My aversion to Amazon (no purchases other than via Gift Certificates which were given to me in the past year) is because they failed to assist me when someone used my credit card fraudulently, even though (1) it was an Amazon card and (2) they had information about the person who committed the fraudulent purchases, but refused to give that information to me. And I'm sure that they couldn't care less, but it gives me some satisfaction to know that they have lost a couple of thousand dollars a year from me.
By the way, I've spoken to several friends who have also been ripped off via their Amazon account. So check those credit card records carefully, brahs and tahs. The way it works is they make very small purchases...like $2.99 or so...so that when it shows up it doesn't attract your attention...and on the credit card account page it doesn't give you any information about the purchase, so you're tempted to look at it, see "Amazon," and think, "I wonder what that was?" (if that). One of the fraudulent purchases on my account was for a month of Amazon Prime.
Also by the way, when I called to ask about these small purchases, about a dozen Amazon people told me that it was not a fraudulent purchase at all, don't worry. So that's another reason not to want to deal with these motherfuckers.
But that's not what I wanted to write about today. Today I was breezing through Walmart, looking for some headphones for my son for his birthday (a purchase which would formerly have been made at Amazon, of course), and I saw a copy of John Coltrane's A Love Superme on vinyl. Blue vinyl. Well. They had me at Coltrane. Also, the 57th Anniversary of the recording of A Love Supreme is coming up (December 9th if you want to mark your calendar--and yes, the whole album was recorded in one day), and I don't have the slightest idea where my CD of it is. Besides, it should really be on vinyl, right? Preferably blue vinyl. * So I really REALly wanted it...but it was kind of pricey...
...so I reluctantly put it back on the shelf. Went to look for headphones. Didn't find what I wanted. Circled back for another look and feel at / of the Coltrane. Put it back. Walked towards the front of the store. Stopped. No. Left the store.
When I got home I decided that I'd see how much the album was going for on Amazon, purely for comparison's sake. (Unless I happened to get an Amazon gift card for Christmas, of course.) I was surprised to find that they also had a blue vinyl version, but check this out:
I'll do the math: that's $16.02 more than the Walmart copy. As in almost 60% more expensive.
So yeah...Amazon sucks in other ways, too.
Eye Before You Buy, folks!
* I found a copy of the album at Target, but it was on orange vinyl. No, really. ORANGE. What the fuck were THEY thinking?
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