Let's tell Amazon that we want them to accept bitcoin!

[justusranvier]

Amazon is the same company that is building a smartphone with five front-facing cameras, to better image your face for the FBI's new database.

When they "their customers" don't want Bitcoin they are telling the truth - you are just gravely mistaken about who their customers actually are.

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[BTCtrader71]

Here is the response I got (boldface is mine):

Hello,

I do understand your concern that amazon should accept bit-coin.

I'd also like to inform you that we have received the same suggestion from many of our valued customers like you and our team has already considered it as a scope of improvement and working for better results.

I've forwarded your comments to our concerned departments. We have a dedicated team working relentlessly to implement the feedback back we receive.

Your comments will be carefully reviewed as we currently making our improvements. Customer feedback like yours helps us in our endeavor to improve the service we provide, and we're glad you took time to write to us.

Please contact us for any further assistance and for further questions by using the following link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html

It is always important for us to hear how customers react to all aspects of shopping at Amazon.com. Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the selection and service we provide. We take this kind of information seriously as it is valuable to us in helping us to continue to improve our program.

We always value your business and hope to see you again soon at Amazon.

Best regards,
Deepika M

I am happy with that response.


Here once again is what I emailed to them:

Dear Jeff Bezos, Tom Taylor, and Amazon:

I am emailing to request that you at Amazon accept bitcoin as a payment method.

I read news reports [1] starting yesterday that Amazon is not currently interested in accepting bitcoin, and that part of the reasoning was that you are "not hearing from customers that it's right for them."

I am a longtime Amazon customer, and bitcoin is right for me.

I was encouraged when Gyft allowed the purchase of Amazon gift cards using bitcoin. Indeed, I think the future will prove that Gyft CEO Vinny Lingham had keen foresight when he made this decision. I may use their service at some point. My only reason not to use them is that the cards must be bought in specified incremental amounts, and I would prefer not to spend more than the exact cost of my purchase at the time.

I had never even heard of Overstock.com until news reports surfaced that they began accepting payment in bitcoin January 9, 2014. I made my first purchase from Overstock on that very day. As long as I cannot spend bitcoin directly on Amazon, I intend to continue using Overstock instead of Amazon whenever possible.

Best Regards,

(signed)

[1] For example: http://time.com/63376/amazon-bitcoin/

[Natium]

I will send an email too, it would be grat to buy there with btc!

[franky1]

guys, dont use the general enquiry support..

try emailing the CEO direct. jeff@amazon.com

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-customer-service-and-jeff-bezos-emails-2013-10

[apsvinet]

guys, dont use the general enquiry support..

try emailing the CEO direct. jeff@amazon.com

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-customer-service-and-jeff-bezos-emails-2013-10

Yeah I'm sure the CEO will bother responding to 10 emails about accepting Bitcoins.

[Pentax]

Here was my email to them.

And the idiotic response I got.

Subject:  Will you be adding?

Comments:I saw recently that Amazon decided not to accept Bitcoin as a payment option.  This is extremely disappointing.  

I am not clear how the company came to the conclusion that its users were not interested in it.  I was never asked?  I do a significant amount of buying through your site, and would have singlehandedly added thousands of dollars of revenue via Bitcoin, which I am currently giving to Overstock.com instead (because they accept Bitcoin).  

I believe this was a bad decision on the part of your executives.  I hope there are upper level people you can forward this to so that feedback from your end users can actually be evaluated, instead of assumed.

Response:

Hello,

I'm sorry; Amazon.com does not comment about rumors or speculative news reports.

However, I can assure you that we have not announced any dealings with Bitcoins.

I'm really sorry if this may have caused any inconvenience.

We hope to see you again soon.

Best regards,
Kumar B.

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

So much for getting my email escalated to the powers that be.  

Mister Kumar no doubt hit delete after he misread my entire email.

-B-

that's funny.  I got the exact same response from Kumar B.

However, his response was in response to to my response to another agent that had responded to my first e-mail.  That agent wrote:

"Hello,

Currently, we don't accept Bitcoin as a payment method on our website. Moreover, I hope you'll understand that Amazon.com does not comment about rumors or speculative news reports.

Although that is the case, it's a good thing that you've brought this up to our attention and we'll consider your feedback as we plan further improvements.

Strong customer feedback like yours is very important in helping us continue to improve our website and services. I'll make sure to pass your message on to the appropriate department in our company. We always want to know how our customers react to all aspects of shopping on our website.

In general, we accept credit cards, debit cards...."  blah, blah, blah

[apsvinet]

Atleast you're not getting automated responses, which is a plus for Amazons customer service.

