Reply With QuoteYep, its their standard answer.
If you call them though (as you have done), I have always found that they will accept the return and offer a refund after a bit of initial resistance.
Not great.
I bought a small electrical item from Amazon two months ago and it has stopped working. After looking at their website, it was apparent there was no way to return it as 30 days had passed. There was an option for faulty goods but that directed me to return it to the manufacturer. I contacted Amazon on the chat function, who agreed to accept the return but only after I pointed out the contract was with them and not the manufacturer. They also noted it was a one time act of good faith. I tried to dig a little deeper, explaining in UK consumer law the contract is with the retailer. But, it was clear there was only call centre worker there so I gave up quickly, they had a batch of generic answers they were using.
I’d certainly be very wary to make a large purchase with Amazon after this. I think I’ll stick to Richer Sounds and JL etc
Yep, its their standard answer.
If you call them though (as you have done), I have always found that they will accept the return and offer a refund after a bit of initial resistance.
Not great.
I had the same experience with a faulty power bank. They gave me the same nonsense about ‘30 day window’ and then said ‘accept the return as a goodwill gesture’. I explained that it’s a consumers right, not ‘goodwill’.
It seems to be a new policy to try and fob people off. It’s shameful of them!
Were they possibly goods shipped by Amazon, but not fulfilled by them?
There are a few ways that Amazon retail stuff - some is fulfilled by Amazon (they hold and own the stock), fulfilled by others (stock held by Amazon but they don’t own it, just manage orders etc, and then there is Ship with Amazon (goods not held by Amazon - all external companies that just use Amazon as an order and courier platform).
I would assume (with no knowledge of consumer rights!) that your rights would be different depending on which format your purchase fell into?
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As I understand it, a product that becomes faulty after 30 days but within the manufacturers warranty period can be returned to the manufacturer for either repair or replacement.
That was the case in an electronic item that went kaput on me after about 6 months and the manufacturer replaced the item as soon as I sent the damaged one back to them.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I wouldn't let this put you off purchasing from them. Does it really matter that someone in a call centre described it as "goodwill" before giving you exactly what you wanted?
Don't return too much stuff or they will threaten to close your account (Google it). They did that with me years ago and I didn't even return much. I used to use them loads. Hardly use them these days.
That's true when the manufacturer offers a warranty in addition to your statutory rights as a consumer.Originally Posted by ralphy
Some manufacturers do this; others don't. Often it's quicker to get repairs done by the manufacturer, as they will be geared up to provide this service, whereas the retailer will not be, so any items returned to the retailer for repair will be sent to the manufacturer anyway, possibly adding delay to the repair. Equally, other manufacturers will not deal with members of the public; others may be overseas or have gone out of business.
But at the end of the day, as a (private) consumer, your contract is with the retailer from whom you purchased the item, and any warranty repairs are ultimately their responsibility.
I return many orders to Amazon (variety of price points) and have never had any problems. Most of my returns are within the 30-day window. The few times I've had to raise an issue beyond this I have either been refunded or been provided with a replacement. I find their customer service to be amongst the best out there.
I have had very few issues over the many years I have used Amazon.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
they have the best customer service i ever seen in my life if there is a problem early on arrival anyway.
they allow dodgy traders to use Amazon though, i bought staples and they were easy to ID as fakes.
But would the ‘goodwill’ still exist if I was returning a 1k TV? I’m happy to live with a £50 loss.
That was my experience until now. However, it’s apparent their returns for faulty items after 30 days is non-existent. Unless, of course they’re kind enough to offer you a goodwill gesture. But you will need to speak to someone directly, there’s no automatic procedure
I’ve had a £300 return after 8 months when my Orbi Mesh bricked itself on an auto update. They were brilliant with this, and also a £170 fan with 2 year warranty that the refunded after 12 months when it started making a clicking noise.
Personally cannot fault them.
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Yes I doubt Amazon would refuse to abide by the law. I had an issue with a camera a few months old that cost more than that, returned for a refund with no issues. For an online retailer, I honestly can't think of a better company for returns. In fact they're a little too forgiving I think... I avoid Amazon warehouse now as some people seem to have no qualms with stealing items and putting old and/or broken versions into the box to return, and Amazon don't seem to be very good at catching those.
This has also been my personal experience.
I have returned items that have become faulty after the 30 day returns window has passed, but are still under manufacturer's warranty for a full refund, added to my Amazon gift balance as soon as it is collected by the courier.
I do however have to use the chat function and speak with an advisor as there is no automated function to achieve this, the desired result has always been achieved and therefore I too can not fault them.
If your 1k TV expired outside of it's warranty period then a 'goodwill' gesture would be all you could hope for with any seller.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Or an enforcement of your legal rights that goods are expected to last a reasonable length of time, currently stipulated at 6 years.
Last edited by Onelasttime; 30th August 2023 at 10:53.
Where is that stipulated?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Sorry, it's 6 years:
The Sale of Goods Act offers protection against faulty goods even when the manufacturer's guarantee has run out. The act says goods must last a reasonable time - and that can be anything up to six years from the date of purchase.
And …
Consumers can expect goods not to fail prematurely, even if the reasonable life expectancy of those goods is several years. However, there is a time limit that eventually prevents consumers from making a claim through the courts.
A consumer cannot normally bring a claim to court more than six years after the breach of contract (usually the date of delivery in a contract for the sale of goods).
