back of your credit card, or on a bill, or google to get the correct customer service number – mostly these calls are scams, but if not, when you call the correct number they will tell you it was a scam, as happened for you….

  3. Makes me feel guilty for supporting Amazon. It’s so easy to order anything with a click of a button and have it on your doorstep in two days, rather than going out to the store. So, I’m as guilty as anyone else with helping to support Bezos.

    The reason we get so many foreign-speaking people on the phone for any big customer service company is twofold: a lot of Americans don’t want those jobs, and the companies outsource because it’s much cheaper.

  4. I decided some time ago to not do business with Amazon. I will do without or use a substitute. And with all the outcry over climate and supply chain problems, all the resources used for trips for the delivery of individual items that could be purchased in a single shopping trip. And then all the rubbish that’s posted online about Bezos space travel and how he and his contingent spend their ridiculous, ostentatious wealth. Sorry Brenda, I find this all so irritating. I buy as much as possible locally.

  5. Well, yes indeedy it would be wonderful to return all those customer service jobs back to the USA, but then again, who is going to apply for those jobs, who is going to bother to show up? We seem to have a very serious problem with too many refusing to work in this country. Hand-ups are one thing, hand-outs, quite another. The very wealthy and vast majority of politicians on both sides of the aisle got a thing going on, have forever and its not going away. In the meantime, make no mistake as to who does and will continue to get bent over in order to support social programs and it should frighten everyone (who is not wealthy) of the additional programs with their astronomical price tags currently being pushed. What is so wrong or offensive expecting some amount of labor in exchange for social assistance to those who have the ability to work? Many many years ago when my dad worked in the steel mill and would get laid off, he and coworkers had to dig ditches for the county in order to get unemployment compensation.
    As others have said, research and vote and also vote with your dollars.

    On a side note, I have been having an issue getting proper credit for rewards earnings on a credit card and always, always have to go through the servicing company (out of country) in order to get to the rewards area (in country) and as I understand it, the servicing company will soon be dropped in favor of another
    and assume my most recent experience has much to do with these folks knowing they about to lose their jobs. (this was serious problem for Frontier Communications when they were in the process of buying out regional service area of Verizon-those Verizon employees about to lose their jobs were horrible) As usual after push-this, push that and much swearing under my breath, I get the typical thickly-accented person wanting my full name, address and this after their system acknowledges they had ID’d me by my phone # and I had also punched in the last 4 digits of my account number as well as last four of my social security number in order to get to a “live” person. He then tells me he needs the full 16 digit account number and adds, never mind that, it would just be easier and best for me if I give him my full social security number. My pat response “I don’t think so” and and as you might guess, it was off to the races from that point. Folks, don’t think things will return to normal. We are in a major reset and there will be fewer winners and and more losers. Be kind, take time for play, but please do not bury your heads in the sand. Stay aware of all that is going on and also know there is still goodness to be found (just have to look a little harder, sadly) goodness to give and goodness to receive. We must keep our chins up Ducky!

  6. I too have experienced these situations where I cannot understand the customer service reps.

    What we all need to do is send an email to our representatives in congress about these issues. If the rich are not getting taxed we should all let congress know about how unhappy we are. If enough of us complain they might do something about it. And then there is always the power of the vote. Vote them out if you are not happy.

    1. Don’t think I haven’t called and written and called and written. And I vote as well. Still can’t seem to vote them out. This country is in one hot mess.

  7. Get out and support local business and shop locally. End this nonsense with all the on-line shopping and supporting who knows who..who knows where. As for taxation..I am for a flat tax rate for all..that would solve it. I never begrudge successful people and expect them to support unsuccessful people by force..most are willing to help others by choice if they are so able.

    1. On Friday I received an email I signed up for with the current COVID status for Oklahoma. Tulsa and Oklahoma County are in a very high category for new cases and transmissions and I’m in a hot spot.

