Amazon

It is 1914 in Hollywood and the craze there is the "flickers", silent motion pictures. The biggest star is Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart". With her long golden curls and the sweetest smiles, her fans adore her. Mary has been sole support of her mother and siblings since she was 8 years old and she will do anything to keep her popularity and wrung on the ladder of success. Never had time for a childhood, or an education, Mary has strong work ethics and is savvy in charming her powerful bosses who rule Hollywood.
When she meets Frances Marion, a "wanna be writer" for the Silver Screen, Mary tries to talk Frances into becoming an actress but fails. They become close friends and form a personal and professional bond that lasts a lifetime. They become trailblazers fighting for women's rights in the film industry, and both achieve awards, power, the love of a lifetime, and great wealth.

Mary Pickford married handsome mega-star, Douglas Fairbanks and they became the Royal Couple. They lived at Pickfair, the elegant 18 acre estate in Beverly Hills. They entertained often and lavishly but it was not the quiet, peaceful, together forever life, Mary dreamed of. In the end, Mary lost Fairbanks and lived at Pickfair alone as a recluse.
Fran Marion, too, had the love of her life, marrying Fred until he passed away. Fran became the highest paying screenwriter in Hollywood.

A dedicated fan of Melanie Benjamin, two of her books, "THE AVIATOR'S WIFE;, and 'THE LAST CHRISTMAS IN PARIS', are two of my favorites. Ms. Benjamin writes sterling historical fiction and her research is impeccable. Films have always been of keen interest to me and GIRLS IN THE PICTURE is a riveting story that takes us both in front of the camera and behind the scenes with a candid description of the fascinating happenings of that era and the sensational people who lived it. My admiration for both Mary Pickford and Frances Marion for never giving up but reaching the heights but not without heartbreak. This book is highly recommended by me. You will love it. I did!

My thanks to Random House e-newsletter giveaway that I was lucky to win. Thank you and Thank you to Melanie Benjamin for another winner. Bravo!

UPDATE 07-25-2021:
Can't believe what AZ has done now. They arbitrarily verify you on sign in and have been doing that for years. An email gets sent with code for you to fill in on sign in. Well, I have not been getting those emails. Not in my email account or in my Junk. AZ says it's my email provider, but when I requested that AZ Customer Service send an email, I got it... no problem. Then they said I could be verified by a rep. So answered questions like what were the last three purchases you made? What was the code on the last purchase on your AZ charge account? Problem was I've only been buying ebooks and do not save all of the confirmation emails, especially for the free ebooks. All of that info in on my AZ account... which I cannot get into. I Failed verification and they will not tell me which part. Only 3 options now: 1-open new account, 2- try the 20 minuter verification again, or just say Good-bye to AZ. Let me think... hmmm... GOOD-BYE.

Original Update:
Amazon is NOT the cheapest store anymore and the quality has gone down. Am no longer buying anything but ebooks from Amazon as that seems to be the only thing that I have little problems with. That said... there are problems in that area also:
1- do not always get book when click to buy, but customer service has refunded any not gotten bks.
2- Very real problems with Amazon's treatment of classic books such as Dracula, etc, like missing words-even pages- and terrible editing. English is NOT always first, maybe not even second, language of those translating and/or transcribing the books into eformat.
3- Misc little things like books not consistent when handling author names so you get one author, name spelled differently or periods after initials not consistent, but books NOT all listed on same page or same author. Drives me nuts. Really wish Amazon would just not put in those periods after initials.

Amazon is the worst service I've ever seen as a customer.
I created an account, ordered smth, they blocked my account for "suspicious activity " right away. Sure this is a new activity, I had ordered nothing before that!
I was asked to sent all the docs to prove that this is my card and I did. Nothing happened, they kept sending me that that statement doesn't work, but it was actually ok.
Then I decided to create a new account in order to connect with the customer service.
The couldn't help me anyway with unblocking my previous account cause operators are outsourced, so they do not have this opportunity.
I was trying to create new and new account on a different bank cards and was trying to make an order. All of them were blocked as well.

At the end, I tried to deal with all that with 3 or 4 Amazon customer service operators. Was asking to leave just one working account. But they just were sending the info to account managers and security service. And security service just keep sending the automatic letters that they need more info (but I already sent them all they had asked for). The whole system is so $#*!ed up, they can't solve even so easy cases. They don't have any individual mechanics to handle it in a right way. Operators and chats are useless, unfortunately.

Maybe I don't understand smth, but you're just a online shop, why the hell i need to prove you smth and give my personal info? Me as a client should just make an order and fill the card info, you take your money and give me the product. What the hell do you think you are?

