This article feels like a non-sequitur to me. It reads like a paper a college student would write when they have no ideas but need something tomorrow. The author's examples are a case where they...
Exemplary
This article feels like a non-sequitur to me. It reads like a paper a college student would write when they have no ideas but need something tomorrow.
The author's examples are a case where they admitted to packing the return wrong, and another which Amazon accepted as an error. There's no statistics or at least other anecdotes. That's it. I don't even know why the author spent so much time on the weaker anecdote, the one where they fucked it up to begin with.
Amazon returns are the by far the best out of the e-retailers. Most small shops still expect you to figure out the shipping back - and they don't pay for the return shipping, which can easily cause the expense of the return to cost more than the item. That you can rock up to the wholefoods or a kohls with a QR code and no questions asked is insane.
The way the author described using the automated kiosk at Whole Foods reminds me of people who complain about the self-check kiosks in airports. That they got flustered at the kiosk and don't know...
The way the author described using the automated kiosk at Whole Foods reminds me of people who complain about the self-check kiosks in airports. That they got flustered at the kiosk and don't know how to put on the baggage sticker things.
We can talk about whether all of this should be done by the customer or an actual person employed by the company, but I think that's a separate discussion.
Having used those return kiosks at Whole Foods maybe 5 times...it's not exactly rocket surgery. Same with the airport kiosks. Do these same people get freaked out by ATMs? How about parking garage pay kiosks? Self checkouts? OK, self checkouts can be finnicky at times.
I can empathize a little with having a line waiting behind you and something isn't working. And Amazon isn't helping there. At the Whole Foods I usually go to to return things, which is quite busy since it's in the city, I believe there's only one kiosk. Two at most. Maybe that's one of the ways Amazon is trying to add friction.
But again, it's not a hard process once you're at the machine. And in my experience, if there's an issue, you can ask one of the WF customer service reps that are typically by the kiosk. At least at my store, the kiosk is right next to customer service (not that long ago, returns used to be processed by WF customer service or a dedicated desk). Once I went to return something and there were no bags left. I asked the employee, "Can I just stick this barcode sticker on the product?" They said yes, I did so, and dropped it off. As I got into my car, I got the email that my refund had been issued. Easy. Less than 5min from my car back to my car.
Like you said, it just makes it sound like they had nothing to write about, so they came up with this "problem."
I do find it a bit strange to use such a platform to merely write about their anecdotal experiences with Amazon's return process, though sometimes anecdotal experiences are all the information...
I do find it a bit strange to use such a platform to merely write about their anecdotal experiences with Amazon's return process, though sometimes anecdotal experiences are all the information available publicly and the real useful data is safely guarded by the company that doesn't want you to know what it is doing. Seems they could have done a better job at getting more detailed accounts of other anecdotal experiences and getting Amazon to make statements on those accounts (with the permission of the account holders obviously) may have been better suited than the writer of this article relying on their own experiences where they admit to not following the instructions properly.
I will say that I'm pretty sure Amazon does mislead about return instructions which might lead to someone improperly packing things. I've had a few occasions where I know for sure that when it presented options for returns, it said one thing, and then after selecting those options the return instructions change. Specifically one that I remember in most detail as it happened recently, I chose the UPS Store because it said "No box or label needed", and then afterwards the return instructions specified I needed to box the item. That has happened to me more than once with Amazon. I remember after it happened the first time, I screenshotted my next couple returns in case they did it again, so I had proof that it said one thing initially and changed to another, but those few subsequent ones didn't have those experiences and then over time I relaxed again into not screenshotting anymore, only to be caught by them doing it again. I don't return that often, so this is over a period of months or years. Having said that, Amazon returns/customer service has so far done right by me in all instances of my returns.
My wife has a small retail business that also does online sales. Her written policy is that the customer pays return shipping but in reality she handles things on a case by case basis. At Amazon's...
Most small shops still expect you to figure out the shipping back - and they don't pay for the return shipping, which can easily cause the expense of the return to cost more than the item.
My wife has a small retail business that also does online sales. Her written policy is that the customer pays return shipping but in reality she handles things on a case by case basis. At Amazon's scale they can't do that.
What my wife has done (and I'm sure other small businesses do as well) is write her policy to deal with the worst customers.
As an example we had a few people buying items in different sizes (sometimes the same item, sometimes different) and then return the sizes that don't fit. Ya, we're not paying return shipping on that, but if you say "hey I normally fit a medium but this fit really different" then sure.
