Amazon Bravely Stands up to Assault Against Cruelty

The wisdom and propriety of off-shoring American jobs is not part of the topic of this site (true, that is why I’m back in school, but, still, off-topic). And Amazon’s Raisa’s English was very good, certainly better than my Hindi, which consists entirely of the names of vegetarian food items. Still, there is a certain lack of nuance… I’ve been buying stuff from Amazon almost since they opened “The Biggest Bookstore on Earth,” everything from textbooks to a rather expensive KitchenAid Mixer. Great selection, prompt service and no dithering around with PayPal. So it’s been a bit of an inconvenience boycotting them, but less so as I’ve found other sources. Still, it occurred to me that Mr. Bezos might not realize I’ve been boycotting them thanks to their insistence on being the only national vendor of not one but two magazines devoted to the cruel and illegal sport of cockfighting. To say nothing of their deciding to really thumb their noses at people of compassion by also deciding to sell a product born of similar cruelty, pate de foie gras. Apparently Amazon’s decided to take a stand for evil.

So, to let them know why their bottom line has been feeling the sting of my non-patronage, I called their customer service number to explain, hoping to scare some sense into them. Raisa took my call. I will paraphrase our conversation as best I can rember it, but in essence, the following was the gist of it. Honest.

I began by telling how long I’d been a satisfied customer, then sadly informed her that my patronage had come to an end due to their carrying cockfighting magazines. She told me she was not, in fact, certain that Amazon did carry such magazines. “Well, perhaps I’ve been misinformed. You will certainly have my apology if that’s the case, and my renewed custom.” She would check. I waited. After only a few moments she spoke. “Yes, we have Big Cock magazine. Would that be of interest?” I repressed my frustration. “I’m afraid I’ve not communicated well. I’m calling about magazines you carry about the cruel and illegal practice of cockfighting, that is to say, fighting with cocks. Roosters! Fighting roosters! I’m boycotting Amazon in protest.”

“I see. Let me see if we carry such magazines.” A longer pause. “Yes, we do, in fact, carry magzines on that topic. We have two: Gamecock and Grit and Steel.”

“Ah. Well, then, if Amazon wants to keep my business…”

“Would you like to subscribe to both magazines?”

“No!”

“Which one would you, then, prefer: Gamecock or Grit and Steel?“

“I don’t want either magazine, dammit! The point of my calling is to inform Amazon that I don’t intend to make any more purchases from you until you quit offering those magazines.”

“These are not the magazines in which you were interested?”

“They are the magazines I was calling about, but I don’t want to buy them; I want to complain about them. They promote an activity that is extremely cruel and in violation of US Federal Law. It’s deplorable that Amazon would be a part of this vile activity.”

“I see. Please wait for a couple of moments while I review your concerns with my supervisors.” There was a wait of several minutes, accompanied by hold music consisting of bland musical loop of about four bars. In the fulness of time Raisa returned to the line. “Amazon.com is but a vendor; we do not publish those magazines ourselves. As vendors we have a responsibility to provide those materials our customers desire, without passing judgment on those materials. Amazon.com does not endorse cruelty.”

“So you’re saying it’s a free speech issue.”

“That is right,” Raisa confirmed.

“But Amazon is a private enterprise; you can pick and choose what products you offer. You don’t have to offer this sort of filth.”

“Sir, Amazon cannot be in the business of picking and choosing what we sell based on its content. Amazon cannot get into the business of moral assessment and censorship.”

I was prepared for such a response. I don’t recall now if I came up with my rejoinder on my own or read it somewhere. “So, if you feel you cannot in good conscience pass any judgments on the materials you carry, do you, then, carry magazines devoted to pedophilia?”

“Pedophilia. I’m sorry, what is that?”

“Sex with children!”

“I’m not sure; I will find out. Are there any particular pedophilia titles you are interested in?”

