Watch that Amazon checkout total!

[MacEachaidh]

Interesting experience I've just had with an order from Amazon.com - I'd be interested in hearing if anyone had encountered anything similar.

I assembled an order, then proceeded to checkout, and hesitated ... the total was quite a bit higher than I had calculated it as. Even more so, since it was giving the total in AUS$, and the figure was higher than the amount I'd calculated in US$.

There's an option there to see the exchange rate Amazon is using, and that was my first eyebrow-raising: Amazon's exchange rate is 5 cents in the US dollar less favourable for Australians than the official exchange rate. (Usury!!) I know, pretty much everyone tilts the exchange rate in their favour, but really, a 5% loading is a bit steep.

But there was still an error of about US$8 not accounted for. I jumped onto the live Customer Service chat, and spoke to someone who was (trying to be kind) somewhat numerically challenged, and would only tell me that there'd been "an error" of US$8.23. She couldn't explain what, or how, or why. All she really did do was keep urging me to place the order "right now", and promise that she'd "adjust it afterwards".

(The amount of $8.23 bears no clear relationship that I can find to the price of any of the items in my order, all of which were listed at the same price in the checkout as they had been on their item pages where I'd added them to my cart. How does Amazon's software miscalculate what should be a simple addition? And if I hadn't questioned the checkout total, would Amazon have simply pocketed the extra money and nothing more said?)

Anyway. I don't mean to be alarmist, but am I alone in thinking this is all a bit shonky?

Has anyone else had a strange pricing experience with Amazon?