All Engines Go NEWS

Yes, that is definitely at least one of the reasons for such a business strategy. But that, in the eyes of some consumers, is simply wrong. For example, they didn't make me want to buy a certain new product (because that desire already exists!); instead, they caused me frustration, because I can't do it.

In addition, some important areas have been completely neglected. European Amazons do not even have a third of the Thomas & Friends range of the American Amazon. I ordered my Loop & Maintenance set on June 10th on German Amazon: it arrived just this morning, after more than three months, because German Amazon simply didn't get it in sufficient quantities. I complained, and they kindly replied to me from amazon.de:

I have checked your "Thomas & Friends HJY30 Train Set" is still out of stock, we have not received it from the supplier yet. When you placed this order, there were few train sets still available and our system allowed you to proceed with the order. However, more customers have ordered this item at the same time, and after the order is placed, if the system cannot choose a warehouse the product should be sent from, it means that it is actually out of stock and that others have already reserved it.

Your order is still active, as soon as we receive the train set from the supplier, we will send it to you immediately. Since you have placed the order on June 10, you will have priority in this case. I know you have been waiting almost three months and I apologize for this, if you wish to proceed with item cancellation, please inform us about it. In case you decide to wait longer, we can simply leave the order as it is. You can simply cancel it whenever you want without consequences if you manage to find it outside of Amazon.

Once again, I sincerely apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused you.

So it is clear: not only do they cause frustration in customers, but they also put their business partners, such as Amazon, in an uncomfortable position, because they have to apologize to customers due to Mattel's bad business policy.