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Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box instead of a Sony A1

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Re: Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box instead of a Sony A1

#13

I do not trust Amazon to ship anything safely and securely anymore. Almost everything I receive is damaged, late, or mis-delivered. Books are especially abused somewhere in Amazon’s fulfillment. (They’re always bent, creased, or dirty.) Items that are supposed to be 1-day shipping typically take >=3, and Amazon’s tracking mostly says “oops! it’ll come trust us”. (Not verbatim, obviously.) Amazon’s return process is b…

It's genuinely astonishing how bad Amazon is at shipping books now. It used to be their Thing, and now basically any book you buy from them arrives damaged. You can complain and get them to send a replacement and the replacement is damaged too. In my experience Amazon Japan still knows how to pack books correctly, but I haven't ordered from them since the start of COVID... they properly secure books to a bit of backi…

Let me emphasize something here: Amazon Japan ships globally. Not just books -- bags too. And that's big because the Japanese bag selection is truly something else. Alas, many are very expensive. However, since I didn't travel for more than a year now (guess why) I have shuffled the travel budget over to the bag budget and bought a bag from Amazon Japan. Here's the most important part, watch just thirty seconds: https://youtu.be/g6uSpuN2uT8?t=346 ideal size for me, incredible flexibility. I combine it with https://youtu.be/oaRyVuLuWOw?t=160 because I like flexibility :)

Previously I was buying electronics and I needed to use proxies which are added cost and hassle.

Re: Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box instead of a Sony A1

#14

I do not trust Amazon to ship anything safely and securely anymore. Almost everything I receive is damaged, late, or mis-delivered. Books are especially abused somewhere in Amazon’s fulfillment. (They’re always bent, creased, or dirty.) Items that are supposed to be 1-day shipping typically take >=3, and Amazon’s tracking mostly says “oops! it’ll come trust us”. (Not verbatim, obviously.) Amazon’s return process is b…

Anything over a few hundred bucks is playing with fire. I bought an iphone through them (Amazon sold, not 3rd party) last year and had to do the same thing the couple did: chargeback on credit card. They refused to investigate and flat out accused me of fraud. Gee, maybe it's the low paid disgruntled employees from warehouse worker to contracted out Prime delivery guy stealing shit? Nah, it's the guy who spent tens of thousands at your business and you never had a problem with!

Re: Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box instead of a Sony A1

#15
post #2

My shock here is that someone would order something that costs $7k from amazon! Buy that from BH, newegg, some specialty retailer, etc. Not American alibaba.

I'd argue the opposite -- why not order from Amazon? Lots of folks have come to trust Amazon's reliability and customer service over the years, so it does make sense for customers to order expensive things from Amazon or any other online store, especially with a pandemic going around. This incident in particular does seem to be an outlier, and we'll have to see how Amazon resolves it.

Because Amazon has allowed their store to be filled with buyer-beware scams. Much of their electronics are knockoffs - good luck buying legit batteries, chargers, etc. You're shopping, with inventory commingling, from who knows who. Is the device actually new, or is it a refurb or return? Etc.

For any substantially expensive device, they can also void the warranty by not being an authorized dealer. Or at least create a hassle for the person attempting to use that warranty.

Re: Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box instead of a Sony A1

#16
post #11

How does Amazon protect itself against unscrupulous buyers ordering $7k cameras and then claiming they received an empty box?

Next week: Opt-out for the cameras on amazon devices to inspect your package opening process and send it for internal review.

Data sent over neighbors wifi via another amazon device

Re: Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box instead of a Sony A1

#17
> This was despite the fact that when boxed the Sony a1 weighs 3.22 lb (1.46 kg), and the Chiles’ package was listed by UPS as weighing only 2 lb (900 g).

Not sure why Amazon was still arguing at this point. If UPS confirms the package was basically empty, then Amazon has no reason to believe the customer was lying.

Re: Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box instead of a Sony A1

#18

I do not trust Amazon to ship anything safely and securely anymore. Almost everything I receive is damaged, late, or mis-delivered. Books are especially abused somewhere in Amazon’s fulfillment. (They’re always bent, creased, or dirty.) Items that are supposed to be 1-day shipping typically take >=3, and Amazon’s tracking mostly says “oops! it’ll come trust us”. (Not verbatim, obviously.) Amazon’s return process is b…

I’m in Europe. Earlier this year, I ordered from Amazon Japan, the package arrived quicker than things I had ordered earlier on a European Amazon and it was insanely well packaged.

Re: Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box instead of a Sony A1

#19
post #2

My shock here is that someone would order something that costs $7k from amazon! Buy that from BH, newegg, some specialty retailer, etc. Not American alibaba.

I'd argue the opposite -- why not order from Amazon? Lots of folks have come to trust Amazon's reliability and customer service over the years, so it does make sense for customers to order expensive things from Amazon or any other online store, especially with a pandemic going around. This incident in particular does seem to be an outlier, and we'll have to see how Amazon resolves it.

I trust amazon 1st party store shipping

I do NOT trust the million other people selling things on amazon storefront hoping that you don't notice they're not actually amazon

Re: Amazon refused to refund $7k after shipping an empty box instead of a Sony A1

#20
post #11

How does Amazon protect itself against unscrupulous buyers ordering $7k cameras and then claiming they received an empty box?

One prong of an approach would be to maintain a reputation that didn't make this seem instantly plausible.
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