Amazon not honouring offer of return for refund

NotMyName51

powerful_Rogue said:

SarahBDE said:

Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some guidance on a consumer rights issue.

I bought a new iPhone from Amazon on 11 June 2024. From day one it has had a charging fault — it only charges after a reboot. I tried multiple cables but the problem persists.

Unfortunately, I didn’t contact Amazon until 4 June 2025. Customer Service initially offered a repair. I explained I rely on the phone for work and can’t be without it for the 2+ weeks they estimated. At that point I was offered the option of returning it for a full refund, and I specifically asked whether this was time-sensitive. They told me it wasn’t, so I tried a few more cables first. The issue continued.

In November, I contacted Amazon again to proceed with the return/refund, but was told that only a repair is available. They reviewed the chat from June and confirmed I had been offered a refund on return, but said the agent gave me incorrect information, and that repair has only ever been the only option they can provide.

A repair still isn’t workable for me: I’m self-employed, it’s my only phone, they can’t give a loan device, and they can’t confirm the repair timeframe beyond “a minimum of two weeks”.

I asked to escalate and was given the email customer-request-attachment@amazon.co.uk, but I’ve had no response from it. I’ve since emailed back and forth with cs-reply@amazon.co.uk but the replies are copy-and-paste and don’t address the actual issue.

My questions:

• Given they confirmed the refund offer was made, do they have to honour it even if it was “incorrect” information at the time?

• What is my legal position here, considering the fault was present from day one but I raised it late?

• Is there another email or escalation route I should try? The current one is going nowhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated — thank you!

So phone purchased 11th June 2024 which you stated was faulty upon arrival.

Didn't report the fault until 4th June 2025 and then when offered a full refund for it's return you said you would try a few more cables which took another 5 months. Doesn't sound right to me, however it's a business purchase so no consumer rights.

It wasn't a business purchase. It is my personal phone which I use for business calls also. 
Trying the cables didn't take 5 months - me finally getting my backside in gear did. I had a lot going on and trust me, I wish I had been more on it, but I wasn't. Why would I make it up when it is myself it doesn't reflect well on? 

Aylesbury_Duck

SarahBDE said:

powerful_Rogue said:

SarahBDE said:

Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some guidance on a consumer rights issue.

I bought a new iPhone from Amazon on 11 June 2024. From day one it has had a charging fault — it only charges after a reboot. I tried multiple cables but the problem persists.

Unfortunately, I didn’t contact Amazon until 4 June 2025. Customer Service initially offered a repair. I explained I rely on the phone for work and can’t be without it for the 2+ weeks they estimated. At that point I was offered the option of returning it for a full refund, and I specifically asked whether this was time-sensitive. They told me it wasn’t, so I tried a few more cables first. The issue continued.

In November, I contacted Amazon again to proceed with the return/refund, but was told that only a repair is available. They reviewed the chat from June and confirmed I had been offered a refund on return, but said the agent gave me incorrect information, and that repair has only ever been the only option they can provide.

A repair still isn’t workable for me: I’m self-employed, it’s my only phone, they can’t give a loan device, and they can’t confirm the repair timeframe beyond “a minimum of two weeks”.

I asked to escalate and was given the email customer-request-attachment@amazon.co.uk, but I’ve had no response from it. I’ve since emailed back and forth with cs-reply@amazon.co.uk but the replies are copy-and-paste and don’t address the actual issue.

My questions:

• Given they confirmed the refund offer was made, do they have to honour it even if it was “incorrect” information at the time?

• What is my legal position here, considering the fault was present from day one but I raised it late?

• Is there another email or escalation route I should try? The current one is going nowhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated — thank you!

So phone purchased 11th June 2024 which you stated was faulty upon arrival.

Didn't report the fault until 4th June 2025 and then when offered a full refund for it's return you said you would try a few more cables which took another 5 months. Doesn't sound right to me, however it's a business purchase so no consumer rights.

It wasn't a business purchase. It is my personal phone which I use for business calls also. 
Trying the cables didn't take 5 months - me finally getting my backside in gear did. I had a lot going on and trust me, I wish I had been more on it, but I wasn't. Why would I make it up when it is myself it doesn't reflect well on? 

That may well be the case, but if you're using the argument that it's critical to your business as leverage then it makes it easy for Amazon to bat it away as a business purchase and therefore you have contractual rights rather than consumer rights.  You can't have it both ways. 

eskbanker

SarahBDE said:

It wasn't a business purchase. It is my personal phone which I use for business calls also.

