AIBU to be shocked at this from Amazon?

[Pippinsdiary]

Just to say, I’m not complaining

I ordered a big order of Christmas presents a few weeks ago just over £100 and it was left on my door step and one of the items for £15 had a damaged soggy box which was going to be present so I contracted costumer services to ask for a replacement/return for only this 1 item and they refunded the WHOLE order and replaced my item, gob smacked.

last week I ordered a spare breast pump but then I managed to borrow one from my local feeding team so requested a return last night and they said refund complete, no need to return. The pump is sealed in the box, why on earth wouldn’t they want me to return it? It’s £70

Do they just have so much money it doesn’t matter?

We live on a fairly busy road and despite delivery driver saying handed to resident what that actually translates to is “thrown over the gate.” We had so many parcels going missing that in the end I had an email from Amazon basically saying they did t believe me. I cancelled my Prime membership as thought this was appalling customer service.

Can you donate it via your HV or similar for someone who can’t afford to spend that much?

I've always found their customer service to be excellent. Sometimes quite generous but I'm a good customer....

Amazon basically offers every customer this as a one-off, but if it becomes a repeat occurrence then they’ll stop and follow their normal protocols. I’m sure they track this per address too, so if someone has a lot of delivery issues then they’ll stop offering trust-based returns to other accounts at the same address eg just say the person closes that account and opens a new one.

Couldn't give a shiny shit tbh.

One of the pillars of Amazon Corporate is unrivalled customer service. For them they have to centre the customer in everything that they do. This is from warehouse to web design to everything. It’s in their ethos. Everything. You should never get bad customer service from Amazon.

Similar happened to me last week. Placed a large order (£140) for several items and some of the items were dispatched separately. One item was £69 and was dispatched via Royal Mail. It didn't turn up, although tracking said delivered but no photograph. I reported and Amazon said they'd refund the missing £69 item via original payment method. Later on I noticed they refunded the full £140 via Amazon gift voucher on my account. I called Amazon to advise them of their error but they weren't bothered. So I've effectively had £71 of stuff for free.

Same. I ordered something from Kenwoods appliances range worth £20. Assume the picker got the wrong box from the shelf and I got a £150 product. Contacted them and they sent me the £20 product and said don't worry about returning the incorrect product.

I would prefer less wastage from an environmental perspective and more of the money going towards tax paid into our system and their employees pay / benefits and consideration of those further down the production line in other countries that must be exploited in order for them to waste that much money.

If they can afford this much loss they're obviously making far too much in the first place.

Amazon sent me an email saying they were refunding me for items as the carrier indicated they didn’t deliver. The refund request was not precipitated by me as the carrier did deliver them in a timely matter. So I contacted them and said…I’m happy with the goods, I don’t need a refund. They ended up still processing the refund and said to keep the items. Very generous of them, but I was a bit shocked to be sure.

That’s my plan

I've just remembered this happened with a pair of boots back in Oct.

Ordered 2 pairs of leather knee highs in a 5 and a 6 for size check. I sent one pair back, the 6, as too big and they refunded me for both pairs.

I did the online chat thing to tell them and they were like .... yeah, lets just leave it as it is! It's ok!

Funny you should say this. My DH and I went out yesterday to the shops just for an hour, (1.30pm to 2.30pm,) and an Amazon package containing £200 worth of goods, including something electrical, was delivered. It wasn't due to be delivered until between Wednesday and Friday this week, (I only ordered it Friday afternoon!) so I didn't know it was coming. We had no internet and my phone signal was sketchy, because of the storms. So I didn't manage to see any messages saying it's due to be delivered on Sunday between midday and 2pm...

Nevertheless there is a sign on my door saying 'please pop any packages into the garage if no-one is in, or there is no answer.'

We got back in at 2:30pm and it had started raining at 2pm. I went to go for my daily walk at 3.20pm, and decided to switch on the outdoor Christmas lights before I went out. As I went to the garage to switch on the outside lights, I noticed down the side of the garage, my Amazon package - just stuck there on the gravel, with the rain pouring all over it. Had been raining over an hour and 15 minutes.

