What options are there if a company tries to stop serving a customer that upholds their rights?

Jonboy_1984

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

JetpackVelociraptor said:

Hands up any small business owner who wants to operate in a country where you don't have the right to decide who you do business with - don't all clamour at once!

I think the issue is that in the main most small businesses will deal with most people unless they have a really good reason, i.e the pubs ban drunks, sweet shops ban shoplifters.

When we get to the level of Amazon part of the problem is their policy can trump the consumer's rights leaving people to fall back on things like chargebacks.

I know Amazon are pretty good but equally I've read threads where people are told to go to the manufacturer as it's been longer than 30 days and there's a fair few threads on here about empty boxes/wrong item for delivery/returns with customers not getting far with CS.

Whilst I admit to being sceptical of the honesty of some threads, and recognise these big companies are a target for fraud in general, there have been press articles on the matter as well. 

If a retailer is doing their utmost to abide by consumer rights then I can see why they'd be justified in not wanting to do business with customers who go for a chargeback but when you become global, ship customer service overseas and train staff on policy rather than rights I think a proportion of the blame can fall on the retailer. 

Granted a retailer can refuse to do business with anyone (protected characteristics aside) but a better question would be whether businesses are adhering to consumer rights correctly (could easily name a few large retailers who aren't) and why consumers are left to third party avenues, such as chargebacks or small claims, rather than the likes of Trading Standards enforcement pushing larger companies to have their house in order to not only give the consumer what they are entitled to but to also set an example for everyone else to meet. 
 

The funny thing is there are forums out there for sellers to discuss technical issues when selling on Amazon marketplace, and around half the posts are sellers upset that Amazon customer service is stepping over the line and going far beyond the base consumer rights with their resolution process.

Aylesbury_Duck

born_again said:

no_real_names_please said:

born_again said:

I don't get it.
One hand you are saying you want rights to force a company to allow you to shop, then on the other saying they are a suspect.

Amazon is hardly a suspect company... 

Why does it harm other competing bossiness? Logic dictates they will pick up a new customer 🤷‍♀️

As a consumer if treated badly. I would not deal with the bad retailer again. End of. Not wait for them to say, "Sorry you can't shop here"

because these businesses shouldn't be ripping off customers and be held to account. If their actions weren't letting them profit over other business then they wouldn't be doing it.

If a business is not going to deal with a customer, then they are not making any profit out of them.

If company is ripping customers off there are ways to get your money back.

But as a customer of such a company. Why would you ever want to use them again?
You are not answering that point?

I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess that it's three things: price, convenience and price.  Oh, and probably price.

DullGreyGuy

Aylesbury_Duck said:

born_again said:

no_real_names_please said:

born_again said:

I don't get it.
One hand you are saying you want rights to force a company to allow you to shop, then on the other saying they are a suspect.

Amazon is hardly a suspect company... 

Why does it harm other competing bossiness? Logic dictates they will pick up a new customer 🤷‍♀️

As a consumer if treated badly. I would not deal with the bad retailer again. End of. Not wait for them to say, "Sorry you can't shop here"

because these businesses shouldn't be ripping off customers and be held to account. If their actions weren't letting them profit over other business then they wouldn't be doing it.

If a business is not going to deal with a customer, then they are not making any profit out of them.

If company is ripping customers off there are ways to get your money back.

But as a customer of such a company. Why would you ever want to use them again?
You are not answering that point?

I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess that it's three things: price, convenience and price.  Oh, and probably price.

I suspect its more convenience  these days... its rare that I can't find the same item cheaper elsewhere but I can order a dozen different things at a reasonable price rather than spend hours trying to find each at a lower price. 

Service comes at a price and I think 99% of the time Amazon strikes a reasonable balance and it's only been strange technical errors that they've ever failed badly on for me. If more people who are annoyed at them voted with their wallets then maybe change would happen 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Jonboy_1984 said:

The funny thing is there are forums out there for sellers to discuss technical issues when selling on Amazon marketplace, and around half the posts are sellers upset that Amazon customer service is stepping over the line and going far beyond the base consumer rights with their resolution process.

