Nelson points out that both the customer and the company have no control over deliveries once they leave the warehouse, and asks if it would ban a customer who just happened to have several deliveries damaged by the courier. We have repeatedly asked the company what constitutes too many returns, but it has refused to divulge the figure. Money spent several hours on the Amazon website this week, but could find no reference to the policy. She also lost a £170 gift card balance and the remaining months of her Amazon Prime membership, which costs £79 a year. In January Amazon closed down another customer, Katy Kilmarton, after she returned 30 out of 112 items bought. It is unclear whether that would have saved him from being banned as Amazon refuses to explain the policy, or to differentiate between returns made for genuine or other reasons. He had chosen to cancel problematic purchases rather than wait for Amazon to simply exchange the item. The self-confessed electronics junkie, who prided himself on having all the latest gizmos, said the majority of items he returned were high-value electronic items that had failed. He bought 246 items in 2015 alone, and had been a customer since 2006. In November last year Money highlighted the case of Nigel Colledge from Kingskerswell, South Devon, who similarly had his account cancelled despite spending thousands of pounds with the firm. Items that are damaged or not as described, or simply don’t last as they should, are all often sent back by unhappy consumers, as they would return an item to a physical shop.Īlthough relatively rare, Amazon has been cancelling customers accounts since at least 2008, and in some cases has even reportedly cancelled the accounts of other family members living at the same address. I could understand if there were evidence that I had tried to abuse the system, but I haven’t Greg Nelson Amazon voluntarily extends this policy so items can be returned inside 30 days, but acts against customers who do it too often. The former distance selling rules, now part of the consumer contracts regulations, allow online shoppers to return an item within 14 days without giving a reason for a full refund, provided the item is in the original packaging. This decision is only taken after we have reviewed the account carefully and tried to work with the customer over an extended time period to resolve any issues,” he said. In a tiny fraction of cases we are forced to close accounts where we identify extreme account abuse. “Our goal is to deliver the best experience for the millions of customers who shop with us. Nelson is the latest person to fall foul of the company’s policy of banning customers who exercise their consumer rights to return goods.Ī spokesman for Amazon told Guardian Money he could not discuss Nelson’s case, except to say the company would not reopen his account. He has also questioned whether it is legal for the internet giant to refuse to refund a customer’s unspent gift balance. He emailed Amazon to point out the unfairness in closing accounts based on unpublished limits of legitimate returns, but says he received a standard response refusing to reopen his account. Of course, Amazon can refuse to serve whom it likes, but surely it cannot legally keep gift card balances and other purchased goods which have already been paid for by the customer – despite what any potentially unfair small print might say?” I could understand if there were evidence that I had somehow tried to abuse the system, but I haven’t. Nelson says: “As a previously fervently loyal fan of Amazon who has been a customer since 2002, I understand that it is trying to protect its business – however I find its actions in this situation totally egregious.
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