You know, I really support the local brick and mortar businesses in the area. Our local businesses support our local people and local economy, which helps us all. But occasionally, I also purchase things through online stores. Remember that many local businesses have online sales, so the line sometimes blurs.
Today I want to mention one you may have had heard of once or twice…Amazon. Just kidding, I am pretty sure everyone has heard of the largest retailer in the world. Here is some information about Amazon you may not have heard before. I have read about this all over the net but have verified none of it. I believe it to be true.
Have you heard of Amazon Prime Day? Prime Day is an annual event held in July, which started in 2015 only for Amazon Prime members. It lasts two days and gives discounts on many, many of their ov
er 12 million items. In 2015, they sold $0.9 billion in merchandise. Last year, in October because of the pandemic, they sold $10.4 billion in sales.
Each second Amazon averages over $4,700 in sales and ships over 400 packages per second. Numbers vary by time-of-year. If you are an Amazon Prime member, you may be interested to know that the average spent by us is $1,400 a year.
Now onto a recent adventure I had with Amazon. Several weeks ago, I suspected someone was abusing my account. I received an email which said I had just purchased a $1,200 phone. Keep in mind that tight-wad Ron would not pay that much for a phone. I sort of flipped out and went online to contact Amazon. I called their support number directly. They checked my account and said that amount had not been charged, but it unsettled me. Being a geek, I uttered these words, “Lock my account until I can verify this please.” They said, “OK,” and to call them back when I was ready. They would then either close or reinstate my account. Sounded easy.
I verified my account. They were correct as nothing was wrong with my Amazon account and all was well; It was a scam email which I could have seen if I had just checked it before becoming overly excited. So, the next morning I had to order some very important computer components I needed right away. I called them back and found that they cannot just flip a switch to unlock the account. When you ask an account to be “locked” they take it seriously. You cannot unlock it until they send you an email 24-72 hours from that point.
I got the email in a little over 48 hours and got it going again. I called and talked to one of the support people. WOW, they were serious. The support person needed to send me a text message on my phone to verify I owned the account. Then I found out the account had my old number on it. All by itself that could have allowed them to unlock it. So, the next steps; my mom’s maiden name, my favorite author, and my high-school identifications got me through to the ultimate level. I now had to tell them several of my recent purchases. I got lucky since I had not deleted them from my email yet. Finally…UNLOCKED!
Do not “lock” your account unless you have what you need to get back on… and patience.