I sold on Amazon for many years using their FBA service, Amazon can be extremely generous at times, especially when someone else is picking up the tab! 

DullGreyGuy said:

I suspect its more convenience  these days... its rare that I can't find the same item cheaper elsewhere but I can order a dozen different things at a reasonable price rather than spend hours trying to find each at a lower price. 

Service comes at a price and I think 99% of the time Amazon strikes a reasonable balance and it's only been strange technical errors that they've ever failed badly on for me. If more people who are annoyed at them voted with their wallets then maybe change would happen 

Amazon's early move in to things like Prime and tech was very smart, both tie you in to living in the Amazon ecosystem where you go there first because you are paying a fee and using their tech so might as well make the most of it. 

Since Covid I found their packaging to be below par and their search results have been extremely crowded with a lot of sponsored results, the majority of product pages used to have "other customers also viewed" and "also purchased" and these are being swapped out for sponsored results as well so instead of looking at say a toy train for your kids Christmas present and getting suggestions for a toy boat or spaceship you get endless suggestions for more toy trains.

Wanted something the other day £9.99 on Amazon (sold by Amazon themselves), £5.29 on an independent website with a 5% voucher as the order sat in the basket for 5 minutes and another 5% voucher on the dispatch email for next time, with spend £24 for free next day delivery, you are right it can be a pain in the bottom hunting around but for things you might purchase on a semi regular basis finding an independent website and sticking to them can be far cheaper which is ironic given the emphasis on price when shopping and just how expensive Amazon can be for a lot of stuff these days. 

A lot of stuff I look at on Amazon is cheaper on eBay, I can see where the seller is located, easily see their feedback, see what postage service they are going to use, the search results are better and the Moneyback Guarantee fully covers you with little aggravation. 

Regarding convenience Amazon introduced Dash buttons for that ultimate convenience, then they were ruled as unlawful in Germany and quietly disappeared. 

Undervalued

Jonboy_1984 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

JetpackVelociraptor said:

Hands up any small business owner who wants to operate in a country where you don't have the right to decide who you do business with - don't all clamour at once!

I think the issue is that in the main most small businesses will deal with most people unless they have a really good reason, i.e the pubs ban drunks, sweet shops ban shoplifters.

When we get to the level of Amazon part of the problem is their policy can trump the consumer's rights leaving people to fall back on things like chargebacks.

I know Amazon are pretty good but equally I've read threads where people are told to go to the manufacturer as it's been longer than 30 days and there's a fair few threads on here about empty boxes/wrong item for delivery/returns with customers not getting far with CS.

Whilst I admit to being sceptical of the honesty of some threads, and recognise these big companies are a target for fraud in general, there have been press articles on the matter as well. 

If a retailer is doing their utmost to abide by consumer rights then I can see why they'd be justified in not wanting to do business with customers who go for a chargeback but when you become global, ship customer service overseas and train staff on policy rather than rights I think a proportion of the blame can fall on the retailer. 

Granted a retailer can refuse to do business with anyone (protected characteristics aside) but a better question would be whether businesses are adhering to consumer rights correctly (could easily name a few large retailers who aren't) and why consumers are left to third party avenues, such as chargebacks or small claims, rather than the likes of Trading Standards enforcement pushing larger companies to have their house in order to not only give the consumer what they are entitled to but to also set an example for everyone else to meet. 
 

The funny thing is there are forums out there for sellers to discuss technical issues when selling on Amazon marketplace, and around half the posts are sellers upset that Amazon customer service is stepping over the line and going far beyond the base consumer rights with their resolution process.

Many retailers choose to go above and beyond the legal minimums, presumably because they judge it to be worthwhile overall as it encourages customers to shop there. This forum sees plenty of complaints about those that stick to the legal minimum consumer rights from those that mistakenly think their rights are greater than is actually the case.