Banned by Amazon for returning faulty goods

[Michael Browne]

AN AMAZON customer who returned 37 items over 15 years has been banned from the site and had his gift card balance taken away.

 

He insists there was a genuine reason for all his returns over the past two years – the goods were either faulty, damaged or not as described.

 

However, Amazon has refused to let him continue buying from the site without giving him, in his words, a “proper explanation”.

 

Amazon told Nelson that the money held on his account as a gift card balance is lost to him, as gift vouchers can only be used on the site and have no transferable value.

 

 

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/18/banned-by-amazon-returning-faulty-goods-blocked-credit-balance

[citizenB]

This is very worrying and I think that people who use Amazon should consider where they purchase in future.

 

 

 

Greg Nelson has bought 343 items from the online giant since 2014. But after sending 37 back he is now blocked from using it and can’t reclaim his credit balance

 

 

It is very wrong that they wont refund the balance of the gift vouchers because someone has already paid money up front for that !

[gregorious77]

I have restrictions on my ebay account as they say my wife abused the buyer protection after sending back only 3 items. they restricted my account for 90 days so I could sell only and now I still have no buyer protection so I cannot raise a claim at all. The would not explain why except they said I had similar buying trends so they couldnt rule out my wife owning both accounts. total load of rubbish. I have 100% positive feedback (391) since 2003 but this doesnt matter apparently.

When I buy it still tells me I am protected but if I try and raise a case it says "We're sorry there's an issue with this purchase. Unfortunately, you're no longer covered by eBay Money Back Guarantee"

[d123]

AN AMAZON customer who returned 37 items over 15 years has been banned from the site and had his gift card balance taken away.

 

The 37 returned items are since 2014, not over 15 years. That's probably a lot more than the average customer returns.

[rjstott]

Amazon can be very difficult to deal with especially when they are in the wrong. My own experience is one where I bought from a trader who probably sold elsewhere the only item he had, which I had bought and then refused to supply the item even though he was contractually obliged to do so. Amazon in their wisdom ignored my instruction that the trader could not unilaterally cancel the contract and told the trader I was cancelling the order against my express instruction.

The best I can get from Amazon now is their legal department postal address in Luxembourg.

I have returned faulty items in the past and have been pleased with the return process but I clearly need to be careful!

[AndyOrch]

The 37 returned items are since 2014, not over 15 years. That's probably a lot more than the average customer returns.

 

It does not actually state a period for the 37 items returned.....He bought 246 items in 2015 alone and 343 in total..since he became a customer in 2006.

 

The article tends to contradict itself...

 

" Greg Nelson has bought 343 items from the online giant since 2014. But after sending 37 back he is now blocked from using it and can’t reclaim his credit balance "

 

Andy

[samgangee472958]

Sorry to hear about your ebay account.but thats another topic this is about amazon

[samgangee472958]

Gregorious 77 What has this got to do with Amazon??

Edited March 30, 2016 by samgangee472958

[citizenB]

Whilst the thread is about Amazon - I think the inclusion of a post regarding ebay is not irrelevant, although it would be good to stick to the topic . These are both large online companies who are difficult to deal with via their customer service centres and also seem to arbitrarily close customer/trader accounts without any explanation. Both of them also seem to hold on to money - whether it is by credit/gift voucher balances, which is not theirs.

[Old Cogger]

sent back faulty item, they said post returns label on site = yes but no postage for the faulty goods, so sent anyway, refund of item but not the returns postage, they did not want to know, so avoid where I can these days!

[Skweek1]

I'm sorry some people have had problems with Amazon returns - both they and their associates have always been excellent over the last few years since first purchase - buy something through them most months and have only ever had 4 problems - one book was supposed to be in stock, when it wasn't, one set of glasses had one broken, a delivery company lost a tiny package somewhere in their van and I had a pack of leaking tomatoes. In all cases the issue was sorted immediately with no hassle and my money was refunded in full or replacement goods sent same day. I read some of the reviews on the Amazon site and can't believe some of the ignorant comments some people make (I'm not saying your complaints aren't justified, but if you check the item before buying you tend to have a good idea of whether it is likely to fit your needs). From the seller's viewpoint, I offered a book, clearly stated to be an old library copy and the woman who wanted it as a birthday present complained because it wasn't new! I asked Amazon, who advised me as a good will gesture to accept the return, which I did, but that still rankles as I was seriously out of pocket with postage and packing charges. My biggest hassle with Amazon at present is that fragile items are often sent in huge carrier boxes with insufficient padding, so they can easily get damaged.

[LateDeveloper]

I have never really had a problem with Amazon and upon any occasions that they have asked for further information, I have pointed them to the relevant part of consumer law.

 

I do tend to think that Amazon need to be on solid ground with sellers and just refunding with out just cause is not in their interest, regardless of their charter with the customer.