So, thank you Amazon for the worst online shopping experience in my life, that lasts for 5 month after my moving to Germany from the war in Ukraine. That is how you work and treat your clients.
I want everyone knows that you shouldn't waste your time on Amazon shopping.

So I purchased a HD fire tab 8 for my kid after the computer I ordered her was delivered to the wrong address and this was her bday present. The tablet kept glitching which I found odd since its supposed to be new. So she had got books and 2 games where I purchased books and multiple in app purchases for her game so tech support says it needed updates and it would work and if it persists contact them for a replacement. Well how dumb was I to believe it? Instead I got a rude racist using "you people always trying to scam" and ain't nobody giving bloop in less than 5 mins she went into her racist rant and told me to leave it outside in the rain for 2 days as she didn't have a definite date it could be picked up well I'm not dumb so I didn't I caught an uber took it to ups myself now I'm told I'd get a full refund but didnt. I received 18$ and the credit for the computer that was applied was denied and then they pay ups for picking up which they did not. So not only am I out of the money for the books and in purchase app expenses my kid has now nothing to commemorate her bday after going through the worst time of her life and I had to endure a racist using all kinds of slurs etc and yes I recorded it all. And receipts for purchases but bigger than that my child is sadden and hurt by all the issues endured for a present that she has nothing so buyer beware they selling old refurbished products as new and they can care less about the cost you lose in their products or the racist customer service people or the fact the children suffer behind their RIP offs. I mean we all know they're having issues but had I known she'd not get a replacement or full compensation she could've just kept the broken device it's better than seeing her cry and me feeling like a failure. Smh

I ordered 12 mason jars on February 14,2022. It was supposed to be delivered March 4, ok, I can wait. Then it was delayed, no problem. Then on March 8th, I look at the tracking and it says it was delivered at the side door on March 7. Well, I'm home all day and they didn't come, AND I don't have a side door.

I contacted Fed Ex, and they asked for the tracking number, my name and address. I give them all the information and they tell me that the package doesn't have my name or address. Ok, so now I know it was delivered to someone else.

I contact the seller, Romero Co, and I get a generic email saying that I should look all around my house and sometimes it switches carriers, so just wait. WHAT? Seriously, it went to another address and I still have to wait?

So I contact AMAZON. The girl who called me had me on hold for about 10-15 minutes, came back, said "I'm sorry about…." Then she's gone.

I start a chat with Amazon, told them the same thing, went to a different address, first thing "June" said to me was to look all around my house. WHAT?

After a back and forth, she says I have to wait 24-48 hours cause that's the sellers policy. Meanwhile, I'm out $56 and no product, waited almost a month after ordering and now, Just keep waiting.

So I look online to see where I can leave a review for Amazon itself, I find all these complaints that Amazon is deleting reviews. WHAT?

I used to buy something every week from Amazon, no more. The customer service is terrible. June wasn't pleasant. She kept asking me the same question over and over. IT'S IN CHAT. You can relook at it. What the heck with their customer service.

No more. I'm done with this company.

Terrible, terrible experience with Amazon!

First, they ship me electronics, which arrive soaking wet. (literally water dripping out of the equipment)
Then they let me know that they will send me replacements, but I must please ship the damaged equipment back to them.

They do not pay for the return shipment upfront, that needs to come out of your pocket, you need to contact them to get a refund which they call a "good faith" refund.

Not only that but this package had to be shipped from a different damn continent to their refund facilities in USA. 12 days after sending the package back to them they start charging me on my credit card because they have not received the damaged goods.

Yes, you read that right. 12 days to ship almost across the globe, is a realistic time for Amazon.
This being said, Amazon took almost 2 months to ship the item to me, but they expect me to ship it back to them within 12 days?

I have fought with their support/customer care again and again to no avail. They just tell you that you will get your money back when they receive the package.

It has now been a month and a half due to US customs keeping the package for longer than expected, and of course, Amazon has randomly deducted large amounts of money from my bank account, without any notifications!

I need to pay interest on these amounts because it is coming off of my credit card!

I have had to take desperate measures and remove the account from my Amazon profile as well as keep it empty, otherwise, they continually deduct money.

This was my first time ever buying from Amazon, and I promise it will be my last.

I would advise any other person to avoid buying from this company. Had a better experience buying from wish, takealot honestly any other online shop.
I am guessing all the positive reviews about Amazon is just because the items arrived in one piece. If they were damaged, good luck.
You will sit with months of cr*p from this company.

Update:
After talking to Amazon associates numerous times and providing them with the EMS waybill, the parcel was finally returned to Amazon refunds department.

They emailed me saying they received the parcel and refunded me for 1 of the items out of the 4-5 that were sent back due to damages.

