lesson #47, how to order on amazon

Every day since I arrived, I've been working with my mom on her texting skills. 

And every day when we sit down for our lesson, it's as if the previous day's lesson never happened.

But she is getting better. A few texts have even been sent successfully.

I think my mom may be ready for online shopping.

At first she resists. "I can just call and order anything I need," she says.

It takes a lot of convincing, but I keep stressing how easy it is. And finally, my mom gives in.

Today she pulls up a chair next to me in the sunroom. Our first lesson will be ordering a gift card for a new baby. I tell her that it's a little bit more complicated than a product order, but still very simple.

I set her up with an Amazon account, and store her credit card information.

I go through the steps of ordering a gift card, explaining each one as I go.

Once she's decided on the amount, chosen the design, and written the gift card note, we review everything. It's perfect.

"Okay," I say. "Now all you have to do is click on the box that says Add To Card.

"This is by far the easiest part of the whole transaction," I say.

I click on Add to Cart.

Nothing happens.

I try again from the beginning. And still nothing.

Buy Now doesn't work either.

So I try a test.  I add some random product. I hit Add to Cart and my mom's shopping card instantly shows the number 1.

Hmmm. So why can't I add a gift card?

I call Amazon. The nice Indian woman I speak to is of zero help.

I ask for her supervisor. And wait.

By now, my mom has lost the small amount of interest she once had.

She leaves me and goes into the kitchen.

About fifteen minutes later the Amazon supervisor picks up.

He asks me to enter the info again.

I do.  Still nothing.

I am now about 30 minutes into the call when I hear my mom yell from the kitchen, "Forget it. I'll just send a check."

But I'm determined, and ignore her suggestion.

I  re-enter all the same info again and suddenly I see a plus one in my mom's shopping cart.

The supervisor can offer no explanation beyond,  "It was probably just a glitch in the system." 

I won't attempt to explain that to my mom.

I just hope she'll give Amazon shopping another chance.

Because it really is easy.  Most of the time.

I'm saving Instagram for next year.