  8. :You’ve said it all for all of us, Brenda. I have recently stopped ordering ANYTHING from Amazon because of the way Bezos treats his employees. I just don’t want to support him in any way. It’s not convenient, sometimes, to find things elsewhere but I’ll go to the trouble if I can avoid furthering his abysmal business practices. Being that rich at the expense of your workers is beyond evil to me. I don’t hate him because he’s a human being but I don’t respect his behavior in any way.

    The same goes for all the people in government who refuse to do the right thing, especially for the elderly–of which I’m one– and the poor. They are all in the pockets of the rich and care not a whit about doing the right thing.

    So, after having my say here I must focus on more up-lifting subject lest I become a crabby, spiteful old person! Tomorrow’s another day! With luck, the sun may shine or my grandsons may smile at me. Don’t let the world drag you down, friends.

    And thanks, Brenda for speaking out.

  9. When someone calls you it is almost always a scammer. If you’re unsure, hang up & call the company using the number on you bill.

    If you call customer service & cannot understand the person speaking…ask to speak to a person in the United States. You may have to ask three for four times but they are required to reroute your call back to the US if you ask.

    Taxing the rich to give the government more money is a myth. Here’s a video that explains why. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9XMNV2B18c

    1. I have never had a problem understanding anyone at Amazon and have called many times over the years. The one time I had someone I felt was a bit hard to understand I patiently explained that to the service center employee and she transferred me to someone who clearly spoke English. Most companies have to employ outside the US because they can’t find workers.

      1. Jeanie, this has been my experience as well. I have never received anything but assistance from any Amazon Customer Service Rep. And when I can’t quiet understand them, I just explain myself to them, as it is me and not them, and they have always obliged in getting me someone else.

        As for Jeff Bezos, yes he is very wealthy. But let’s not loose sight of the fact that he has committed to donating 10 billion to charity by the year 2030. To date he has already donated 791 million to charity and was listed as one of the top 50 charity donators in the USA for the year 2020. Amazon also hired over half a million people during the pandemic.

        As for the carbon footprint of Amazon, yes it did increase but with the pandemic I think we can all agree this is expected. At least Amazon has verbalized that they are addressing their environmental issues and at least attempting to lower their carbon footprint. I think we can all agree that’s more than many major corporations will do, so many will not even address the issue, choosing to ignore it and say it is a hoax. Just as our former President did which has placed our global warming crisis, in the USA, in further advancement from his actions.

        While I can clearly agree that he spends his money in ridiculous ways, like going to space, but it is his money. I would want to do whatever I wanted with that sort of wealth without anyone’s opinions as well. As far the taxes he does not pay, that is on our government, mostly the Republican party. And yes it abolutely needs to change. And we must all vote to make it happen.

        I know that Bezos is not perfect and I do not agree with all that he does. But things and people are never just black and white in my opinion, there is a gray area that we all seem to forget. No one on this planet is perfect and never will be. Without Amazon, I would not have survived the pandemic and I’m sure it’s the same for many others. In this life, we just have to accept the good with the bad sometimes, whether it is right or not. That is how I see Bezos and Amazon.

        As always Brenda, this is just my opinion and no one needs to agree with me. I am just adding to the conversation. I have total respect for you and love to read your thoughts each day on this blog. I also completely understand why you would feel as you do from the circumstances in this post.

        Thanks for sharing and allowing me to contribute.

  10. No matter the company, it is better to purchase from many places, rather than just one or a few. But unfortunately, most smaller companies have issues that create a lot of stress in ordering from them, Due to our needs, I have to often order things, rather than hunting for ages and never finding it locally…and I do use other companies when I can. Please note that the vitamin companies carry some good dry goods, some alternate flours etc, and are worth looking into. Vitacost and Puritan’s Pride and Swanson Vitamin company all do…and probably others. I also use BOXED, and other such companies. I still have to use Amazon. But I TRY to purchase elsewhere if possible. Even if it costs a bit more. Of late, however Amazon has put some astronomical prices on some things…so no one I know could possibly buy them…why is the question? ALWAYS request that the customer service person give you to someone else who speaks ENGLISH as their FIRST language if you cannot understand them. Generally I can speak ok with them, but at times I have had to request that and sure enough…somehow they got someone who spoke like we do!!