My barber has a cancellation fee that I honestly thought was a little steep. I asked him about it one day, and he said it’s not meant for normal customers who happen to have an occasional conflict...
My barber has a cancellation fee that I honestly thought was a little steep.
I asked him about it one day, and he said it’s not meant for normal customers who happen to have an occasional conflict come up; it’s meant for people who will schedule three or four different appointments online and then only show up to the one that’s most convenient for them when those dates finally come up. Having the additional appointments on the books locks out other customers, essentially taking money from his pocket — hence the fee. Its existence is more of a deterrent for that behavior than a regular part of his practice.
I was surprised when he told me this. It never occurred to me that someone would schedule multiple appointments with the intention of only showing up to one (similar to someone ordering multiple sizes with the intention of returning the others). He said it’s more common than I think.
It sounds like the author returns items pretty often, so I'm a little unclear on why they find it so confusing or why they get "flummoxed" in line for the return. I'll admit that I was kind of...
It sounds like the author returns items pretty often, so I'm a little unclear on why they find it so confusing or why they get "flummoxed" in line for the return.
I'll admit that I was kind of nervous when I returned an item in one of those Amazon to go shops, but a lot of that was that I find those shops creepy. It was actually easier than a Walmart return.
I bought some AirPods Pro 2[0] last year off of Amazon. A month later, I find out that they're fake, so I initiate a return on them. The return does not allow me to drop off at Whole Foods or at...
I bought some AirPods Pro 2[0] last year off of Amazon. A month later, I find out that they're fake, so I initiate a return on them. The return does not allow me to drop off at Whole Foods or at UPS for some reason, and I later am told that because it's a counterfeit Apple product, it needs to go directly to Apple via a UPS pick-up.
This is during my work's winter break, so I settle in and watch movies all day waiting for UPS to show up. I am literally next to my front door the entire time, and no one shows up, but later that night I find that UPS has left a note saying no one is home. Confused, I test my doorbell and it works. I try again the next day and same thing. It hits me then that they probably rang my (apartment) neighbor's doorbell! It's labeled! I leave a sign next to the doorbell with a note for UPS.
The third day, it happens again. I've now wasted 3 days of my break waiting at home. So I call Amazon thinking that I've made more than an honest effort to do the right thing and they insist that I try one more time. Still wanting to be an honest person, I agree to try one more time. Yeah, nothing changed, I just wasted a fourth day. This time they didn't leave a note, but the UPS driver said they weren't given a shipping label for pickup so they couldn't pick up my package, despite the tracking info saying they'd stop by today. Thanks.
Finally I insist to Amazon that they just refund me whether or not they get their package back. Their defense is that I should have figured out it was a counterfeit within their normal return period. My argument is that they shouldn't be selling counterfeits. We repeat ourselves for 20 minutes (with a supervisor) before they finally give up and agree to refunding me less than the amount I paid. I spend another 10 minutes arguing about that before I finally get it.
[0] AirPods are known to have a counterfeit issue and particularly bad on Amazon which commingles inventory. Relying on "shipped and sold by Amazon.com" is not enough for this because they commingle inventory. I purchased anyway because the discount was very significant. My two buddies got real ones; I got a fake one. The issue was compounded by the fact that I was traveling when they arrived. I didn't realize you could sell counterfeits as long as you trick the buyer for two weeks /s
Well, tbf to amazon while I agree with you that it shouldn't be that it's ok to sell counterfeits as long as the buyer is tricked, from their POV they have people who probably abuse the system to...
Well, tbf to amazon while I agree with you that it shouldn't be that it's ok to sell counterfeits as long as the buyer is tricked, from their POV they have people who probably abuse the system to use it as free rental, and the longer they allow you to keep headsets without pushback, the more it encourages people to abuse policies like that. So.. it's not necessarily that they think they should be in the clear long as you took too long to notice more than they have to weigh the line between making it inconvenient for people who would abuse systems and valid customers and them having no way to tell which you are.
Also... do you not have a drop off location near you where you can just return the stuff in person? ANd if so, why couldn't they agree to that when UPS can't figure out their shit (that's where I'd be pissed at them for).
Fair points! To the first I think they could balance it by considering the frequency at which I return things and also consider that I initiated a return a month after I received the item versus a...