 

When any company has a no quibble guarantee, it is within their right to refuse to serve a customer,

 

How about this; I as a customer return a lot of items to different sellers through Amazon and yet those same sellers do not have items returned by other people. This could of course be the fact that most people buy crap, then right it off without saying a word or it could be that the sellers items are pretty reliable. Amazon, not having a suitable explanation or a reference to the law feel the customer is being difficult and restricts/stops the account. There maybe even a section in the T&C;s stating any points can be removed under certain conditions, or it is a computer error that when an account is stopped, anything associated with that account is also stopped. Not a human fault but a program error.

 

The main problem as I see it, is that there is a lack of information with regards to the 37 items returned, so no one can really comment. This is just headline grabbing and probably, as with 99% of news articles, is complete misleading rubbish.

[Bumpyrocketfrog]

The 37 returned items are since 2014, not over 15 years. That's probably a lot more than the average customer returns.

 

 

I think if I'd had to return that many things over such a period, I'd ban myself from buying anything else from the site!

[extrobe]

I think if I'd had to return that many things over such a period, I'd ban myself from buying anything else from the site!

 

This is exactly my thought.

 

If he had returned the items because he changed his mind (as he is entitled to do), then ok - but he says they were all damaged / not fit for purpose. If 10% of what I purchased from, say, John Lewis was not fit for purpose and had to go back, I doubt I'd still be shopping there.

 

Something doesn't add up in my mind - reckon there's a little more to this than we're being told.

[darkandstormy]

they tried that by sending an email asking me to take a survey, which I gladly did, because i was probably close to that amount of returns in a shorter time, but I castigated them verbally and have always given them strong reasons why some of the Crap they sometimes sell, is not worth the postage and packing they charge, especially from CHINA, don't get me started .

[L4dyP]

I have banned myself from Amazon after very poor customer service.

 

One trader insist they sent me the right item when it was not and insist I have to pay to return it.

 

Another trader insisted my item had been delivered when it had not. Their tracking system also said it had been delivered but it had not. I had paid extra for next day delivery.

It was delivered several days later.

 

They should stick to selling books as was always happy with the service I received.

 

I have similar stories with eBay. Item arrived faulty. I had to pay for return and was promised a replacement. Item was then out of stock.

 

I no longer use this type of faceless shopping channel.

 

Legally consumers have a right to cancel if ordering over the Internet.

 

I regularly buy from M&S who have no problem refunding returned items, how ever many that is.

 

Sports Direct are another store I've had shoddy service from too. Sending items I've not ordered and then not accepting return via a high street store insisting I pay for the return. Bonkers.

[LateDeveloper]

I have similar stories with eBay. Item arrived faulty. I had to pay for return and was promised a replacement. Item was then out of stock.

The law states that the seller is to pay for the return, not you.

 

Whenever I buy off Ebay, I refuse to rate a seller until I know the goods are in perfect condition. Similarly I will always leave bad feedback on Amazon if a seller is rubbish, but conversely I will do the opposite if a seller is good.

 

Whenever anyone shops on line, the mantra "buyer beware" should be foremost in the purchasers mind. A lot of things sold on both Ebay and Amazon are through drop shipping where the seller thinks they are not directly responsible for poor quality goods, given they never actually see the product. There margins are small and even the price of returning an item can wipe out their profits.

 

People should be aware of who they are buying from and always check the seller information.

 

Amazon have always listened to what I have said, but conversely they are also known for having bad judgement in some cases. The facts do need to be known before a balanced point of view can be put forward.

[extrobe]

The law states that the seller is to pay for the return, not you.

 

I thought the law states that the seller must refund the initial postage cost to you, but the seller can force you to pay for the return postage (but only if they stated as such before the sale, else they must cover it)

 

Though suspect that's only the case for non-faulty returns

[seafireliv]

Amazon are becoming increasingly dodgy. If you even complain too much they will sneakily delete much of your words, even if there was nothing actually offensive in it. Check out the `Amazon logistics delivery Times ` complaints. Their logistics delivery branch is awful, but Amazon has been deleting much of the discussion, while ignoring the actual problem.

 

I don`t use their logistics any more, preferring to wait longer using the post office and I am looking fo alternatives to Amazon.

 

p.s. 37 items returned over 15 years is not that much...

Edited March 31, 2016 by seafireliv

[stammatis]

Why treat Amazon any different to any retail outlet. If I get bad service that's it, I shop elsewhere. I did read a campaign by a chap who is trying to "punish" Amazon for "not paying tax"? he is deliberately ordering and returning items. A private business can stop selling to whomever it wants as long as one of the "isms" is not involved. I feel bad sometimes using Amazon in the knowledge a high street shop is losing the trade from me but the fact is Amazon are very good and in these days of so-called austerity I will save on cost for goods.