But you'd earlier stressed how you'd told them the reason a repair wasn't workable was your reliance on it for your business:

SarahBDE said:

I explained I rely on the phone for work and can’t be without it for the 2+ weeks they estimated. 

[...]

A repair still isn’t workable for me: I’m self-employed, it’s my only phone

Obviously many people use the same phone for both business and pleasure, but the Consumer Rights Act does use this definition:

“Consumer” means an individual acting for purposes that are wholly or mainly outside that individual's trade, business, craft or profession

DeathByFluffy

SarahBDE said:

powerful_Rogue said:

SarahBDE said:

Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some guidance on a consumer rights issue.

I bought a new iPhone from Amazon on 11 June 2024. From day one it has had a charging fault — it only charges after a reboot. I tried multiple cables but the problem persists.

Unfortunately, I didn’t contact Amazon until 4 June 2025. Customer Service initially offered a repair. I explained I rely on the phone for work and can’t be without it for the 2+ weeks they estimated. At that point I was offered the option of returning it for a full refund, and I specifically asked whether this was time-sensitive. They told me it wasn’t, so I tried a few more cables first. The issue continued.

In November, I contacted Amazon again to proceed with the return/refund, but was told that only a repair is available. They reviewed the chat from June and confirmed I had been offered a refund on return, but said the agent gave me incorrect information, and that repair has only ever been the only option they can provide.

A repair still isn’t workable for me: I’m self-employed, it’s my only phone, they can’t give a loan device, and they can’t confirm the repair timeframe beyond “a minimum of two weeks”.

I asked to escalate and was given the email customer-request-attachment@amazon.co.uk, but I’ve had no response from it. I’ve since emailed back and forth with cs-reply@amazon.co.uk but the replies are copy-and-paste and don’t address the actual issue.

My questions:

• Given they confirmed the refund offer was made, do they have to honour it even if it was “incorrect” information at the time?

• What is my legal position here, considering the fault was present from day one but I raised it late?

• Is there another email or escalation route I should try? The current one is going nowhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated — thank you!

So phone purchased 11th June 2024 which you stated was faulty upon arrival.

Didn't report the fault until 4th June 2025 and then when offered a full refund for it's return you said you would try a few more cables which took another 5 months. Doesn't sound right to me, however it's a business purchase so no consumer rights.

It wasn't a business purchase. It is my personal phone which I use for business calls also. 
Trying the cables didn't take 5 months - me finally getting my backside in gear did. I had a lot going on and trust me, I wish I had been more on it, but I wasn't. Why would I make it up when it is myself it doesn't reflect well on? 

If you're self-employed and use it for business, you really need to consider a back-up phone anyway - one day you could wake up and it simply not work. Always have a plan B! 

The repair they've offered is all they need to do, and the fact you seemingly can't operate without a phone while it's away for repair isn't their problem - it's your problem. 
You'll need to source a cheap second phone to use while it's away. 

Alderbank

DeathByFluffy said:

SarahBDE said:

powerful_Rogue said:

SarahBDE said:

Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some guidance on a consumer rights issue.

I bought a new iPhone from Amazon on 11 June 2024. From day one it has had a charging fault — it only charges after a reboot. I tried multiple cables but the problem persists.

Unfortunately, I didn’t contact Amazon until 4 June 2025. Customer Service initially offered a repair. I explained I rely on the phone for work and can’t be without it for the 2+ weeks they estimated. At that point I was offered the option of returning it for a full refund, and I specifically asked whether this was time-sensitive. They told me it wasn’t, so I tried a few more cables first. The issue continued.

In November, I contacted Amazon again to proceed with the return/refund, but was told that only a repair is available. They reviewed the chat from June and confirmed I had been offered a refund on return, but said the agent gave me incorrect information, and that repair has only ever been the only option they can provide.

A repair still isn’t workable for me: I’m self-employed, it’s my only phone, they can’t give a loan device, and they can’t confirm the repair timeframe beyond “a minimum of two weeks”.

I asked to escalate and was given the email customer-request-attachment@amazon.co.uk, but I’ve had no response from it. I’ve since emailed back and forth with cs-reply@amazon.co.uk but the replies are copy-and-paste and don’t address the actual issue.

My questions:

• Given they confirmed the refund offer was made, do they have to honour it even if it was “incorrect” information at the time?

• What is my legal position here, considering the fault was present from day one but I raised it late?

