Is Amazon Legally Allowed To Take Money From My Account?

phdwho

I returned an item in December. Three months later they have erroneously (by their admission) taken a portion of the refund out of my account with no advance warning claiming that the item wasn't returned. They have admitted their error, but my question still stands. They could have contacted me first if there was an issue and then, if I refused to resolve it (and assuming the issue wasn't in error), they can claim back the money. That's fine. But to just take the money, that could have left me overdrawn and in debt, which seems irresponsible. Can they do this?

68ComebackSpecial

phdwho said:

I returned an item in December. Three months later they have erroneously (by their admission) taken a portion of the refund out of my account with no advance warning claiming that the item wasn't returned. They have admitted their error, but my question still stands. They could have contacted me first if there was an issue and then, if I refused to resolve it (and assuming the issue wasn't in error), they can claim back the money. That's fine. But to just take the money, that could have left me overdrawn and in debt, which seems irresponsible. Can they do this?

Check your emails as I've always had reminders that I need to return the item or be recharged - I had one earlier this week regarding a return due at beginning of April. 

David713

phdwho said:

They could have contacted me first if there was an issue and then, if I refused to resolve it (and assuming the issue wasn't in error), they can claim back the money. That's fine. But to just take the money, that could have left me overdrawn and in debt, which seems irresponsible. Can they do this?

If there really was an issue with the goods not getting returned or returned damaged and this was only discovered after a refund had been made, then yes, they are entitled to take the money from your funding source as this is one of the terms that you agree to when returning an item to them using a method that involves them refunding you before they receive the goods back.

MattMattMattUK

phdwho said:

I returned an item in December. Three months later they have erroneously (by their admission) taken a portion of the refund out of my account with no advance warning claiming that the item wasn't returned. They have admitted their error, but my question still stands.

The question here is are they entitled to the money from a legal perspective, eg was the original refund processed in error, were you entitled to the money the previously refunded?

phdwho said:

They could have contacted me first if there was an issue and then, if I refused to resolve it (and assuming the issue wasn't in error), they can claim back the money. That's fine. But to just take the money, that could have left me overdrawn and in debt, which seems irresponsible. Can they do this?

This part is largely irrelevant, if you owe the money, you received a refund in error etc. then they do not need to contact you first, they can re-charge the original payment method.

MobileSaver

phdwho said:

But to just take the money, that could have left me overdrawn and in debt, which seems irresponsible. Can they do this?

Yes they can because you agreed they could when you returned the item and all of us, including you and Amazon, can make a mistake.

However if their mistake had actually left you overdrawn and in debt then you would be able to sue them for your financial losses (although Amazon are pretty good generally so would probably offer you a goodwill gesture/credit worth more than what you technically could claim for in court.)

Peter999_2

Amazon are seriously going down the pan.   I had twenty years of great service from them, but in the last couple of years the service has plummeted.   Due to a problem I had with them not delivering a mobile phone, I have not bought anything from them since September 2020 and probably will never again.     There are a few of people posting on saying saying they received second hand goods/fake goods and when they returned them for a refund Amazon say that they haven't returned the original item and therefore they aren't getting a refund.   Scandalous really if it is true.