Amazon sent the wrong item and won’t refund me

hazlaw

I'm curious if anyone else has encountered a situation similar to mine. I placed an order for an iPhone 15 Pro on Amazon, but when the package arrived, it contained AirPods instead. I reached out to Amazon's customer service, and they provided a return label after I provided photographic evidence.

Amazon insists they sent the iPhone, not AirPods, and they're unresponsive to my requests to verify stock counts and serial numbers. They've given me a deadline of November 6th to return the iPhone, which I never received, or they won't refund me. 

I believe this amounts to fraud, as they claim to have sent something they didn't and took my money. Since I'm not making progress with Amazon, I've initiated a bank investigation. Interestingly, a quick Google search reveals that this issue is quite common, to the extent that some people now film themselves unboxing parcels as proof.

Greatgimp

I've read here that Amazon won't accept film of the unboxing as proof of wrongdoing.

Aylesbury_Duck

hazlaw said:

I'm curious if anyone else has encountered a situation similar to mine. I placed an order for an iPhone 15 Pro on Amazon, but when the package arrived, it contained AirPods instead. I reached out to Amazon's customer service, and they provided a return label after I provided photographic evidence.

Amazon insists they sent the iPhone, not AirPods, and they're unresponsive to my requests to verify stock counts and serial numbers. They've given me a deadline of November 6th to return the iPhone, which I never received, or they won't refund me. 

I believe this amounts to fraud, as they claim to have sent something they didn't and took my money. Since I'm not making progress with Amazon, I've initiated a bank investigation. Interestingly, a quick Google search reveals that this issue is quite common, to the extent that some people now film themselves unboxing parcels as proof.

I'm not sure "common" is correct.  With the millions of orders Amazon process, a tiny proportion falling victim to crime still represents a lot of cases, but I don't think it's common.  Filming, like your photos, proves nothing I'm afraid.

You should wait for your bank to conclude whatever process they're undertaking, and if unsuccessful, you could consider small claims action against Amazon.  It's often said on here that Amazon close accounts of those exercising chargebacks or section 75 claims or small claims action.  I don't know how "common" that is, or whether it's true, but it is a possible outcome, so you'll need to weigh up your chances of success and the possible consequences either way.

Kim_13

I am one of those who now film the unboxing of parcels, and would rather have it than not - if Amazon or the retailer in question won’t accept it, then it might help in a small claims action. I started doing this after placing a relatively large order with Boots on behalf of my Aunt, who had selected the items from the Christmas Gift Guide as she is in a care home and doesn’t use the internet. She had ordered several of something, but only one was in the package, with roughly £50 worth of items being missing. The wording on Boots’ message to me suggested they had either done a stocktake or checked footage from the warehouse, and they promptly corrected the error. (Had they not done so, I’d have felt a moral obligation to acquire the missing items out of my own pocket.) It is alarming that Amazon don’t seem to be doing this, per the OP’s sensible suggestion (surely it couldn’t have been the courier doing this, as they would need a sealed box of AirPods and the ability to make the box look as though it hadn’t been tampered with.)

I received several wrong items from Amazon in 2021 (the first was wrong, so they resent it and would only charge me if I didn’t return the first.) The replacement package contained the same wrong item, so it looked like they had the item mislabelled somewhere in their processes (I believe bots actually pick the items from storage and send them to a conveyer where they are then packed, from watching some YouTube videos.) Anyway, when I was returning the wrong items, having received a label from Amazon, the sheet that had to go in with the package said something like ‘Contents: 1x Item I had ordered.’ I raised this with the CS rep, who said it was fine, simply send what you received. I wasn’t wholly convinced but if I didn’t send it I would end up being charged, so I wrote on this sheet explaining what had happened. I had no problem with them after this, so either the note helped or they are more willing to take the customer’s word when the item is of lower value.

