Advice needed about an Amazon refund.

Paradigmconsul

Happy new year all
                              I am hoping some of you have experience in this matter. I will try to make this as short as possible but it's a long story!

My daughter has started a photography degree and for xmas I bought her a decent laptop at the cost of £2000. Ordered on the 7th of December, arrived on the 9th.

When I opened the box it contained another very thick, inner cardboard box with the usual Amazon stickers on, which I assume to be a batch number. Inside that box was an Arsenal calendar.

I contacted Amazon through live chat and they didn't seem in any way surprised that this had happened. I was told to return the calendar for a refund, they would not give me a replacement despite them being in stock and that is all I wanted.

A collection was arranged through UPS, when they arrived I was asked for a collection fee which I thought to be a bit odd and so instead I was given the label and took it to the drop of point (Millets) on the 11th of December.

It was finally collected on the 21th and was received at Amazon on the 29th.

I was originally told the refund would be processed upon collection, then that changed to when they received it. Then the date showed as the 4th of Jan (though the Amazon refund status page), then the 5th, then the 7th and now there is no date showing.

Whilst on live chat I stated the importance of this item and the fact that I could not buy another until I had the refund. I was then told they could not action a refund until the 21th of January, a full 6 weeks after I ordered the item. One month from the date of collection.

I paid with a debit card and so enquired with my bank (Monzo) about the dispute process and was told this could take up to 3 months.

And so this is my situation. I do not have the funds to buy another and don't like the fact that Amazon seem to be mucking me about. I have used Amazon since their inception and have never had this happen before, so imagine my surprise when I did a quick google search and found out that this isn't as uncommon as I first thought.

I would like to hear from anybody that has had a similar experience and what they did. I don't want to be waiting three months during a bank dispute. On the other hand what happens on the 21th of this month? Would you trust Amazon to put this right considering the delays?

Please feel free to tell me what you think. I am at a loss and it's become a very stressful situation. Obviously I don't want to let my daughter down and that is the worst part of this. 

To add insult to injury, today I received an invoice from UPS for a collection fee!

Thanks for reading

C.

ArbitraryRandom

Hi C. Unfortunately there's not a quick solution I can offer you. 

The CRA says you have a right to a refund within 14 days of the seller 'accepting your return' - which I would suggest is when they arranged the collection, but it's a bit fuzzy as it can be after they have inspected the item, which is what I assume is happening currently... you can complain and quote the act to them, but the main problem you'll face is that it's hard to enforce your rights unless you go to small claims, which will still take a while (I'm not sure of the current backlog, but 3-9 months would not be an unreasonable estimate). 

If I were you, I'd be making sure I had copies of all my evidence/of the interactions with live chat saved (hopefully you have pictures of the parcel, account return status etc), then wait for the Amazon deadline. If that passes, complain to Amazon then go to your card issuer. 

Re the collection fee, I'd be responding saying you didn't arrange the collection and they need to talk to Amazon - you have no contract with them and are not liable for the fee as the CRA says it's the sellers responsibility to pay return costs for an item not as described. 

Mark_d

It's certainly a good thing that you opened the inner cardboard box rather than waiting for your daughter to open it on Xmas day.

As you note, this sort of thing is not as uncommon as you would think.  I am fortunate that it has never happened to me.  From my experience Amazon have been good at putting things right but as you can imagine, they want to be extremely careful due to the value of the laptop.

I can't think of much you can do from here, other than get the ball rolling with your Monzo chargeback claim.

cymruchris

Amazon can be very slow at processing refunds when there's a problem. Sometimes they're lightning fast. I've had 'problem refunds' instantly (a £200 battery that was a box of rice and toilet paper) - and other regular refunds that seemed to take 6 weeks. As much as your tracking shows 'received' - it's likely sitting in one of a thousand cages of returns, and Doris only works Thursdays betwen 2 and 4 (that's tongue in cheek) and so it takes them ages to 'process' the actual return. In most cases when they say they will refund, they do refund.