This does not mean all goods have to last this length of time, but this is the time limit that the law gives a consumer to take legal action.
I too have never had any problems returning faulty goods to Amazon so I hope this doesn't herald a change on their part.
Their live chat has in the past been very quick and efficient in resolving all issues.
British Gas however.....2 hours on 'live' chat last week and still an absolute, unmitigated disaster.
It's no longer the Sale of Goods Act, it's the Consumer Rights Act since 2015.
Nevertheless, it's not as straightforward as 'anything that breaks down wihin 6 years means you will be able by law to get it repaired or replaced'. It will depend on the nature of the goods, reasonable life expectancy, a 'fair wear and tear' proviso and also (after 6 months of ownership) being able to prove that the item was inherently faulty at the point of purchase.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Of course, but the point is, the consumer has legal recourse beyond a goodwill gesture.
Another shout out to Amazon and its excellent attempts to deny customers their legal rights:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...s-a-lost-cause
This for me
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
To be honest when I see stories like this, I just think the person must not have made any effort to get it sorted or there's more to the story.
Amazon returns are simple and if things go missing providing you used their returns label it's not your problem. Basing that on 14 years of trouble free returns.
Amazon UK employ 75,000 people and ship an estimated 2 million items per day.
Just sayin'.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
.... which is why town and city centres are 'ghost towns' with so many local councils scratching their heads trying to figure out how to raise £revenue previously provided by those empty shops and stores.
The 'Amazon Effect' has far reaching consequences for local governments and our 'finger pressing" population's health.
"Well they would say that ... wouldn't they!"
What further efforts would you suggest they should have made? Why should a customer have to put in any further effort above sending it back exactly as Amazon instructed them to?
True, these stories are in the minority compared to happy customers, but then how many unhappy customers who were denied their rights would take it up with a national newspaper? I imagine most would put it down to bad experience and take the hit so we'd never hear about it.
Amazon is not infallible nor the golden balls company some are making it out to be.
It's an inevitable consequence of societal change and one that is highly unlikely to revert back. High Streets will need to adapt to the changes.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
No business is infallible and statistically the more that they are involved in B2P the greater the number of problems will occur. Even if Amazon UK got it 'right' 999 times out of a 1000 that'd still produce 2000 'wrongs' per day.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Who knows, maybe they're right, maybe not, but I'm doubtful. We have no way of knowing what they did, what the reported, what steps they took, what Amazon's position was on any pushback, frankly whether the customer was dishonest, did they use the right shipping, we just don't know. What we do know is the didn't manage to resolve a relatively basic issue but they did manage to contact the press, leaves me questioning the legitimacy of their intentions. Ultimately I'll go with my 14 years of first hand experience. YMMV.
I’ve got something strange ongoing with Amazon:-
Back in January bought a pair of jeans (~£60) using their try before you buy option and they’ve never been able to take payment. Every day since have an email saying payment declined, unable to take payment, use different card etc. Contacted them and card issuer, everything seems in order and I’ve bought much more expensive items with same card since.
They don’t seem interested in escalating things, so I’ll leave it be.
I had this when I had to update my credit card. I cannot remember exactly but think it involved checking the payment details are update also for ‘one click shopping’, subscribe and save. It was pain for something so simple, in theory.
On the issues with payment / payment declined.
I seem to have to re-verify my card every time now for the subscription type payments. Often it has to be done a few times to go through. Not a huge issue, but not sure why it’s happening. Additional layer of security perhaps, who knows.
I had the same with Ocado recently after we moved from Virgin to O2. It just wouldn't accept payment. Same with Sainsbury's.
Contacted both and my bank and everything looked to be in order, but it transpired that the change of network provider was enough to knock the security check system out of whack. Smile had to manually change the verification process to my email instead of my phone.
Everything works OK now, but it was a bit worrying when it was going on.
I think the national newspaper established the facts and put simply, UPS lost the parcel, Amazon wouldn't communicate with UPS, so the customer was left in limbo with no laptop and £1300 down.
I'll ask again, what should they have done to resolve the 'relatively basic issue' when faced with stonewalling from the world's biggest tax avoider?
Interesting that you don't see it as such and imagine the customer must either be dishonest or simple.
What facts did they establish? There's nothing about that in the article. The article is a quote of the customers opinion on events, followed by a statement that Amazon made the refund after all. Again we don't know what steps they took, there's zero detail, but as usual the right outcome. Story about nothing.
I had quite a delay in getting a payment due to me from eBay earlier this year. In order to 'prove' my bank account (the same account I've used with them for over 20 years) they first required me to receive 2 small payments from themselves into the account and then for me to let them know the amounts they'd sent. However, first off their payments never arrived within the 'up to 5 days' timeline and when I contacted them the only way they could proceed was to start the process again...
Then when their payments did finally arrive their online-only system for me to tell them the amounts wouldn't work. Meanwhile they were keeping the amount they owed me (c. £4k) yet at the same time were accepting payments from my account for other purchases I'd made!
Finally got it sorted out by a telephone call, during which I asked why they needed to prove my account in the first place? I was told it was a random thing but they had no explanation as to why they'd been happy to take money from the account whilst simultaneously refusing to pay money into it.
R
Last edited by ralphy; 4th September 2023 at 05:54.
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Think my payment problem may be that with ‘try before you buy’ orders, Amazon attempts to verify account with a zero (£0) charge which is rejected by card issuer.
Other purchases on same card sail through fine.
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