The OP is a minimum of £999 out of pocket (price of the lowest capacity iPhone 15 Pro, and obviously doesn’t even have the value of the AirPods that were received, having returned them.) Maybe you’d let it go if it was a smaller amount, but the ability to shop at Amazon in the future isn’t worth £999. Who’s to say that Amazon wouldn’t close the account even if the OP did nothing in the way of claims - as far as Amazon are concerned at the moment, he/she lied to them to try to get a free iPhone. If a customer actually did that, they would be the very definition of a problem customer that a business might want to refuse custom from.

35har1old

Aylesbury_Duck said:

hazlaw said:

I'm curious if anyone else has encountered a situation similar to mine. I placed an order for an iPhone 15 Pro on Amazon, but when the package arrived, it contained AirPods instead. I reached out to Amazon's customer service, and they provided a return label after I provided photographic evidence.

Amazon insists they sent the iPhone, not AirPods, and they're unresponsive to my requests to verify stock counts and serial numbers. They've given me a deadline of November 6th to return the iPhone, which I never received, or they won't refund me. 

I believe this amounts to fraud, as they claim to have sent something they didn't and took my money. Since I'm not making progress with Amazon, I've initiated a bank investigation. Interestingly, a quick Google search reveals that this issue is quite common, to the extent that some people now film themselves unboxing parcels as proof.

I'm not sure "common" is correct.  With the millions of orders Amazon process, a tiny proportion falling victim to crime still represents a lot of cases, but I don't think it's common.  Filming, like your photos, proves nothing I'm afraid.

You should wait for your bank to conclude whatever process they're undertaking, and if unsuccessful, you could consider small claims action against Amazon.  It's often said on here that Amazon close accounts of those exercising chargebacks or section 75 claims or small claims action.  I don't know how "common" that is, or whether it's true, but it is a possible outcome, so you'll need to weigh up your chances of success and the possible consequences either way.

Your are suggesting that he has to weigh up a loss of possibly £800-£1200 pounds against being excluded from Amazon. I think if this happened to me I don't think I would want to be a customer of Amazon 

35har1old

Kim_13 said:

I am one of those who now film the unboxing of parcels, and would rather have it than not - if Amazon or the retailer in question won’t accept it, then it might help in a small claims action. I started doing this after placing a relatively large order with Boots on behalf of my Aunt, who had selected the items from the Christmas Gift Guide as she is in a care home and doesn’t use the internet. She had ordered several of something, but only one was in the package, with roughly £50 worth of items being missing. The wording on Boots’ message to me suggested they had either done a stocktake or checked footage from the warehouse, and they promptly corrected the error. (Had they not done so, I’d have felt a moral obligation to acquire the missing items out of my own pocket.) It is alarming that Amazon don’t seem to be doing this, per the OP’s sensible suggestion (surely it couldn’t have been the courier doing this, as they would need a sealed box of AirPods and the ability to make the box look as though it hadn’t been tampered with.)

I received several wrong items from Amazon in 2021 (the first was wrong, so they resent it and would only charge me if I didn’t return the first.) The replacement package contained the same wrong item, so it looked like they had the item mislabelled somewhere in their processes (I believe bots actually pick the items from storage and send them to a conveyer where they are then packed, from watching some YouTube videos.) Anyway, when I was returning the wrong items, having received a label from Amazon, the sheet that had to go in with the package said something like ‘Contents: 1x Item I had ordered.’ I raised this with the CS rep, who said it was fine, simply send what you received. I wasn’t wholly convinced but if I didn’t send it I would end up being charged, so I wrote on this sheet explaining what had happened. I had no problem with them after this, so either the note helped or they are more willing to take the customer’s word when the item is of lower value.

The OP is a minimum of £999 out of pocket (price of the lowest capacity iPhone 15 Pro, and obviously doesn’t even have the value of the AirPods that were received, having returned them.) Maybe you’d let it go if it was a smaller amount, but the ability to shop at Amazon in the future isn’t worth £999. Who’s to say that Amazon wouldn’t close the account even if the OP did nothing in the way of claims - as far as Amazon are concerned at the moment, he/she lied to them to try to get a free iPhone. If a customer actually did that, they would be the very definition of a problem customer that a business might want to refuse custom from.

