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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

#321

Post by aristophenes »

gpvos wrote: post #256
dalbasal wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hell would be full before you got very far. Intentionally or unintentionally, this is how most such systems work... even ostensibly noncommercial ones... at least to some extent. Business systems are a chain of events. Every event has x% chance of happening and leading to the next one. If the next event makes money, it's optimized up. If it costs money, it's optimised down. Efforts to pay unclaimed rebates are never…

You may be right, but this is the strongest indictment of business and capitalism that I've read in a long time.

How do you think any other system would work. At least we get to vote with our wallets about which companies should live or die, it’s been working pretty well. At least greedy people will treat us well to get our money. Other systems select for people who love power, and they tend to not be kind once they get it. Fear is a pretty effective way of keeping people in line.

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

#322

Post by ghaff »

formerly_proven wrote: post #291
lotsofpulp wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I presume the “their” and “them” in this comment refer to third party sellers, which could be anyone. I would rather order from the brand directly, or Home Depot or Best Buy or any other established business that does not try to pawn me off as a customer to someone else.

Especially for audio/video/photo stuff there's a bunch of dealers just for that, which tend to be quite good (in terms of prices, packaging, customer services), and also specialized distributors ("sells small numbers to professionals"), that's why I'm surprised people go for Amazon. Some examples: Random camera: Amazon: 2000 €, any photo dealer: 1800 € Random high-end lens: Amazon: 2500 €, photo dealer: 2000 € Random…

I haven't really found Amazon to be consistently more expensive or slower, but yes I normally order that kind of thing from B&H (or Adorama).

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

#323

Post by aembleton »

marcodiego wrote: post #75

I remember when PS3 was launched, some vendors announced "PS3 BOX", put the price around 10% lower than the real price and sent only the box.

Same thing happened with the original Xbox. Xbox box were being sold on ebay.

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

#324

Post by yosito »

jacquesm wrote: post #235
Freestyler_3 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They lost my 15$ package and even though they promised refund and a gift card, they never came through. Now I don't use amazon anymore than I really have to.

I don't understand that. The 'than I really have to' bit, is Amazon now so entrenched that you can't get around them anymore?

It's a lot easier than not using Google anymore. But the one thing that's hard for me to buy without Amazon is best seller ebooks. There just aren't that many alternative ebook sellers apart from indy books.

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

#326

Post by dsomers »

rkalla wrote: post #315
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.

Like others have said - be careful with this option - there are a LOT Of examples in the Google Fi forums about people doing a chargeback with Google because of charges they felt were fair or fraudulent via Google Fi, and next thing they know their Google Account (Photos, Docs, Email, etc.) is disabled. I would watch the same thing with Amazon (Music, Alexa, Photos, AWS, etc.)

All the more reason to not use these companies for anything that’s even moderately important.

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

#327

Post by Freestyler_3 »

jacquesm wrote: post #235
Freestyler_3 wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They lost my 15$ package and even though they promised refund and a gift card, they never came through. Now I don't use amazon anymore than I really have to.

I don't understand that. The 'than I really have to' bit, is Amazon now so entrenched that you can't get around them anymore?

Sometimes they have something that I want but other stores that offer it are even shadier and then I use amazon because I know that even though they have crappy customer service, at least they have it. Ordered something twice this year from amazon.

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

#329

Post by lotsofpulp »

odnes wrote: post #128

This this a clear cut case and amazon should process the refund, however, in general refunding is a hard problem for Amazon to solve due to the sheer volume fraud that occurs. For anyone unaware, go to telegram and do a public search for 'refunding'. There are hundreds of channels where you can pay someone to refund >£10,000 of stuff for you for a 10% fee. Afaik, the main method that 'refunders' use to defraud amazon…

What you described is not a hard problem, it is an expensive problem because Amazon does not want to hire human labor to deal with returns. Almost all other retailers do it, and they all have 3% profit margins.

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

#330

Post by Sebb767 »

bjornjajayaja wrote: post #288
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…

Best thing to do is buy straight from manufacturer if possible require insurance on the shipment—that way the post has to deliver it or they are paying you!

In fact, it seems pretty insane to me that they ship items worth thousands of dollars, but skip the few dollars on insured shipment. It not only protects against missing/"missing" packages, but also against transport damage (at least in Germany).
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