Wonder what the most expensive item you have returned to amazon for a refund (either faulty or change of mind etc) where they issued a refund without the need to return it? I had my first one this week with an $8 audio cable that i ordered the wrong size of.
For me it's usually spoiled mouldy food and broken jars of pasta sauce, or half empty bottles of shampoo that leaked due to poor packaging. The other things that I've had to sent back was a DOA generic projector (Value: 50 something dollars? and a bluetooth speaker (value: $15)
Xiaomi M365 electric scooter.
How the hell did you manage to get them to refund that without needing to return it?? I'm extremely jealous!
I'm assuming it was minimum $450 at the time of purchase, surely they would want that back??
$639. I asked nicely for an exchange, Amazon rep put a full refund on the table. Here's the transcript, I've edited out my name obvs:
Your Chat Transcript from Amazon
Inbox
Amazon.com.au <[email protected]>
Wed, Jan 22, 2020, 12:17 PM
to me
Amazon Your AccountAmazon.com.au
Message From Customer Service
Hello,
Here's a copy of the chat transcript you requested:
Initial Question: I purchased two matching Xiaomi M365 scooters. One of them has a bad battery. The scooter app reports that four out of the ten cells are bad. It gets half the range of the other scooter with the same rider over the same distance. I'd like to return it for a replacement scooter.
12:07 PM AEDT Revanth(Amazon): Hello there,Revanth here to help you today.
12:07 PM AEDT [me]: Hi Revanth
12:08 PM AEDT Revanth: Okay, please allow me a moment while I check that for you.
12:08 PM AEDT [me]: Thanks
12:09 PM AEDT Revanth: I see that there are 2 orders for same item are you having problem with both?
12:10 PM AEDT [me]: No, one of them is perfectly fine. Just one is faulty.
12:10 PM AEDT Revanth: Okay. Please allow me a moment.
12:10 PM AEDT [me]: OK
12:13 PM AEDT Revanth: [me], In this case I'll help you with a complete refund.
Also you no need to return the item.
Is that fine?
12:14 PM AEDT [me]: OK, thank you. That way I can just buy another one. That's very generous of you and very much appreciated as it's a birthday present!
12:15 PM AEDT Revanth: No worries, Also, I'd like to let you know that I've initiated the refund to original payment method.
12:15 PM AEDT [me]: Thank you
12:15 PM AEDT Revanth: You'll receive it in 3-5 business days.
12:15 PM AEDT [me]: Great
12:15 PM AEDT Revanth: Is there anything else that I can assist you with?
12:15 PM AEDT [me]: No thank you - you've been fantastic.
12:15 PM AEDT Revanth: I hope my little efforts have helped you today?
12:15 PM AEDT [me]: You've made my month
12:15 PM AEDT Revanth: Thank you.
After you click on end chat, you’ll be asked to take a quick survey where you can give feedback on our chat conversation.
12:15 PM AEDT [me]: Will do, thanks again.
12:15 PM AEDT Revanth: It was an immense pleasure assisting you. Enjoy the rest of your day! Take care:-)
12:16 PM AEDT [me]: You too :)
12:16 PM AEDT Revanth: Thank you for choosing Amazon. Have a great day!
Thank you.
Amazon.com.au
This email was sent from a notification-only address that cannot accept incoming email. Please do not reply to this message.
Clear, concise, polite = way to win the day :)
Jen Jeong voice: No….you lie….
Ken Jeong
If there is a Jen Jeong, I don't know her….
There was a period where people were abusing the fact that they couldn't take them back if it were battery issue related.
See above and below.
Since we are just going to lie:
Macbook Pro M2 32gb RAM and 2 TB SSD.. it arrived missing the apple sticker and I was not happy. They told me to just keep it and even sent me the M3 version just to make me happy.
Not a lie. I got a free one because of battery related issues: it was DOA. They sent another one and I just replaced the battery on the first one (cost about $200 then) and I had 2 working ones.
Yeah, because I desperately need approval from you bunch of sad f*&^ers.
January 2020. I bought two. One was fine, the other had major charging problems.
EDIT: here you go, see chat transcript above
Classic OzB
"Lies"
"Here's evidence"
"Well now I look like a moron, my feelings, have a downvote"
I'll just put them in this gigantic bucket labelled "sweet loser tears"
$50 logitech mouse
$40 book. Ripped cover out of UK.
500gb SSD approx. $100 worth.
They sent the wrong one when I’d actually ordered a 2TB one. It was actually someone else’s order which makes me wonder if the person who ordered the 500gb got mine.
Offered to return it but Amazon said I can keep it. Reordered the 2TB again and today it turned up, but again, the wrong item. A 2TB external SSD turned up. This one has already been sent back for refund.