Fair points! To the first I think they could balance it by considering the frequency at which I return things and also consider that I initiated a return a month after I received the item versus a year after.
To the second I was explicitly told that I could not drop off the item at a Whole Foods or UPS. It was some dumb Amazon-Apple counterfeit policy where the item goes straight to Apple rather than Amazon. UPS drop off locations could not accommodate (tried after the fourth attempt).
I believe this is because no one at Amazon checks why things are returned and they often just get put straight back into inventory as long as the packaging looks fine. I bought a ring from Amazon...
It was some dumb Amazon-Apple counterfeit policy where the item goes straight to Apple rather than Amazon
I believe this is because no one at Amazon checks why things are returned and they often just get put straight back into inventory as long as the packaging looks fine.
I bought a ring from Amazon a while back. The outer package said the correct size, but the ring inside did not match that size. So I returned it and tried to buy another one (which they claimed was in stock). The shipment of the new ring was delayed several times, but shortly after I got the notification that they had finished processing my return, they shipped the "new" ring. Of course, they shipped me the exact same ring I had just returned.
I disagree, I don't think there should be a limit on returning counterfeits. Fundamentally, it's the responsibility of the platform to police it's marketplace, and if they're not capable of...
I disagree, I don't think there should be a limit on returning counterfeits. Fundamentally, it's the responsibility of the platform to police it's marketplace, and if they're not capable of guaranteeing authenticity, then they shouldn't be selling it (or have a very prominent, simple disclaimer).
Why does it matter how long you were tricked for? At the end of the day you were tricked and should be made whole.
Regarding abuse, once you have policies in place to detect counterfeits, it would be easy to get the return and put it through that process. If it's a fake, audit the seller; if it's return abuse, make a 3-strike system to ban the account or something.
Why not? All the limits make sense. If OP had returned in 2 weeks, it would be covered by the guaranteed return policy from Amazon. Now that it’s been a month, they need to actually check that...
Why not? All the limits make sense. If OP had returned in 2 weeks, it would be covered by the guaranteed return policy from Amazon.
Now that it’s been a month, they need to actually check that it’s a counterfeit. Amazon isn’t equipped to do that - it’s not trivial. Which is why they had them ship it to Apple, who can tell if their own product is counterfeit.
And then the issue was actually the incompetency of UPS. They were made whole in the end anyway.
I was made whole only because I was willing to argue with them long enough; let's not give Amazon too much credit there. Many people would have given up at that point. I wonder what the resolution...
I was made whole only because I was willing to argue with them long enough; let's not give Amazon too much credit there. Many people would have given up at that point.
I wonder what the resolution would have been if I had found out 3/6/9 months into ownership that the AirPods were counterfeit. I deeply wish Amazon would stop commingling inventory the way that they do. I hear that they lose less money in returns through this issue than they make up for with efficiency, which is why they do it despite knowing it's a problem.
Let me clarify, I am not saying they should not be responsible if they sold a counterfeit. My only point was to point out from their POV why returning a month later might matter to them that isn't...
Let me clarify, I am not saying they should not be responsible if they sold a counterfeit. My only point was to point out from their POV why returning a month later might matter to them that isn't just cause they are tryign to scam.
The author doesn't do much to gain my sympathy. They purchased something that was only half an inch off from the expected dimensions and wanted to return it. From what it sounds like it wasn't...
The author doesn't do much to gain my sympathy. They purchased something that was only half an inch off from the expected dimensions and wanted to return it. From what it sounds like it wasn't something that needed precise dimensions anyway (woven storage cubes?) Sure, they didn't get exactly what they paid for but a half an inch difference isn't worth the hassle they created for themselves. Grow up. Is it a shock that something from present day Amazon (which if you haven't noticed, their product selections are mostly Chinese retailers making up fake English sounding names for products and companies that don't actually exist) was a piece of crap? And is it really another shock that Amazon doesn't want people to return things? Why would a company want to lose money? Especially as more and more people share ways to "game" the system on Instagram and TikTok.
The lesson is quite simple; don't buy stuff from Amazon. I haven't for a couple of years now and it's fine. You don't need to buy every little thing that crosses your mind. Every single problem the author had would have been solved had they purchased this product in person and brought a measuring tape along.
Edit: I'm not saying consumers don't have a right to return things. I'm saying Amazon sucks and we've known it for years and I don't know why people are surprised. Stop buying stuff from Amazon. Stop supporting corporations. Shop local. Support small businesses.
