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yendiI just got an email from Amazon informing me that our copy of American Girl Posse (Special Edition) has shipped (complete with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
robyn_ma's seed packet). At the bottom of the email was the summary of charges:
American Doll Posse [Special Edition]
Original Price: $19.99
Your Price: $15.99
Quantity: 1
Additional Savings: $4.00
See, I'd ordered it when it was $19.99, but Amazon, following their own policy of honoring price drops, charged me $4 less.
Wonderful, right?
But if you head to the Amazon page for American Doll Posse now (as of 12:23 Boston time), you'll see that the price has actually dropped to $13.99.
There are two things to remember here:
1. Amazon's policy is to honor price drops on pre-orders.
2. Beyond that, Amazon's has a thirty-day price guarantee. So if the price drops on any item sold from Amazon (not third-party stores), they'll also refund that.
But, with rare exceptions like the $4 off I got above, you've got to do the work. And that not only includes checking the prices (something I do about once a week or so), but also contacting them. And Amazon, amazingly enough, does not make the form easy to find.
So, if you find that an item has dropped in price, go in armed with the following info:
1. The price you paid.
2. The current price (including a link, and take a screenshot just in case).
3. Your order number (from the email confirmation).
Now, the tricky part: Finding the Refunds Page. It's right here. What's tricky about it is that all the links leading to it imply that it's just for returns. It's not.
Once on that page, choose "email," then choose "refund inquiry" from the drop-down at the top.
Now, enter the order number in question into the "Search Order History" field (or browse to it using the navigation menu below that field).
Select the appropriate item and hit "Continue." Logic says that you should be able to start typing into that "comments" field on the right before hitting "continue," but logic is on a coffee break here.
Amazon has made it harder, so you'll now have to manually type your order info and item info into the comments field.
Write a polite note informing Amazon that A) the order was within the last thirty days, B) the price has dropped (use the link here; the screenshot is if you ever encounter and problems, which I haven't), and C) that you'd like to be credited the difference.
WIthin 48 hours, you should get a note saying that you've been credited that difference. Note that you can only get credit in the form you used to pay (in other words, you can't pay off your credit card with gift certificate refunds).
You shouldn't ever encounter a problem with this system (I never have, at least, and there's clearly an internal procedure for dealing with refunds), but if you need to point them to their own policiies, the thirty-day and the pre-order guarantees are both listed on the Amazon site. This also lists any exceptions (third-party items, rebates, certain specials).
On the one hand, it's not likely to be the source of hundreds of dollars a year or anything, but on the other, I figure that this is money that can then be saved/spent on other stuff, and if it only adds up to $10-20 a year, that's still worth the cost of an email (and if you buy really high-ticket stuff, you definitely owe it to yourself to keep checking).
robyn_ma's seed packet). At the bottom of the email was the summary of charges:American Doll Posse [Special Edition]
Original Price: $19.99
Your Price: $15.99
Quantity: 1
Additional Savings: $4.00
See, I'd ordered it when it was $19.99, but Amazon, following their own policy of honoring price drops, charged me $4 less.
Wonderful, right?
But if you head to the Amazon page for American Doll Posse now (as of 12:23 Boston time), you'll see that the price has actually dropped to $13.99.
There are two things to remember here:
1. Amazon's policy is to honor price drops on pre-orders.
2. Beyond that, Amazon's has a thirty-day price guarantee. So if the price drops on any item sold from Amazon (not third-party stores), they'll also refund that.
But, with rare exceptions like the $4 off I got above, you've got to do the work. And that not only includes checking the prices (something I do about once a week or so), but also contacting them. And Amazon, amazingly enough, does not make the form easy to find.
So, if you find that an item has dropped in price, go in armed with the following info:
1. The price you paid.
2. The current price (including a link, and take a screenshot just in case).
3. Your order number (from the email confirmation).
Now, the tricky part: Finding the Refunds Page. It's right here. What's tricky about it is that all the links leading to it imply that it's just for returns. It's not.
Once on that page, choose "email," then choose "refund inquiry" from the drop-down at the top.
Select the appropriate item and hit "Continue." Logic says that you should be able to start typing into that "comments" field on the right before hitting "continue," but logic is on a coffee break here.
Amazon has made it harder, so you'll now have to manually type your order info and item info into the comments field.
Write a polite note informing Amazon that A) the order was within the last thirty days, B) the price has dropped (use the link here; the screenshot is if you ever encounter and problems, which I haven't), and C) that you'd like to be credited the difference.
WIthin 48 hours, you should get a note saying that you've been credited that difference. Note that you can only get credit in the form you used to pay (in other words, you can't pay off your credit card with gift certificate refunds).
You shouldn't ever encounter a problem with this system (I never have, at least, and there's clearly an internal procedure for dealing with refunds), but if you need to point them to their own policiies, the thirty-day and the pre-order guarantees are both listed on the Amazon site. This also lists any exceptions (third-party items, rebates, certain specials).
On the one hand, it's not likely to be the source of hundreds of dollars a year or anything, but on the other, I figure that this is money that can then be saved/spent on other stuff, and if it only adds up to $10-20 a year, that's still worth the cost of an email (and if you buy really high-ticket stuff, you definitely owe it to yourself to keep checking).