There are many things I don't like about Amazon's business model from their tax avoidance to their terms and conditions for staff (which is not just them by a long chalk btw) but both enable them to keep costs down. Given this, coupled with the convenience of next day Prime delivery on most items, I'd be surprised if most people don't use them.

Given the sheer volume of orders they deal with daily, of course mistakes happen (even though mistaking a mattress for a set of ladders is pretty hard to believe &#128512. The outsourcing to India/ SE Asia of call centres where you struggle to understand what their customer service staff are saying can be a massive pain in the backside-but Amazon are hardly the only ones to do it.

I've certainly had some issues with orders from Amazon over the years (overwhelmingly third party sellers) but, to be fair, have always found their customer service pretty good. With direct goods -like my kindle-its true that I've had to navigate the language barrier sometimes but my problem has always been resolved quickly and fairly and if third party sellers have been awkward, as Mick says, Amazon have always refunded with no quibble.

Deciding to outsource customer services to centres where staff cannot speak English clearly is certainly a pain but it's not the staff's fault. What really p isses me off are unhelpful customer service staff -and they certainly aren't limited to those who struggle with the English language !! Having worked in customer facing jobs the vast majority of my working career, I fully understand the issues such staff can face but I also know what good service looks like and am increasingly less tolerant of poor customer service and attitude.