As much as you want this sorted yesterday - you might need a little more time and patience (even though you shouldn't need it). As long as they've said they ARE refunding -- I'm sure they will eventually. (Screen shot it all).  It's not a great experience - and sympathise with your position, as you say you can't throw that kind of money around willy-nilly. If you've not had a refund within their 'new given timescales' - there are other options - but going down that road, you may find your household gets blocked from using Amazon ongoing (everyone at the address - not just you).

sheramber

Was this sold by Amazon or a third party seller,  fullfilled by Amazon or sent direct by seller?

Paradigmconsul

Thanks for all the comments everybody. The item was sold and dispatched by Amazon. I have screenshots of the varying date for a refund and copied all the live chat sessions.

I did not take photos of the item, Obviously I wish I had done a bit more research now, but like I said previously, Amazon have been very reliable and we buy a fair bit from there. And the fact that during the first chat session they didn't seem at all bothered/surprised by the situation. At least compared to me they didn't!

It seems logical to allow them the chance to refund me on the 21st like they said, otherwise I will have to raise a dispute with my bank. The thought of this dragging on for months is not a nice one. It's times like this I wish I had used an actual shop.

Please throw any other info my way if you can think of anything not covered.

Thank you all

C

Paradigmconsul

Hi again
             So, the 21st has been and gone and still no refund. I have just spoken to customer service through live chat and they told me I had returned it to the wrong address! I pointed out that I used their return label so if the address was wrong then it was on them.

The response was they will raise it with the courier so it didn't happen again and then closed the chat on me! I feel like I have been completely stitched up by one of the biggest companies on Earth.

Back to live chat and am told repeatedly to contact UPS and have them deliver it to the correct address. Amazon are saying that the label was correct but the courier delivered it to the wrong part of Amazon. Despite my Protestations about the contract being between Amazon and UPS they just keep repeating the same thing.

I am extremely annoyed. It's like a very bad joke.

Obviously I will now open a bank dispute but if that takes 3 months then I have no idea what we are going to do.

Any advice? Comments? Please fire away.

Chris

Paradigmconsul

The actual comment is: 'You were not supplied the label with the wrong address , it is the carrier who dropped off the item at the wrong location i would request you to contact the carrier regarding this issue so that they can help you further in this issue'

Paradigmconsul

One further note that I find very odd indeed. I have asked them to confirm the return address and they refuse to give it to me. Saying

'I understand that this might be frustrating, but the response you were given previously was correct. We aren't able to provide further insight or action on this matter. If there's nothing else you'd like to discuss, I'll have to end this chat'

'Regarding this you will have to contact the carrier

As we will not be able to assist you with this'

I asked 3 different agents for the return address and the address they say it has been dropped off at, but just get the same responses. They refuse to tell me any of the details they know are important.

I find the whole thing very confusing.

ArbitraryRandom

As suggested above - have you taken screenshots of all of these chats? Ideally one where you have specifically requested the information required for the UPS claim form and they have refused: https://www.ups.com/gb/en/support/file-a-claim.page. 

There's been some debate on these boards, but essentially my view is that it's the customer's responsibility to return - and it remains your responsibility until the parcel has been delivered to the correct address or handed over to an individual nominated by the seller to accept the parcel... in this case you used their return label so your responsibility ended when Amazon's chosen carrier had possession of the parcel. 

That said... if Amazon are refusing to engage, then your only other options are to contact your card issuer - and if that fails a letter before action/small claims - and for both of these options you need evidence that you have tried to engage with Amazon and that Amazon admit you handed the parcel to their carrier who then essentially lost it - plus you would need to be prepared for them to take quite a while and for Amazon to close your account (and the account of anyone else linked to your address). 

Alderbank

About 95% of Amazon's returns come to the Edinburgh warehouse, but not all. I suspect the carrier has just glanced at the label which in this case was different from usual.

Amazon handle hundreds of parcels every hour. It will be a logistics problem for them to find your parcel and send it to the correct depot but they will get there in the end.

If it is typical of the issues people report here they will go quiet for a time then you will suddenly get an email saying all is resolved.