But wait... it gets better.
1 day after emailing me that they have received the items and refunded me, they once again took money from my account for no reason. No notice. And of course Amazon "associates" cannot give an answer, instead responded with: "Our special team will contact you within 2 days."

If you ordered from here and see random chunks of money missing from your bank account, I would highly suggest checking the history. Amazon is probably eating away without you knowing about it.

I ordered few items from my Amazon account with Amazon pay balance which was previously 4730/- and now it has become 3974/-
But my order was cancelled each

Time I order. Regarding same I contacted customer care and they assured me that after verification from accounts team my account will we unblock and I can

Operate my account as before.
Now I have received a mail from "*******@amazon.in" mentioning that my access to amazon account has been locked

Because my payment information was not confirmed. I was asked to fax my bank statement with my billing address to the particular fax number wich i found in

Google but not in the application.*******838)
I was asked to send bank statement with billing address, registered mail id, registered mobile no. I sent

All these details to mentioned fax no*******838)
But again after ordering new items, same thing that my account is on hold due to address verification has

Received. On reply of my mail. Amazon asked sent me mail "Our attempts to verify the billing address and card details for your order have been unsuccessful.

Please arrange for the issuing bank of this card to send this information to our secure fax line:
- The billing name and address associated with the card
-

The last 2 digits of the payment card"
These details with card statement was already sent to their fax.
So now I am left with no means to use my own Rs.

3974/- in Amazon account, since my account is locked and no way to contact the Amazon team which blocked my account.
This seems unlogical that how I can ask

My bank issuing authority to contact amazon uk and send them fax as required by Amazon.
Kindly unblock my account or refund my Amazon pay balance to

Respective bank account.

BEWARE OF AMAZON STEALING YOUR MONEY! Amazon will not replace any items or refund any purchases even when their customer service representative admits that the package was NOT delivered and was marked delivered incorrectly! And after they tell you that it's your loss they literally hang up in your face smh I have been a prime member for many years UNTIL NOW! Not only did I cancel prime but also audible because the interaction I just experienced was disgusting and inappropriate! Im pretty sure the majority of prime members have had atleast one package not show up, or had it delivered to the wrong address, and now Amazon will not correct their, or their drivers mistake, they will tell you it says delivered and that's too bad for you! Even when the driver coincidentally forgets to take the picture of the item when it's delivered and again even after the initial representative admits that the item was NOT delivered because the truck broke down and even when said conversation was on the chat and they have proof of the conversation! BTW the item was only a $6 box of masks! #scam #Amazon #thief #ripoff #share

Hi, I talk to Amazon 15 times a day but they won't help me
Amazon delivered my $1000 laptop to the wrong address. I have a security camera in my hand. In the tracking number, it is shown to be delivered at 12:38, but as you can see from the video, no product is delivered to this address at 12:38. I'm sending this video to amazon, they are not interested. And they tell me my conversation with Freight Forwarder. I did this. Freight Forwarder sent me a safety camera andand they sent a document stating that they did not receive this product. I add documents and security camera records here. I want an investigation to be opened, they don't do that. Me and 40 customers are experiencing this situation. September 6, the product was not delivered to this address at this time. They send me the freight forwarder policy. It's ridiculous that they sent me this policy because this product was not delivered to this address, it was delivered to the wrong address. If it was delivered to right address yes amazon policy is telling the truth. I do not know what to do. I can't upload pictures here so I will upload them to a different address
In my opnion the courier knew the freight forwarder policy. Amazon will not open an inquiry because this item will be sent to the freight forwarder address. That's why he stole all his products. Because more than 40 people like me are experiencing this situation.
https://imgyukle.com/i/nq9tpp
https://imgyukle.com/i/nq9lu6
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jyNclnXhSXWj5wzp_nn-8qEJdUN2ev2F/view

Have you ever been asked Amazon to return heavy product by yourself and you will get refund for courior and product?
Don't do that.

Well I buy product from Amazon because I of their name, not a because of seller,
In case where we send back heavy product of 40 kg spending 1600 rs, and don't get refund for product and courior charges. Just because their seller is not responding, and even seller has confirmed that he has received product.

Well I have no words to describe how badly I am disappointed with Amazon, I will think hundred times to think before buying from Amazon.
I bought gym equipments, and I was not happy with product, so I requested for return and did not get response from Amazon for 10 days, then I contacted so they said I need to ship product myself( which is of 40 kg weight) and I will get refund for courior charges too.
I sent product back, got email from Amazon too that refund will be processed soon after it got delivered on 30 july to seller.

Since then I am contacting customer service and getting time frame of 2 days 3 days and again same.
Last time I contacted an agent so he promised me of 1 week anyhow. And refund will be processed.
Again one more agent when I called said 2 days maximum. Again and again.

