I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. It is to the point now that if I order something from Amazon I do so with the mental calculation that (1) I assume I am going to get the product used and (2) if possible, I only order products that I do not need for immediate use because I know that I will be returning it for a new device. What really pissed me off was when they sent a used MacBook Pro 13 inch that was obviously not new (open box, computer was missing plastic, fingerprints on the screen, etc.). And if it is electronic and being shipped same day, I’d say 99% of these showed up in open boxes. Just this week I received a steam iron that I ordered same day and it was in an open box, water traces in the reservoir, etc. Sadly I needed to iron my clothes, so I just kept the iron.
I can only assume that they get away with this because people aren’t returning products. Amazon had the audacity to send an email asking me why I was returning so many items. And I blasted them.
Although I’m usually wary of buying stuff through amazon that’s not actually from amazon. Whenever it’s from a differnt seller, through amazon, it’s riskier.
That isn’t just used-- the screen is busted and it’s a first-generation Surface RT that was hot stinking useless garbage when it launched in 2012, not a Surface 4 Pro. No ambiguity here, this was fraud.
I don’t order anything that isn’t Prime delivery and fulfilled by Amazon (if not from Amazon). I should caveat this and say for non-electronics, I get these with no problem. But with electronics, I order with caution.
This is true. I’d long since stop ordering from them if that was not the case. I even returned a computer at day 31 of use and received something back from them.
Someone at the warehouse stole the surface pro 4 out of that box and replaced it with that shitty broken on. Amazon isn’t probably unboxing every package to double check it’s contents before it gets shipped, and I’m sure they’ll get you the proper product if you contact them. It’s shitty this happened, but blaming Amazon as an entity is kind of silly - some employee did this, and hopefully when you point it out they can track that person down and deal with it.
You joke, but white-label and imitation sex toys are another area that Amazon has serious problems with. Buying a sold-by Amazon product isn’t even always a solution since that product may have been binned together with the “same” product that was fulfilled by Amazon.
I’ve never had this happen to me and i buy a ton of stuff on amazon.
Amazon will 100% stand behind you (within reason) though.
I also do not buy expensive items through 3rd party sellers on amazon though. AMazon will stand behind you either way, but sometimes you have warranty problems and it just isn’t worth the hassle.
Wasn’t there something a while back where there was a big online stink somewhere because Amazon was “firing” customers who returned too many items? And I mean totally banning them so they could never shop there again or something along those lines.
And Amazon wasn’t saying where they were drawing the line. IIRC, it was different for everybody depending apparently on a variety of factors.
I’ve returned damaged items to them a few times (maybe 1 item in a hundred) over the years without any problems, but ever since I read about that, I kind of worried about it for a while. But then I stopped hearing about it, so maybe it’s not a thing anymore.
Not that I blame them, since I’m sure there are plenty of people that have abused their return policy. But yeah, if you’re having a whole string of legitimate returns due to receiving used items, it just caused me to wonder if that could eventually trigger a ban on their end. Which would totally suck, since for me, Amazon is almost a necessity these days.
My policy. I’ve bought a few things not Amazon fulfilled but they were cheap sub $20 stuff. Would never by something like a expensive computer that wasn’t directly from them even if they will support a return. Just don’t want to deal with the hassle and time.
I’m currently fighting with Amazon on this. I bought my son a refurb Samsung phone from Amazon for christmas, thinking that as a first kids phone a cheap refurb galaxy S5 would be a good deal . Decent phone, but not so expensive that I’d get upset when he inevitably broke it in the first year.
Phone arrived per schedule, and when I went to wrap it on the 24th I decided to open the box and insert the SIM/perform setup/charge it so he could be off and running the moment he opened his gift. To my surprise the box contained a charger, a backplate, a battery, and . . . no actual phone. Amazon customer support was a little disbelieving but did issue me a return authorization and even had UPS pick up the package. I thought they’d taken care of me but weeks later I have no refund and I suspect I’m going to have to pester support further.
I’m not going to buy any tech from Amazon.com in the future unless it’s actually sold by Amazon and not a third party.
A few years ago there were stories about Amazon limiting Kindle returns for some customers, possibly even outright bans, but IIRC the details of the case suggested the number of ebooks being returned suggested something fishy was going on. Don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone getting banned for physical returns. At this stage Amazon is ubiquitous enough for any number of urban legends to have sprung up about it. ;)
I’ve had a few scuffed Vine items from Amazon, but they’re freebies, so it’s not an issue. Had PLENTY of times when Amazon outright sent me the wrong item but never had an issue with returns. If anything I’ve had to rein in their support staff - once they wanted to credit me twice for an order that got “lost”, was replaced FOC, but which the delivery company then refused to deliver for some reason. (This is Northern Ireland so big name delivery companies on the UK mainland tend to sub-contract the local deliveries to smaller, grumpier companies here, which also makes online package tracking hit or miss.)
To be fair to Marketplace vendors - there’s a review system, so much like eBay, you need to check how long they’ve been around and what the recent reviews are like.
Just as a follow up, I did contact them and ask why my refund hadn’t gone through. They replied that they had received the package (duh, one of the other items in the package had been refunded) but were waiting to receive the phone. Well duh, that’s why I wanted a refund, because I NEVER GOT THE PHONE.
I got a bit upset at that, though luckily I was talking to them in chat so they probably couldn’t tell I was losing my cool. But once I started pushing they just fell back to “Okay, here’s an immediate full refund.” That rather startled me actually, because nothing in the conversation up to that point had made me believe I’d convinced them of my point. I think some algorithm in the customer service software just popped up a flag telling the rep “This is a long time customer with few returns/complaints, if he wants his money back just give it to him” or something. I was pleasantly surprised that when I pushed they just gave a refund without wanting any more info.