[Pentax]

and, for anyone that's interested, here's Garzik's take on Amazon and BTC.

http://garzikrants.blogspot.com/2014/04/on-amazon-and-bitcoin.html

[apsvinet]

and, for anyone that's interested, here's Garzik's take on Amazon and BTC.

http://garzikrants.blogspot.com/2014/04/on-amazon-and-bitcoin.html

Thanks for the link, good read for anybody interested in the subject.

[BTCtrader71]

and, for anyone that's interested, here's Garzik's take on Amazon and BTC.

http://garzikrants.blogspot.com/2014/04/on-amazon-and-bitcoin.html

+1

Great link, thanks. And timely.

[BTCtrader71]

guys, dont use the general enquiry support..

try emailing the CEO direct. jeff@amazon.com

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-customer-service-and-jeff-bezos-emails-2013-10

Awesome. I just sent an email directly to Jeff Bezos. I let him know that I expect to hear an announcement within three months, that Amazon will accept bitcoin.

[p2pbucks]

Never compromise  IT's Bitcoin abandoned the Amazon 

[apsvinet]

guys, dont use the general enquiry support..

try emailing the CEO direct. jeff@amazon.com

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-customer-service-and-jeff-bezos-emails-2013-10

Awesome. I just sent an email directly to Jeff Bezos. I let him know that I expect to hear an announcement within three months, that Amazon will accept bitcoin.

Haha, good luck with that!
I hope as much as you that we'll see it though.

[BTCtrader71]

I actually got a nice response from Amazon this morning to the email I sent Jeff Bezos last night. It's really about as good as I could have hoped for, short of Jeff responding personally. I believe her when she said she's at least mentioned it to other decision making people. Here it is:

Hello David,

I'm Mardy Berlinger of Amazon.com's Executive Customer Relations. Jeff Bezos received your email and asked me to respond on his behalf.

Thanks for your suggestion about adding Bitcoin as a valid payment option.

For business reasons, we cannot comment on any plans for future business partnerships. Any partners that we add in the future will be announced both on our website and in the media.

As of now, we accept credit cards, debit cards, payment from U.S. checking accounts, Amazon.com Gift Cards, Amazon Payments Stored Balance, and the Amazon.com Store Card as valid payment methods.

We really value your input and are always happy to hear our customers' thoughts on how we can improve the services we offer. To ensure your feedback is reviewed, I've shared your comments about adding Bitcoin as a valid payment option with the appropriate team for their consideration when planning future improvements. Your comments and suggestions will help us improve our store and offer better service to our customers.

If you do need to contact us in the future, here's a link to our Contact Us page: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Regards,

Mardy Berlinger
Executive Customer Relations
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com

Guys, if Amazon gets a lot of letters in support of bitcoin, it will certainly play a role in their decision whether to adopt it. I suggest well articulated, cordial letters to Jeff Bezos: jeff@amazon.com . (ie there's no advantage in getting all pissy that they haven't already jumped on the bitcoin bandwagon.)

[franky1]

to: [jeff@amazon.com]
subject:[a payment option request]

Hi Jeff,

Recently i have read a (presumed) quote from you that your customers do not seem interested in bitcoin.

well i am interested in bitcoin and a large amount of my wealth is in bitcoin, compared to government currency. thus i would be tempted to use amazon often if it accepted bitcoin. as the fee's are much lower than having to 'cash out' to a debit card and then using a debit card on your service.

but until the day you accept bitcoin, i will continue spending in excess of $1000 a month on other services, such as overstock.com

yours sincerly,
A hopeful future bitcoin customer

[sent]

[apsvinet]

to: [jeff@amazon.com]
subject:[a payment option request]

Hi Jeff,

Recently i have read a (presumed) quote from you that your customers do not seem interested in bitcoin.

well i am interested in bitcoin and a large amount of my wealth is in bitcoin, compared to government currency. thus i would be tempted to use amazon often if it accepted bitcoin. as the fee's are much lower than having to 'cash out' to a debit card and then using a debit card on your service.

but until the day you accept bitcoin, i will continue spending in excess of $1000 a month on other services, such as overstock.com

yours sincerly,
A hopeful future bitcoin customer

[sent]

I'd atleast begin my sentences with a capital letter if I sent an email..

[BTCtrader71]

Here is the email I sent last night:

Dear Mr. Bezos,

I am a longtime Amazon customer (a satisfied one), and I am writing to let you know that I would be very happy to see Amazon adopt bitcoin.

