Amazon rep says they are hacked?

[JamesV]

I tried ordering an Echo for a friend of mine. I haven't bought from Amazon in years, but decided to buy an Echo for a friend of mine in Miami Beach.

So I went through the process, and ticked the 'this is a gift', but never saw an option to insert a destination address (other than mine).

So I went on Amazon, and tried the 'call me' option three times. First time was a run around. Second time... interesting, the rep said that she could 'not even get into the system', and I quote 'Amazon sent out a warning that people are trying to hack the system'. She was not very computer literate, so I have no idea if she was spouting nonsense, but it sounded like she was telling me something Amazon wasn't - they have been compromised.

So, after three unsuccessful calls; I have to have the item shipped to me and reship it to my friend. It cannot even be cancelled less than an hour after purchasing... Last dollar you will ever get from me Amazon; I could understand if I called three days later, but you are telling me you can't ship to another address less than 30 minutes after I place an order? My local pizza place can best your service if that is true.

Amazon hacked? Amazon just crappy?

I pressed the second caller for my info (after putting in my phone # into the Amazon website), which she never verified ("I'm trying to verify you" - paraphrased). Shady-ness all around.

 

[who?]

They're just worried that a crook is trying to use your account to pay for something to be shipped to them.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Shens

 

[Mike64]

Second time... interesting, the rep said that she could 'not even get into the system', and I quote 'Amazon sent out a warning that people are trying to hack the system'. She was not very computer literate, so I have no idea if she was spouting nonsense, but it sounded like she was telling me something Amazon wasn't - they have been compromised.

Frankly, it sounds like she was a moron who had no idea what she was talking about. Why would they even bother sending computer illiterate phone reps a "warning" about actual hackers? It's not like anything they do or don't do would have any bearing on hacking attempts and, as this one did, they're likely to just blab about it to people randomly, which presumably is something Amazon would want to avoid. (Both for PR and security reasons.) I think it's much more likely that they sent a warning/reminder to their phone reps, during what I'm sure is a very busy time for them, to be wary of attempted "social engineering" scams, and what she said to you was what Miss Numb-nut "understood" from that... Even apart from its long-time watering-down to include petty computer BS, "hack" has become a ridiculously over-used word in general, these days (see, e.g., the "Lifehacker" website, frequent references to "kitchen hacks" on cooking websites, etc...)

As to why you didn't see the option to add an address, I can't imagine - setting the delivery address is always the first step when I check out. Do you have 1-click ordering enabled? If so, that explains it. There's a separate drop-down box for 1-Click orders you want sent to an address other than whatever the default address is (which I believe you can change, fwiw). And I'm pretty sure that however you place an order, clicking the "this is a gift" box has no bearing at all on setting the delivery address - it just means that the invoice/return label enclosed with the shipment won't show the product price.

Bottom line: why didn't you just cancel the order altogether and place it again, figuring out first how to send it to the right address? Seems to me that would've been the "easy" solution... It really doesn't strike me as unreasonable that they wouldn't let you change the address over the phone - they don't "take orders" over the phone at all, so it's probably best (from their and customers' standpoint) that they not get into modifying them over the phone, either.

 

[Murloc]

why didn't you just cancel the order?

 

[John Connor]

LOL http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xecho.TRS0&_nkw=echo&_sacat=0

 

[purbeast0]

This doesn't make any sense. You can go to your orders on amazon and cancel the order easily as shit without jumping through hoops.

Sounds like a case of PEBCAK.

 

[John Connor]

No, not really. I had an order that was only 30-45 minutes old and I tried to cancel and Amazon sent me an E-mail saying they couldn't. What BS is that?!

 

[Viper GTS]

The cancellation window can be remarkably short, but wtf do you expect when they can get things to you less than 6 hours after order?

Viper GTS

 

[John Connor]

I don't use Crime (Prime) so that isn't true. It takes Forever to ship me shit. I find ebay with free shipping for a lot of stuff ships faster.

 

[purbeast0]

The real question is why would you go through with an order that is a gift that is intended to be shipped to the recipient, without ever entering the recipients address. Regardless of you seeing a place to enter it beforehand or not, one would think that if you don't actually enter it anywhere before placing the order, that it won't be shipped to the address ... because amazon doesn't even know the address of the person.

 

[ReignQuake]

In the Amazon account settings there's an option called: Add a New Address. When you checkout, select that address as the delivery address.
Amazon is being attacked 24/7 but I doubt a headset robot has that information available.

 

[Homerboy]

No, not really. I had an order that was only 30-45 minutes old and I tried to cancel and Amazon sent me an E-mail saying they couldn't. What BS is that?!

It's the sort of BS that gets you your package quickly and on time. You'd be the first one to bitch if you package arrived 30-45min late to your doorstep.

 

[MrSquished]

I've had good luck ordering and cancelling the few times I've needed. It's pretty much always been an option for hours after placing an order. I could drunk shop at night, place an order and cancel it the next day when I woke up. Did that a few times this year.

 

[John Connor]

You'd be the first one to bitch if you package arrived 30-45min late to your doorstep.

Ahhh.... no (full stop).

I would be pissed, as I usually am when my package arrives in a week or longer.