    1. I would much rather support smaller companies, but I agree with the problems you’ve had with this. Stores are having a hard time due to the supply chain. Kendra said she went into Lowes for paint and the aisle was empty.

  11. Brenda, sadly the politicians on both sides have abandoned their constituents. At the end of the day the taxes code doesn’t work. There is nothing wrong with taking the ultra wealthy, even if it is a one time tax, we have done it many times before. For instance in 1944/45 1% of Americans paid 94-95% of the taxes, because they made so much money during the war. It is the same now, the billion/almost trillionaires should be taxed something. Sadly most companies in america pay 0 taxes and when threatened with a tax they leave the country.

    Sorry that you were so frustrated. Have a great weekend.

    1. You’ve enlightened me on some things. I agree that both sides have turned into a box of rotten apples.

  12. That seems to be epidemic-like in companies today, I have experienced it with cable,cellphone,health insurance and others.
    AMAZON has become very popular due to people in rural areas that don’t have access to large shopping areas, I for one would be lost without them!

    1. I never thought I’d see this country in such a mess. Of course I’d never lived with a pandemic before.

  13. I stopped buying from Amazon two years ago, and thankfully can say I don’t miss them at all. I wish more people would do the same.

  14. Scammer Payback is an AWESOME YouTube channel that gets even with scammers! You should watch them. Maybe that will make you feel a little better. Yesterday, I tried to call a company who sent me a catalog a few weeks back. It’s called northstyle.com. They had something I wanted to order, so after thinking about it, I decided to place an order online. The site is temporarily closed, I think for maintenance, but it’s been that way for the last week! I’ve been checking almost everyday. Finally, I decided to call them yesterday. Customer service can’t help. I called the other number listed, and got a lady who was difficult to understand. I asked her where she was located, and she said the headquarters is in Massachusetts (I think she said) but that her department was in the Philippines. Yes, she was polite, but it was hard to understand her. I asked about their return policy, and she said after I get the item, I could call customer service back about returning it, I think she said at my expense. That put me off. I asked to speak to a manager, and she transferred me to a man, also in the Philippines, and also hard to understand. Partway through our conversation, it became very clear, she was reading from a script. I wasn’t happy she couldn’t explain their return policy. I ended up hanging up, without placing an order, because I was frustrated. As far as scammers, we ALL get calls from them. I’ve found that if there really is some suspicious activity, Visa’s fraud department always calls me. Next time they call you, tell them to hold on a minute, put the phone down, and go read a book, lol. They won’t want to stay on the line forever if they can’t scam you. I’m sorry it happened to you, but I’m glad you were smart and didn’t get scammed!

    1. Great advice! I just now finished that Stephen King book that was around 800 pages just a few minutes ago. Yes, I will read next time.

  15. That phone call was a scam. We get them all the time and we do not have a amazon card. You should have realized that.

    1. Yes, I should have. I’ve always figured it out before. But alas yesterday I did not. We all have our moments I think.

  16. You need to change that heading about hiring English speaking representatives to “native” English speaking representatives. The people they hire in India and the Phillippines speak English, just not so we can understand. I had the same experience trying to talk to a Walmart rep on the phone. So frustrating.
    Another jerky thing Amazon did was cut our commissions (those of us who are affiliates for Amazon) in April of 2020. Just what we needed going into the uncertain future of COVID. I went from making 8% from sales to 3%. Guess he needed the money for his space trip.

  17. I agree with you one hundred percent. The problem is Manchin and Sinema. These two have sold out to big corporations. I hope their respective states vote them out. I’ve read that Arizona is sick and tired of Sinema. She may lose her job but know that she’ll land in another cushy job. The rest of the Democrats seem to be in sync and are trying to tax the rich & corporations but without those two they won’t gave a majority. I still support the Democrats and will continue to vote that way because they are the only party with a platform and a desire to help the people. We need two parties in our country but the Republicans have lost their way and have subjected themselves to tRump. The worst thing is that we came so close to losing our democracy with the insurrection. I pray each day for America.

