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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

#582

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Perfectly believable. The thing I really loved about Amazon is that they had their act together. But that has declined drastically over the decades; now whenever I actually have to deal with them it seems like there's a ton of internal chaos. In June 2018, I ordered a soccer magazine, "Futbol Total", for my soccer-mad nephew. It said it would arrive in 4-16 weeks, which seemed weird. I waited it out, and no magazine.…

> The thing I really loved about Amazon is that they had their act together. But that has declined drastically over the decades This seems to be a problem for all big platforms. When they’re small enough to not change the ecosystem, they can do what they do well. Eg amazon ships more conveniently and google returns better results and uber is less scammy. Then they get massive and become a viable,better understood tar…

It's nothing really to do with them being massive and better understood. Google was heavily attacked (SEO) and massively used, long before their quality started going downhill.

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

#583

I went to NewEgg (in the U.S.) for electronics item orders but some of the complaints about electronics, like expensive Nvidia cards going missing or whatnot, I've seen complaints for with NewEgg. Third party shippers, quality control issues are rife in reviews. In fact I ordered almost 3K of computer equipment from NewEgg that got stolen on my stoop as USPS threw it on a sidewalk in a giant city here, which was prom…

Microcenter

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

#584
post #496

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As others have also said, doing a chargeback risks Amazon closing your account permanently. So if you're prepared to take that risk and never buy from Amazon again, sure.. go for it.. But given the centralization of vendors this can have bigger downsides than upside.

Intriguing and horrifying.. What happens with a ban? I assume all my not-downloaded Kindle books become unavailable. Does the Kindle app delete the ones I have locally? (I assume the result would be similar for movies/shows purchased.) Does it ban my credit card, name, address, or a more abstract "buying profile"?

Amazon does have the ability to remove downloaded items from your Kindles (assuming they sync with Amazon, of course); they've publicly used it before [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18am...]. I can't confirm whether that happens when you chargeback, though.

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

#585

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Right but you wouldn't be able to make the claim that the market is centralized based on these factors.

Centralization is a float not a Boolean. I use Amazon a lot, am generally happy, but am slightly concerned with the amount of centralization that Amazon retail represents.

Centralized in what way?

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

#586

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I agree, but we are far from centralized. Very far. -edit- If you think we're centralized and you're "downvoting to disagree" at least have some decency to explain how we're centralized. There is nothing that Amazon sells that I can't buy an alternative product at a dozen other retailers for comparable prices, for example.

"Monopolization Defined" The antitrust laws prohibit conduct by a single firm that unreasonably restrains competition by creating or maintaining monopoly power. Most Section 2 claims involve the conduct of a firm with a leading market position, although Section 2 of the Sherman Act also bans attempts to monopolize and conspiracies to monopolize. As a first step, courts ask if the firm has "monopoly power" in any mark…

I didn't claim that Amazon was or wasn't a monopoly so I'm not following the point you're trying to make here. Centralization is not the same thing as monopoly.

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

#587
post #518
post #483

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"LTV model of 'justice' here is, in my opinion, a lot lot better" Sure, it is, when you're rich. If you're some poor bastard who's scrimped up a whole lot of money to buy an expensive item, and Amazon figures you won't spend much money in the future, you get ripped off. There's a couple of externalities you've left out, too, because your LTV doesn't predict them: * Reputational costs * Risk of adverse legal outcomes,…

If a rich person went onto Amazon and bought something 50 times more expensive than anything else they’d ever purchased and claimed it didn’t arrive, Amazon would drop them like a hot potato. You’re talking like there’s no legal recourse (or even financial, like a chargeback). There simple aren’t enough resources to track down the source of every sob story, the hard truth is this “inhuman” efficiency is a huge boon f…

I have a vague sense this overlooks inelastic demand and living wage somehow but I can't put it into words.

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

#588

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, but we are far from centralized. Very far. -edit- If you think we're centralized and you're "downvoting to disagree" at least have some decency to explain how we're centralized. There is nothing that Amazon sells that I can't buy an alternative product at a dozen other retailers for comparable prices, for example.

Downvoting on HN sucks, doesn't it? It's a feature designed without empathy, even though it directly affects human emotion. Which is extra bizarre considering it's on a forum that prides itself on respectful human behavior.

I don't care too much about the karma itself, it's more so I want to know why something I said is worthy of this little down arrow thing. Am I completely incorrect? If so why? What specifically is wrong. I want to learn and have discussions about these things. Sucks to see people downvoting you too - they're just proving your point.

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

#589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so, at what point is legitimate to involve the Credit Card company? you don’t even need to actually do it, tell cs you will do it unless it gets here in x days. issue a chargeback and move on.

BB lost a part of an order, just a $3 thermal paste. Luckily the heat sink came with some. I couldn't dispute it with BB, post office blew me off, and since it was only about 10% of the order I couldn't dispute with cc.

I am fairly sure that you actually can dispute partial amounts with your issuer.

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

#590

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…

> 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.)

Strangely enough, a company whose employees have to piss in bottles and use crying booths may have staff that are not especially engaged in the highest quality work.

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