Response from amazon...

[sleigh]

Here's the response I received from my letter of outrage to amazon:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Amazon.com.

This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.

It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles - in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon's main product search.

Many books have now been fixed and we're in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.

Thanks for contacting us. We hope to see you again soon.


Sincerely,

Customer Service Department
Amazon.com

*******

I like "embarrassing and ham-fisted" -- that's an understatement if I ever heard one. But I'd still like to know how it happened, and how it that amazon's system could allow something like this to cascade.

Comments

Amazon

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there a zillion ways this kind of thing could happen. But one thing I'm sure of: Amazon would much rather this issue stay well below the radar.

B

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

Here's one explanation: http://blog.seattlepi.com/amazon/archives/166329.asp?source=mypi

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

That's the correct note for them to send, and "embarrassing and ham-fisted" is exactly the right wording. It says they know something bad happened, they're not happy about it, they agree they should have seen it coming, and they are going to make damn sure it doesn't happen again.

[daedala.livejournal.com]

I like the "embarrassing and ham-fisted part." However, I think that the paragraph that starts "It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles..." is an attempt to make it the fault of those hysterical queers. See, we messed up other books too! But that was documented as well, and elides the fact that they clearly associated queerness with sex (and not, say, ordinary life) and acted on that basis.

I think that putting all books about sex in the "adult" category is problematic, but that putting all books about gays & lesbians in the "adult" category is another order of problem altogether.