I was at home working in my office upstairs when what can only be described as a loud clonk in my backyard startled me and my terrier. I guessed it was an enthusiastically dropped package, but I couldn't have imagined the full scope of the incident that originated the noise.
I made my way downstairs to investigate, and found my double chain link gate had been kicked in by an Amazon delivery person, who was seemingly unable to figure out the flip-up lock. The brute force entry busted the gate's wooden frame, rendering it unusable and necessitating a repair that will require carpentry that is above my skill level.
How I found my gate after an Amazon driver busted their way through it. David Watsky/CNET
Two damning pieces of evidence -- my Amazon packages -- were dropped few yards inside the gate.
To make matters worse, the driver left both gates wide open, leaving my yard susceptible to a canine escape.
Naturally, I reported the incident through the retailer's online incident portal and contacted Amazon customer service by phone. A polite woman instructed me to file a claim. I did so within a day, including the repair cost estimate of $500 that I had secured from a local handyman, the Amazon package delivery timestamp and several photos of the busted gate, also timestamped moments after the packages were delivered.
Incredibly, the delivery driver didn't even bother to close the gate they had just then broken down. David Watsky/CNET
A week and one follow-up email later, Amazon replied and informed me that without visual evidence of the incident, they wouldn't be reimbursing me for the damage.
With no video evidence of the Amazon driver busting my gate to deliver a package, I was on my own to have the broken frame fixed. David Watsky/CNET
After a healthy bout of cursing this decision from the 2.37 trillion-dollar-company, I decided I'd outfit every entry point of my yard and home with a security camera with video storage so I could pull footage if something like this happened again -- though my canceled account ensures that it won't be at the hands of Amazon.
... continue reading