Daily Bookshot: The Best Amazon Seller EVER?

The Best Amazon Seller EVER?, originally uploaded by Robert Burdock.

So here’s the story that I promised in my reading journal a couple of days ago I would tell.

Just over a week ago I’m browsing Amazon UK, and I stumble across a reasonably priced copy of Anton Chekhov: A Life in Letters. It’s a book that’s been on my radar for ages, but despite coveting it for so long it has lingered as a ‘must get around to buying it’ title. Things changed when I saw the price that was being asked for this copy; a 2nd-hand one from an Amazon seller called terryhh. The price was too good to pass up on. A couple of clicks later and the book was ordered. Time to sit tight and wait.

I didn’t have to sit tight and wait for long. In super quick time (2 days) a book shaped parcel was thrust into my hand by my ever-suffering postman (a silent hero), and I knew, from the typical packaging of an Amazon marketseller i.e. recycled packaging (not a criticism, just an observation), that it was my precious Chekhov.

I ripped open the package and lo and behold the book was a precious Chekhov, but alas it wasn’t my precious Chekhov i.e. the book I’d ordered. Instead it was the other book you see in this shot – Chekhov: Scenes From a Life. The same author responsible for creating both books – Rosamund Bartlett, but Scenes is an altogether different book – more a biographical work. ‘Owww,’ I thought. ‘Did I order the wrong book here?’ I went to check and it was confirmed, I hadn’t.

Desperate to get my hands on the book I did order, I emailed the seller and explained the problem. Getting back to me really quickly (within an hour or so), the seller apologised for the mix-up, insisted I KEEP the one sent in error, and she would get the right one off in the mail to me ASAP.

On the one hand I was delighted with the seller’s response. If she followed through on her promise then that would be legendary customer service. My other hand was more sceptical though. Nobody delivers legendary customer service these days! Terryhh is just buying for time!

Oh Boy! How embarrassingly wrong was I? It transpired that terryhh (real name Julia) actually did follow through, and although Royal Mail took 10 days to get it from Julia to me (validated by the date stamp), I did get the book I ordered, plus I ended up with a bonus one to boot. Hoorah! Legendary customer service was not a modern-day myth!

Now, I’ve got this weird ‘belief’ system that the Book Gods watch over us readers and bestow upon us bookish rewards for our good bookish behaviour. This extra book could be construed as a ‘reward’ but on this occassion this ‘gift’ most certainly isn’t the act of the Book Gods. Instead, more simply, this is the work of an incredibly conscientious and morally upstanding Amazon seller; a seller who values good customer service and honesty over a quick buck.

I’m truly indebted to Julia, and not just for following through on her promise, or even for allowing me to keep the extra book. My gratitude to Julia is more for showing me that there are still good people out there in Internet land, and I thank her most gratefully for that. My feeling is that sellers such as Julia should be put on a pedestal and applauded. So please consider this post an homage to you Julia, and your exemplary customer service.

So now you know good people. If you ever find a book being offered by terryhh on Amazon UK , then you have it on good authority – may well be the best Amazon seller EVER.

Ok before I go, let’s back up a little. I just want to make it clear that I don’t really believe in the existence of Book Gods. Heaven forbid if you thought I was really that eccentric. It’s just a nice fuzzy concept that springs to mind when something good happens to me in relation to books.