Most unusual for Amazon, in my experience, of hundreds of orders I’ve never had the wrong item sent. To have two in a row (one sent from USA and the other UK) is worrying. 6 weeks later and I still haven’t got what I ordered and have to start all over again.
I'd read that they maybe didn't want to take back food and dangerous products - maybe things with batteries? The ssd is a weird one…
Many years ago at the height of the Li-ion scare they replaced a new tablet with faulty speakers. But they needed me to send the old one back to the US. I had to find a shipper willing to take dangerous goods and it cost as much as the tablet itself ($200).
They did reimburse the shipping costs, but it always did seem a bit pointless to spend the value of the item shipping it back.
USA Amazon is lower quality. They stuff up a lot and items are often returns they send u or danaged
Look up Danzig Roulette on Reddit for some absolute lols. Basically, you'd order a sh*t $12 record to be mistakenly sent something far more valuable. Was going on for weeks and vinyl fans posted their hauls online.
About 30 bux for a packet of powder that was busted open.
Did you use it anyway?
Yes
I bought a Used - Like New jigsaw puzzle. Had the wrong puzzle inside. They refunded the money and told me to donate or dispose of the puzzle. After I got the refund I had another look at the packaging. It looks like someone else had opened it and returned it (possibly for the same reason as me). Maybe that's why they were so quick to give me a refund.
I'm going to try to complete it if I can. Don't know if all the pieces are there though. I ended up getting Ravensburger - 99 VW Bulli Moments 3000 Pieces inside the box for those interested.
Maybe someone liked that puzzle better than one of their old ones. Good luck!
how did you know it was wrong if you hadn't put it together?
The jigsaw I bought was supposed to be one with animals and stuff. Shouldn't have been any numbers or letters. One of the first pieces I picked up had some letters on it. After looking at a few different pieces I worked out what puzzle I got. I did a tiny bit of research and apparently sometimes Ravensburger put the wrong jigsaw in the box. I'm guessing that's what happened with this one. I don't think someone would have swapped them over.
Echo Show 2
2 packs of spaghetti with broken packaging.
A $28 item. I had to repurchase same item for $34.
You can ask them to give you a credit since the price has gone up. It's always worked for me!
$15 melted squashed chocolates
Same. Mine were in a nutella jar.
Funny enough I have never had one, and I have returned a few things over the years, across multiple accounts (Depending which one resets the 30 Day Prime Trial) but namely use my main account. How do ya'll get so lucky?
2x ~$80 or $90 bottles of gin and rum from the '6 bottle' deals posted on here about 6 months ago.
Not me, but someone I know got a RX 6900 XT 16GB GPU from the $909 deal for free effectively https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/732072?page=1#comment
It was over a month late, they reported it missing (with no updates from tracking for ages), got a refund and then it randomly came after the refund landed.
I purchased in that same deal and it never came but at least got a refund reasonably quickly after AusPost somehow lost it (came all the way from the US, was shuffled between multiple distribution centres in Sydney, then magically disappeared off the face of the earth). Other people somehow got sent boxes of face masks instead of a GPU, a lot of mysterious stuff was happening with that deal.
I've had something like that happen but I didn't think it counted. I generally won't ask for a refund if something is just late. 1 month is realy really bad though, especially for Amazon.
As soon as I get the 'delivery is late, apply for a refund' I'm straight onto it.
I've had two deliveries turn up after refund was processed, not huge, but $50-$100 range.
2 jars of pasta sauce. Some genius at Amazon though it was a good idea to send the jars without any packaging.
First time it arrived, it came in a bag and all of the contains were soaked in the box theu came in.
Complainted to CS and they sent another 2 jars, in the extact same manner. Went to the post office to collect them and founded that they had smashed into the box and started to leak. PO didn't want to how onto them and but i needed to contact CS again about returning them and they said just toss it out.
Complainted is a fantastic word
A compliment complaint?
Many years ago, a James Bond box set in a tin container. Container came from the UK bent, but discs intact. Fully refunded. No need to send back. Was about $300-$400 from memory.
$5 Spray and some other cheap things
Garmin Jr 3 ~$95
$1,300 touchscreen sewing machine for my mum's birthday. Started off with a 1-day 50%-off coupon, got delivered with the box punctured. Apart from a broken plastic tab on an accessory box, the machine itself was perfect. Amazon immediately refunded and asked if I was happy to keep it.
Amazon's customer service might go down the crapper, but we enjoyed its golden-age.
2 x 1 Tb firecudas
Pls explain?
Order went way past estimated date so was refunded. A few weeks later it just turned up on my doorstep, no tracking notification or anything in just a padded envelope. Since it was beyond shipping time the message said 'you can get a refund even if your items turn up'. And they said it was fine.
