Amazon Encourages Rejects Rather Than Returns
Retailers and consumers both dread returns. But Amazon has apparently found a solution for both parties, quietly patenting a procedure that lets recipients avoid undesirable gifts.
The Guardian notes that by using the so-called "Gift Conversion Rules Wizard," the parameters of acceptable presents can be individually set. The system is triggered when either certain gift-givers send a present or when any incoming gift order contains certain criteria. For instance, restrictions such as "no clothes with wool" or nothing featuring "Justin Bieber or Susan Boyle" can be placed. "Check clothes sizes first" ensures any apparel gift is is the right size.
The more controversial part is enabling the censoring of gifts from certain givers. Amazon's system, according to a patent, will allow customers to "Convert all gifts from Aunt Mildred. ... For example, the user may specify such a rule because the user believes that this potential sender has different tastes than the user."
As the Washington Post explains, Amazon then appears to accept an order but -- instead of delivering it, sends a notification so the recipient can choose something else instead or obtain a redemption coupon for later use. The gift giver ostensibly knows nothing of the changed transaction.
To avoid offending givers, recipients, according to the Guardian, can "thank the sender for the gift they thought they had sent, while secretly enjoying the gift they 'converted'"
Objections are being lead by Anna Post, according to the Washington Post. A descendent of "the late etiquette author Emily Post and spokeswoman for the Emily Post Institute," Ms. Post believes a backlash could force a re-think because it "totally misses the spirit of gift giving. ... The point of gift giving is to allow someone else to go through that action of buying something for us."
Don Davis, editor of Internet Retailer magazine, speaking to the Guardian, believes it might not be successful because, "Given how many people use Amazon, all the Aunt Mildreds of the world would soon know about 'conversion'." Its only likely success, he added, would be getting "Amazon on to a David Letterman list of top 10 signs that western civilization is dead."
Discussion Questions: What do you think of Amazon's Gift Conversion Rules Wizard? Is this a great idea or another example of technology getting too invasive?