I don’t shop on Amazon but this is nonsensical victim blaming. It’s not ridiculous to suggest that things should be listed accurately in a storefront where you’re getting an item delivered without...
I don’t shop on Amazon but this is nonsensical victim blaming. It’s not ridiculous to suggest that things should be listed accurately in a storefront where you’re getting an item delivered without being able to inspect it first. It frankly doesn’t matter if the item is good enough, if you don’t get what was listed on the store, it should be your right to return it. If a company doesn’t want to lose money, it should list the item accurately in the first place. Saying “what did you expect, that service sucks, anyway” isn’t helpful or productive in any way.
I'm not saying if an item doesn't show up as described you don't have a right to return it. Even if it showed up as described and you just have buyers remorse, I think the consumer has every right...
I'm not saying if an item doesn't show up as described you don't have a right to return it. Even if it showed up as described and you just have buyers remorse, I think the consumer has every right to return it.
What I'm saying is that Amazon is a known greedy entity at this point and I'm baffled as to why people still purchase from there. Voting with your wallet will do more than the government to curb these large corporations.
But I get your point, and I get how I sounded in my initial comment. Hopefully this article makes people think twice about buying from Amazon.
I buy from Amazon because the experience is the best. Shipping is reliable and fast, and returns are by far the best out of any website. Like it’s not even close. The things I buy from Amazon are...
I buy from Amazon because the experience is the best. Shipping is reliable and fast, and returns are by far the best out of any website. Like it’s not even close.
The things I buy from Amazon are either items where I really don’t care about quality, like cable ties, or where I know what brand I buy from. I personally have never received a counterfeit and I don’t particularly mind if do, since I can return and have a replacement shipped before other retailers could ship the first item.
As someone that has a bunch of different storage cubes for my bookcases and some in-wall shelving, I don't think that's necessarily true. If the product dimensions weren't listed correctly, and as...
From what it sounds like it wasn't something that needed precise dimensions anyway (woven storage cubes?)
As someone that has a bunch of different storage cubes for my bookcases and some in-wall shelving, I don't think that's necessarily true. If the product dimensions weren't listed correctly, and as a result the storage cubes didn't fit in the shelving I bought them for then that's a huge problem, and a perfectly valid reason to return them, IMO.
So your stance is that he should know better than to expect Amazon to accurately portray what they're selling or make it possible to get redress for their failure to live up to truth in...
So your stance is that he should know better than to expect Amazon to accurately portray what they're selling or make it possible to get redress for their failure to live up to truth in advertising?
I mean, I agree wholeheartedly, but I still have sympathy for the poor bastard who had faith in the fundamental social contract that seemed to bind buyers and sellers but was in fact the FTC bringing down the hammer on companies that violated truth in advertising laws. When someone buys something online, it's in the overall interests of the economy as a whole to have those purchases be effective, accurate, and timely. But with billions of purchasers and no real reputation to defend it's in the interest of most sellers to extract as much value right now as they can.
This is the fundamental argument for regulation that puts the burden of management onto the platform itself. Whether it's being able to get redress from Amazon directly even if it's a third-party seller that perpetrates the scam, or charging AirBnB directly for rental taxes and fines to make sure that the landlords don't break the municipal rules, the platforms are the ones who can actually have an effect within their domains and thus are the ones upon which to apply regulation.
I disagree. If something is not accurately described, why should the buyer just roll over and accept the product as a punishment for the stupidity of buying from Amazon? I was on the hunt recently...
I disagree. If something is not accurately described, why should the buyer just roll over and accept the product as a punishment for the stupidity of buying from Amazon?
I was on the hunt recently for a dress. I have a strong preference for cotton, but a huge number of dresses with "cotton" in the description line actually don't have any. There might be the correct fabric blend in the details, or it might be mentioned in the customer reviews. But if I'm led to believe it's cotton and it turns out not to be, you bet I'm going to return it and complain about the erroneous description, because the seller should be accurate about what they're selling.
This article feels like a non-sequitur to me. It reads like a paper a college student would write when they have no ideas but need something tomorrow.
The author's examples are a case where they admitted to packing the return wrong, and another which Amazon accepted as an error. There's no statistics or at least other anecdotes. That's it. I don't even know why the author spent so much time on the weaker anecdote, the one where they fucked it up to begin with.
