Posted on 05/23/2018 4:48:16 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
Amazon's flexible return policy may not be as risk free as you think.
The company bans shoppers for violations, which include returning items too often, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some users aren't told what they did wrong.
Amazon boasts free and easy returns for several of its items, which has pushed many brick-and-mortar stores to offer the same policies as they struggle to compete with the e-commerce giant. But it turns out Amazon's return policies may come at a price.
Dozens of people have taken to Twitter and Facebook to complain about Amazon closing their accounts without warning or an explanation, according to the Journal.
Paul Fidalgo wrote about being "exiled" from Amazon for "excessive returns." Other people noted they had also been banned from the site for similar reasons.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnet.com ...
It’s a business.
Because they return too many things too often. Stores do that too. Stop complaining.
On the other hand, many retailers have reduced - often by half - their return window and thrown up all manner of restrictions, fine print, etc.
Good. This happens far to often and it drives up the cost for everyone else.
I have never had a problem with returns.
I believe if someone is returning things too often, there is an underlying reason that needs to be taken into account.
People who abuse a generous return policy ruin it for everyone else.
We had a great store named “Lechemere” back in the Seventies and Eighties that had an amazingly generous return policy. You could return anything, anytime, no questions asked.
Loved it. Great customer service.
But people around the late Eighties began to intentionally abuse it. They would buy a huge television to watch a sporting event at a party and return it afterwards.
I even had a good friend who bragged about getting a top of the line SLR camera and lens, taking it on vacation, and returning it when the vacation was done.
That really floored me, and I lost respect for that person.
But that is what people do. Give em an inch, they will take a mile.
Agree completely.
I want to give Amazon a pat on the back.
I recently ordered some water filters for my fridge. Ordered the wrong ones. Entirely my fault. I’m 74 for the first time and I’m taking it kind hard.
When I called Amazon to see if I could return them, they told me not to return them, but they would refund my $50 anyway, which they did, while I was on the phone.
IMO the biggest fallacy of online shopping is what I discovered way back when eBay first got going. To do a good job of shopping you need to just hold it and see it. Read the instructions. Ask the store clerk questions. We’ve just been screwed too many times. I prefer the “brick and mortar” stores.
Those too lazy to actually get off their rears and go shopping are just as successful as those that fall in love texting without ever meeting the one they think they are in love with.
What a screwed up culture!
And sometimes Amazon.com is an outright con. Same buyer, multiple problems. Never got clear answers as to why/how or immediate re-compensation.
I bought a $6,000 camera and AMAZON sent me ROCKS!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWLYHs9k9M
IT HAPPENED AGAIN!! | Amazon SCAM with Canon 1DX Markii?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXPnOq-XJg8
Amazon RESPONDS! | Amazon rock scam with Canon 1DX mark ii
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1zoQn-9xbk
Wal-Mart returns are something to see as well. People return underwear that has skid marks in them. People buy battery powered tools and return them without the batteries.
Until recently, you could buy worn out LL Bean clothes at yard sales and take them back to the store and get a new one.
You could do the same thing with Craftsman tools.
Starbucks will soon learn how exploitive people are.
People go to Best Buy/Fry’s/Barnes and Noble, etc. to browse and ask questions and then buy online elsewhere.
There are variety of sizes if clothes, underwear, shoes, hats etc... and the sizing varies from country to country, manufacturer to manufacturer... it is frustrating to the customer that every year or so a particular item that fits well is discontinued.
Unless these clearing houses get a handle on product standards they should expect returns. One size, or wrong sized does not fit all.
I have a sister, who used to be a purchaser for a large department store chain, and she would go up to the Garment District quite often and pick up bulk supplies of perhaps blue jeans, send them somewhere to be labeled with the store brand patch & sold. She told me that she was pretty good at ensuring all sized jeans or product was accurately marked & not incorrectly sized. I don’t think that’s happening any longer, so perhaps the problem is in the purchasing agent qualifications and so on the shoulders of the company itself.
Fortunately I have found that LL Bean is very consistent in their sizing for me. However that said, I have received items from L.L.Bean that were sized incorrectly, based on other products from L.L.Bean that were correctly sized. I’m lucky, in one regard, but it is almost impossible for me to walk into a store and buy anything off the shelf as I am outside the 90th percentile in length. And that goes from Cars to clothes. Costco never sells anything in the outerwear Department that is long enough in both sleeve and inseam.
Tough Noogies!
We have a family run Mom & Pop (& son) shipping store where we accept UPS - fEDEX - USPS free returns. Some people will bring in a half dozen or so free returns several times a week. They don’t care because they think it is free. But I am sure that someone somewhere is paying for it.
Will you let us know if the second go-around is easier?
I hope you enjoy your tumultuous first trip through, FRiend!
The food returns? Another story. The one I thought was funny(not really) was when someone returned two slices of a pizza because they said it was bad.
The funniest one was when someone returned a walker. I looked at the return receipt and the person had written one word on it;"deceased". If I think about it I could come it with a lot more.
Same thing happened to me recently. I was returning a portable fence I intended to use for kittens but it was more appropriate for puppies. Amazon did not want it returned and refunded the money immediately. I gave the it to the humane society which was glad to get it. Item was about $50.
I suppose I could deal with the walker, depending on how new it was...
See, I hate this. I am a rule-follower, and I simply think it is wrong and immoral to engage in these practices, and am disgusted to hear that it is so common.
Returning is not an issue. I just returned something last week. The problem is excessive returning.
Lawn mower broke? The city is threatening to fine you? No money? What do you do? Go to walmart and get a mower and mow your yard. Then return it.
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