Amazon is a go-to marketplace for millions of Americans, even more so with the holiday shopping season in full swing.
Overall, consumers say they find the online retailer’s return policies to be convenient and flexible. In fact, according to a Morning Consult poll about trust in brands, Amazon ranked No. 2, only behind the U.S. Postal Service, for brands that “do what is right.”
That’s not how Linda Diamond is feeling right now after returning a wheeled shower chair that she bought from a third-party seller on Amazon. Her experience is an important reminder for consumers: know what you’re buying, understand the return policy and be aware that retailers are watching.
Diamond paid $289 for the chair, but after putting it together for her husband Barry, whose left side has been paralyzed since a massive stroke in 2005, she had concerns about the chair’s stability.
They decided to return it.
Diamond said she went through the return process with Amazon, it was approved, and she sent back the chair with all its parts in the original box. It was received by the third-party seller, emails show.
“I was then refunded $144.50 and told that the other half of the purchase price would go towards a restocking fee,” Diamond said.
Diamond, an Amazon Prime member, put in a claim with Amazon for a full refund. After an investigation, her claim was denied.
“We have found a high number of issues with your marketplace purchases,” Amazon said in an email. “Due to the number of A-to-z Guarantee claims filed, we are denying your further refund and will be unable to process future claims for orders placed with our third party sellers.”
Diamond checked her account. Since September, she had ordered 35 items and returned nine, she said. In all of 2022 to date, she purchased 93 items and had 16 returns, she said.
Even if she returned items too often according to Amazon, it had already approved this return. At issue is the restocking fee, which Amazon didn’t address in its response to Diamond.
“I think this is just an excuse,” Diamond said, and she asked Bamboozled for help.
FINE PRINT AND TRACKING SHOPPERS
Amazon is known for its “A-z Guarantee,” which protects consumers when they purchase something from a third-party seller.
If you can’t resolve an issue with a seller, “you can make a claim directly to Amazon and our team will determine if you’re eligible for a refund,” Amazon says.
Such guarantees go a long way for customer trust, as third-party sales sellers account for 58% of the company’s sales. Since 2020, more than 200,000 new third-party sellers began selling on Amazon worldwide, a 45% increase from 2019, it said.
That’s a lot of sellers.
While we asked Amazon to review Diamond’s refund request, we took a closer look at what the product page says about returns. The restocking fee information took a few clicks to find.
At the end of the shopping cart box, you can hover your mouse over the return policy, which says: “For the 2022 holiday season, returnable items purchased between October 11 and December 25, 2022 can be returned until January 31, 2023. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.” Then there’s a link for the full return policy. That page sent us to yet another link for more on the return policy.
The bottom of that page addressed “partial refunds” and “restocking fees.”
It said 50% of the cost could be kept back if an item is damaged, missing parts, not in the original condition or has obvious signs of use.
We contacted the chair’s seller, who said that if the company receives back a product that’s in perfect condition, there is no restocking fee. But if it can’t be resold, the restocking fee can range from 10% to 100%.
“A very common practice that happens in online stores is that people buy a product and replace it with an old broken product that they send back,” he said, noting that the average person wouldn’t believe the quality of some returns. “I’m not accusing that but when you get a product back that isn’t in the original box or is missing parts…”
He said he would have taken photos of the returned item and sent them to Amazon, but because the case was closed, “there would be no way for me to review.”
Diamond, however, insisted no parts were missing and the item was returned in the original box.
“They had three excuses not to credit me. A restocking fee, then I returned too many things, then all the parts were not returned,” Diamond said.
Amazon said the restocking fee was in line with its policies.
“Due to the number of claims the customer has filed, we will be unable to process future claims for orders placed with our third party sellers,” Amazon spokesman Branden Baribeau said in an email.
The company wasn’t immediately able to say how many returns are considered “too many.”
So yes, Amazon tracks return behavior in an attempt to fight fraud.
And it has to. Fraud and abuse cost retailers in the United States some $78 billion in 2021 alone, according to The Retail Equation, a company that collects information about shopping habits for retailers. If you’ve ever had your driver’s license scanned when you make a return, your habits are being tracked. If you are dubbed a “serial returner,” retailers may tell you that they will no longer accept your returns.
The lessons here are many.
First, make sure you check all the fine print about return policies when you make a purchase, and note that the Amazon return policy may differ whether the product is fulfilled by Amazon or if it’s a third-party merchant. If you make a return, take photos of everything you put back in the box, including any loose parts. Take a photo of the box, too.
Then, pay attention to your return habits so you’re not denied by retailers in the future. You can see what The Retail Equation has on you by requesting your Retail Activity Report on its website or by email at returnactivityreport@theretailequation.com.
As for Diamond, she said she’s disappointed and she doesn’t buy Amazon’s reasoning.
“My son told me that his family returns much more than I do and was never banned from returning,” she said. “It is just an excuse.”
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KPMueller.
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