[Flyyyte]

The Grauniad article makes it abundantly clear that the customer registered an Amazon account 14 years ago and has returned 37 items in the past two years. The article also states that the customer has purchased 343 items, though perhaps due to lousy subbing, it isn't clear if that total accrued in the past two years or over the full 14.

 

But that's by-the-by. The key stats are 37 returns in 24 months. Wow. That's some going. I've been a registered Amazon customer since 2002. I have no idea how many items I've purchased in that time -- many, many hundreds -- but I do know I've had legitimate cause to return four. 4 returns in 168 months.

 

I've also been a registered eBayer since 2001, buying and selling hundreds of items in those 15 years. In that time I've found it necessary to give just one neg and to return just three items.

 

I don't count myself as being extraordinarily lucky with my purchases. Rather, I reckon I'm just an average Amazon customer / eBay member.

 

Where the allegedly vexatious Amazon customer is concerned, this individual is either the unluckiest individual there's ever been, or her / his transactional expectations have been consistently unreal. If I was running a pub and the same customer kept coming in to order a beer, taste it, and then rejecting it because it wasn't any good, I'd ban that individual from ever entering my premises again: I'm running a pub, not a product research laboratory set up for the benefit of someone on a free ride.

 

Where eBay is concerned, those who sell on it can be as good, bad or ugly as those who sell on Amazon -- or on any street market, anywhere, seeing as how the latter are the real-world forerunner of both. Nowadays I actually use eBay more than Amazon, because unless I'm after the back-up to be derived from a purchase that's direct from Amazon or Fulfilled by Amazon then it's plain daft to fall for Amazon's £20 order minimum when an easy cross-check of the item on side by side browser pages will show that the same Amazon seller is also on eBay, selling the same item most usually (a) for less and, even more significantly (b) post free.

 

One of the things most noticeable, back in the days of eBay's help-each-other forums -- killed off by eBay on the obvious though unstated grounds that it exists to take commission, not criticism -- was the sheer number of buyers who really shouldn't be let out on their own: failure to read a listing; failure to research a seller's ID history, location, and feedback record; failure to take even the most elementary self-protection. There's no reason to think that type of buyer has vanished.

 

What surprises me about this thread is that some posters seem to regard buying from an Amazon seller as the same as buying from Amazon. Of course it isn't. Rather, it's the exact same as buying from an eBay seller, the only difference being that you can't, ever, buy anything from eBay anyway; you can only buy on eBay.

 

As for Amazon's banned customer, his Amazon vouchers are void because his customer account is void. He may well have a legitimate argument in regard to that aspect but as the Grauniad article fails to state the amount involved here -- a fiver? Or £50? -- then who knows the scale of loss? It's up to him to take action for recovery. Whether or not he goes through 37 different law firms over the next 24 months will, of course, be his decision .

[LateDeveloper]

I thought the law states that the seller must refund the initial postage cost to you, but the seller can force you to pay for the return postage (but only if they stated as such before the sale, else they must cover it)

 

Though suspect that's only the case for non-faulty returns

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 makes it an implied term of the contract that goods be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. You are quite correct of course in your assumption that non-faulty goods are at your own expense. You should not lose out financially as a result of a breach of contract and accordingly all costs of returning the item should be met by the seller.

[peterhw]

Some interesting comments here but.......

different purchases need to be considered differently.

My wife has purchased a number of items via Amazon and has been had to return some items. I suspect that some retailers do actually understand that purchasing clothes shoes etc (ladies obviously) is often very subjective and someone may well wish to 'take at look at' 2 different items - may return 1 keep 1 etc

Recently my wife ordered a leather belt - advertised as XS (i.e. extra small - 26" to 28") and it measured 31" to the first hole and 40" overall. Also the colour was somewhat different than the photographs (looked gold / brass and is stainless). This is perhaps a mistake or genuine misrepresentation. The goods have been returned (yesterday) and I await the final outcome.

As a 'purchaser' I'd perhaps like the seller get a rap on the knuckles and not get a 'bad point' against my wife's account

Edited March 31, 2016 by peterhw
typo

[seafireliv]

Why treat Amazon any different to any retail outlet. If I get bad service that's it, I shop elsewhere. I did read a campaign by a chap who is trying to "punish" Amazon for "not paying tax"? he is deliberately ordering and returning items. A private business can stop selling to whomever it wants as long as one of the "isms" is not involved. I feel bad sometimes using Amazon in the knowledge a high street shop is losing the trade from me but the fact is Amazon are very good and in these days of so-called austerity I will save on cost for goods.

 

Sometimes, comments like this make me wonder if Amazon are also using `shills` to speak positively for their company on other websites...

[Buntybunny]

Thanks for posting, I had just started to use Amazon a lot - 3 or 4 times a week for shopping. Will be very careful!!!