  18. Amen! Customer service all over is non-existent. I have had so many problems with Walmart Customer Service, and if Sam Walton were alive today, this wouldn’t be happening. It’s all about the almighty dollar. It is so frustrating and upsetting to call these places. I’m in my sixties, and I don’t recognize this world anymore. I think that the bigwigs of these companies should have to put in at least one day a month working in customer service or give them a list of companies that they have to call their customer service departments. Maybe when they have to go through the hassle of navigating poor customer service and talking to people you can’t understand while saying 50 million “sorry’s” then maybe something might change.

    1. I agree with you. Sam Walton is turning over in his grave. I don’t recognize the world now either. Seems to have been completely turned on its head.

  19. I got the same call from Amazon, got a call back number from the rep who called me, and reported it to the FTC.

  20. Brenda, I wholeheartedly agree with you on these issues. The filthy rich only have the agenda of squeezing out the middle to low income. On that thought, is there still a middle class? It amazes me how greedy the millionaires and billionaires are. It’s never enough. They probably can’t hire enough english speaking Americans because the pay is so low most can’t make a living doing that.
    I guess Bezos still owns Amazon, but he has stepped down from running it. He handed over the reins to a new CEO a while back. As far as your scam, my husband got the same call. He figured it was not legit since he has never ordered from amazon and does not have an amazon credit card or account with them. If it was truly fraudulent activity , the bank that holds the credit card would be notifying you, not Amazon. I ordered a new coffee maker from amazon over a week ago , and it’s a no show. The tracking stops at the amazon facility it was sent to for shipment. There is a notice now on the tracking site saying they are sorry for the delay, and if I don’t receive it today, to let them know and they will refund my money. If they know the darn thing isn’t coming, or they lost it (it never made it to the USPS according to the tracking) why don’t they just ship me another one instead of me having to go through them crediting money back to my card? Such a pain! Did you ever track down the package from Penney’s that the post office said was delivered but wasn’t? So frustrating !

    1. Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. It was sent to another apartment and the woman who opened it left me a note along with the opened package on my doorstep. I was gone to the grocery store. I’m so thankful to her.

    1. And they very nearly got me. Though I would never have given them private financial information. Still, I got sucked in. I suppose any one of us, at any given time, can be scammed.

  21. Brenda, I totally agree with everything you wrote 100%. Also, if I don’t recognize the phone # when it comes up on the screen, I don’t answer anymore. Sometimes, when I get a # that looks kinda familiar, it is a person posing as my grandchild, asking “grandma” for money. Good Grief….They might ask me “Do you know who this is, Grandma?” You would not want to hear how I reply..but they do hang up then. Hugs from WI (50 degrees)

    1. When they called me back after I’d figured out what was going on, I simply raised the phone and before they said a word, I said: “Do not, do not, do not call me again!” At least I assume it was them. Otherwise I might have screamed at someone else I guess.

      1. My great grandma used to keep a whistle by her phone and used it as a reply for such scam calls.

        1. Better yet, go to a marina/boat store and buy an air horn in a can!
          Several years ago I had a repeat caller that would breath, would not talk.
          I’d say, “sorry just too busy to play games with you today” and this kept up and then one day I said “guess what-its your lucky day because today I have time to play” and I let that air horn rip. The calls stopped.