Thank you for giving me this experience. I don't know seller, if he is not responding you, I bought it because of your trust,

Order number:- **************716

Deepak

#amazon #onlineshopping #scammersALERT #amazonsale #amazondeals #AmazonCustomer #amazoncheat

The banerji protocols, A new Method of treatments with Homeopathic Medicines is in very good condition and the book was shipped fast!

I have not been refunded for two items that I returned to Amazon nor have I received any status or updates of my refund. I was sent a email informing me that I I never returned anything. I found that funny because I have my receipt. I spoke with live chat associates and each one tells me something different. Therefore confusing me even more. The chat associates all would tell me their team was working on the matter. I did not receive one email nor did anyone contact me to inform me of my refund. I felt like it was some fraudulent activity going on and true enough it was. I kept getting disconnected and each associate would click off mid conversation when discovering it was me. The Amazon associates kept giving me the run around. There was a chat associate by the name of Poonam who was very disrespectful and nasty towards me. I informed he or she of the matter ( refund) and he or she approached me in a very rude and annoyed manner. Poonam told me I have already been contacting Amazon for about two weeks now. Who wouldn't check on their refund it's my money! I don't have it to waste. We're in a pandemic for petes sake. The chat associate Poonam then became even more disrespectful when I said you do not have to talk to customers in a rude manner. I'm a very calm person but I do not like to be disrespected when I am being nothing but kind. Poonam provoked me and I reacted. I said I would report he or she and Poonam told me to go ahead. Poonam then messaged me Lol I still wouldn't be refunded. Very unprofessional. Someone definitely is looking into the matter. I thought I'd share the picture below. Please be careful of Amazon.

Amazon order number: **************855.
Macys order number: *******161. For those who wish to research the validity of this review. I was expecting a shipment from both Macy's and Amazon.com on the same date on about the 15th of March 2017. I received emails that the items we're delivered but upon getting home from work nothing was on the porch as they usually are and I've been a frequent customer to both companies for years. I immediately called both and both Macy's and Amazon seemed to understand and show interest in helping however Macy's customer service must be in Vietnam because I could barely understand them. They both told me I'd be issued a refund so I'm happy at this point. However at 8pm on this same date the items from Macys showed up on the porch and several days later at about the same time the item from Amazon showed up. Obviously a delivery error because the UPS info noted left with lady but no lady lives at my address. Although unsure where it was left they we're honest enough to return it to me. I called both Macy's and Amazon immediately to correct the credits and here's what I found. Amazon actually was truthful and issued the refund while Macy's showed no record of any refund and days later sent me a letter saying because of the shipper note (left with lady) they we're unable to issue a refund. Good thing this mysterious lady that they spoke of at an unknown address and no signature was honest. My point is it's good to know if there is a problem Amazon is willing to help while Macy's on the other hand will not be getting anymore orders simply because they chose to blame the customer for the shipping error. I'm sure no one at Macys even thought to check my order history and see the thousands of dollars I've spent there over the years. Sorry Macys. Youre done until you care for customer. I'd rather shop Amazon now.

AMAZON HAS GONE TO BLACKMAIL MARKETING YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR PRIME TO GET FREE SHIPPING NO MORE ANYTHING OVER $25.00ORDES YOU GET FREE SHIPPING. I WENT TO EBAY OR TEMU AND SAVED $12.00 SAME EXACT ITEM.

I believe that the AMAZON world is overrated without a doubt. I was more or less satisfied with the service, even "the nightmare" that I had to live this summer with the purchase of a fan... absolutely crazy. I spent a month receiving email from a manufacturer to whom the fan was supposedly selling to AMAZON, offering me discounts, each email was going up 5%, so that it did not return the item, which previously to AMAZON indicated that it did not meet the operating expectations indicated in his page... and I lost the account, but I think he sent me more than 15 emails... come on, what was said... nonsense.

I think that the AMAZON customer service department leaves a lot to be desired, rather they are somewhat ineffective, not very decisive and in the end it does not seem that they have cared to lose several clients, since in my AMAZON account we bought several members of my family.

And I have to say that there IS LIFE beyond AMAZON. A very high percentage of items can be found in EL CORTE INGLÉS (www.elcorteingles.com) or in neighborhood stores, and there you always have the guarantee of touching it, seeing it, smelling it, etc... before buying, and in many cases if you know how to search you save the Shipping cost and in the end it comes out better than in AMAZON.

Checked, it has been since September that I unsubscribed and no problem.

My recommendation... search on Google and it will give you other equally valid options, and in many cases BETTER than in AMAZON.

Business is the one of the most suitable work of many people. I will increase in humen bieng socity, it helps to making too much mony.