Amazon Return Self-Ship Lost in Transit

Hell0

Hi,

My 800£ item broke down within 6 months after purchase and Amazon issued an empty repair label (self-ship). I asked them multiple times for a prepaid label, however they refused to issue one and also advised that they would only reimburse the cheapest delivery method up to £20. 

Long story short I sent the parcel using Evri, who have lost it in transit on the way to repair. Of course I didn't insure it fully, as that's very expensive for £800. Two Amazon agents I was in contact with said they would refund within 14 days, if the parcel didn't show up. However, Amazon is now straight refusing to refund me and 14 days have passed. 

I looked into a Section 75 Claim, the process is ongoing, however the card issuer so far seems to claim that Section 75 claims don't apply to Amazon. Although the item was sold by Amazon and not from a random marketplace merchant... . 

Overall a fairly ridiculous experience... . Does anyone have experience with this? 

Cheers!

Alderbank

You seem to have two related but separate issues?

1. You bought an item from Amazon which is faulty. If your s75 claim is against Amazon it may have been refused on the grounds that you have not returned the item so they cannot confirm that it has an inherent fault.
2. You sent a parcel using Evri who say they have lost it.

What is the £800 item you bought from Amazon.co.uk and what is the fault?
What date did you post it using Evri?
Did you comply with all their complex rules about dimensions and goods you are allowed to post?

Evri claiming they have lost a parcel is not ridiculous, it seems to be very common. Lots of people have posted here with experience of this.

Hell0

Well, ridiculous is that Amazon didn't issue a prepaid label, but a non-prepaid label, while I was within 6 months of my purchase and I now have issues to get a refund. Amazon has full liability for this as far as I'm concerned, within 6 months the retailer has to repair it or take it back. It's a Siemens coffee machine, which had a full breakdown and was posted at the beginning of February. 

Evri is an unreliable courier and it appears it should really be out of business looking at the amount of parcels lost. However, that's a different problem. 

SpudGunPaul

Hell0 said:

Well, ridiculous is that Amazon didn't issue a prepaid label, but a non-prepaid label, while I was within 6 months of my purchase and I now have issues to get a refund. Amazon has full liability for this as far as I'm concerned, within 6 months the retailer has to repair it or take it back. It's a Siemens coffee machine, which had a full breakdown and was posted at the beginning of February. 

Evri is an unreliable courier and it appears it should really be out of business looking at the amount of parcels lost. However, that's a different problem. 

They asked for it back, once they've got it they can repair, replace or refund. 

Not sure how they're liable for the loss. 

Hell0

They should have issued their own prepaid label or told me to pay for insurance, which they would have needed to refund rather than capping it at £20. I can't really be liable for it to go missing, when I follow their instructions? 

razord

Hell0 said:

They should have issued their own prepaid label or told me to pay for insurance, which they would have needed to refund rather than capping it at £20. I can't really be liable for it to go missing, when I follow their instructions? 

You are liable though, because you self shipped. If you couldn't have shipped it insured for £20, you'd have needed to speak to Amazon to say that before you sent it, and had the issue escalated.

As far as Amazon are concerned, they haven't received the parcel. They have no proof you sent it, or sent the right item, or anything.

The only company you have a claim against is Evri, and that's only going to be up to the terms and conditions you agreed to; and I suspect that expressly prohibits high value items like that without insurance.

Hell0

razord said:

Hell0 said:

They should have issued their own prepaid label or told me to pay for insurance, which they would have needed to refund rather than capping it at £20. I can't really be liable for it to go missing, when I follow their instructions? 

You are liable though, because you self shipped. If you couldn't have shipped it insured for £20, you'd have needed to speak to Amazon to say that before you sent it, and had the issue escalated.

As far as Amazon are concerned, they haven't received the parcel. They have no proof you sent it, or sent the right item, or anything.

The only company you have a claim against is Evri, and that's only going to be up to the terms and conditions you agreed to; and I suspect that expressly prohibits high value items like that without insurance.

They have the proof of postage to their address. Also, I contacted them exactly for this reason before I sent the parcel, regarding the insurance and asked for a prepaid label. They confirmed they would only reimburse the cheapest option and up to £20. 

SpudGunPaul

Hell0 said:

razord said:

Hell0 said:

They should have issued their own prepaid label or told me to pay for insurance, which they would have needed to refund rather than capping it at £20. I can't really be liable for it to go missing, when I follow their instructions? 

You are liable though, because you self shipped. If you couldn't have shipped it insured for £20, you'd have needed to speak to Amazon to say that before you sent it, and had the issue escalated.

As far as Amazon are concerned, they haven't received the parcel. They have no proof you sent it, or sent the right item, or anything.

The only company you have a claim against is Evri, and that's only going to be up to the terms and conditions you agreed to; and I suspect that expressly prohibits high value items like that without insurance.

They have the proof of postage to their address. Also, I contacted them exactly for this reason before I sent the parcel, regarding the insurance and asked for a prepaid label. They confirmed they would only reimburse the cheapest option and up to £20. 

But you have no proof of delivery, Evri lost you parcel and as you've been told you didn't insure it so you'll at best get your delivery fee refunded by them. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

(Removed by Forum Team)

Amazon carry some of the fault for that for misleading the OP about their consumer rights and stating there is a limit on what they refund for the return.

Trader is responsible for reasonable return costs and a company like Amazon should know the average consumer shipping something worth £800 fully insured may well cost more than that. 

OP I’ve yet to see a legal answer to the question of who bears the risk of goods during return and it’s doubtful you’ll get one here.

If you have a copy of their comms stating £20 max refund for the return I would write to their head office address to complain. 

Hell0

This was fully refunded by Amazon after an escalated complaint. 

Undervalued

Hell0 said:

This was fully refunded by Amazon after an escalated complaint. 

Well, that is good news. However the important lesson from this (which also relates to several other recent threads on here regarding other retailers) is the retailer is only liable for loss or damage during the return if they chose,  bought and paid for the service.

With hindsight you should have either insisted that they provided a pre paid return service of their choice or adequately insured the parcel and pursued Amazon for the cost of doing so.