But recently twice when the message said 'you can get a refund tomorrow', couriers please kick their ass on gear and suddenly put it out for delivery so the refund message disappears :<
Not Amazon but purchased Airpods from new Dick Smith online store and after about 11 months got sick of the battery lasting less than an hour so took them to Apple form repair only to be told they were fake. complained to Dick Smith when the reseller who no questions asked refunded $199 and told me to keep the airpods, very suss.
Kogan bought the Dick Smith brand. I always thought they were a bit dodgy, but this confirms it.
6 pairs of socks, were not as described and sold by Amazon us, about $20
3 jars of hard to get stock mix from UK, lids smashed -poor packing.
Set of 6 Duralex glasses - but here’s the rub - I wanted a set of six, one was smashed due to poor packing. No return, but they only refunded the one glass pro-rata.
Got a fake Brother toner - refunded but had to return it - ‘spose that’s OK because the seller disappeared from Amazon.
So, this week i messaged Amazon asking if a TV antenna cable has been sent, they messaged the seller (wasnt amazon selling it) and they said it has been sent without tracking already, but well refund it still. Showed up the next day (still not marked as sent) that was worth $13.80.
However, last month I bought an HTC Vive Deluxe Audio Strap for $145 from Amazon US. When it arrived I opened the box and looked at it, it appeared to have some scratches and be dirty in places…
So I messaged Amazon support and said it appears ive been sold a used item. They first responded by no problem you can send it back via return label for an exchange, but you have to use Parcelpoint. But, I'm way out in the country and the only place that had Parecelpoint drop off points was Adelaide…
So I told them that and they said, I see… no problem we will partial refund of $20 then, if you agree with it. To which I replied, I'm sorry, but I dont think $20 is good enough, as it appears I'ved purchased a new product that was advertised as new… (I was only going to push for like $50)
Then I said I can send through some photos to show it, so they said ok, send them to this email address. After they'd seen the photos, the said, "Thank you for being patient Luke. I checked the pictures, and I will issue you a full refund without having to return the item. I would just like to confirm that this is a one time exception. This will be back to an amazon gift card balance. You can use it for any further purchases on Amazon."
Iv'e also had a refund on some cereal from them valued to about $16 that was sent in the same box as heavy cat litter - big and heavy box. The cereal boxes and cereal inside were part crushed, like cereal was powdered in the plastic. I only wanted part refund, but they auto refunded the full amount.
$213 worth of modular small pet fence panels.
Why “returned”?
They sent a slightly wrong product (with less panels than we paid for) I was just hoping they would refund the difference or send the remaining panels but they said it would need to be a complete return and repurchase. Then they said don't send it back.
$120 cpu cooler
Why “returned”?
24 can slab of coke. Ordered normal coke and they sent sugar free. Refunded and was told not to send it back.
$38 of partially melted Lindt chocs.
Wood splitting wedge.
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B00002N801
Was about $20 but spalled a sliver the size of a fingernail dead centre of the striking face after a few blows and the directions explicitly stated to discontinue use if so damaged.
Apparently Amazon didn't want to cover shipping a 2kg hunk of faulty steel back to the UK.
Do you still use it?
1/6 jars smashed of 400g Moconna coffee….they refunded the whole order.
I have to admit it's hard not to smash a jar every time I get a delivery for this reason alone.
Always room for pud book
Two mini SD cards that were corrupt after about six months… Used in different cameras, they both got "unusable" and unable to be formatted around the same time.
Amazon initially asked me to send them back but I said it was not safe as someone would be able to recover the content (camera recordings), so they accepted a full refund without return. I bought other two mini SD from a different brand (on Amazon).
Multiple vinyl records that were poorly packaged and got damaged during shipping.
The best example was when they decided to put a shipping label on the vinyl sleeve. No box or anything!
a $150 nokia phone. stopped working after 4 months
$800 Exercise bike, had an issues due to a missing locking nut. Bought another nut on eBay.
Wow - here's me with my Ozbargain deal dynamo that 75% leaked out everywhere, they initially said I could keep it, then started harassing me to return it (and didn't even give in easily when I said ((by that time)) I'd used the balance of it and thrown out the container) !!
