Online retailer refuses to refund damaged drinks

Jelli

Thanks for all the replies.

The drinks were 750ml sized but of a thick liquid nature and came in considerable amount of bubble wrap and paper packing and themselves were inside a box with more bubble wrap around and packing paper. I would say 60-70% of the thick liquid had covered all that outer 'stuff' with some remaining in bits of the bottles. I didn't open the parcel straight away on delivery but when I later did noticed my floor was clammy and had to clean up all the mess (the glass and liquid).

I'll try do what electic said and hopefully will resolve this. Amazon were quite confident that no damage had been made to the items after contacting their courier and that no refund will be given.

[Deleted User]

I'm not surprised Amazon closed your account - sounds like a clear case of attempted fraud.


You would have to have personally signed for alcohol and there is no way on this earth those bottles would have been broken without you realising it. In fact, the chances of them breaking at all are so tiny you would have to be the unluckiest person alive.


No free booze for you!

browneyedbazzi

This all sounds very suspect to me and I can fully understand why amazon don't believe your story and have decided they no longer want to do business with you.

I think it's incredibly unlikely that all 6 bottles packaged in the way that amazon package things would have broken in transit. I think it's downright impossible that 4.5L of drink sloshing around in a parcel would not be noticeable on delivery - no matter how thick this drink was, if it is a drink that is poured out of bottles, it would have seeped out of the packaging. What drink is it by the way? Some have bottles that are more fragile/robust than others and I'm curious how 'thick' it really is.

The bottom line is that if amazon don't believe your story and refuse to refund your only option is to take them to court for the money. The court will look at the case and decide on the balance of probabilities - based on the story you have told here I would be shocked if you won.

photome

Jelli wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies.

The drinks were 750ml sized but of a thick liquid nature and came in considerable amount of bubble wrap and paper packing and themselves were inside a box with more bubble wrap around and packing paper. I would say 60-70% of the thick liquid had covered all that outer 'stuff' with some remaining in bits of the bottles. I didn't open the parcel straight away on delivery but when I later did noticed my floor was clammy and had to clean up all the mess (the glass and liquid).

I'll try do what electic said and hopefully will resolve this. Amazon were quite confident that no damage had been made to the items after contacting their courier and that no refund will be given.

What liquid is so thick that 4 litres of it wouldnt soak the outer packaging?

Is there anything else you have done to upset Amazon?

peachyprice

If it's so thick it wouldn't seep through the packaging how on earth do you pour it out of a bottle?

pinkshoes

A lot of judgemental people here making a lot of assumptions!! Be nice to money savers, and if you can't help, then don't comment...

It is possible that the courier could have dropped it when getting it out the van.

It is easy to damage something inside a parcel without the outside having damage, particularly to glass.

(I worked in the packaging industry for a while, where we did all sorts of drop testing on packaging...).

If the damage occurred shortly before delivery, then the package would only have leaked later, so the OP would not have noticed anything.

My dad managed to smash a wine bottle dropping it about 20cm onto a soft carpet!

The next step would be to WRITE to Amazon rejecting the parcel, and giving them a deadline to respond e.g. them sending a courier to collect it, and issuing a replacement.

Send it with proof of postage, and if needs be, you will have to take them to court. Was it directly through Amazon, or one of their market place sellers?

Collabora

electic wrote: »

... Or possibly there has been a mistake somewhere, or a rogue employee has made an untrue allegation. Just so you don't think everyone will assume that you are at fault! Can you think of anything that might potentially be viewed as inappropriate behaviour on your part? I'm not accusing, just asking.

Amazon do have the right to close your account, but this is separate to your consumer rights to receive a repair, replacement or refund of a faulty product.

I would contact Amazon again informing them that you are rejecting the items as they are not fit for purpose under the Sale of Goods Act 1979. I would also suggest you take a photo of the broken bottles if possible. Clearly you won't safely be able to post back the broken glass but you could make it available for a courier to collect if they wanted (hypothetically).

used Amazon for many years and had the times to return faulty goods and used the Amazon set process and never had my account closed. so for Amazon to close and account they must have done something wrong . no it will not be just 1 amazon employee that can do this as they have a process in place so just 1 person cannot do this

visidigi

Collabora wrote: »

used Amazon for many years and had the times to return faulty goods and used the Amazon set process and never had my account closed. so for Amazon to close and account they must have done something wrong . no it will not be just 1 amazon employee that can do this as they have a process in place so just 1 person cannot do this

Amazon are well know for monitoring account behaviour.

Return rates are a well known reason for account closures.

As are multiple claims for non-arrivals and damage claims.

Amazon do keep their customers on quite a short leash considering the sheer size of their operation.

Collabora

Jelli wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies.

The drinks were 750ml sized but of a thick liquid nature and came in considerable amount of bubble wrap and paper packing and themselves were inside a box with more bubble wrap around and packing paper. I would say 60-70% of the thick liquid had covered all that outer 'stuff' with some remaining in bits of the bottles. I didn't open the parcel straight away on delivery but when I later did noticed my floor was clammy and had to clean up all the mess (the glass and liquid).

I'll try do what electic said and hopefully will resolve this. Amazon were quite confident that no damage had been made to the items after contacting their courier and that no refund will be given.

Regardless their would be signs of damage on the other packaging if 6 bottles had smashed, so i still dont think you are telling us everything

Twopints

Collabora wrote: »

Regardless their would be signs of damage on the other packaging if 6 bottles had smashed, so i still dont think you are telling us everything

That's OK, there's more than enough groundless assumptions in this thread to make up for any missing information :beer: