Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

petapixel.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

301–310 of 647 posts

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

#301

Post by toss1 »

reikonomusha wrote: post #3

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…

Yup, ironically, books coming from Amazon are far more likely to arrive damaged - two decades later, and they still can't get it through their heads that they can't just toss a book in a box and expect it to be not crunch the corners every time. I don't think that it is even smart enough to be a scheme to encourage Kindle and Audible sales...

For returns, I was surprised to see only drop-off options, but I found that they actually just bury the pick up option on another page. I usually find it now under a small faint "more options" link. Good luck.

(And yes, despite being a multi-decade Prime customer, I now avoid Amazon for many categories, including books, & especially batteries)

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

#302

Post by wayoutthere »

neiman wrote: post #168

I used to live for many years in a "bad" area of Berlin, where my packages were constantly disappearing, not arriving, taken by neighbors (who put an X as a signature), or left by the delivery people outside our building door. After a few such accidents, each of it super tiring on its own to get things reshipped or reimbursed (and often I failed), I decided all this modernity is not for me. Nowadays I rather buy what…

I live in an “up and coming” neighborhood in a major US city and it’s the same. Amazon has package lockers within a half-mile (~1 km) walk for the small ones, and the big ones are usually expensive enough I’ll just WFH for the day.

Part of the problem at least in the US is that retail stores don’t have the selection or availability that Amazon does, never mind the price. There are also some things that just aren’t sold in retail stores very often — I’m a competitive sport shooter and parts / supplies were hard to come by locally even before the pandemic.

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

#303

Post by [deleted] »

ageitgey wrote: post #215

Like most people, I've ordered a lot of packages (hundreds?) on Amazon and almost never had a problem. In the rare case of a problem, Amazon would instantly refund me. But almost all those orders are under $1000. Everything changes when you have a problem with an expensive order. Amazon has a price threshold where the support system is different and the normal CS people are powerless. During lockdown, I ordered a Son…

[deleted]

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

#305

Post by ratww »

formerly_proven wrote: post #267
ageitgey wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing it's more price-dependent. I'm sure Amazon would refund a headset and not really care if they got it back or not. But try getting a refund on a $5,000 studio microphone and you will probably have an entirely different experience. Somewhere around $1,000-ish seems to be the magic threshold where their rules change and you get lost in the management void.

I'm actually surprised people buy expensive audio/video/photo equipment on Amazon, since usually their prices aren't good on those, and their packaging is very bad. That's okay for random consumer garbage, but I wouldn't order anything high-end from them.

I bet the reason people do it is because they had good experiences buying dozens of sub-$100 items in Amazon and don't want to risk trying out a new online store. Amazon support is great for cheap stuff, so most people assume it's the same for expensive ones.

Also, people new to a hobby won't know that B&H, or Thomann, or Sweetwater, etc, also have great customer support like Amazon.

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

#306

Post by bootlooped »

Waterluvian wrote: post #294

I don't know how we ever got to the point of accepting that shipping is some equal third party in the transaction. Shipping is a subcontractor to the company that sold the product. It is 100% the responsibility of the company to make right. Imagine if you bought a TV at a store and they said, "want us to bring it out to your car?" And they did. And it got destroyed in the parking lot. And the company said, "you'll ha…

Especially when the retailer is the one choosing the shipper. On some sites you can at least choose UPS vs FedEx, then it would be a slightly different story.

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

#307

Post by JCharante »

chrisseaton wrote: post #292
nigerian1981 wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve found my credit card company, American Express to be great for getting refunds in cases like this and always use my credit card for larger purchases.

A problem with this is that it’s a nuclear option. Companies you use it against may decline to trade with you again. That may be a problem or not.

This is one problem I face with centralization. If all stores handle purchases on their own, it's fine if your local camera shop refuses you as a customer because you also probably don't want to deal with them again, but if you are forced to use your CC company to dispute against steam, amazon, google, you are risking being banned from their service. You are risking access to your photos, documents, and emails. To using online features for other products you already own.

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

#308

Post by ectopod »

ghaff wrote: post #275
rvba wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is sad to read that people want a monopoly for a minor convenience. Same with steam (that takes a big money cut and their buggy launcher is awful)

People don't "want a monopoly." But they do want to order things in a way that is by no means a "minor convenience." Just going back to when Amazon was getting started, finding a book that wasn't in stock at your local store was a massive hassle and could take months. Today, not spending an hour running errands is not really a minor convenience. Again, I'm good with there being more competition--and, in fact, I order…

> finding a book that wasn't in stock at your local store was a massive hassle and could take months.

Or you could just ask your local store to order it for you and you would have it in a week. It's not like this was an unusual situation.

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

#309

Post by squarefoot »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #175
Closi wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Electronics is certainly more of an issue - Nobody is shipping empty boxes of toilet paper. The main issues you get are when returns are put back into stock but haven’t been sufficiently checked. I used to work for an online retailer who sold things like games consoles and the amount of return scams we got was absolutely shocking. If you sold a games console with a free game (usually a code inside the console) people…

Off topic but I have seen interesting labels that break destructively. If you could turn that into a ribbon, then any box could be wrapped in such a way any tampering is evident. If you could also print a QR code on top, then you have a per shipment tamper proof I suspect it exists but i am sure there is a long way between that and cost effective useage

> Off topic but I have seen interesting labels that break destructively.

I don't know if it has been invented yet, however here's the idea: a RFID tag that normally returns a valid code, but any removal attempt would not simply destroy it, but rather change the code (for example through bit changes by peeling conductive parts of it) into one that would return a tamper warning at next readings. That would also make possible to track when the box was opened (therefore potentially also finding by whom) since all boxes must be scanned at every step. The tag however should be put in a place where the user would not stick a cutter blade; it should peel off for example as the result of pulling a string to open the box, removing a piece of cardboard, etc.

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

#310

Post by matwood »

gambiting wrote: post #66
reikonomusha wrote: post #3

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 genuinely surprised that people have such vastly different experiences with Amazon. I made 231 orders with them last year(lockdown....) And haven't had a problem with a single one. Couple times I wanted to return something they just refunded me without asking to send the item back. Everything arrives next day, always(here in UK anyway), and the customer support is stellar compared to literally anywhere else. Anyo…

People keep mentioning the price, the real problem is never buy camera equipment on Amazon. Use Adorama or B&H. I've bought tons of stuff on Amazon over the years, and have only had issues with camera equipment. After the last issue I had a few years ago, I realized it's just a waste of time to deal with camera equipment on Amazon.

Why camera equipment? IDK. Even before Amazon was a thing, buying camera equipment online was always a bit shady. I assume those same people just move to Amazon.

I should add that I've never had a problem sending back or replacing the item even when it was over 1k.

Post reply on HN