Another Reason Not to Buy Amazon.com (AMZN) Stock

Here is another reason not to buy overpriced Amazon.com (AMZN) stock that is trading at over 120 times it five year average adjusted earnings per share.

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Amazon: "We Don't Make No Stinking Mistakes!"

Gary North

Nov. 26, 2011

I ordered an Amazon Kindle touch. I am planning to convert several dozen of my books into Kindle-readable format, so that I can sell them on-line. I want to see how the touch screen works.

I ordered the $99 version. But I changed my mind within five minutes. So, I canceled the order. Because I was given the option of explaining why, I told them it was because I was upgrading to a more expensive model: $149.

It was told on-screen that the order was canceled.

On Friday, November 25, I received two Kindles. They had no instruction manuals. They came with no packing slips/receipts. There was a card in each of them: getting to know your Kindle. The card is the size of a playing card. It tells how to charge the unit's battery. The card is model-unspecific.

I could not tell which was which. The only way that I finally found out was that I charged their batteries. At that point, one of them did reveal on its screen that it was the 3G unit. Otherwise, there was no way to tell.

To send it back, the return policy screen said to include the packing slip. There was no packing slip.

I am writing this article as a warning. Amazon's cancellation software doesn't always work. So, take care when you order something and then cancel within the allotted 30 minutes. You may not get 30 minutes.

The software should work. This is not just the cancellation software. For more evidence that Amazon needs full-time site beta-testers, click here: http://www.garynorth.com/public/8785.cfm

I joined Amazon Prime to save money on shipping. That's good. I applaud. But I received no welcome note telling me how I can view the free streaming movies or where the titles are listed. I have tried to find the list of free rental books. No success.

I am in the on-line order business. When a new member subscribes, my system sends him a detailed Welcome letter showing how things work and what the benefits are. Amazon should do the same. There should be a Welcome Prime Members page. There should be a link to this in the Welcome letter. It should be easily found by searching the site. If it's there, I could not find it. I was sold services that I cannot figure out how to access.

Then there are the various Kindle models. There should be a page of YouTube embedded videos on all aspects of using each of the various Kindle models. This is what generates business: users who use the service. Nothing digital is ever intuitive. This is obvious. Videos are the best way to teach new users. Amazon sells video storage space to users (S3). It lets sellers embed short videos on its sales pages. Yet the company is lackadaisical about using easily accessed how-to videos to make every aspect of its services clear to new users.

These are basic rules of business success. Amazon a big company. It needs beta-testers to keep reviewing all aspects of the site systematically all the time.

Entropy is forever. Things fall apart. It takes time and money to hold them together. There are parts of Amazon that are visibly falling apart.

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Link to original article: http://www.garynorth.com/public/8778.cfm

Click here to read my previous article on Amazon: http://www.myhighdividendstocks.com/no-dividend-stocks/retailers-day-three-amazon-com-amzn

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