AMAZON

Oh Amazon, how can I praise you?? You are the most awesome of all websites.

We always loved Amazon. I remember when we got our first amazon.com package. It was back in 2000 or 2001. I remember being curious about what this could be (it came from my brother-in-law). We had only just heard about amazon.com, but didn't think much of it at the time. We were intrigued and when we opened the box (this was at Christmas time), the gift was wrapped all nice and pretty in the box. We soon discovered that we had a new digital camera (back when digital cameras were barely on the market...it was a bit bulky...low megapixels (like 1.2)...and we LOVED it!!

We never gave amazon.com much attention, though. Several year ago, though, we started hearing about how great the prices were on items through amazon.com and how amazon.com was taking over the world. A friend of mine who was living in Africa was using it all the time. We figured we would check out what all the hub bub was about and boy were we shocked. Movies on blu-ray and dvd were cheaper here than in any store as were books (two passions for this side of the Kozlowski family). Added to that, no tax and if you spend $25, no shipping?? WOW!!! Than we discovered that mp3 songs and albums were MUCH cheaper on amazon.com!! I downloaded many albums that I actually LOVED for under $2...at Christmas time each year, I will end up downloading close to 20 Christmas songs for FREE. In 2009, I downloaded a free Christmas song by Rosie Thomas that ended up being our FAVORITE Christmas song and our own Christmas Theme song.

So, the reason for my post! The Kindle. A friend of mine had one and I really didn't see the point in it. I grew up devouring books. By the time I was in 3rd grade, I had read all of the Nancy Drew books, Beverly Cleary books, Laura Ingalls Wilder books, along with several others and I was getting my step-sister, who was in high school, to check out books from that library for me to read. There is just something about the feel of a book in your hands...it just doesn't get any better.

Well, that is not entirely true. For the past few years, I have had a fairly severe case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. If I type on my computer too much, my hands cramp up and reading a book causes me INTENSE pain in my hands and arms. I would find myself reading a book and than having to take a break from reading to let my hands and arms heal. I finally reached the point where I said...I need to try this Kindle thing out. To my GREAT delight, my husband bought me one for Christmas and it has been a GOD-send. I can prop it up and read and push a button to change pages. I thought it would be hard to get used to, but it was easy (the pain of holding books fresh in my mind). In fact, after I read my first Kindle book (The Pawn, by Steven Collins), Sierra had a book she wanted me to read. This was a paper back book...one of those short thick books. I read it, all the while thinking about how much pain I was in. I was so happy to get back to my kindle.

Imagine my shock and sadness when my Kindle started acting up...losing my place in the book I was reading....shutting down while I was reading....not turning on. AND, Sierra's Kindle was doing the SAME THING (she got one for Christmas, too)!! So, I called Customer Service at Amazon....cringing the whole time. Who likes to call Customer Service??

But, I was greeted by a very nice woman who was kind and spoke clear english!! I rambled off my kindle problems and she listened and expressed sorrow at my problems. I told her that not only was mine not working right, but my daughter's was too. She asked me if I had ordered a leather case for my Kindle, and I said that yes, my daughter and I had bought the leather case. Would you believe that she admitted that they had had issues with covers causing Kindle issues?? She said that she would put the amount on my account to purchase the more expensive, lighted cover for each of us (totalling $120). WHAT?!!! Yep, she said to just throw away our covers and to order the lighted cover...we could even order the covers to go overnight and Amazon would cover that!! I got off the phone delighted in their awesome customer service!!!! And so, I am telling the world...there is at least one company that is not out to just make an almight dollar (though I am sure that is a primary for them), but also to providing good experiences for it's customers!!!

I LOVE AMAZON.COM!!