They did that to me, I dragged in the box and left it on the floor and after a while I opened it and found 3 of the 4 bottles were leaking. Was such a pain to wipe it up as it kept soaping up. I went on chat and they said to return it, I was 39 weeks pregnant and said no I'm not dragging that to a post office. Said OK to a no return refund, 3 months later they charged me for a non return and I had to go on live chat again. Not buying laundry liquid from Amazon anymore as everytime I'll get a few leaking bottles
Had the same issue with charging me after not returning the item they originally told me not to bother returning! I contacted them and they refunded me again but such a frustraing process.
i have noticed that initially when i had product issues they gave me a refund without return, but recently they've been asking me to return the products. But they just gave me a full refund for an Inkbird sealer that was 6 months past warranty so i cant complain
Not Amazon but Kogan, it was a $250 outdoor pizza oven. On first use, the metal expanded and warped, the doors became stuck. They told us to dispose of it thoughtfully!
$170 computer chair. When I contacted them after a month of use, (the chair had a crack in the up/down thingy, so sometimes it would slowly go down), they told me to return it. I said I couldn't physically do that. And I got a credit! Then I sold the chair on Facebook Marketplace for $50 (with the description of the crack).
A set 2 arlo camera and base station. Delivered to the wrong house. We found out because the delivery took a picture and it wasn’t our house. We lived in a block of 12 townhouses and every second house has the same front. We contacted Amazon and got refund. 2 days later the package was left in front of our door by our neighbour. Never found out who it was.
Does anyone know how the system works? There seems to be a quota on how many instant refunds you are allowed because I don't always see the option.
~$500 Samsung galaxy watch. It arrived and it was a grey import (non-AU power cable with an adapter inside, and box had clearly been opened to put the adaptor in) with no mention of it not being AU stock. I messaged Amazon support asking for a refund for that reason, intending to return it. Got a full refund for "wrong item was sent" and they said no other action is required.
Wasn't really a return as I asked for a replacement but Cocobella Coconut Water during those half price promotions. Basically ordered 2 boxes with Prime trial and estimated delivery time was in 2 days, a day after ordering, the package was marked as delivered which obviously never actually arrived. Talked with live chat and they told me to wait a week because it could just be a mistake on the delivery person's end since there was no delivery photo, a week went by and nothing appeared. Talked with live chat again and asked for a replacement after spending 20 minutes trying to convince them that it wasn't stolen by a neighbor and that I wasn't lying about it being lost.
Fast forward a month and a half later, the package arrives at the child care centre next door. Expiry date on the box showed that it was newly packed and sent maybe only a couple days before arrival, turns out it was never lost just that the order was forgotten about.
Quest 2 I got sent two so sold 1 for the same price with gift receipet
Pretty much nothing. I have gotten on live chat before after I didn't get around to returning items and told them it's their fault for sending the wrong item (which is always what my returns are) so why do I have to do the running around? Then they refunded without returning.
Nothing major but a few years back I bought some ski gloves that looked good quality but were apparently badly faded in reality. I read some others got a refund so I just bought them anyway. They were hugely faded but great quality gloves otherwise. Got a refund and got to keep the gloves, happy days.
$30 coffee beans. Change of mind. Nothing wrong with the product.
Lacoste polo, ages ago
Dildos and vibrators are an easy win for these kinda returns
You just complain to cs "I've used it, and I'm not happy"?
'it won't charge"
400 dollar computer motherboard, which i then sold on gumtree
Beware though. I dont know what formula they use but one of my friend got banned from Amazon for returning too much. All he did was return faulty screen protectors and a cheap FM transmitter
Had a couple of Amiibo's refunded and resent without needing to return - the standard packed poorly and crushed in transit problem.
Ordered 2 phones approx $560 AU in total from Amazon overseas - delivery was supposed to be 6-12 days. After 4 weeks passed without delivery they refunded me. A week or so later they arrived.
i'm sure they would have asked you to return to sender?
Your mistake was ordering KFC on Amazon.
$155 Perfume bottle
huawei laptop $645 USD
Ugh, Amazon sent me out the wrong item (sent a $30 puzzle instead of whatever I ordered) and I was expected to return it before I could get a refund. Shipped from UK too so had to wait for it to hit the distro centre before they'd approve the refund. And you guys are getting no question refunds on 100s of dollars worth of items, WTF
Purchased about $150 worth of micro sd cards (Amazon US). For whatever reason, it didn't get delivered within 30 days. I contacted them and they said they would send a replacement. A week later, I received both orders (original and replacement) and Amazon said I could keep both orders.
$180 for a boardgame that never arrived.
2 days after receiving the refund, the boardgame arrived at my door step. Sure was a nice win!
$50 worth of toiletries. Delivery guy was lazy and put the parcel on my front lawn instead of walking another 4m to my front door which was under shelter. It rained heavily and the whole box and content were soaking wet. Took a picture for Amazon CS and was immediately refunded.
$135 worth of baby formula.
Have never got one of these unfortunately and I buy a LOT of random Knick nacks from there. Mostly fuelled by ozbargain induced FOMO.