I am in absolute shock. Today I received my first shipment of the Meow Mix Tender Favorites Poultry and Beef Variety Pack and was surprised to find only two boxes containing twelve servings each instead of the twelve UNITS of boxes I paid $34.98 for. Let me explain: as a longtime purchaser of Meow Mix Tender Favorites Poultry and Beef Variety Pack (with the twelve servings per box) at any price from $6 to $9, I was bowled over with the potential savings opportunity of ordering twelve boxes in bulk for a potential low cost of $3 per box. THAT would be the kind of savings that would make a commitment to a renewable order worthwhile.
Now I know differently. I did not save money. In truth, I was robbed of a grocery budget to the point that I will not be able to meet a stringent budget during the holiday season. I feel very much like the fool that anyone with sharper eyes has the right to call me. The marketing copy to entice me into this relationship was deliberately vague enough to create an aura of incredible savings. And, sure, my greed (the sort of greed a housekeeper has when they are trying to stretch a fixed budget over an expanding market of prices -a desperate greed indeed. The kind of greed that says "if I can save enough money here, perhaps I won't need to cut the needed money there") may have made me careless. But I am careless no more. This experience has not only resulted in my immediate cancellation of this order but also a possible re-evaluation of Amazon's whole "Subscribe and Save" model which was praised so loudly in the recent Fast Company article. And why? Because this is why: the level of absolute cynicism of the online vendor involved to sell something AT THREE TIMES the street market value of the highest-priced gourmet pet food store in one of the richest counties in America sells out the whole Amazon promise that it are here to help me--and others like me--save. It is not. It is here to help themselves.
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