Amazon consumer issue, heads up PSA

[SunnyOne]

I've run into an issue significant enough that I feel it should be discussed for others as a warning.
I've been having a heck of a time for the past few months with Amazon.
Some returns I made, their site shows they received and credited me, but the refunds never made it to my credit card.
I call them, they acknowledge the error, promise to rectify in 3-5 business days, it never happens, I call again, same thing....clearly they have no intent
to make good - to issue the refunds - this was going on over a month's timeframe.
Before contacting my bank, I turned to the AmazonPrime group on Reddit - lots of people claiming the same problems.
Some got their banks to issue chargebacks because they got tired of waiting - and Amazon rewarded their long term customer loyalty by banning their accounts permanently for doing this.
Apparently, Amazon is too big to fail.
I am planning to cancel Prime and to stop using Amazon for purchases.
I don't want my account banned because sometimes they are handy for items not found elsewhere - AND I would only go this route for small dollar items that if they don't work and are returned/not returned, I am not burned by not getting a refund.

Anyway, some may want to review their accounts to see if their refunds have come through, it they are due any.
What you do after that, if they are missing, is up to you, but putting the word out.
Good luck. PS/some also report getting warnings if they leave negative product reviews.

 

[aja8888]

I have all my refunds credited to my Amazon gift card balance and then use the funds off the card for additional purchases. I really don't refund a lot of stuff as I only use Amazon for a minimal amount of things. If I can get the same thing locally for the same price, I go that route.

But thanks for the heads up!

 

[euro]

Sounds like OP tends to return a fair number of purchases, so this could be a serious issue. I probably return less than 0.5% of orders, so maybe one a year and so far, I have not had any issues with the refunds.

 

[Walt34]

Thanks for the heads up. I myself have not run into that issue but then I only return something about once every two or three years.

 

[braumeister]

I buy a ton of things on Amazon but have only returned a handful over the many years I've used them. All were processed promptly.
I have read here and there that many retailers, not just Amazon, have tightened up their return policies in recent years for folks who return a lot of things.

 

[SunnyOne]

well yeah, to go back to the early days of the internet, YMMV.
But some of us live far from retailers or run home based businesses or whatever.
My post was intended for those people or similarly situated.
I like the idea of just retaining a small credit balance and not dealing with my credit card for occasional purchases. Time to make a change.

 

[marko]

I get an Amazon delivery almost every day for something. The few times I've had to make a return, I've been given the option of a credit card credit or a credit to my Amazon account. Because I buy so much, I take the account credit, get it immediately and use it within days.

 

[jollystomper]

In our experience, Amazon has been one of the easiest companies to deal with when a problem occurs with an order. We have never had a refund issue. Sometimes they have even told us "we will send you a replacement, keep what you have as a gift from us". We have packages delivered to the wrong address and never show up, and packages that came empty, and those things were always resolved within a few days.

Maybe the treatment is tied to the frequency one requests refunds in relation to ones orders, and the reason one is requesting a refund. I am too lazy to go through our data right now, But I think on my Prime account I had done maybe 20 returns this year, maybe a dozen of them were not a product defect, against about 100 orders that totaled about 150 or so items.

I can understand a company adding extra scrutiny to a customer who does frequent returns when the issue is not a broken/defective product, particularly when they have a generous refund policy.

 

[SunnyOne]

The treatment is related to new policies and practices at Amazon. Feel free to read the Reddit forum if you're interested in some surprises. lol. I posted to provide notice, to perhaps help others, not to have something negative implied about my own consumer practices.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I haven't had a problem with my few returns but is it possible that you may have selected to have the credit put on an Amazon gift card, I think it may have even been the default on my last 3 returns and I'm fine with that. You might want to go to your account and find Gift cards and see if the cash is there. It would certainly make sense for Amazon to cancel accounts if in fact they had refunded the amount to the gift card balance and then got a charge back on the the original balance.

 

[jollystomper]

The treatment is related to new policies and practices at Amazon. Feel free to read the Reddit forum if you're interested in some surprises. lol.

Not sure what you mean by "new policies and practices". I have not seen any change in policy from our most recent returns in the last week or so. We always choose to get the credit back to the original source (usually credit card but a few times to gift card when that was the purchase method used). Though their policy states on the webpage "it may take up to 7 days for credit", we always get it the same day the return is scanned at our local UPS where we return the item. Maybe because we use the Amazon Prime Visa card is why we do not have the stated issues?

 

[Dean56]

Not sure what you mean by "new policies and practices". I have not seen any change in policy from our most recent returns in the last week or so. We always choose to get the credit back to the original source (usually credit card but a few times to gift card when that was the purchase method used). Though their policy states on the webpage "it may take up to 7 days for credit", we always get it the same day the return is scanned at our local UPS where we return the item. Maybe because we use the Amazon Prime Visa card is why we do not have the stated issues?