It was absolutely saturated. So much so that the box just fell apart when I picked it up. If I hadn't gone to stick the lights on, and it had been there all afternoon/ evening, everything inside it would have been completely ruined. There was brown packaging paper wrapped around the stuff inside and it had just started to get damp. I reckon another hour and everything would have been fucked. Electrical item, books, gifts, the lot.

It's reassuring to know I might have got my money back. But that should not have happened. I did tell him to leave it in the garage. It was unlocked, and yet he left the box on the footpath at the side. You couldn't see it from the front. It was covered by hedges, and it was only because I went to switch the Christmas lights on at 3.20pm, that the whole lot wasn't ruined!

.

Yeah I got something refunded yesterday without trouble. A lot of there returns go to a landfill, so they aren't worried about receiving the item.

@JasmineTea11 It's not op's @Pippinsdiary fault. She raised this issue, and thank her for that!
But you're right. It's over-consumerism that's destroying our environment and it needs to end.

I know I'm spectacularly missing the point of this thread, which is celebrating easiness over tricky, time-consuming admin, ( there was a good thread on this the other day), but it is really worth watching "Life and Death in the Warehouse". It is only 60 minutes, a Welsh drama but once watched, you won't forget it.
I think it's on iplayer. And whilst not naming names, it implies that the kind of behaviour that is shown in the drama, applies to the big online shops...
I've changed how I shop based on this drama.

But OP, I'm pleased your purchase was refunded, but, one has to ask, do Amazon have SO much money, it doesn't care, and replaces the whole order? And is this benefitting management? If you watch the drama, I would argue that it is indeed benefitting management and INCREASING the burden on the "pickers ".
Watch it!

I got a £49 order from them too, no need to return the disappointing item

AIBU to be extremely envious? I've (unusually) returned 3 things in the past fortnight, and definitely had to send the items back. The refunds do appear like lightning, though, it's still helpful - but not half as helpful as getting my shopping for free!

No but on the options where it asks you why you are returning it i have stated it’s unopened It won’t have been read by a human. There will be an algorithm that says “if a breast pump, food, knickers, toothbrush, don't ask for return”

Chinese companies selling through eBay often don’t require a return as it costs them more to pay for the shipping than the item actually cost.

It may be that the breast pump ultimately came from China; or it may be that as a intimate item it’s non returnable, but as it’s a no fault return - ie no longer useful for intended purpose - they don’t want it back as they can’t resell anyway.

Do they just have so much money it doesn’t matter?

Yes, basically.

A lot of stuff that gets returned doesn't even go back into stock to get resold.

I find the non returnable stuff annoying personally as you then have to dispose of them.

I had 2 jackets from a Chinese company they didn’t want back - so then I had to schlep to the charity shop. I got to keep a cheap Chinese shower stool missing assembly parts - I had to take that to the tip.

I’m glad it’s an item that I can pass on and it won’t go to waste

I got a refund for something I didn't even ask to return recently.

They don't care about refunding because a lot of the time it is not even them that is funding the refund, it is their sellers, some of which are small businesses. Easy for them - unhappy customer is usually made more than happy and Amazon don't lose out at all! In fact they potentially making their customer even more loyal. Small business owner who funded it.... nevermind, eh?!

This happened to me so many times (full refund and told to keep the item) that I get quite annoyed when I do have to return something in order to get a refund and I get even more annoyed if I have to pay for delivery of the returned item 😂
I think if it's an Amazon stock item (as opposed to an item from a seller's shop, like for ex. Amazon Mountain Warehouse) they are much more generous.
But yes, absolutely amazing when this happens. The best one was a gadget of £350, from their outlet, so it was reduced from the full price of £400 odd, missing one tiny attachment which I didn't need. They gave me a full refund and told me to keep it. This was 7 years ago and I still tell people about it!