I've been buying stuff from Amazon for well over twenty years and over those years I've spent thousands of pounds on electrical items, clothing, books, DVD/CDs, computers, bulk foodstuffs and a whole load of booze.
But at the weekend, after much research, I opted to buy myself a new set of kitchen knives but when I clicked to pay a new window popped up asking me to verify my date of birth & my address. I filled in the form thinking how daft, they already know all this but whatever, I did as asked. Only then up popped a message in red type saying I couldn't be verified at that time and to try again later. This I did over 2 days but every time I got the same message.
So on Monday I rang Amazon to ask what was wrong only to find myself talking to a Pilipino guy with a poor grasp of English. After spending 5 minutes saying the same thing to him over & over and getting nowhere I hung up. Ten minutes later I rang again and got a guy whose English was nigh on perfect and I went on to tell him of my issue.
Long story short, apparently my name/DOB doesn't tally with a Dublin based company called Experian who by all accounts hold personal data on everyone (or so I'm led to believe) and simply because they have no data on me, my desire to purchase a set of kitchen knives was denied.
Following the chat with the Amazon guy I got an e-mail from them explaining things and below are the important bits....
A minority of eligible customers may not be able to pass online verification as we are reliant on matching the entered details with Experian's databases, if these are not matched, verification will fail.
There is a higher chance that late teens (18s/19s/20s) or elderly customers (without coverage in common credit databases) may be unable to pass verification.
We apologise for this experience.
So basically, because I've never applied for credit anywhere in their eyes I don't exist as I'm not on their database.
This whole thing really sickens me, apart from the nuisance of not being able to buy the knives there is a company out there (who up until now I was totally ignorant of) who can make decisions on my behalf without having to explain themselves. That to me is very creepy.
Yesterday I had a brilliant idea, I asked my pal if he could order them on my behalf but he says he doesn't have an Amazon account so I guess I'm stuck with my old knives. To say I'm annoyed with Amazon would be a massive understatement!
Jay.
But at the weekend, after much research, I opted to buy myself a new set of kitchen knives but when I clicked to pay a new window popped up asking me to verify my date of birth & my address. I filled in the form thinking how daft, they already know all this but whatever, I did as asked. Only then up popped a message in red type saying I couldn't be verified at that time and to try again later. This I did over 2 days but every time I got the same message.
So on Monday I rang Amazon to ask what was wrong only to find myself talking to a Pilipino guy with a poor grasp of English. After spending 5 minutes saying the same thing to him over & over and getting nowhere I hung up. Ten minutes later I rang again and got a guy whose English was nigh on perfect and I went on to tell him of my issue.
Long story short, apparently my name/DOB doesn't tally with a Dublin based company called Experian who by all accounts hold personal data on everyone (or so I'm led to believe) and simply because they have no data on me, my desire to purchase a set of kitchen knives was denied.
Following the chat with the Amazon guy I got an e-mail from them explaining things and below are the important bits....
A minority of eligible customers may not be able to pass online verification as we are reliant on matching the entered details with Experian's databases, if these are not matched, verification will fail.
There is a higher chance that late teens (18s/19s/20s) or elderly customers (without coverage in common credit databases) may be unable to pass verification.
We apologise for this experience.
So basically, because I've never applied for credit anywhere in their eyes I don't exist as I'm not on their database.
This whole thing really sickens me, apart from the nuisance of not being able to buy the knives there is a company out there (who up until now I was totally ignorant of) who can make decisions on my behalf without having to explain themselves. That to me is very creepy.
Yesterday I had a brilliant idea, I asked my pal if he could order them on my behalf but he says he doesn't have an Amazon account so I guess I'm stuck with my old knives. To say I'm annoyed with Amazon would be a massive understatement!
Jay.
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