I also use my Amazon Visa for every single purchase. I have never had a problem getting a credit for a returned item. Amazon has been great.

 

[audreyh1]

We do track all our Amazon returns. We do order a lot and occasionally return an item, several this year. But we have gotten all our refunds. It can take a while if the return goes through a store that ships returns to Amazon in bulk, but we have eventually gotten those. So far so good.

 

[Jerry1]

I’ve done just a few returns. When I set up the return, I select the nearby UPS store to drop it off. When they scan the return QR code at UPS, Amazon considers the item received and issues me a refund. Never an issue. Though I will add that I’ve never returned anything that had enough value that they’d want to verify the product. Usually, my returns are clothing.

 

[audreyh1]

I’ve done just a few returns. When I set up the return, I select the nearby UPS store to drop it off. When they scan the return QR code at UPS, Amazon considers the item received and issues me a refund. Never an issue. Though I will add that I’ve never returned anything that had enough value that they’d want to verify the product. Usually, my returns are clothing.

I think one time using a UPS store the Amazon return took a very long time with a warning from Amazon that it hadn’t been returned, but they eventually got it. This was the Amazon bulk return, not the kind with a UPS label that you put on the return packet yourself and can track. These two return systems work differently.

 

[Retire2023]

I have had my first return issue with Amazon just in the last couple of weeks. I returned two items and received the refund for one, but not the other. I had two return tracking numbers from the USPS. They are only recognizing one of them.

 

[Calico]

I place approximately 100 orders a year with Amazon (which comes to many more than 100 items) and I probably return about 4 items per year. I always have them refund the (non-Amazon) credit card that I used to pay for the order. I drop returns at the UPS shipping store, and by the time I get home, the refund has been applied to my credit card.

 

[tmm99]

I've just counted. My return rate is close to 8% out of about 280 orders this year so far (cost-wise). The return rate is quite high this year, as I ordered a bunch of shoes and clothes that didn't fit and I kept on ordering different sizes, plus one pickleball paddle which was on the high end (It would have been more like 5% return rate without the paddle.) I didn't even have one return until the end of May, so all the returns have happened in the 5-month timeframe.

I hope I won't get one of those nasty warning emails from them, as I rely heavily on Amazon for my shopping needs. (Over $7,000 USD worth of purchases so far this year (minus the returns))

 

[Hyper]

We're very remote so have no choice to use online shopping.
Heck we only get USPS three times a week!
UPS is pretty good but horribly expensive.
FedEx cheaper but sucks REALLY bad as they won't deliver until they have a full truck load then write down customer not available when contacted (or something close to that)
We return very little so not many issues!
I do believe shipping from a third party has gotten worse so we always try to stay with shipped from Amazon

 

[sengsational]

It's pretty obvious that Amazon wants you to believe that returning something is easy and reliable. If you pay close attention, some things mention return policy and other things are mum. I presume if people are reporting a problem with a return, it's not one of those categories of goods that isn't returnable or requires extra steps.

Big companies work great if you are doing something they've got procedures for, and all the data aligns with the procedure. Thankfully, I have not fallen through the cracks at Amazon. But if there's a bit not flipped somewhere in your situation that doesn't align, and you need a real person with real authority to fix it, that's when you find out if the company is customer centered or not.

 

[jfn111]

We return items at least 2-3 times per year. Always use the free Kohls return and have the refund credited to our Amazon account.
Never had a problem.

 

[RetiredHappy]

I order a ton of stuff from Amazon all week long and have occasionally returned items. Refunds were always issued to me in a timely manner.

 

[Rianne]

I live less than 5 minutes from a UPS store and return Amazon purchases there. My refund shows up quickly after I receive the return receipt, but I typically have the return back to a gift card for future purchases. Never an issue.

 

[Sunset]

Haven't noticed any return issues with Amazon, but rarely return anything.

I have noticed past few months that delivery has developed problems, before they would deliver too soon sometimes (early), which is a problem when porch pirates are around.

Now, some things are super delayed, even reported as possibly lost.. I can only think those things were hit by the hurricanes and are never going to show up.

 

[Hyper]

Haven't noticed any return issues with Amazon, but rarely return anything.

I have noticed past few months that delivery has developed problems, before they would deliver too soon sometimes (early), which is a problem when porch pirates are around.

Now, some things are super delayed, even reported as possibly lost.. I can only think those things were hit by the hurricanes and are never going to show up.

IDK. Shipping has gotten to at least 10 days from Amazon since Covid for us