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

121–130 of 647 posts

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

#121

Post by bjeds »

marban wrote: post #44

I've placed approx. 15k orders with Amazon Germany in 20 years and have probably had less than 100 issues, mostly with FBA sellers. I get an answer from CS within 10 minutes and 1-day shipments are on time ~98%. Refunds are issued as soon as I drop the package in the return box. Call me a fan. The best experience is still Amazon JP but returns are a little more complicated (Even within Japan) — Obviously b/c you more…

15k orders over 20 years is on average 2 per day or 750 per year. Is that a typo?

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

#122

Post by praptak »

malwarebytess wrote: post #14
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…

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 o…

Did they contest the chargeback though?

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

#123

Post by chx »

noja wrote: post #60
chx wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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: http…

> the Japanese bag selection is truly something else. Got any tips?

I left a link to a Japanese video but https://www.reddit.com/r/ManyBaggers/comments/aj6q91/travel_... https://www.reddit.com/r/ManyBaggers/comments/bl1plj/japanes... https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=xpac

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

#124

Post by WalterBright »

Natsu wrote: post #110
gambiting wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I mostly get what I order, but I don't order much in the way of electronics or things where scams are common, though I did have to be careful when ordering a simple micro SD card as there were many incredibly cheap, off-brand products that were likely to be scams. I have also seen a few deliveries with pictures that went to what was clearly the wrong address, had a box of chocolates arrive totally melted where the ic…

Well, some common sense is needed. Anything at too-good-to-be-true prices are nearly always a scam, for example.

I buy about everything from Amazon, since the beginning, and have had nearly zero issues. A screw-up now and then is forgivable.

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

#125

Post by marban »

bjeds wrote: post #121
marban wrote: post #44

I've placed approx. 15k orders with Amazon Germany in 20 years and have probably had less than 100 issues, mostly with FBA sellers. I get an answer from CS within 10 minutes and 1-day shipments are on time ~98%. Refunds are issued as soon as I drop the package in the return box. Call me a fan. The best experience is still Amazon JP but returns are a little more complicated (Even within Japan) — Obviously b/c you more…

15k orders over 20 years is on average 2 per day or 750 per year. Is that a typo?

No, it's correct.

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

#126

Post by pjc50 »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #88
laurent92 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The winning strategy for Amazon is to segregate by loyalty: Have an absolutely stunning experience until you are addicted, then let you have bad products and focus on newer clients. In fact, nothing tells us we all see the same prices either. I suspect they only show me more expensive items, because I can find my A4 paper at 6€ elsewhere instead of 10€ on Amazon. And same goes for most other stuff. Maybe after a few…

Maybe we need a service were we can all upload our online merchants screenshots of products and prices, that can then tell us if particular customers have been segmented into the pay more forever bin.

Camelcamelcamel.com?

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

#127

Post by IshKebab »

a3n wrote: post #95

I order electronics from Newegg (which is starting to feel Amazon-like with third parties). I generally use Amazon as a search engine to see what exists, look at reviews, then buy locally and physically if at all possible. Especially books, after they folded, spindled and mutilated too many books and their replacements.

Me too but reviews on Amazon are starting to get very untrustworthy. Not because of fake reviews, but because of products that unexpectedly come with a "Give us a review and we'll refund £5!" card in the box.

The latest one I got specifically stated they didn't need a positive review (presumably to get around Amazon's rules?) but it's still a bribe even if it is via an implicit debt.

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

#128

Post by odnes »

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 is to (1) initiate a return (2) modify the return label so UPS accepts it into their system but (3) deliver it to the wrong address. So it looks to amazon as being successfully delivered to the return warehouse, but what actually got delivered was a brick, to some random house.

I wouldn't be surprised if >1% of macbook and iPhone refunds are fraudulent in this way. Someone in a cybercrime lab they should write a paper about this whole ecosystem because it is a huge black market.

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

#129

Post by 6nf »

praptak wrote: post #122
malwarebytess wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 o…

Did they contest the chargeback though?

In a case like this, without additional proof, the credit card company will just side with the customer.

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

#130

Post by aikinai »

marban wrote: post #101
glandium wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon JP got a little worse ever since they started having their own delivery, which is not great compared to Yamato or Sagawa, which they were using before (and are still using sometimes, it's not clear under what conditions). But the difference is almost at the level of nitpicking. When you're used to top-notch service, and you suddenly get a subpar experience, that's kind of disappointing.

When did they make the switch? I've mostly had Yamato same-day in Tokyo or remote areas like Okinawa.

I think it was a year or two ago? It was a pretty big deal and in the news for a while.

I get a combination now of Amazon's own service or one of the big third-parties. All of them are great I think. I might prefer Amazon's since they're willing to just leave the package in front of your door.

Post reply on HN