  22. Yes, you got lured in by an autocall from a robot dialing machine that makes millions of calls a day to a series of numbers produced by algorithms, trying to get a “hit” – in your case, you were the “hit” because you called back. They actually try to get a real credit card number out of you and would ruin your credit if they got it, running up all kinds of fraudulent charges. I have received calls like this for YEARS, that is why I no longer answer my telephone. Everything goes into voice mail and I check it every few days. People who know me (family and friends) contact me by email and if they want to talk on the phone we set a time and day via email, LOL. I know it sounds extreme but on average I receive at least 20 junk calls a day – and that is with “controls” in place supposed created to cut down or block totally such scam calls. Fortunately, before I started getting the “Amazon” calls I had read about the scam(s) online – all run from overseas. So when I got the first call/message I went online to Amazon and checked my account to see if the charge the call claimed was being made was true. It wasn’t. Whenever I get a suspicious message like that now I will check it online – just in case somebody succeeded into hacking into my Amazon account. You would think Bezos would get at least a little angry about these impersonators giving his company a BAD REPUTATION by using Amazon’s name to commit fraud. But nope – he doesn’t care. Amazon paid 1.2% in federal income tax in 2019 on its billions in income. I paid 12% on my modest retirement income that includes Social Security. I haven’t been able to find information on whether Amazon paid ANY income tax in 2020, but I do know the corporation has deferred almost a billion in taxes due under various U.S. tax laws that allow it to do so, while we have more than thirty million Americans living in poverty. A billion dollars may be a pittance to our Congressional Representatives and Senators, but it could feed a lot of hungry children.

    1. I don’t answer calls that aren’t familiar. This one got me because it was a recording I guess. Or maybe it was just another senior moment.

  23. Yes. Understand it all Brenda. We’ll, “they” do not care. Simple as that. Only interested in themselves. Becoming more & more wealthy. Whatever needs to be done, do it for the cheapest labor possible. 😒 Most likely, his employees can hardly even afford to buy insurance. 😥 Sad & difficult times for all of us.
    With this being discussed, recently read jb girlfriend, just bought another handbag 👜 with over $30,000.00 price tag. 😑
    Insanity.

        1. LoL. I was watching a YouTube video (the channel was about “fashions for older women”). The influencer was talking about designer handbags and she mentioned a bag that costs several hundred thousand dollars!!! Seriously??? I would be ashamed to carry a designer handbag when so many are hungry and homeless in our country.

      1. Imported from Italy obviously.
        Didn’t want to mention names of merchandise. There are a few of these haughty-taughty handbags the wealthy dummies buy. Most all if them.
        Hermes bag, The Kelly handbag ,,,,,, named after Grace. Almostimpossibleto buy one. Several others with outrageous price tags.
        I assume all are leather. With lots of gold thingies ,,,, labels and whatnots. Insanity.
        Even if I had the $$$ would never buy any of them.

  24. I am so with you on this Brenda (customer service reps who we can barely understand) as you say it is not their fault, but for us the customer it is very annoying.

  25. Couldn’t agree with you more! Bezos has been in our conversations at home with our adult son who is finding it difficult to find a good paying job even if he has a university degree and guys like this are making billions and billions of dollars! In part by paying his employees poorly. What a world we live in.

    1. I’m so sorry about your son. That’s awful to have a degree and no job to pay enough to actually live on.

    2. Same with my adult son. He has a college degree (art & photography) but is working retail because he can’t find anything else right now! He has applied for hundreds of online jobs and noone even gets back to him. I don’t understand what’s going on. He said a lot of the jobs say they want experience. Well, how in the world do you get the experience in the first place if you can’t even get your foot in the door?

  26. I feel your frustration and anger Brenda. It is a woeful situation indeed. Customer service like you describe is not serving the millions of customers who buy from these companies that are beyond rich. It is inexcusable and shows a complete lack of respect for paying customers.

    1. Jeff Bezos won’t even be able to spend all his money in his lifetime. Can’t he pay extra for American voices to answer calls for his company? I mean, how much richer does he have to be?

  27. Excellent post!!
    Now if only the powers that be would read and react to OUR demands which you have so eloquently stated here..starting with ENGLISH speaking call-center employees in a less noisy environment!

    1. The powers that be. I’m so mad at the powers that be, especially the ones who won’t pass legislation for old folks.

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