Amazon refund problems - I need help!

MissConStru

This is a long, long story but it's driving me potty!

May 2017, I ordered an electric bidet toilet seat off Amazon. Cost was around £480. It took a while to arrive but when it did, my plumber and I found the instructions were all in Chinese or something similar! So I contacted the seller and asked it I could return it. His reply was very helpful and said he would be willing to give me a full refund and would send me a prepaid returns label.

That took a few weeks to arrive but eventually I contacted the courier as directed (Parcel Force) who duly collected it on 5th July. The driver offered on of those digital things for me to sign and that was that!

But no it wasn't!

August 4th a van arrived and I see my parcel being unloaded from the back. Naturally I rejected it.

Then September 15th, back it comes again! Rejected

Sadly I failed to note the name of the courier involved but it definitely wasn't Parcel Force!

After a goodish wait, I contacted the seller via Amazon messages to ask if he'd received the item - no answer!
I emailed him twice more with the same result.

By now it's November 20th ad they said they would look into it. Then I got an email telling me "cannot accept your reply as sufficient proof of delivery for this transaction. We will need proof of delivery that shows the address and the signature of the delivery. This can be sent as an attachment"

In vain I have tried to tell them (by phone) that I don't have a signed document because I signed a digital pad. Next day I get exactly the same email again!

I've done everything I can think of.

I phoned Parcel Force who not only provided me with the tracking number and date of delivery to the place cited on the returns label and even sent me a screen shot of the computer. I sent all this to Amazon - result, another of those wretched emails!

If I ring them (and I have about 2 dozen times!) I only get to speak to a customer service person who puts me on hold then tells me s/he has passed my case on to 'another' department and the next day, I get yet another of those wretched emails!

So I'm pretty much at the end of my tether now. I am a pensioner. I cannot afford to write off £480 but where do I go from here? Has any body any suggestions? Please?

theonlywayisup

Let me say just one thing before I respond. The fact you are a pensioner is neither here nor there.

How did you pay for the item? Do you still have the evidence showing collection and subsequent delivery back to the seller? Have you at any stage opened a case on Amazon?

MissConStru

theonlywayisup wrote: »

The fact you are a pensioner is neither here nor there.

I appreciate what you are saying but it is to me!

theonlywayisup wrote: »

How did you pay for the item?

Bank payment

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Do you still have the evidence showing collection and subsequent delivery back to the seller?

No and that's where the problem lays

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Have you at any stage opened a case on Amazon?

Yes I did - in November 2017

MissConStru

MissConStru wrote: »

Bank payment

I also just went and got the 'evidence' from my bank statement (thank you for that prompt!):T

F&L

Is the case you opened a support case rather an A-Z claim? Only Amazon would have been able to open the latter and they normally deal with them very quickly. One of the reasons for an A-Z claim is that the buyer has returned an item but not been refunded. When you say you're in contact with Amazon, do you mean their staff or the Marketplace seller's staff?

MissConStru

F&L wrote: »

Is the case you opened a support case rather an A-Z claim?

It is an A-Z claim

F&L wrote: »

When you say you're in contact with Amazon, do you mean their staff or the Marketplace seller's staff?

Amazon staff. I use either the message centre or phone using the 'call me back' tool.

MissConStru

MissConStru wrote: »

August 4th a van arrived and I see my parcel being unloaded from the back. Naturally I rejected it.

Then September 15th, back it comes again! Rejected

Due to these erroneous attempts at incorrect delivery, the item now appears to be lost - at least no-one will take responsibility for its whereabouts.

Dox

I'm getting a bit lost here. If you have the necessary evidence from Parcel Force that you returned the item and it was duly delivered, what else do you need? The fact you signed a digital pad is now irrelevant, surely, in the light of the info PF has helpfully supplied?

As to evidence of the payment - if you bought via Amazon you presumably paid via Amazon, so they should have a record of the payment. You say you paid by 'bank payment' but bank transfer isn't a method Amazon accepts, whether for items it supplies or for marketplace sellers. Could it be you paid by debit card?

MissConStru

Dox wrote: »

I'm getting a bit lost here.

You and me both!

Dox wrote: »

If you have the necessary evidence from Parcel Force that you returned the item and it was duly delivered, what else do you need? The fact you signed a digital pad is now irrelevant, surely, in the light of the info PF has helpfully supplied?

It seems that Parcel Force delivered it to XPO Logisitics in Daventry and not the seller. I have no idea why nor can I make any sense of it! And it was XPO who erroneously brought it back to me - twice!

Dox wrote: »

As to evidence of the payment - if you bought via Amazon you presumably paid via Amazon, so they should have a record of the payment. Could it be you paid by debit card?

Oh yes, I did pay via Amazon by my debit card.

Sorry it's all so confusing but you've only seen a synopsis of the entire story!

bxboards

I think one of the issues is that Parcelforce are one of the few couriers who will collect without a label being required to be supplied or printed, as they bring their own for collections.

So the buyer may not ever had sight of the parcel label, and therefore cannot supply a copy or the tracking number.

This doesn't help the buyer unfortunately, and it seems that in this case it's up to the seller to cooperate as they were the people who supplied the label, and are responsible for the items safe return. The buyer is not going to have this to supply to Amazon.

MissConStru

Yes, I think you may be right. But it doesn't help when the seller refuses to communicate!

Any ideas where I can go from here?

It's almost seeming like it's a lost cause.
£480+ is a lot to loose