AMAZON ON TRIAL -- HOW I WAS JUDGED TO BE WORTH LESS THAN THE SALTED PEANUT TO BE HAD FOR THE PRICE OF A COCKTAIL*
i bank with Wells Fargo, strictly online and by phone. i shop through Amazon Prime, strictly online and by chat. i've had problems with both mega-corporations, and both mega-corporations have also treated me pretty well, all things considered. this week, Wells Fargo was the hero; Amazon, the zero.
my mail goes to a mailbox. it's just a couple of blocks from my double-wide (aka manufactured home -- this is a high-class community), but i'm homebound, disabled, don't leave the house except for the rare doctor's appointment, and i can't walk more than, say, ten feet without having to sit. heck, i can't even stand for more than a minute or two without having to lean on something.
i'm an Amazon Prime member, and i really appreciate their service. but there have been issues. on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, a big one blew up on me, one that i'd warned them about just the day before that.
my deliveries from Amazon need to come directly to my residence. if they go to my mailbox, they will sit there. i have no way to get there, except for the one time every (usually) 3 months i have an appointment with my prescription manager. then, i take a volunteer vehicle and driver to the doctor, and on the way home, they let me pick up my mail. after 3 months, it's touch-and-go as to whether it'll still be there. i found out a few months back that USPS will return mail to sender after 3 months, so i now know my time limit.
i've asked USPS to please deliver my mail directly to my home, but unless i have a letter from my doctor affirming my disability, USPS refuses. in order to get such a letter, i have to see the doctor. in order to see the doctor, i need to have medical insurance. last September, i was stripped of my Medicaid (thanks, Trump!), so i'm now completely uninsured and have to pay for doctor visits and prescriptions out of my Social Security check. at the same time, my food stamps benefit plummetted, from $149/month to $20/month.
i could go see the doctor, but that would mean paying out of my own pocket. i tried calling him and requesting that he just fax a letter to USPS, but he wants me to come in. i really should, but i have a pronounced aversion to being in public -- it's a real strain, to put it mildly. in the doctor's office, there's the doctor -- a nice elderly gentleman -- and two other people, his nurse, and an assistant; and they're all looking at me, the center of attention. i feel like an exhibit in a zoo, and i get VERY uncomfortable. i am unable to talk about any problems i may be having; instead, i assert that "everything's just fine." so i avoid it like the plague.
in addition to the social discomfort, there's the money. a doctor's visit will cost me approximately $150 -- simply to get a doctor's note to comply with USPS requirements. hence, my monthly Social Security check is less than $1,000; out of that, i must pay rent, utilities, food and household goods, and any extras. hence, that doctor's note is very expensive. consequently, USPS refuses to deliver my mail to my residence.
over the past many many months, i've contacted Amazon via Chat and spoken with many representatives. when i talk with them, i explain my situation and i request that they have their Shipping Department not ship via USPS because of their refusal to deliver to my residence. UPS, however, is perfect, as they always go to my "second side door" as indicated on my Amazon address 4-1-1, which serves as my entrance.
but there's another catch here.
i live in Central Florida. last February 14th, you'll recall, was the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and the birth of a strong gun-control and voting rights student survivor MSD activist movement. they have been mercilessly attacked by (R)s, Fox News (e.g., Laura Ingraham), and by the "tool-of-Russia" NRA. i am so anti- those groups, it ain't funny. at the MSD students' suggestion, i'm boycotting FedEx, because they service the NRA and have refused to drop them as a customer. i've therefore instructed Amazon to NOT use FedEx in delivering my orders. that's my second caveat, the first one being to NOT use USPS.
so far, Amazon has not used FedEx, which is good, but they continue to use USPS on a fairly regular basis. that means that i have to keep complaining to them and getting items either returned or rescued months after the fact. Amazon keeps refunding me my purchase prices and giving me "promotional $10 certificates" to make up for the inconveniences, but they really don't. i currently have 3 books and some other items in my mailbox, with more on the way because of Prime Day.