Amazon returns are the by far the best out of the e-retailers. Most small shops still expect you to figure out the shipping back - and they don't pay for the return shipping, which can easily cause the expense of the return to cost more than the item. That you can rock up to the wholefoods or a kohls with a QR code and no questions asked is insane.
The way the author described using the automated kiosk at Whole Foods reminds me of people who complain about the self-check kiosks in airports. That they got flustered at the kiosk and don't know how to put on the baggage sticker things.
We can talk about whether all of this should be done by the customer or an actual person employed by the company, but I think that's a separate discussion.
Having used those return kiosks at Whole Foods maybe 5 times...it's not exactly rocket surgery. Same with the airport kiosks. Do these same people get freaked out by ATMs? How about parking garage pay kiosks? Self checkouts? OK, self checkouts can be finnicky at times.
I can empathize a little with having a line waiting behind you and something isn't working. And Amazon isn't helping there. At the Whole Foods I usually go to to return things, which is quite busy since it's in the city, I believe there's only one kiosk. Two at most. Maybe that's one of the ways Amazon is trying to add friction.
But again, it's not a hard process once you're at the machine. And in my experience, if there's an issue, you can ask one of the WF customer service reps that are typically by the kiosk. At least at my store, the kiosk is right next to customer service (not that long ago, returns used to be processed by WF customer service or a dedicated desk). Once I went to return something and there were no bags left. I asked the employee, "Can I just stick this barcode sticker on the product?" They said yes, I did so, and dropped it off. As I got into my car, I got the email that my refund had been issued. Easy. Less than 5min from my car back to my car.
Like you said, it just makes it sound like they had nothing to write about, so they came up with this "problem."
I do find it a bit strange to use such a platform to merely write about their anecdotal experiences with Amazon's return process, though sometimes anecdotal experiences are all the information available publicly and the real useful data is safely guarded by the company that doesn't want you to know what it is doing. Seems they could have done a better job at getting more detailed accounts of other anecdotal experiences and getting Amazon to make statements on those accounts (with the permission of the account holders obviously) may have been better suited than the writer of this article relying on their own experiences where they admit to not following the instructions properly.
I will say that I'm pretty sure Amazon does mislead about return instructions which might lead to someone improperly packing things. I've had a few occasions where I know for sure that when it presented options for returns, it said one thing, and then after selecting those options the return instructions change. Specifically one that I remember in most detail as it happened recently, I chose the UPS Store because it said "No box or label needed", and then afterwards the return instructions specified I needed to box the item. That has happened to me more than once with Amazon. I remember after it happened the first time, I screenshotted my next couple returns in case they did it again, so I had proof that it said one thing initially and changed to another, but those few subsequent ones didn't have those experiences and then over time I relaxed again into not screenshotting anymore, only to be caught by them doing it again. I don't return that often, so this is over a period of months or years. Having said that, Amazon returns/customer service has so far done right by me in all instances of my returns.
My wife has a small retail business that also does online sales. Her written policy is that the customer pays return shipping but in reality she handles things on a case by case basis. At Amazon's scale they can't do that.
What my wife has done (and I'm sure other small businesses do as well) is write her policy to deal with the worst customers.
As an example we had a few people buying items in different sizes (sometimes the same item, sometimes different) and then return the sizes that don't fit. Ya, we're not paying return shipping on that, but if you say "hey I normally fit a medium but this fit really different" then sure.
My barber has a cancellation fee that I honestly thought was a little steep.
I asked him about it one day, and he said it’s not meant for normal customers who happen to have an occasional conflict come up; it’s meant for people who will schedule three or four different appointments online and then only show up to the one that’s most convenient for them when those dates finally come up. Having the additional appointments on the books locks out other customers, essentially taking money from his pocket — hence the fee. Its existence is more of a deterrent for that behavior than a regular part of his practice.
I was surprised when he told me this. It never occurred to me that someone would schedule multiple appointments with the intention of only showing up to one (similar to someone ordering multiple sizes with the intention of returning the others). He said it’s more common than I think.
It sounds like the author returns items pretty often, so I'm a little unclear on why they find it so confusing or why they get "flummoxed" in line for the return.
I'll admit that I was kind of nervous when I returned an item in one of those Amazon to go shops, but a lot of that was that I find those shops creepy. It was actually easier than a Walmart return.
I bought some AirPods Pro 2[0] last year off of Amazon. A month later, I find out that they're fake, so I initiate a return on them. The return does not allow me to drop off at Whole Foods or at UPS for some reason, and I later am told that because it's a counterfeit Apple product, it needs to go directly to Apple via a UPS pick-up.