Amazon price range £800-£1200

user1977

hazlaw said:

I believe this amounts to fraud, as they claim to have sent something they didn't and took my money. 

No, that isn't what "fraud" means - unless you actually think they're doing it deliberately.

MobileSaver

Kim_13 said:

Boots’ message to me suggested they had either done a stocktake or checked footage from the warehouse, ... It is alarming that Amazon don’t seem to be doing this,

To be fair to Amazon, if someone told me that Amazon ship as many parcels in a day that Boots ship in an entire year then I would not be surprised; I can see why it may not be feasible or cost effective for Amazon to routinely spend much time investigating such issues despite the significant hassle and stress experienced by the customer.

Kim_13

Bigger though they may be, it is entirely wrong for any company to think that they are too big to make mistakes, or that their size exempts them from having to resolve issues when they do occur. If it is cheaper for them to refund than to investigate then they can of course do that, but currently they are intending to do nothing AND keep the OP’s money.

I have read previous news reports of cheaper items being delivered in the place of those ordered; some of those were refunded by Amazon once the media got involved, so I would suggest trying that as a next step.

Aylesbury_Duck

35har1old said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

hazlaw said:

I'm curious if anyone else has encountered a situation similar to mine. I placed an order for an iPhone 15 Pro on Amazon, but when the package arrived, it contained AirPods instead. I reached out to Amazon's customer service, and they provided a return label after I provided photographic evidence.

Amazon insists they sent the iPhone, not AirPods, and they're unresponsive to my requests to verify stock counts and serial numbers. They've given me a deadline of November 6th to return the iPhone, which I never received, or they won't refund me. 

I believe this amounts to fraud, as they claim to have sent something they didn't and took my money. Since I'm not making progress with Amazon, I've initiated a bank investigation. Interestingly, a quick Google search reveals that this issue is quite common, to the extent that some people now film themselves unboxing parcels as proof.

I'm not sure "common" is correct.  With the millions of orders Amazon process, a tiny proportion falling victim to crime still represents a lot of cases, but I don't think it's common.  Filming, like your photos, proves nothing I'm afraid.

You should wait for your bank to conclude whatever process they're undertaking, and if unsuccessful, you could consider small claims action against Amazon.  It's often said on here that Amazon close accounts of those exercising chargebacks or section 75 claims or small claims action.  I don't know how "common" that is, or whether it's true, but it is a possible outcome, so you'll need to weigh up your chances of success and the possible consequences either way.

Your are suggesting that he has to weigh up a loss of possibly £800-£1200 pounds against being excluded from Amazon. I think if this happened to me I don't think I would want to be a customer of Amazon 

No, I was suggesting he should weigh up a loss against being excluded from Amazon.  I'm pleased to say I was entirely ignorant of Apple's exorbitant pricing for phones and earphones.  A iphone costs around £1000?  Crikey.

forgotmyname

35har1old said:

Your are suggesting that he has to weigh up a loss of possibly £800-£1200 pounds against being excluded from Amazon. I think if this happened to me I don't think I would want to be a customer of Amazon 

I would have no hesitation making a chargeback or even small claims.  If they close the account then that would force me to make another chargeback unless they auto
refund for the prime membership when they close accounts?

The problem with Apple charging silly money for phones is that people paid it and now many phone manufacturers also
sell phones of similar value even the budget brands.

Apple stopped shipping chargers, so did Samsung.  Many people have chargers they claimed so its a burden on resources but in reality
many buy new chargers which puts an even greater burden because they all need their own packaging and shipping.
Same as the headphone jack previously, pushed people into buying their airpods rather than a decent set of headphones which cost
a lot less.