Amazon want a Police report

EchoLocation

Forgive me if this has been answered previously.

I ordered a mobile phone from Amazon, the package was delivered but upon opening the seal on the phone box had been broken and there was no phone inside.

Amazon tell me they have investigated it and they cannot issue a replacement or refund and I need to file a police report and send it to them.

I've been back and forth with a Customer Service Manager but got nowhere.

Has anybody else experienced this? And do I really have to go to the Police with this?

I mean, I can't prove anything, the Police can't do anything, what can I do?

[Deleted User]

Why wouldn't you go to the police and file a stolen item report? After all, the phone has been stolen right? You wouldn't be the type of person to try and commit fraud right? The good news is Amazon tracks the IMEI numbers for the phones they sell directly, so it would be useless if someone tried to use it. 

EchoLocation

Yes, I'm sure people do try it on and make false claims, which is why I'm so worried about losing my money.

What can the police do though? It wasn't stolen from me, it was stolen before it was delivered to me. And I don't mean it was left on my door step and anyone could have taken it, the driver handed the package to me but the phone had already been removed, so it could only have been taken by an Amazon employee somewhere in the process. I can't prove anything, the police can't prove anything. Amazon say it was the correct weight when loaded onto the van. But clearly somewhere in between the phone was removed from the box. The outer package wasn't sealed, just a flap tucked in, and the phone box had just a small seal that is easy cut open. It would take mere seconds to remove it.

Spank

At the least they get a report number, if I was Amazon id be sceptical as to why you don't want to contact the police.

EchoLocation

I will go to the Police if I have to, that's why I'm asking if others have been in a similar situation, but I just don't see what it will possibly do get me my money back. Nothing can be proven on my side.

davidmcn

EchoLocation said:

I will go to the Police if I have to, that's why I'm asking if others have been in a similar situation, but I just don't see what it will possibly do get me my money back.

It will help to persuade Amazon that you're not carrying out some sort of fraud yourself. They're not asking you to prove anything or for the case to be solved, literally just to report it to the police.

mattyprice4004

You have to, it's part of their process and shows you didn't nick the handset.

Manxman_in_exile

I'm surprised you don't understand why Amazon want a police report.

You're probably right that the police won't help you get your 'phone back, but put yourself in Amazon's shoes.  They obviously think you are more likely to be telling the truth and not trying to pull a fast one if you have reported the theft to the police.

Aylesbury_Duck

Well I'm suspicious based on what you've told us, so it's not surprising Amazon have a process to deal with situations like these. 

Morglin

They don’t always ask for a police report.  Last year, I ordered a new IPod for my husband, and the box arrived, undamaged, and the courier handed it to me.

When I opened the box, it just contained a packet of the larger batteries around (C10?).  No IPod.  A separate packet contained the case I had also ordered for it.

I’ve been a customer of Amazon for years, frequently buy stuff, and never really had any problems.

But, I knew I couldn’t prove it wasn’t in the box, so honestly thought I’d lost the couple of hundred pounds the IPod cost (I think it cost about that).

I phoned Customer Services, explained it all, recognised I couldn’t prove it, and asked what to do about it.  They looked at my account, and just said they’d download me a form to fill out, sign, and scan back to them. It was a legal type form, just confirming what had happened.   I did that, and a couple of hours later, they mailed back to say they’d sent me a return label for the batteries, and upon receipt of them, they would replace the IPod.

Which they did - no stress at all.  

EchoLocation

So an update for anyone interested... Amazon are going to refund me.

I reported the matter to the police, who by the way completely agreed with me that it really wasn't my issue to deal with and actually told me that Amazon were doing this more and more, but they said they cannot investigate it as I wasn't legally the victim because the phone wasn't stolen from me, it was never delivered to me. But they said they would record it so I could give Amazon the details they wanted (Crime reference number, Station and Officer name etc). But in order to get a copy of the actual report I would have to make a separate request, which would then take 6-8 weeks and for which I would be charged a fee. However, the Police wrote down the required details on some branded paper and so I just took a photo of that and sent it to Amazon hoping that would do. A day later I received a 'reply' which was just the same template email containing the details they required that I was sent in the first place, no actual response at all. However, it did contain a UK/Ireland customer services number, so I phoned that and went through everything and they mentioned that they'll escalate it and get me a response within 24-48 hours - as expected though I never got one.

Phoned up today again and they told me they needed the police details in order to question the courier/driver. So I said I'd already sent them the police details, then after 2 minutes on hold they came back and apologised and agreed a refund.

So obviously none the wiser as to what happened, but needless to say that is the last time I will buy anything of value on Amazon.