As you probably know, Amazon is a fairly complex and sophisticated technological system, and as a result, it encounters many technical issues.
I want to share my personal story from the past two weeks and how I dealt with it through flexible thinking.
About two weeks ago, I opened a shipping order using Amazon's new shipping system for 8 different products located in an external warehouse in the United States, where I work. I planned the quantities in an Excel file according to the current account limits, set up the shipment, received labels for the boxes, forwarded the shipping details to the warehouse, they sent me the layout of the outputs, I set them up on Amazon, and ordered a pickup.
When I reached the stage where I needed to press "Confirm" after setting up the outputs, nothing happened. In other words, some kind of technical bug prevented me from closing the shipment and ordering a pickup.
I called customer service, and the representative was shocked by the unclear malfunction, tried to fix it herself without success, apologized, and said she would forward it to the technical team.
From there, I embarked on a 4-day journey during which I called Amazon's support representatives every morning and evening while simultaneously sending them emails in an effort to maybe reach an attentive representative. The response from the representatives was consistent: "Very strange, it seems to be a technical issue. I will forward it to the technical team with high priority, and they will resolve it immediately."
After 4 days, I realized that I was getting nowhere, and the solution was not close. So, I made a decision. I deleted the shipping order, switched back to the older, more familiar shipping option, opened a new shipping order, requested the warehouse to break down the items, apply new labels to 213 cartons, and successfully closed the shipment and ordered a pickup.
So, why am I telling you all this?
Because in the entrepreneurial world and especially with Amazon, we are destined to encounter many challenges along the way. For every challenge and problem, there are at least 78 different solutions. Ask the Coyote, who in every episode finds a different original way to catch the Road Runner.
One solution may not work; try another – something will eventually succeed.
But the most important message is to always have full control and supervision of the situation. Even if things are not dependent on you, turn the situation around and make them depend on you.
By the way, as of today, two weeks after the start of the incident, Amazon's technical team has not resolved the issue.
Have a good week!
