Do Amazon ever actually refuse a refund?!

[RottingInBed]

I saw a TikTok where someone pretending to be an Amazon customer service rep was like "oh someone swiped the Peleton Bike and IpadPro from your doorstep, we'll send a replacement AND A full refund".

And yeah, I've only ever had to complain about a couple of small-value items being crap and they've always just refunded without making me even return them.

Do you reckon they have data in front of them on how much you spend and how many refunds you request?

I thought for large value items you have to give a code to the courier to accept it and that shows proof of delivery to the correct person

Yes you do. I also think they look at what you spend and how much you return.

I got a refund recently for a £30 box of washing powder that just never arrived. It took nearly a month of calling amazon repeatedly. They always tried to fob me off with 'filling in an online complaint form' which always resulted in a generic 'your product will be with you in a few days' email then no further action. Anyway I did eventually get my money back but I had to be really assertive, ask to speak to the manager, point blank refuse to fill out another form etc etc. It was really hard but I got there!

It's much more faffy than it used to be. I had a candle delivered recently that was badly packed and smashed, it was lucky the postie didn't get hurt and that he forewarned me so I could open it carefully. In the past I'd have ticked an 'item arrived broken' box and been issued a refund. This time, Amazon's bot wanted me to return it which I wasn't prepared to do - what sort of fool sends broken glass through the post! - and it took forever to eventually get through to a human to sort it.

I've never had issues getting refunds either for non arrivals of orders or for damaged items. But I don't take the piss, and only complain when I have a genuine problem. I had to call them recently regarding a damaged multipack of cat food and the guy on the phone couldn't have been more helpful

I find this very surprising. I've had numerous refunds from Amazon (for varying amounts) and have never been asked to fill out a complaints form. I find Amazon very good to deal with and quick to refund and they often don't require the item sent back.

@INeedToClingToSomething they called it an 'online evaluation form' but it basically had questions like what's the problem etc. I filled out 5 or 6 of the bloody things! Was so annoying as nothing ever came of them and I was sent round in circles so many times. And that's the first time I've ever asked for a refund from them so definitely don't 'take the piss' as a pp said.

I think Amazon are tightening their systems up due to the number of people who abuse it. Online shoplifting!

And yes, they do keep a record of the number of times you complain, I know of a couple of people who have had their accounts cancelled due to it.

I've never had any refusals but it's always been for faulty or incorrect low value items. I have idly wondered whether there's a limit under which it's deemed more economical to just refund rather than go into checking a return

Amazon recently contacted me to give me a refund for an item that hadn’t been delivered. I hadn’t had the chance to contact them! I’ve had a couple of cheap items where they gave me a refund but told me not to return the item. I’m sure they have records of what I have bought,what I have returned and how many times I have contacted them.

I've only ever requested a refund for a handful of faulty items in around 18 years of using Amazon and they've definitely gotten much worse. Demanding that items are sent back despite being unusable and rude customer service (I'm never rude to staff, it's pointless). Previously they would have just refunded the items. Also in days gone by, they would refund the cost of your order if they didn't deliver your items quickly if you paid for Prime, now you'd be lucky to get an apology if you query where your order is days after the expected delivery date.

They've definitely gone for what I've heard described as shitification. They gain your loyalty with low prices and excellent customer service, and then over the years kill off the competitors and offer an increasingly worse and worse service year on year whilst no longer being competitive on price. I'd love to stop using them altogether, but I live in the sticks and it's too convenient.

Yes.

Bought a dozen bottles of cider. They all arrived on the expiry date. Refund refused.

Customer service has definitely got a LOT worse. I had terrible problems logging into my account recently as my phone died and I couldn’t do the two step verification as I had problems porting my number to my new phone. I spent hours on the phone to them and they just passed me back and forth. Didn’t give a shit. Quite rude. After all the years of ordering from them I was disgusted. It really really stressed me out as I was trying to return something quite expensive . The trouble is they have made themselves indispensable. I would go elsewhere otherwise. Hardly any department stores left, no hardware shops. Where else do you go?

Also a lot of their products these days are just terrible quality . Made in China in sweatshops most probably.

It has got more difficult and getting speak to somebody real on the phone is really hard. I recently received a completely different food item to my order, I couldn't use the refund button as it was disabled due to it being a food item, the online help didn't help and directed me to a phone number which was an audio chatbot which directed me to the online help....... Eventually worked out you had to download the phone App and use the help on that and eventually a real person would call you. They did refund "on this occasion" which made me feel like I had done something wrong which I must never do again.

It's bizarre. I had a parcel left outside that was ripped open and some of the things taken. I had taken a photo, and they just refunded without me uploading it or giving any evidence at all!

But then a pair of slippers for my DGM that didn't fit (surely a common cause of item returns?) was much more complicated.

Yes they do, my best friend had her account closed over sending too my items back to Amazon. Despite the items having obvious faults - eg. Glass broken, item was used and wrong item sent etc.
She was treated appallingly, she had an order cancelled which she used a gift voucher for and Amazon kept the balance of the voucher.

Generally I have no problems returning stuff. I do buy a fair amount from them though and am on prime.

I don't recall ever having anything lost or stolen/damaged. I have returned a few things that I thought were of poor quality or unsuitable, but it is certainly less than 5% of the things I have ordered from them.

My guess is they do look at how much you order from them and what your returns/damage claim is like vs. the amount of stuff you have delivered when considering how easy they make it to refund. After all, they wouldn't be a great business for making profits if for example they continually shipped stuff to people who claimed they didn't get it and just kept on shipping out more and more stuff.

Whenever there is an opportunity to take the piss the piss takers will emerge. Or in more polite terms, nature abhors a vacuum.

This is the problem, they've killed off the high street so we are dependent on them and they no longer have to sweet talk us into using them so give shit customer service.

I always try and get things elsewhere if possible although it is tempting when they are cheaper and quick. We've only got ourselves to blame though when there is no competition and they up their prices, start charging for postage and returns and there's nowhere else left to go...

Yes they do, I bought a refurbished iPad that had a years guarantee, it stopped working after a few months wouldn't charge but Amazon wouldn't refund me even though they said it was covered for a year, it was a nightmare to get a refund took me at least 4 months and threatening a small claims court

Thanks for your experiences everyone. Yes you have to be quite persistent to get through to an actual adviser (I use the online chat system rather than the phone).

Agree that we pay for the convenience and low prices one way or another!

Over the years I've had a few refunds from Amazon sometimes they want things sent back and others they don't.
Was asked to send back a £5.99 item but told to keep a £80 item.

I think it’s very hit and miss. I’ve had refunded actioned the same day for returns that I’ve literally just dropped off at evri shop so they couldn’t have possibly known what was inside the parcel I’d returned 😳🤣 - could have returned a wrapped up brick for a £45 item… and other times I’ve been sent what almost feels like theatening emails for daring to return a Kindle book I clicked on and purchased by accident!

I think it depends who the retailer is. Also the staff in general seem very poorly trained, so maybe it just depends who deals with that particular return.