I feel I’ve been absolutely scammed by Amazon. Do not buy anything expensive from them!

[FireAdvice]

I’ve certainly learnt a lesson from this experience and won’t buy anything expensive especially not an electrical item from them again.

bought an expensive dualit toaster and it didn’t work. They said I could return it, but I’d binned the toaster box . I sent it back, at the post office the woman there even had to open my box to check there was a toaster in there which she did and signed to say she’d done it. My refund came through.

a while later I had an email saying they’d not got my return. I rang them, the bloke apologised and said it was a mistake and not to worry.

then two weeks ago I had an email saying I’d sent them a different toaster back and they charged my debit card for the full amount of the toaster. Customer services are not allowed to talk to me about this on the phone or the chat. I can only deal with the specialist team by email. I’ve replied to the email as instructed was told I’d have a response in 72 hours and nothing. Customer services say they’d can’t escalate it.

ive responded to the email 4x now and still no response. I’m tweeting them and they just repeatedly tell me to respond to the email. I keep telling them that I do but nobody replies.

its like dealing with some rogue trader scam artist. They got my return, but are adamant I sent them a different toaster back which is blatantly not true. But how do I prove it? I have a video of the toaster not working so why would I keep a faulty toaster.

my brother had a similar issue where he ordered an expensive Lego set and in the box it was dirty, mixed Lego….not the set he’d ordered. He couldn’t prove that either. Loads of stories online of people order iPhones, etc and getting bags of icing sugar. They never get their money back, they get treated like they’re the ones trying to defraud Amazon. some people have even being barred from Amazon.

I’ll use John Lewis from now on, or Curry’s for electrical stuff. Just not worth the risk. I don’t think I’ll ever get the money back.

So sorry to hear about your bad experience OP 😞

My DH wisely says he doesn't trust or like Amazon so tells me never to use them. I think he might be right 😢

Thanks. I have managed to talk to a person previously but they say they’re not allowed to discuss it with me 🤷🏻‍♀️

Contact your bank, report the re-charge as a fraudulent transaction

I received a leaking bottle of stuff and they gave me the run a round.
Will not be using Amazon again.
Not trustworthy IMO.

Really? I use Amazon a lot and anything I've ever wanted to return has been processed quickly and refunded as soon as they receive it. Quite frequently, if it's a small item, they don't even need it returned and just refund you.

You are protected if an item is not fit for purpose within 6 months of purchase by the Consumer Rights Act, so if you still can't get a refund for this then contact Trading Standards.

It was Amazon who refunded us in full. But it was an uphill battle and many many phonecalls.

The majority of these issues would exist if people took a little more responsibility with their online behavior, where and how they shop.

I won't use Amazon on principle. Until they pay their full whack of corporation tax in the UK for UK trade, they don't get my money. I don't care how cheap their stuff is or how convenient, I'd rather go without. You can't whinge about COL whilst supporting organisations that have a direct impact on government finances (or lack thereof).

My DH says the same and that's one of the reasons he won't ever use them too.

You could try to threaten to take them to the small claims court?

Agree with this. I currently have a box for a kettle and also one for a pond pump sitting on top of the wardrobe. I flat pack the box and put it in a carrier bag, along with the original internal packaging and booklet etc. Takes up less space.

Sometimes they sit on top of the wardrobe or under the bed for a few months, then the next time I get the urge to have a clear out, they go into the recycling. Or if I need a box for something else I know where I can generally find one.

That would really 'P' me off. I've always had good customer service from Amazon tbf, once I ordered a strimmer that was supposed to come next day on prime and never turned up, they refunded me straight away. The strimmer turned up a few days later and they let me keep it for free.

Charge back is used on a debit card. S75 is available on items costing over £100 on a credit card. Interestingly paying a deposit of over £100 on a credit card covers you for the full purchase amount up to £30,000.

Market place is very dodgy. We lost £400 on an item stolen by the delivery guy. The customer service was an endless vortex of incompetence and hopelessness.

It was £54.00 on a Credit Card, which is Chargeback - not S75 as it's below the minimum of £100.

You are quite right, apologies. I hadn't heard of chargeback on a cc, good to know.

Contact your bank and do a chargeback!

I would have joined the chorus to say that I've always been totally impressed with the Amazon returns system. We buy most things from there, and our return rate is low.

However, I bought a Remarkable Paper Pro and case, £650 total. I tried it for a few days, and realised that although it was lovely, I wasn't going to use it enough to justify £650. So I opted for return. I had all the packaging and carefully repackaged it, then posted it.

Normally, refunds register with our Alexa within hours. But the return portal gave an estimate of a week's time. I thought it must be because it was expensive. One part of the return screen said they were still waiting for it, another said it had been returned but they were still processing it. I phoned after a few days, then a few days after that. The return window kept stretching. Then it said 'return failed'.

I used live chat, and immediately a man apologised, and said he'd process my refund. I asked for email confirmation and eventually got it.

Then, I got an email warning me that they had investigated our accounts and our return levels were too high, and that they could stop selling to us. They listed the Paper Pro, its case, and two items I had returned almost a year ago.

I was going to do a spreadsheet of all our purchases and work out the return rate, etc. But a bit of googling suggested it was pointless. They don't care and they don't respond, but if you refute it, they just shut the account.

Sorry if this has already been suggested (I’ve not read the full thread) but try forwarding your email to Jeff Bezos, you can find his email address online. It’s not him that actually answers it obviously(!) but it does put you through to a senior complaints team.

I've bought several high value items from Amazon directly (computers, a very large and expensive monitor, power tools, a UPS, binoculars, cameras, garden equipment) and even when I've had problems and had to return them I've been impressed with how accommodating they were.

A friend of mine bought a 17" Windows Vista laptop (against my advice re:Vista, re:17") and then attempted to install Windows 7 (against my advice) - he screwed up as he didn't really know what he was doing and even I couldn't sort his machine out - I recommended he write to them, tell them what he had done and they told him to send it back - they were absolutely fine about it.

I've recently returned an Oral B electric toothbrush that was positively agricultural compared to the Philips Sonicare I'd previously had - I can't fault them on returns and I've been a customer since they started in the UK back in 1998.

Edit: I just John Lewis quite a bit and Richer Sounds, e.g. for a 55" Sony TV and a Ruark R2 internet radio - they have been 6 years cover on the TV, JL only gave 5 years so Amazon isn't always the best for everything. I've had 3 microwaves and a fridge freezer from JL and they handled a warranty claim very well on the microwave that failed just inside the 3 years of cover they gave on it.

Stick with it, you've been unlucky so far, my guess is that it will be sorted out eventually - frustrating as it is.

I don't buy anything off amazon, but books.

I've never had a problem in 25 years of being an Amazon customer - I mean I've had the odd thing go wrong I can count on one hand, but so quickly resolved.

I’ve bought a MacBook Pro and a few other laptops from Amazon and never had an issue. But I always make sure it’s sold by Amazon.

People always say Amazon is really good with refunds but I bought an iPad on there and it claimed to have a years warranty and they would refund within a year if any faults, if was part of their guarantee, after a few months it wouldnt turn on, I contacted Amazon and they point blank refused to refund me, I spent months arguing with them for a refund, it took me about 4 months to get my money back and it wasn’t a cheap item.

I’ve done this twice. The first time being over a week ago and again yesterday. Still no response.