Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Epic Post of Rage

This is going to be a complete departure in topic of a post in comparison to what I've chosen for this blog to be. My choice of topics for this blog have been mommyhood and the trappings thereof, as well as fun or interesting pieces that I've come across and more recently my recipe sharing and Cocktail Cabaret posts that were previously over on Miaverse before it went on hiatus. But I can't contain my disgust and utter disdain for a company that is this corrupt and reprehensible any longer.

Earlier today, I saw a tweet by Simon vanKempen, the other half of the glorious Alex McCord of the Real Housewives of New York, my favorite show on Bravo. Someone made him aware of a Kindle book that Amazon.com offered and asked how he felt about it, considering that the book he and Alex wrote about their parenting experiences, Little Kids, Big City is available on Amazom.com and wondered if he'd seen it (notice I used the barnesandnoble.com item URL? I'm THAT pissed at Amazon that I won't even give them a URL trackback. And considering that I call Barnes&Noble "Barnes&Morons* that should give you an idea of how little I'm loving Amazon right now).

The book is called "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure" and simply the name of it alone gives me the creeps. Everything about this book is disgusting, disturbing and just plain wrong. It promotes illegal activity, it actively encourages it and aside from that, it is completely immoral and 100% revolting.

My first reaction was to post something to Amazon and ask for the removal, as have the 850+ and counting people who've posted reviews of the book, including a large number that are being deleted as soon as they hit the website. So I sent them a message, as follows:

[I won't give the link here. I did link it in my Amazon email, but I refuse to give it. If you choose to find the link yourself, you can but I won't link to this piece of garbage on my website]
The above link is to a grossly disturbing and incredibly offensive piece of literature you offer on your Kindle device. It's all about pedophilia, and not as an educational piece, but as a book that encourages it and supports it and tells people how to go about having a pedophile relationship without getting caught. This book needs to be removed ASAP. It is disgusting, offensive, disturbing, and encourages an illegal activity. I will not be shopping at Amazon any more until this book is removed. And there are a high amount of users who have left reviews on that page that are refusing to shop as well. Please, please do the right thing and get rid of this disgusting piece of garbage. And make a public announcement about it so that your customers know they can trust you to do the right thing.


Their reply, in a wonderful little form letter, follows:

Hello,

As a retailer, our goal is to provide customers with the broadest selection possible so they can find, discover, and buy any item they might be seeking. That selection includes some items which many people may find objectionable. Therefore, the items offered on our website represent a wide spectrum of opinions on a variety of topics.

Let me assure you that Amazon.com does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts; we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions.

Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles because we believe their message is objectionable. Therefore, we'll continue to make controversial works available in the United States and everywhere else, except where they're prohibited by law. We also allow readers, authors, and publishers to express their views freely about these titles and other products we offer on our website. However, Amazon.com doesn't endorse opinions expressed by individual authors, musical artists, or filmmakers.

We value all feedback from our customers, and I thank you again for taking the time to send us your comments about this issue. Although we won't be able to comment further on this topic, we hope you'll allow us to continue to serve you.

Thank you for your recent inquiry. Did I solve your problem?

If yes, please click here:
[link redacted]

If no, please click here:
[link redacted]


Let me tell you, my blood really got to boiling there and in response, I clicked the link that NO, my problem was not solved and left this particular message:

There's a difference between offering something objectionable and offering something that promotes illegal, immoral, and just reprehensible activities. I don't believe that anorexia or bulimia are good things and I object to books about them being sold as I'm sure many people would, but there isn't anything illegal about anorexia or bulimia. And an anorexic or bulimic is only hurting their self. A pedophile (and let's face it, that's the audience this book is aimed at) is hurting someone else by choosing to practice that activity. And again, that particular activity is ILLEGAL. I don't know about the legalities of it in any other country you may offer your services in, but in the United States, where this particular book on Kindle is being offered, it is illegal to have sexual relations with children. This book promotes, encourages and gives pointers on how to have a sexual relationship with a child/minor and it does so blatantly, without any secrecy or subterfuge. Your blanket statement to me in your email is reprehensible, despicable and downright disrespectful. At least have the strength of character to admit that you only care about making money and nothing else, because choosing to continue to sell this book is obviously motivated by nothing more than greed.

After I wrote that comment and hit send, it asked if I would please input my phone number and a customer service representative would call me to resolve my issue. So I did. Immediately, my phone began to ring and skeptical that it was actually Amazon, I picked up with trepidation. It was indeed Amazon, and while the Customer Service Rep, Kathleen, was gracious and calm, she informed me that she could tell me no more than what was written in the email about my inquiry that I'd already received. After a rather lengthy conversation on my part of why I was disgusted and appalled at this company's blatant disregard for common decency and good sense, she did finally admit that there was a very high call volume as well as many inquiries over the web and that all options were being forwarded to the appropriate persons.

But this isn't solving anything. This book should have been removed IMMEDIATELY. And I'm calling on all of you who are reading this to choose not to shop with Amazon until it is. And for those of you who have books on Amazon or Kindle, or who know people who do, please consider removing your works from Amazon, or asking your publishers to do so. There are a number of other websites, such as Barnes&Noble for one, who offer the same services as Amazon. And they don't offer this piece of garbage, I checked.

It's obvious that Amazon doesn't care about their customers, their authors, or even their sellers. They are going to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in consumer services and advertising revenue. I plan on excluding anything from Amazon in the ads that are posted here on my blog and I will not be shopping with them until this book is removed. I may not shop with them anymore after that either, as their incredibly poor judgment in letting this book be sold on their site is indicative of a lack of common sense on their part. I'm not an everyday buyer or even an every month buyer, but I spend hundreds of dollars a year at Amazon on both books and other products and I have previously recommended them to people as well as linked to many a product on their site to friends and family and in other blogs in the past.

Help me in showing Amazon the true power of the consumer and choose not to support them in any way until they remove this book from their website.

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