Amazon just offered me 5000 amazon coin for the price drop of Amazon Fire Phone

Recently, Amazon has dropped its price tag for Amazon Fire Phone to an unbelievably low $130, one year prime membership included. That makes the phone virtually worth $31. That is a hell of a final sale. (Since they've fired the engineer working on Fire Phone project already, I guess that's it for Fire Phone.)

It is a decent phone, especially for those who know how to side load google play. (Here's HOW.)

Anyway, the unsatisfactory of not able to install Amazon underground on Firephone leads me toward the abyss of sending Amazon an angry fan email concerning Firephone. I regret purchasing it at $199, blablabla. And guess what, they actually replied and offered me 5000 Amazon coins (worth $50). But since I side loaded Google Play and has loads of google play credit thanks to Google Opinion Rewards. What am I gonna do with the 5000 Amazon coins. Sigh... Evernote premium? Dropbox storage? We will see.

[Online Shopping Experience][Bulky items] Amazon Overstock Wayfair Bestbuy Ikea, etc.

Today, I want to share some online shopping experience with various US merchants.

1, Amazon.com
Price 4.5/5
Delivery 5/5
Customer Service 5/5
Return Policy 4.5/5

Overview:
Amazon is the No.1 online shopping site, and Amazon definitely earns it.

Highlights:
Amazon offers fair price on most items. I personally always go to amazon when I am too lazy to research for a lower price. Delivery is lightning fast and free with a prime membership. Chat session with Amazon Customer Service usually solves my issue within 5 minutes. Packing materials are mostly recyclable.

Lowlights:
Return is easy, just print the shipping label from the website and drop it off at UPS drop-off location. However, if the item is not defective, in other words, Amazon is not at fault, then customer would have to pay for the return shipping.

2, Ikea.com

Price 4.5/5
Product Quality 4/5
Delivery 3/5
Customer Service 1/5
Return Policy 3/5

Overview:

Affordable furniture, very easy to assemble in most cases. However, terrible customer service experience and you only get what you pay for.

Highlights:

Ikea provides furniture that is practical and good looking(as long as they're new) at an affordable price. Assembly is super easy compare to some other self assembly furniture. And the instruction is crystal clear.

Lowlights:
Delivery takes $99 if there's a IKEA store within 50 miles, which is a fair price for furniture delivery. In my case, they delivered the wrong item at their first attempt. I have to call the customer service and wait in the phone queue. It takes forever (~45-50 minutes, which is forever to me!) to speak to an customer service representative. Ikea provide no spare hardware, therefore, if I break a nail or misplace a screw, I am screwed! In my case, I am tired of waiting in the phone queue and decided to email customer service for a change. It took them like 3 days to write me back and deliver the hardware requested.
Ikea do not take backorder. So if the item went out of stock, pay another $99 for another delivery when it is in stock, or forget about the item and move on with your life.

3, Bestbuy.com
Price 4/5
Packaging 4/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 4.5/5
Return Policy 4/5

Highlights: Competitive price for electronic and appliance. Fast & free delivery, polite stuff and responsive customer service.

4, Wayfair.com
Price 3/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 4.5/5
Return Policy 4/5

Highlights: No tax for most states. Beautiful selections of home improvement items. Free shipping on orders over $49. Also, they offer 10-12% off coupon every now and then.

5, Overstock.com
Price 5/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 5/5
Return Policy 4/5

Highlights: No tax for most states and 10-12% off coupons available all the time. Great selection of furniture and other home improvement items. In my case, I bought a piece of furniture and later discover that another website is selling the some piece for less. Customer service immediately offered to refund me the difference, great shopping experience. Free shipping on orders over $50.

Lowlights:
Some of the furniture are really hard to assembly. But guess I have to blame the vendor not the website in this case.

6, Homedepot.com/Lowes.com
Price 3.5/5
Delivery 3.5/5
Customer Service 4/5
Return Policy 4/5

Overview:
Not much to say about these large home improvement chains.

Highlights:
Wide range of selection for a reasonable price.

Lowlights:
Home depot claims the tile covers 11 sqft per pack while it cover only covers 10 sqft. Lowes send me 13 accent tiles while I ordered 14. And that concludes it.

7, Abt.com
Price 4.5/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 4.5/5

Highlights:
You can actually negotiate purchase price with a real person sales associate! Which means, after wiggle a little bit, you get a price that you're satisfied with (better than any other site you can find) in most cases, plus no tax in most states!

Lowlights:
Delivery is free but slow(~ 10 days).

8, Homedecorators.com
Price 4/5
Delivery 3.5/5
Customer Service 4/5

Lowlights:
In my unfortunate case, several days after I submitted the order, I was informed that the item I purchased is out of stock temporarily and I have to wait 4 weeks for it. The packing material is mostly Styrofoam, which is not recyclable material in some states.

9, Crateandbarrel.com
Price 3/5
Delivery 4/5
Customer Service 3/5

Their furniture looks good, however, they keep charging me the wrong amount of M-o-n-e-y!!! I have to call 4 times to correct the billing mistakes. Plus, their phone queue is ~15-30 minutes as well!!!

To conclude, the message is simple and clear. It is impossible to build reliable service using minimum wage temporary-contract workers. Training and competitive wage which leads to a higher employee retention rate is the foundation of great customer experience.