For my birthday this year, one gift I was given was a grill cover with the New York Giants logo on it. I had added this item to my Amazon.com wishlist and it was purchased off of Amazon.com.  What I didn't know at the time was that it was actually being sold by a reseller, or whatever Amazon calls them.

When the cover arrived, I thought it was a bit thin.  I have used garbage bags that were thicker.  But it fit the grill and seemed to do  the job it was designed to do, cover my grill.  The last few days have been a bit windy, and as a result, the grill cover has been torn and is no longer usable (see pictures below).  

I phoned Amazon to complain about the cover and try to get a refund.  I was told that because it was sold through a 'reseller', I needed to contact them, I am OK with that.  I asked for the phone number and was told Amazon did not have it. I am not OK with that.  After being transferred a few times, I was finally told that they did not have a phone number for the reseller and that I would need to contact them in writing.  Not ideal, but I was OK with that.  I asked for the address and was told Amazon did not have that information either. I am not OK with that either.

For those playing along at home, I added an item from Amazon.com to my Amazon.com wishlist, the item was purchased from the Amazon.com website and the credit card was charged to Amazon.com, yet, Amazon.com could not tell me how to get in touch with the company that they claim actually sold me the item.  How is it possible that Amazon allows others to sell things through Amazon, yet not have a way to contact them.

After a few more transfers, I was finally able to get the number of the company, and I have called and left a message twice, with no return call yet.   While all this was going on, I attempted to contact the company who sold the item through Amazon.com.  I explained the situation and received an e-mail a little bit ago that basically says, because we did not express dissatisfaction when we received the item, they will not offer us a refund. The irony here is that I was not dissatisfied until the cover was ripped to shreds.  It also says we ordered the 'economy' cover, which is not stated anywhere the description page.

Amazon.com has washed their hands of this situation.  I was told I need to resolve this with the reseller, and their resolution has basically been, 'tough sh*t'. So, now I need to go back to Amazon to complain even more. Should be fun.

I may regret saying this, but part of me hopes we do slip into a recession.  During a time of economic stagnation, companies typically try to lure and keep companies with good customer service.  During a time of economic prosperity, customer service almost seems to become an after thought.

I also learned a very important lesson, make sure you know whether or not an item is being sold by Amazon or by one of its 'resellers'.  I for one will not be buying from any of their 'resellers' again anytime soon.

***UPDATE***

After my wife sent a carefully crafted e-mail to the company, they have agreed to refund the full cost of the cover.

***END UPDATE***