Amazon return problem
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Big Rig

Original Poster:

8,995 posts

216 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
I’ll keep this as short as I can.

Black Friday sales, I ordered a pair of gaming headphones for £200 instead of £300 from Amazon. The next day I purchased some different ones from Curry’s in store. No problem I thought I will just return the Amazon ones without even opening. So when they arrived I did just that via their Royal Mail returns.
2 weeks later & still no refund so have called them today.

They’ve said the pair they have received back don’t match the serial numbers of the ones they sent and they appear to be used.
The agent I’ve just spoken to said simply until I return the ones with the matching serial number they won’t refund me.

There’s obviously been a mix up somewhere and I assume they think I’m trying it on.

What can I do now? I have a picture of the box I sent back with their packaging tape intact. I’ve sent this to avail. I paid by credit card if that’s relevant.

poo at Paul's

14,607 posts

204 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
Big Rig said:
I’ll keep this as short as I can.

Black Friday sales, I ordered a pair of gaming headphones for £200 instead of £300 from Amazon. The next day I purchased some different ones from Curry’s in store. No problem I thought I will just return the Amazon ones without even opening. So when they arrived I did just that via their Royal Mail returns.
2 weeks later & still no refund so have called them today.

They’ve said the pair they have received back don’t match the serial numbers of the ones they sent and they appear to be used.
The agent I’ve just spoken to said simply until I return the ones with the matching serial number they won’t refund me.

There’s obviously been a mix up somewhere and I assume they think I’m trying it on.

What can I do now? I have a picture of the box I sent back with their packaging tape intact. I’ve sent this to avail. I paid by credit card if that’s relevant.
Are the ones you got from curry's different ie a different style, colour / make, or the same but just not the ones you bought from Amazon? What i mean is, coudl the mix up be that you've returned the pair you bought from Currys by mistake?

Also, was it Amazon you bought from or Amazon Marketplace, do you know?

Big Rig

Original Poster:

8,995 posts

216 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
No there’s no mix up my end, the curry’s ones are a completely different brand.

Sold by “Amazon EU s.a.r.l” the order says.

Big Rig

Original Poster:

8,995 posts

216 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
Also when I said I never even opened the box, I mean the brown Amazon parcel box, I never opened that to even look inside let alone open the box the headphones come in.

Narcisus

9,071 posts

309 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
Good luck ... In my experience Amazon Customer Service is superb ..... Until something slightly from the norm happens then you are screwed ....

andburg

8,729 posts

198 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
thats really odd.

When I've done returns to amazon I've always used hermes drop off and the refund is processed as soon as I've left the drop point.

call your credit card provider, give them the photos etc as evidence and see what they say.

Big Rig

Original Poster:

8,995 posts

216 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
I’ve been using Amazon for 12 years, I spend thousands with them a year, so handy for a single bloke that works shifts, this is the first time I’ve ever had an issue like this.

donkmeister

12,841 posts

129 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
I have a theory that somewhere in the chain there are people swiping stuff for resale...
I had a pretty expensive computer monitor I ordered from Amazon flagged as "damaged in transit - returning to sender". A week later when I rang to find out when the replacement was coming they still hadn't had it back. A quick look on eBay showed a BNIB monitor of the same model had appeared in the days previous, for £200 or so less than the lowest prices online. Described as an "unwanted gift". The same seller also had a weird and disparate selection of goods that you wouldn't expect to be resold (e.g. half a dozen bags of Starbucks branded coffee, a random dress, what could conceivably be a fitness enthusiast's latest order of beefcake powder and weightlifting gloves).
All pretty anecdotal and down to Amazon to worry about in my case, but it's not a massive leap from that to someone swapping random old headphones in so that they don't arouse suspicion and the blame is pointed at the innocent customer.

dundarach

6,223 posts

257 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
andburg said:
thats really odd.

When I've done returns to amazon I've always used hermes drop off and the refund is processed as soon as I've left the drop point.

call your credit card provider, give them the photos etc as evidence and see what they say.
Do this first...then report back

Big Rig

Original Poster:

8,995 posts

216 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
Amazon have escalated it to someone more senior in the returns department am waiting for them to get back to me. If they still refuse I’ll get on to American Express tomorrow.

dundarach

6,223 posts

257 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
Big Rig said:
Amazon have escalated it to someone more senior in the returns department am waiting for them to get back to me. If they still refuse I’ll get on to American Express tomorrow.
Why wait, ring Amex now, explain everything which is going on and get the process going?


FunkyGibbon

3,857 posts

293 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
It could well have been a previous Amazon return item resold as new...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4qEP7cBu3w

Check the photos of the box for the label as described above.

GasEngineer

2,335 posts

91 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
With an Amazon return you have to print out a barcode and put it in the box so that they can identify the return as yours. It's the other half of the return label when you print it.

If you didn't open the box and insert the barcode, could it be that their returns department have it mixed up with another return?

spookly

4,388 posts

124 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
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I've always found Amazon pretty good for returns.

Weirdest one I had was when I bought a brand new Intel i7 CPU. Arrived in factory box with seal intact. My boy was looking at it, as it was for his gaming PC. That was when he noticed that it had an i5 CPU in an i7 box. Couldn't have been Amazon's fault as the box still had all the tamper proof factory tape on it. Amazon accepted the return, and even credited my account before they received the return.

DavePanda

6,824 posts

263 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
andburg said:
thats really odd.

When I've done returns to amazon I've always used hermes drop off and the refund is processed as soon as I've left the drop point.

call your credit card provider, give them the photos etc as evidence and see what they say.
Same, i use RM a lot and drop in the local parcel box. As soon as it's scanned into their system i get the refund, same with dropping at a UPS drop off point. Refund is almost immediate.

DavePanda

6,824 posts

263 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
GasEngineer said:
With an Amazon return you have to print out a barcode and put it in the box so that they can identify the return as yours. It's the other half of the return label when you print it.

If you didn't open the box and insert the barcode, could it be that their returns department have it mixed up with another return?
I've not had to print one of those for a long time.

poo at Paul's

14,607 posts

204 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
DavePanda said:
I've not had to print one of those for a long time.
Printed one off only yesterday before Hermes pick up! They are still part of the postage label.

oyster

13,719 posts

277 months

Tuesday 14th December 2021
quotequote all
I just use print in store, so never have a label/slip to go inside the package.

As for instant refunds based on dispatch, is this limited by value? Hard to imagine Amazon refunding a £2k item without receiving it first.

And OP - for the future, open the Amazon box and cross check the serial number on the item with that in the order.

Big Rig

Original Poster:

8,995 posts

216 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
Their last response.

“We cannot issue a refund for this order until we receive the correct item. Please return the correct item to us if you would like a refund.

This decision is final. We will likely not respond to further emails about this issue.”

BertBert

21,245 posts

240 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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Have you just engaged with them by email? If so you to a person, it is better in my experience.

Also now just do the chargeback it is very straightforward.