well, it so happens that i'm not flush with money. i survive on Social Security; i have neither investments nor savings. so i have to figure out exactly how much i can spend each month, to the penny -- literally. this month, i spent exactly enough at Amazon last Monday (Amazon Prime Day, Part One) to leave myself the amount necessary to cover my MagicJack and TYT Network bills coming due, plus the few podcasts, websites, and causes that i choose to support.
however, that estimate included a $10 promotional discount from Amazon. i contacted them BEFORE i placed my order, just to make double-sure that they'd honor the $10 credit, because it doesn't show up until you click "Order". the Chat representative assured me that it would register, so i went ahead and placed the order.
the $10 didn't register, however, so i was $10 short on my estimation on what was in my bank account. the very next morning, my MagicJack renewal bill came due.
this is the funny part. the bill was $42.51, and i had $42.41 in the bank. Wells Fargo declined payment on my Visa debit card for lack of TEN CENTS.
before i contacted Amazon that morning, i called Wells Fargo Online and spoke with Rolando, a banker. i explained the situation to him, and when i got to the part about Amazon not honoring my $10 promotional gift credit, he said AHA! you can file a claim against Amazon for the $10! so i did just that.
then, i connected with Amazon via Chat, and my 5-hour marathon Chat session began. (BTW, ALL of my Chat conversations with Amazon are in my email files; therefore, i have solid proof. and i'm polite, precise, and i don't (usually) curse, although as a rule, i love to.)
i began by asking Chris, the Chat representative, to please put ten cents into my Wells Fargo account ASAP. Chris was unable to do that; however, Amazon COULD give me a promotional $10 coupon ... another one. i explained to Chris that, while i'd appreciate that, i really just wanted ten cents ASAP so i could pay my bill and keep my phone from being disconnected that very day. plus, Amazon owed me $10.
you see, as a disabled and homebound individual, i rely on telephone service very much. without my MagicJack connection, i'd be left with only an unreliable chocolate bar -- a not-smart phone -- that i get through a government service known as Lifeline; a service, BTW, that Trump is considering ending. https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/17/technology/fcc-lifeline-poor-americans/...
Chris reiterated that Amazon couldn't do that. so i asked to speak to Chris's manager.
Bert, Chris's Manager, after another LONG discussion, offered me a $25 gift card but said no to the immediate ten cents. by then, it was getting ridiculous. i asked to speak to Bert's superior. Bert said he couldn't do that. i was incredulous -- What? i said, you're telling me i'm out of luck? i stood firm, however; eventually, Bert transferred me to HIS supervisor, Jeneth. after another long and tediously repetitive conversation, Jeneth offered me $30; again, no way on the immediate ten cents.
by that time, i was both exhausted and frustrated but still finding humor in the situation. during the many frequent pauses between my and Chris's and Bert's and Jeneth's comments, i'd been reflecting on what my time was worth -- to ME -- and estimating how much time i'd put into the various situations throughout "Operation Amazon," as i thought of it by then. it came to about 15-20 hours, plus the 5 hours of this particular marathon Chat, starting at about 4 am EST.
as to how much i'm worth an hour, i was in a feisty mood by then; i figured that my time was worth a cross between that of a high-powered attorney and a high-priced call girl -- so, about $1,000 an hour. of course, Jeneth refused that outright, but i figured there was room for negotiation. Jeneth, however, refused to negotiate.
i, in return, refused to take Jeneth's final offer -- two $10 promotional gift cards and a $30 credit on my Visa debit card, which would show up in my bank account in approximately 3-5 business days. by that point, i felt dissed mightily, treated like rubbish (politely, though); when i worked out the math in my head, it came to $50 for 25 hours of effort and frustration, not including the ongoing sideline dispute with USPS re: the required doctor's note. that works out to $2.00 per hour for my time. i'm 64, so my time is limited on this Earth; the older i get, the MORE valuable my time is, to me; not less.