Here is the letter that Amazon sent me in response to my conversation with Raisa. And, recently, just as many restaurants are removing pate de foie gras from their menus and as enlightened cities like Chicago are banning this especially cruel “delicacy,” Amazon has added that product to their choices. Apparently, where compassion and decency are gaining ground Amazon sees new marketing opportunities in catering to the under-served cruelty market. Amazon is daring people of conscience to knock the depravity chip off their shoulder. Let’s oblige them. Here’s the hard-to-find Amazon service number, thanks to Cliché Ideas <http://clicheideas.com>: US & Canada (800) 201-7575, Elsewhere: (206) 346-2992 or (206)-266-2992. Perhaps you’ll be fortunate enough to get the charming Raisa. She’s really very nice and only doing her job as best Amazon permits.

X-Originating-IP: [207.171.164.45]
Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 11:02:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Amazon.com Customer Service" <cust.service03@amazon.com>
To: "johnfmayer@secretserver.net" <johnfmayer@secretserver.net>
Subject: Your Amazon.com Inquiry
X-AMAZON-CLIENT-HOST: cs-bsf-5106.iad5.amazon.com
X-AMAZON-MAIL-RELAY-TYPE: notification

Thank you for writing to Amazon.com with your concerns. I understand
that you feel very strongly about this issue.

We have great respect for your concerns. One of our goals as an
online retailer, however, is to offer our customers the ability to
purchase a wide variety of products on our site. It is unfortunate
but inevitable that some of our customers may find a few of these
items objectionable.

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
choose his or her own reading material or entertainment.

Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles
because we believe their message is objectionable. Therefore, we
will continue to make controversial works available in the United
States and everywhere else, except where they are 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 web site. However, Amazon.com does not endorse any opinions
expressed by individual authors, musical artists, or filmmakers.

We always value customer feedback, and I have passed along your
desire that we exclude items of this sort from our site. Although
we will not be able to comment further on this topic, we hope you
will allow us to continue to serve you.

Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:

If yes, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=affqqtau3425898926&q=sn
If not, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=affqqtau3425898926&q=sn

Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept
incoming e-mail.

To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help
section of our web site.

Best regards,

Becky J.
Amazon.com Customer Service
http://www.amazon.com
==============================
Check your order and more: http://www.amazon.com/your-account

ref_id:=bruxwtau1278422610

> Date: Sat Aug 04 03:00:35 UTC 2007
> Subject: Feedback to Amazon.com
> To: "int-hmd-phones__ertyui@amazon.com" int-hmd-
phones__ertyui@amazon.com
> From: johnfmayer@secretserver.net
>
> CUSTOMER: John Mayer
> COMM ID:cryqatuu3422949870
> EMAIL: johnfmayer@secretserver.net
> COMMENTS:
> Your Raisa did her best by promising to pass along my comments.
> That, of course, does not address the source of my concern, which is
> that Amazon purveys both cock-fighting magazines - cockfighting is
> now a a federal offense in the US - and pate de foie gras. I will
> not patronize a firm that promotes cruelty. You will find that I
> have bought thousands in merchandise from Amazon, starting back when
> you billed yourself as the Biggest Bookstore on Earth and buying
> everything from textbooks to KitchenAid mixers. Itís actually an
> incovenience not to deal with you. But itís an inconvenience I‘m
> prepared to accept.
> ------=_Part_10902_12964792.1186196435494--

Mr. Jeffrey Bezos
Amazon.com, Inc.
1200 12th Avenue S., Suite 1200
Seattle, WA 98144

Dear Mr. Bezos,

I really don't understand why you are willing to gut our animal
protection laws so you can make a buck off a couple of
cockfighting magazines and some bloody dogfighting video. It is
silly to claim that you have a First Amendment right to sell
magazines full of solicitations for the illegal purchase of
fighting animals and weapons. Amazon.com should drop these magazines promoting these cruel
and illegal products and practices and stop trying to protect animal abusers.

This boycott has caused me some inconvenience as Amazon has been
my "go-to" source for almost anything, from textbooks to
Kitchen-Aid mixers; I liked the fact that I didn't have to fool
with PayPal.

But I have purchased not one item from Amazon since I learned of
the Cockfighting boycott. Now I hear you also sell foie gras!
Fortunately, the internet is fast and I'm quickly discovering
other sources. I may find I don't need Amazon as badly as I'd
thought.

Sincerely,
John Mayer