Pricing gestures that go a long way – one step further than delighted with Amazon

Posted by Dave CollinsGeneral

Amazon finally made the Kindle available to the rest of the world a few days ago. Obviously I’d pre-ordered it weeks ago, and am now the delighted owner of a truly remarkable device.

When I ordered it, there were three options available:

Kindle US, Kindle International and Kindle DX (larger).

As of today, Amazon appeared to have merged the US and International versions, and reduced the price of the International by $20.

If I’d have noticed, I wouldn’t have cared. That’s the price you pay for being an early adopter.

But then I received the following email from Amazon:

Good news! Due to strong customer demand for our newest Kindle with U.S. and international wireless, we are consolidating our family of 6″ Kindles. As part of this consolidation, we are lowering the price of the Kindle you just purchased from $279 down to $259. You don’t need to do anything to get the lower price–we are automatically issuing you a $20 refund. This refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a credit on your next billing statement.

I’m a long-time Amazon fan, and this is a perfect example of excellent customer service.

They could have done nothing. I’d have been fine with that.

They could have given me a $20 voucher, and I’d have been delighted.

But this goes one step further than delighted.

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