Community Chat

[reviewer from sc]

This is the e-mail that I received:

Dear Customer:

In 2013, we launched AmazonSmile to make it easier for customers to support their favorite charities. However, after almost a decade, the program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped. With so many eligible organizations—more than 1 million globally—our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.

We are writing to let you know that we plan to wind down AmazonSmile by February 20, 2023. We will continue to pursue and invest in other areas where we’ve seen we can make meaningful change—from building affordable housing to providing access to computer science education for students in underserved communities to using our logistics infrastructure and technology to assist broad communities impacted by natural disasters.

To help charities that have been a part of the AmazonSmile program with this transition, we will be providing them with a one-time donation equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the program, and they will also be able to accrue additional donations until the program officially closes in February. Once AmazonSmile closes, charities will still be able to seek support from Amazon customers by creating their own wish lists.

As a company, we will continue supporting a wide range of other programs that help thousands of charities and communities across the U.S. For instance:

Housing Equity Fund: We’re investing $2 billion to build and preserve affordable housing in our hometown communities. In just two years, we’ve provided funding to create more than 14,000 affordable homes—and we expect to build at least 6,000 more in the coming months. These units will host more than 18,000 moderate- to low-income families, many of them with children. In one year alone, our investments have been able to increase the affordable housing stock in communities like Bellevue, Washington and Arlington, Virginia by at least 20%

Amazon Future Engineer: We’ve funded computer science curriculum for more than 600,000 students across over 5,000 schools—all in underserved communities. We have plans to reach an additional 1 million students this year. We’ve also provided immediate assistance to 55,000 students in our hometown communities by giving them warm clothes for the winter, food, and school supplies.

Community Delivery Program: We’ve partnered with food banks in 35 U.S. cities to deliver more than 23 million meals, using our logistics infrastructure to help families in need access healthy food – and we plan to deliver 12 million more meals this year alone. In addition to our delivery services, we’ve also donated 30 million meals in communities across the country.

Amazon Disaster Relief: We’re using our logistics capabilities, inventory, and cloud technology to provide fast aid to communities affected by natural disasters. For example, we’ve created a Disaster Relief Hub in Atlanta with more than 1 million relief items ready for deployment, our Disaster Relief team has responded to more than 95 natural disasters, and we’ve donated more than 20 million relief products to nonprofits assisting communities on the ground.

Community Giving: We support hundreds of local nonprofits doing meaningful work in cities where our employees and their families live. For example, each year we donate hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations working to build stronger communities, from youth sport leagues, to local community colleges, to shelters for families experiencing homelessness.

We’ll continue working to make a difference in many ways, and our long-term commitment to our communities remains the same—we’re determined to do every day better for our customers, our employees, and the world at large.

Thank you for being an Amazon customer.

[Eager2Learn]

I am saddened to hear this news. My donations went to Homes for Pets (Schertz Humane Society), a volunteer run organization. 

I am glad to see that so many people here had listed animal causes as their charity.

[stevieb]

Add me to the group disappointed with this choice. I plan to let them know, not that they'll care now that they've taken over retail, both with my likely deletion of Prime and via a direct communication. I'm sure their chosen charities are worthy, but they aren't mine. Moreover, the dew has been off the Amazon rose for some time with me anyway. Neither delivery nor customer service are what they used to be. Prices are wildly inconsistent and often not the best, and quite honestly some products sent via Amazon 'Fresh' often aren't all that fresh. I take advantage of very few Prime options, so why pay for it? I won't go so far as to say I'll stop shopping Amazon because it remains a valuable resource, but I will look elsewhere for certain purchases. For a company that touts itself as 'customer centric' they increasingly are anything but!

[nyc1]

@Spurt    Good points!   I'll just pay so much for the convenience of getting something the next day or three.    Most of what I purchase is not that critical and can wait.  

[Icegoddess]

@stevieb , if you're on Twitter (I'm not) I hear many are voicing their displeasure there and tagging Amazon in their posts. 

My doantions went to Troops Direct.  They send equipment and supplies that soldiers ask for that the government won't supply (or not enough) to them.  

[stevieb]

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@Icegoddess wrote:

@stevieb , if you're on Twitter (I'm not) I hear many are voicing their displeasure there and tagging Amazon in their posts. 

My doantions went to Troops Direct.  They send equipment and supplies that soldiers ask for that the government won't supply (or not enough) to them.  

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@Icegoddess  I'm not either... Almost wish I were, since it's only volume that Amazon is interested in... Us lone individual customers are pretty expendable to them...

[millieshops]

@JeanLouiseFinch   I'm sure it's disappointing, but as I look at the numbers, I am not surprised.  I do believe Amazon needs to work on a new charity program and hope they do as son as all the obligations they have already committed to have been paid. 

Recently Subaru made a charity donation in my name. The difference from Amazon's program was that I had only 5 charities from which to choose.  I easily chose 3 of the 5 although I was free to send the whole donation ($300.00) to one or to split among 2, 3, or 4. I knew by limiting my choices, the money was supporting agencies I like with enough money to make a small difference. I don't use Amazon enough to bother following their Smile program as it's currantly set up.

[stevieb]

The below is listed as their email address, but I have no idea what it'll net anyone wanting to contact them. Phoning with complaints has become a waste of time, it seems to me, as they promise the moon but don't deliver, and chat is pretty much the same. Their 'virtual agent' is completely worthless, as most of them are.

cs-reply@amazon.com

[Laura14]

I actually didn't do the second annual Betty White challenge this week because I donate to it through Amazon. Then I got this notice that they lost their smile.

I get it to a degree on the business side that it becomes unaffordable at some point, but the reason that they are spreading the dollars too thin is laughable, but a perfect connotation of our world today. Heaven forbid the little people share in the wealth. 

I think Amazon would have gone a lot further with their pivot if they do what St. Jude does and allow us to round up our purchases and add a separate contribution to the charity of our choice each time we make a purchase. 

That way it switches to our money solely which is what they want, but they still look like the hero by keeping the business expenses of the extra credit card fees and administration of donations. I think they can still afford that. 

[Spurt]

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@stevieb wrote:

Add me to the group disappointed with this choice. I plan to let them know, not that they'll care now that they've taken over retail, both with my likely deletion of Prime and via a direct communication. I'm sure their chosen charities are worthy, but they aren't mine. Moreover, the dew has been off the Amazon rose for some time with me anyway. Neither delivery nor customer service are what they used to be. Prices are wildly inconsistent and often not the best, and quite honestly some products sent via Amazon 'Fresh' often aren't all that fresh. I take advantage of very few Prime options, so why pay for it? I won't go so far as to say I'll stop shopping Amazon because it remains a valuable resource, but I will look elsewhere for certain purchases. For a company that touts itself as 'customer centric' they increasingly are anything but!

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@stevieb 

Hey Stevie, how you been?

Gee we've found that Amazon can provide even more BS than even QVC .😉...I wonder if all these changes have to do with Bezo's move from CEO to merely a Board Member and there's a definite difference in the company vision with new CEO...

It appears that Amazon isn't necessarily interested in providing the best price and customer service anymore and I think their position in the retail world is getting ready to change....it looks like their future won't be at the top mountain anymore.....Funny how it always happens to those that were one time #1 in retail.....See Woolworth, Montgomery Wards, Sears etc etc....too greedy and no longer customer centric does them all in.....

BTW did you put your bid in to buy Washington's NFL team from Snyder?....I heard recently Daniel and Tanya listed their residence as ENGLAND.....perhaps he plans to make a bundle from the sale and escape from all the investigations going on by movingto the Uk????....😉