Tom Taylor made a recent statement in an interview [1] with Re/code that Amazon is "not hearing from customers that it's right for them" and that they "don't have any plans within Amazon to engage bitcoin." Well, bitcoin is right for me. There, I said it! And I know I'm not the only one. In fact, by most metrics, the number of bitcoin users has doubled roughly every 100 days for the past 5 years and will continue to do so for a very very long time.

I had never heard of Overstock.com until I heard reports that CEO Patrick Byrne had decided that Overstock would accept bitcoin. On January 9, 2014, the first day that bitcoins were accepted on the site, I made my first ever purchase on Overstock.com. As long as I cannot spend bitcoins directly on the Amazon website, I plan to spend bitcoin on Overstock instead of dollars on Amazon whenever possible.

Despite my fervent belief in the underlying technology behind bitcoin, I know that if I were in your shoes, I would not make too rash a decision. As Jeff Garzik states very well in a recent blog post [2] of his, there is merit in a conservative approach on your part. But in my mind, the question is not if Amazon will accept bitcoin, it is when. I expect it will be sooner than most people think. An announcement in the next 3 months would be perfect. Not too soon, not too late.

Hmmm, I wonder what my very first bitcoin purchase will be? Coffee for my Keurig? A book for my kindle? I don't know, but I very much hope it will be in 2014.

Best regards,

[snip]

Amazon account: [snip]

[1] http://recode.net/2014/04/14/amazon-says-no-to-accepting-bitcoin-maybe-to-building-an-amex-or-visa-competitor/

[2] http://garzikrants.blogspot.com/2014/04/on-amazon-and-bitcoin.html

Bear in mind that if Jeff reads his emails -- and reportedly he does, even if only to skim them before forwarding them to someone else -- then you are shaping whatever impression he has of the bitcoin community. Be as articulate and persuasive as you can, without being adversarial or argumentative.

[Pentax]

Mr. Bezos,
 
I've been a long-time customer of Amazon and have admired your company and your abilities for a long time.

Your most memorable quote, for me, was "Amazon is not happening to book selling; the future is happening to book selling."

In the payments space we have new forms of payment entering the marketplace.  Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are poised to disrupt the payments marketplace in much the same way Amazon has in it's chosen areas of interest.  As the future happened to booksellers it is now happening to payments processors.

When I read that Amazon had not heard from it's customers on this issue, and, therefore was not interested in implementing Bitcoin, I was surprised for a variety of reasons.  I also saw it as an opportunity to make my voice heard.

There are numerous benefits to consumers and retailers in utilizing Bitcoin and I am certain that through some interaction with the Bitcoin community and investigation of the benefits of this protocol, Amazon may decide to re-evaluate it's position on these emerging forms of payment.

As one of Amazon's customers, I am looking forward to the day when I can order a product through Amazon paid for in Bitcoin.....and delivered by a drone.

[franky1]

Bear in mind that if Jeff reads his emails -- and reportedly he does, even if only to skim them before forwarding them to someone else -- then you are shaping whatever impression he has of the bitcoin community. Be as articulate and persuasive as you can, without being adversarial or argumentative.

if i was a business, trying to become a partner or a service that amazon uses then yes being ' as articulate and persuasive as you can, without being adversarial or argumentative'. would be a good trait.

but i and 99% of emails on this topic should be from the prospective of customers, and to leave the 'sales speech' for bitpay/coinbase to do. all that is required for a customer to do is to show there is a demand for the service. trying to sound 'sales pitchy' can be taken as too preachy/over the top.

i wrote my email as more of a basic customer request. rather than a sales pitch. hence why i didn't even draft it like i do with my business communications. as grammar Naziism should only be used for formal documents of business/law. im pretty sure he wont ignore a customer based on spelling, but would ignore a customer based on being too preachy

[BTCtrader71]

as grammar Naziism should only be used for formal documents of business/law

It is true that there is a time and place for grammar Naziism as well as a time and place for informality. I do a lot of text messaging and much of it is intentionally informal, because it's in a context such that being informal actually feels more appropriate. If you want to adopt an informal style in an email to Jeff, I have no argument with that.

( On a side note: One of the things that pissed me off about Mark Karpeles was that his communications were always so informal. He asked for an extension of one of his recent court deadlines, and his best argument was that his lawyers needed more time to "get up to speed." So ... can't be bothered to be more specific than that, eh Mark? He has no business being all blasé to anyone about anything Gox-related. Who the fuck does he think he is??? )

but would ignore a customer based on being too preachy

I think we can agree that there's no sense in being preachy in an email to Bezos.