This is during my work's winter break, so I settle in and watch movies all day waiting for UPS to show up. I am literally next to my front door the entire time, and no one shows up, but later that night I find that UPS has left a note saying no one is home. Confused, I test my doorbell and it works. I try again the next day and same thing. It hits me then that they probably rang my (apartment) neighbor's doorbell! It's labeled! I leave a sign next to the doorbell with a note for UPS.
The third day, it happens again. I've now wasted 3 days of my break waiting at home. So I call Amazon thinking that I've made more than an honest effort to do the right thing and they insist that I try one more time. Still wanting to be an honest person, I agree to try one more time. Yeah, nothing changed, I just wasted a fourth day. This time they didn't leave a note, but the UPS driver said they weren't given a shipping label for pickup so they couldn't pick up my package, despite the tracking info saying they'd stop by today. Thanks.
Finally I insist to Amazon that they just refund me whether or not they get their package back. Their defense is that I should have figured out it was a counterfeit within their normal return period. My argument is that they shouldn't be selling counterfeits. We repeat ourselves for 20 minutes (with a supervisor) before they finally give up and agree to refunding me less than the amount I paid. I spend another 10 minutes arguing about that before I finally get it.
[0] AirPods are known to have a counterfeit issue and particularly bad on Amazon which commingles inventory. Relying on "shipped and sold by Amazon.com" is not enough for this because they commingle inventory. I purchased anyway because the discount was very significant. My two buddies got real ones; I got a fake one. The issue was compounded by the fact that I was traveling when they arrived. I didn't realize you could sell counterfeits as long as you trick the buyer for two weeks /s
Well, tbf to amazon while I agree with you that it shouldn't be that it's ok to sell counterfeits as long as the buyer is tricked, from their POV they have people who probably abuse the system to use it as free rental, and the longer they allow you to keep headsets without pushback, the more it encourages people to abuse policies like that. So.. it's not necessarily that they think they should be in the clear long as you took too long to notice more than they have to weigh the line between making it inconvenient for people who would abuse systems and valid customers and them having no way to tell which you are.
Also... do you not have a drop off location near you where you can just return the stuff in person? ANd if so, why couldn't they agree to that when UPS can't figure out their shit (that's where I'd be pissed at them for).
Fair points! To the first I think they could balance it by considering the frequency at which I return things and also consider that I initiated a return a month after I received the item versus a year after.
To the second I was explicitly told that I could not drop off the item at a Whole Foods or UPS. It was some dumb Amazon-Apple counterfeit policy where the item goes straight to Apple rather than Amazon. UPS drop off locations could not accommodate (tried after the fourth attempt).
I believe this is because no one at Amazon checks why things are returned and they often just get put straight back into inventory as long as the packaging looks fine.
I bought a ring from Amazon a while back. The outer package said the correct size, but the ring inside did not match that size. So I returned it and tried to buy another one (which they claimed was in stock). The shipment of the new ring was delayed several times, but shortly after I got the notification that they had finished processing my return, they shipped the "new" ring. Of course, they shipped me the exact same ring I had just returned.
I disagree, I don't think there should be a limit on returning counterfeits. Fundamentally, it's the responsibility of the platform to police it's marketplace, and if they're not capable of guaranteeing authenticity, then they shouldn't be selling it (or have a very prominent, simple disclaimer).
Why does it matter how long you were tricked for? At the end of the day you were tricked and should be made whole.
Regarding abuse, once you have policies in place to detect counterfeits, it would be easy to get the return and put it through that process. If it's a fake, audit the seller; if it's return abuse, make a 3-strike system to ban the account or something.
Why not? All the limits make sense. If OP had returned in 2 weeks, it would be covered by the guaranteed return policy from Amazon.
Now that it’s been a month, they need to actually check that it’s a counterfeit. Amazon isn’t equipped to do that - it’s not trivial. Which is why they had them ship it to Apple, who can tell if their own product is counterfeit.
And then the issue was actually the incompetency of UPS. They were made whole in the end anyway.
I was made whole only because I was willing to argue with them long enough; let's not give Amazon too much credit there. Many people would have given up at that point.