[Bert, the Manager, had earlier told me that i needed to understand Amazon's limitations. i replied that, to my knowledge, Amazon founder slash CEO Jeff Bezos was worth at least $150B -- with his personal fortune increasing by some $275M per DAY, and that was the only limitation i needed to understand. also BTW, Jeff's earnings come out to approximately $2,800 per SECOND! just sayin'.]
thus, the 5-hour Chat session ended unsatisfactorily for me. i had been told, without a word being said, that i was worthless to Amazon; put side-by-side in comparison, Jeff Bezos's $150B estimated wealth trumped my request for a mere ten cents out of Amazon's $10 overcharge, and that my remaining time alive was worth no more than $48 per day, as opposed to Jeff Bezos's $275M per day. take it or leave it. i left it.
reluctant though i was, i had thought i would seek legal assistance. i posted a request to all my Facebook friends, briefly explaining that i was looking for an attorney to help me with a complaint against Amazon, that it was an emergency that needed to be addressed that very day (July 18, 2018), and that attorney's fees would be generous -- IMO, it was the principle of the thing that mattered, not the money. truth be told, money DOES matter, but damn it, so do incidentals like, e.g., dignity, empathy, and morality.
i knew that, technically, this kind of consumer complaint is considered one for Small Claims Court, but as a moral person, i was adding insult to injury. the punitive damages were uppermost in my mind, because of the great disparity in the capitalist-based morality of the system that had just shat all over me and denigrated my self-worth. America had, essentially, just informed me that, due to my financial situation, i was LESS THAN, and that Jeff Bezos, in view of his superior financial status, was not only GREATER THAN but my superior in every way that mattered to society.
after posting my brief request, i checked my email, and there was an email from Wells Fargo, informing me that my $10 claim against Amazon had been approved -- so quickly! -- and that $10 had been refunded to my bank account; all this while i was playing dueling banjoes with three tiers of Amazonians.
i was thus able to pay my MagicJack renewal fee, which i did immediately. however, i'll still be short on my TYT membership charge, which should be coming up soon; when Wells Fargo declines payment on that, i'll just have to re-enroll next month. or they'll go ahead and honor the fee. either way, i'll be charged $35 for the inevitable insufficient funds notice issued by the bank.
(i speak from experience.) so there's that extra expense, as well.
there's also my electric bill, but i just send Arcadia Power -- they use wind power for part of my energy! -- an email every month, requesting them to delay withdrawing my funds until the 3rd of the following month, when my Social Security check is deposited directly into my bank account. they're pretty good about that. and there are also a few incidental charges for the causes and podcasts that i support -- those are likely to generate additional insufficient funds notices. hey, it's expensive being poor in America!
i haven't decided what to do about those upcoming insufficient funds notices. i'm thinking that i'll just add those charges plus additional punitive damages onto what i believe Amazon owes me. i'm as worthy of human dignity as Jeff Bezos, if not more so. i admit, i don't provide jobs and livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of people -- as Jeff does -- but i also don't treat my employees (or, in my case, all and sundry, friends and strangers alike) like Orwellian slaves (https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1019733561778343937)
and then receive well-publicized humanitarian awards, such as the Human Rights Campaign's 2017 Equality Award (https://blog.aboutamazon.com/working-at-amazon/human-rights-campaign-hon...).
it appears that Jeff Bezos treats his LGBTQ+ employees just like everybody else. here, check it out -- first, there's a sample of Jeff's thoughts about employee treatment; then, an outsider's examination of employee working conditions; finally, a survey of 241 warehouse employees, in their own words:
1/ http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-responded-to-reports-on-amazon...
2/ https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/16/17243026/amazon-warehouse-jobs-worker...
3/ https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/whats-it-really-like-working-for-am...
in sum, i'm throwing this case to the Court of Public Opinion. what say you, O Commonweal? have i -- Ten-Cents Short Hollis Evon Ramsey -- equal worth in society to the likes of Multi-Billionaire Jeff Bezos? more? less? please, be my jury, estimate the punitive damages that Amazon should reimburse me, if any.
i do request that you supply your reason/s for your decisions in the Comments Section, though, since i place a high value on critical thinking and would appreciate having the tools by which to judge your judgments. while i may not be worth the facetiously suggested thousand-dollars-an-hour, am i yet worth the offered two-dollars-an-hour for my time and tsuris? (tsuris = Yiddish word, https://www.momentmag.com/jewish-word-tsuris/) you decide.
* quote from "All About Eve" (1950) -- Bette Davis as Margo Channing: "I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut."
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