Jeff Bezos’ former No. 2 said he still plans to send an email to his old team at Amazon any time he notices a ‘defect’

• Jeff Bezos' former No. 2, Jeff Wilke, says he's still paying close attention to customer service.
• "The team knows any time there's a defect, I'm going to send an email," he told dot.LA.
• Wilke oversaw Amazon's consumer business before stepping down earlier this year.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Jeff Wilke may no longer be one of the most powerful executives at Amazon, but that doesn't mean his standards for Amazon's customer service have relaxed.

Wilke, who oversaw Amazon's global consumer retail business and worked at the company for over 21 years, told Los Angeles tech and startups publication dot.LA in a recent interview that despite his departure from Amazon, he's still paying close attention when, say, a package doesn't arrive on time – and his former employees are going to hear about it.

"I mean, the team knows any time there's a defect, I'm going to send an email and that's not going to change," Wilke said.

Wilke announced last August that he would be stepping down from his role as CEO of worldwide consumer in early 2021 in order to "explore personal interests that have taken a back seat for over two decades," he wrote in a letter to employees. He's recently been angel investing in a range of shipping, manufacturing, and biotech startups, according to dot.LA.

Dave Clark, Amazon's former senior vice president of worldwide operations, replaced Wilke as Amazon's consumer chief.

Read more: Executives who work for Amazon's logistics kingpin Dave Clark become 'Dave whisperers' to avoid directly speaking to the brash boss

Wilke had long been considered the second-most-important person at the company, and, along with Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy, reported directly to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and was part of Bezos' elite "S-team."

Wilke left Amazon before the end of the first quarter, retiring with roughly $158 million in Amazon shares.

Since his departure, Bezos has also announced that he plans to step down from his role as CEO this year, with Jassy taking his place. Wilke told dot.LA that he had "never really thought about" whether he'd be picked as the next CEO of Amazon because he "always imagined Jeff doing it forever."

When asked if he was surprised when Bezos announced his departure, Wilke responded, simply, "Yes."