I wonder what the resolution would have been if I had found out 3/6/9 months into ownership that the AirPods were counterfeit. I deeply wish Amazon would stop commingling inventory the way that they do. I hear that they lose less money in returns through this issue than they make up for with efficiency, which is why they do it despite knowing it's a problem.
Let me clarify, I am not saying they should not be responsible if they sold a counterfeit. My only point was to point out from their POV why returning a month later might matter to them that isn't just cause they are tryign to scam.
The author doesn't do much to gain my sympathy. They purchased something that was only half an inch off from the expected dimensions and wanted to return it. From what it sounds like it wasn't something that needed precise dimensions anyway (woven storage cubes?) Sure, they didn't get exactly what they paid for but a half an inch difference isn't worth the hassle they created for themselves. Grow up. Is it a shock that something from present day Amazon (which if you haven't noticed, their product selections are mostly Chinese retailers making up fake English sounding names for products and companies that don't actually exist) was a piece of crap? And is it really another shock that Amazon doesn't want people to return things? Why would a company want to lose money? Especially as more and more people share ways to "game" the system on Instagram and TikTok.
The lesson is quite simple; don't buy stuff from Amazon. I haven't for a couple of years now and it's fine. You don't need to buy every little thing that crosses your mind. Every single problem the author had would have been solved had they purchased this product in person and brought a measuring tape along.
Edit: I'm not saying consumers don't have a right to return things. I'm saying Amazon sucks and we've known it for years and I don't know why people are surprised. Stop buying stuff from Amazon. Stop supporting corporations. Shop local. Support small businesses.
I don’t shop on Amazon but this is nonsensical victim blaming. It’s not ridiculous to suggest that things should be listed accurately in a storefront where you’re getting an item delivered without being able to inspect it first. It frankly doesn’t matter if the item is good enough, if you don’t get what was listed on the store, it should be your right to return it. If a company doesn’t want to lose money, it should list the item accurately in the first place. Saying “what did you expect, that service sucks, anyway” isn’t helpful or productive in any way.
I'm not saying if an item doesn't show up as described you don't have a right to return it. Even if it showed up as described and you just have buyers remorse, I think the consumer has every right to return it.
What I'm saying is that Amazon is a known greedy entity at this point and I'm baffled as to why people still purchase from there. Voting with your wallet will do more than the government to curb these large corporations.
But I get your point, and I get how I sounded in my initial comment. Hopefully this article makes people think twice about buying from Amazon.
I buy from Amazon because the experience is the best. Shipping is reliable and fast, and returns are by far the best out of any website. Like it’s not even close.
The things I buy from Amazon are either items where I really don’t care about quality, like cable ties, or where I know what brand I buy from. I personally have never received a counterfeit and I don’t particularly mind if do, since I can return and have a replacement shipped before other retailers could ship the first item.
As someone that has a bunch of different storage cubes for my bookcases and some in-wall shelving, I don't think that's necessarily true. If the product dimensions weren't listed correctly, and as a result the storage cubes didn't fit in the shelving I bought them for then that's a huge problem, and a perfectly valid reason to return them, IMO.
So your stance is that he should know better than to expect Amazon to accurately portray what they're selling or make it possible to get redress for their failure to live up to truth in advertising?
I mean, I agree wholeheartedly, but I still have sympathy for the poor bastard who had faith in the fundamental social contract that seemed to bind buyers and sellers but was in fact the FTC bringing down the hammer on companies that violated truth in advertising laws. When someone buys something online, it's in the overall interests of the economy as a whole to have those purchases be effective, accurate, and timely. But with billions of purchasers and no real reputation to defend it's in the interest of most sellers to extract as much value right now as they can.
This is the fundamental argument for regulation that puts the burden of management onto the platform itself. Whether it's being able to get redress from Amazon directly even if it's a third-party seller that perpetrates the scam, or charging AirBnB directly for rental taxes and fines to make sure that the landlords don't break the municipal rules, the platforms are the ones who can actually have an effect within their domains and thus are the ones upon which to apply regulation.
I disagree. If something is not accurately described, why should the buyer just roll over and accept the product as a punishment for the stupidity of buying from Amazon?
I was on the hunt recently for a dress. I have a strong preference for cotton, but a huge number of dresses with "cotton" in the description line actually don't have any. There might be the correct fabric blend in the details, or it might be mentioned in the customer reviews. But if I'm led to believe it's cotton and it turns out not to be, you bet I'm going to return it and complain about the erroneous description, because the seller should be accurate about what they're selling.