• Is there another email or escalation route I should try? The current one is going nowhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated — thank you!

So phone purchased 11th June 2024 which you stated was faulty upon arrival.

Didn't report the fault until 4th June 2025 and then when offered a full refund for it's return you said you would try a few more cables which took another 5 months. Doesn't sound right to me, however it's a business purchase so no consumer rights.

It wasn't a business purchase. It is my personal phone which I use for business calls also. 
Trying the cables didn't take 5 months - me finally getting my backside in gear did. I had a lot going on and trust me, I wish I had been more on it, but I wasn't. Why would I make it up when it is myself it doesn't reflect well on? 

If you're self-employed and use it for business, you really need to consider a back-up phone anyway - one day you could wake up and it simply not work. Always have a plan B! 

The repair they've offered is all they need to do, and the fact you seemingly can't operate without a phone while it's away for repair isn't their problem - it's your problem. 
You'll need to source a cheap second phone to use while it's away. 

Agreed, this is sound advice. And make sure the sim in your back-up phone is on a different network.

saajan_12

SarahBDE said:

• I don't have a backup in case it fails for the same reason I don't have a backup in case my car fails, even though that is critical for my work and life, too. 

You do, its called taxis, car rental, public transport, etc. Reason being that's cheaper than maintaining a 2nd car (storage, MOT, insurance) in order to ensure its actually usable at short notice. 

With a phone, rental is much harder when you can just get a dumb phone for <£20 or a smart phone for <£100 which would be sufficient to at least send messages and make calls in an emergency. The maintenance is little to none - an hour to partially charge up and you could be up and running. Not to mention you may have an old phone which may be less performant but good enough temporarily. 

No comparison.

DeathByFluffy

Alderbank said:

DeathByFluffy said:

SarahBDE said:

powerful_Rogue said:

SarahBDE said:

Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some guidance on a consumer rights issue.

I bought a new iPhone from Amazon on 11 June 2024. From day one it has had a charging fault — it only charges after a reboot. I tried multiple cables but the problem persists.

Unfortunately, I didn’t contact Amazon until 4 June 2025. Customer Service initially offered a repair. I explained I rely on the phone for work and can’t be without it for the 2+ weeks they estimated. At that point I was offered the option of returning it for a full refund, and I specifically asked whether this was time-sensitive. They told me it wasn’t, so I tried a few more cables first. The issue continued.

In November, I contacted Amazon again to proceed with the return/refund, but was told that only a repair is available. They reviewed the chat from June and confirmed I had been offered a refund on return, but said the agent gave me incorrect information, and that repair has only ever been the only option they can provide.

A repair still isn’t workable for me: I’m self-employed, it’s my only phone, they can’t give a loan device, and they can’t confirm the repair timeframe beyond “a minimum of two weeks”.

I asked to escalate and was given the email customer-request-attachment@amazon.co.uk, but I’ve had no response from it. I’ve since emailed back and forth with cs-reply@amazon.co.uk but the replies are copy-and-paste and don’t address the actual issue.

My questions:

• Given they confirmed the refund offer was made, do they have to honour it even if it was “incorrect” information at the time?

• What is my legal position here, considering the fault was present from day one but I raised it late?

• Is there another email or escalation route I should try? The current one is going nowhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated — thank you!

So phone purchased 11th June 2024 which you stated was faulty upon arrival.

Didn't report the fault until 4th June 2025 and then when offered a full refund for it's return you said you would try a few more cables which took another 5 months. Doesn't sound right to me, however it's a business purchase so no consumer rights.

It wasn't a business purchase. It is my personal phone which I use for business calls also. 
Trying the cables didn't take 5 months - me finally getting my backside in gear did. I had a lot going on and trust me, I wish I had been more on it, but I wasn't. Why would I make it up when it is myself it doesn't reflect well on? 

If you're self-employed and use it for business, you really need to consider a back-up phone anyway - one day you could wake up and it simply not work. Always have a plan B! 

The repair they've offered is all they need to do, and the fact you seemingly can't operate without a phone while it's away for repair isn't their problem - it's your problem. 
You'll need to source a cheap second phone to use while it's away. 

Agreed, this is sound advice. And make sure the sim in your back-up phone is on a different network.

Also good advice! My 2nd phone runs on EE and my main on Three - handy in case there's an outage (which there unfortunately are fairly frequently where I live). 

born_again

Just keep the phone you used previously.