Reader John is upset because, after someone stole an expensive watch from his Amazon.com shipment, the company refused to help him until he filed a police report. Should he have to do this?

John writes:

I ordered a Tag Heuer watch from Amazon Thursday night at 7pm and overnighted the watch to my office for the next day. I received the package at 10.30 the next morning. I was shocked to find that the watch box was empty.

There was a manual, but no watch. Amazon, who I have been generally pleased with in the past, told me that their jewelry customer service department would have to handle the situation rather than their normal cust. service and that the jewelry cust. service dept. only communicated via email.

Furthermore, it would be 2-3 business days before they could respond to me. I have made many purchases from Amazon over the years, but none for this amount of money.

I am insulted that they cannot offer better service to someone who paid $1500 plus $20 overnight fee to receive an empty box. They recommend I file a police report before they can help me. I will never buy from Amazon again.

Well, we usually recommend that people contact their credit card company in this situation — but filing a police report certainly couldn’t hurt. It’s probably a good idea.

The real question is whether or not Amazon should be more considerate to someone who just paid $1500 for an empty box and who is probably sort of freaking out about it.

Our advice to you, John, is to remain calm and document everything. Photos are always good. Call your credit card company and ask them for their advice.

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