Amazon Refunds and replacements

Gordon1974

Hi everyone,
This is more of a curiosity to me, as I have had my particular case resolved, but only after I made a complaint.
On 12th July I made a purchase of a cycle helmet on Amazon for £99.99. I received it the next day, but it was faulty, so I returned it. The only option I was given was for a refund, no replacement option was offered. So, despite the fact that I would have liked a replacement, I returned it and on Saturday 22nd July a refund was duly issued. The helmet was no longer on sale at this point, then today, 31st July it comes back on sale for the new price of £101.07, an increase of £1.08. I still wanted the product, so I used the 'buy this again' option from 'my orders' in Amazon, thinking it would charge me the initial £99.99 price, but no, it went through at £101.07. So, I immediately contacted them to ask for a refund of the difference as I had returned a faulty product wanting a replacement, which was not offered so I took the refund and bought the replacement (exactly the same helmet from the same supplier - which is amazon, not a 3rd party) as soon as it returned to stock. The reply I got from Amazon stated
'as per the revised policies, I'm afraid we cannot issue a price match on any items.'
The question is as the product was essentially a replacement in essence, are they within their rights to state this?

However, as I said at the beginning this has been resolved to my satisfaction, financially at least, as they noted I'd been a customer of theirs for some years and issued me a 'one time exception' refund of £2. That amount of money was really neither here nor there on a £100 purchase, it's the principle of the situation that I'd like cleared up, as in short what they've done is Product purchased > product returned > refund issued > replacement product offered, but at higher price. Doesn't seem right to me.

KeithP

You effectively rejected the goods as not conforming to contract, and as such a refund is appropriate.

Then you bought another item.

This item was offered to you at £101.07.
You accepted that offer.

Amazon have done nothing wrong.

Perhaps you should've asked for a replacement at the time of arranging the first return.

[Deleted User]

Gordon1974 wrote: »

The only option I was given was for a refund, no replacement option was offered.

You obviously didn't request a replacement, otherwise Amazon would definitely have obliged. |
You mention the item came back into stock at a later date, so is it likely no direct replacement was available at the time of your return?

You don't have a valid complaint as the Return and re-sale are effectively separate transactions.

bris

you were in the wrong and you really argued with them for a quid?

Gordon1974

Perhaps I didn't get that point across very well, I had no option to ask for a replacement, which is what I wanted, I only had the option for a refund. Like I said I ultimately got what I wanted, but just wondered why I was not at any point offered the replacement item at the same price?

[Deleted User]

Gordon1974 wrote: »

I had no option to ask for a replacement

What do you mean, you had no "option"?

You could have asked for a replacement at any time during a call to Amazon customer service..

Gordon1974

And hold on Bris, no need to be like that, I was merely asking a question. I did nothing 'wrong', I had to return a faulty product and I had no option of a replacement at any point, merely a refund. And I pointed out the amount of money is neither here nor there too

Gordon1974

I went through the returns process at amazon, and the only option i had was 'refund', not replacement. I'm not. If i could have asked for a replacement, I would have, as that was what I wanted.

Gordon1974

No. I had no option for a replacement. I am a long time user of Amazon, I know how it works, and in this instance i was offered a refund only.

KeithP

Gordon1974 wrote: »

Perhaps I didn't get that point across very well, I had no option to ask for a replacement, which is what I wanted, I only had the option for a refund. Like I said I ultimately got what I wanted, but just wondered why I was not at any point offered the replacement item at the same price?

Gordon1974 wrote: »

No. I had no option for a replacement. I am a long time user of Amazon, I know how it works, and in this instance i was offered a refund only.

Re-reading your original post, could it be that you were not offered a replacement because they had none in stock to offer you?

If that's the case it seems quite reasonable to me to offer you a refund, which you accepted.

At that point you are in exactly the position you would've been in had the transaction not taken place.

A week or more later the item becomes available again and was offered to you at £101.07.
Having realised this was a higher price than previously, you had the opportunity not to continue with the purchase.
However, you accepted their offer.

The time to negotiate was before making that second purchase.

BorisThomson

Gordon1974 wrote: »

No. I had no option for a replacement. I am a long time user of Amazon, I know how it works, and in this instance i was offered a refund only.

What did they say when you called/ went on live chat and asked for a replacement? I assume a long term user that knows how it works would do that.