Amazon Dupes Consumers with Misleading Offers of Free White Glove Delivery

Amazon.com is duping the public with its offer of "Free White Glove Delivery" service on certain products.

I was scammed and I'm not all that stupid.

It all started when I ordered a Mitsubishi WD-60735 DLP from Amazon.com on Black Friday, Nov. 28.

I almost purchased the product from BestBuy.com ($999 and free shipping) but checked out Amazon first. Lo and behold, there was the same TV for $979.

I didn't care about the price difference — I prefer to use Best Buy, not least because my stepdaughter Maggie works there — but the Amazon deal came with "Free White Glove Delivery."

I'm a wimp and wouldn't be able to help my husband lift the TV onto the console. I know that even unboxing the thing would be a mess. And, I was fearful that Best Buy's "regular" delivery service might be one of those where they just drop the beast in front of my garage door.

So, I pulled out my credit card and ordered through Amazon.

So How Does White Glove Delivery Work?

The ad on Amazon.com says, "After your purchase, an agent will call you within five days to arrange delivery."

I wasn't exactly sure how that would work, so I called TigerDirect — the reseller that sold me the goods through Amazon.

As detailed in my original story, TigerDirect — which charged me $62 for the so-called free delivery — said the onus was on Amazon, not Tiger, to cover the white glove service.

In turn, Amazon claimed it was up to TigerDirect.

My last story, "Amazon + TigerDirect = Why You Should Pay for Custom" left off there.

TigerDirect: We Don't Do White Gloves

A very friendly and helpful "Cassandra" at TigerDirect customer service listened patiently to my woes.

Cassandra said something like this: We don't have white glove service. Maybe you should call Amazon about that.

I replied something like this: They said it was Tiger's responsibility

Cassandra (clicking on computer): Unfortunately, our account [with Yellow Freight transportation co.] doesn't allow that. … I'm not sure why they're advertising it that way.

Me: You know, I have to think it's Amazon's thing since they advertise it with other resellers.

Talk about customer service, Cassandra called me back about 10 minutes after we hung up the phone.

She had done some investigation with Yellow Freight and determined that "they don't have it [White Glove service] built into their system."

She wanted to know if she should dig deeper. She wanted to know in case someone else asks. TigerDirect trains their people good!

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What would you think? That the product as advertised was not eligible for white glove service?

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Getting to the Bottom with Amazon

By this point, I figure it's got to be an Amazon deal. So I call them.

Someone whose name sounded like "Manshu" (I couldn't really catch it) said something like this:

"Amazon does not ship those items. … I can give you the number of the seller. … Do you have a pen handy?"

"Wait, wait," I interrupt. Um, did he even listen to my lengthy tale?

I asked if Amazon did indeed offer free white glove delivery.

Manshu: Yes, we do offer that, but we offer that on the items that are sold and shipped by Amazon.

Me: I went to Amazon.com, I bought a TV. So I bought a TV from Amazon.com.

Manshu comes back: I had a conversation with my colleague, but we cannot offer white glove delivery on this item. If you purchase an item that is from Amazon directly, we can offer that.

Me: Is there a manager in the house?

One arrives, and I couldn't catch his name either, even though I asked him to repeat it. It sounded like "Pauldee" so let's use that.

I repeat the saga and how the Web site had a big picture of the TV and an equally large offer of Free White Glove Delivery.

Now, this I KNOW I'm quoting verbatim:

Pauldee says, "You bought it on Amazon.com, not from Amazon.com."

That's quite a distinction, I muse, reminding him that there is nothing on the Web page that indicates the product must be purchased directly from Amazon's own inventory. I did indeed buy the product via Amazon, no?

Pauldee: You visited our Web site and you purchased it from our merchant. You won't get white glove. … You have a great day.

Amazon's False Advertising

Come on, Amazon.

Take a look at any of your Web pages where the offer of Free White Glove Delivery is featured prominently with the item advertised, regardless of who ultimately ships the product.

It's quite an enticement – the ad got me to switch from Best Buy to Amazon.

I'm fine with small print, and in this case it read: "When you purchase this item from Amazon.com, it receives our special white-glove delivery service. …"

From this, I did not infer: "This offer is actually not available with the product shown here, but if you search again, and find the product where Amazon is listed as the seller, then you get the white glove treatment."

Does Amazon's everyday customer have the e-shopping wherewithal to determine that the offer applies only to items bought directly from Amazon? Do people even know what that means?

I'm not the most dim-witted bulb in the pack, and I kind of assumed that "from Amazon" was sort of the same thing as "on Amazon" or "via Amazon" or "through Amazon" or something similar.

Without the benefit of a law degree, I believe that Amazon's ads are down-right fraudulent.

Even the company's Web page describing White Glove Delivery mentions nothing about which products qualify:

At Amazon.com, we believe that your purchase deserves a special degree of handling and delivery. To achieve the highest customer satisfaction, we provide a white-glove delivery service that is designed to ensure that your purchase arrives damage free and in a timely manner.

A search of the Internet revealed little in the way of consumer gripes on this subject, which surprised me. (Then again, maybe I'm as dumb about Web surfing as I am about e-commerce.)

There is some White Glove discontent discussed in an Amazon forum. Does anyone know where other disgruntled would-be white-glove recipients congregate?

Surely I'm not the only one to have fallen for Amazon's ruse.

Where the Saga Stands Now

So my $62 shipping/handling charge from TigerDirect stands.

Cassandra explained what I should expect from my delivery: "Usually they just carry it to the door."

I don't begrudge TigerDirect. They also were unwitting victims of Amazon's subterfuge.

I would like Amazon to refund my $62, pay me $150 for what it probably would have cost them for their white glove service, and tack on another $250 for my aggravation. Is that so much to ask?

Update: Buy Local

As expected, I'm getting much deserved grief from dealers and others aligned with the CE industry. Brad Parsley, at Audio Video Artistry in Memphis, emailed me wondering why I didn't take the opportunity to impart the "buy local" lesson on readers.

In fact, that was the purpose of starting this saga in the first place. The title of the first story was: "Amazon + TigerDirect = Why You Should Pay for Custom."

I should have continued that message in this story as well. So, readers, listen now: Learn your lesson here. Spend a few hundred extra bucks and do it right.