Amazon customer blocked from refund after phone marked ‘may be lost’

A London customer who ordered a £544 phone from Amazon says a tracking update later informed them the parcel “may be lost” and offered a refund, but the company then required them to follow a series of steps that stalled the claim.

They say pressing the refund option led to customer service, which insisted they wait a week. A week later Amazon told them to file an incident report from the email address associated with their account; when they did the report was rejected as coming from an address that “didn’t meet certain security standards”. The customer says the order page now shows they requested to return the item (which they did not) and that a refund will be issued once they return it, though they never received the phone. Amazon has taken the first two monthly instalments of £108 while the customer remains phone-less.

The piece says Amazon issued a refund within four hours of the customer getting in touch and gave a £50 voucher as “an additional gesture of goodwill”. It adds Amazon said: “We are sorry for the inconvenience our mistake has caused.”

The article notes other customers have been left out of pocket and suggests that, when all else fails, people can make a chargeback claim from their debit card issuer or, if they paid by credit card, seek reimbursement under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Key Topics

Business, Amazon, London, Phone, Consumer Credit Act, Chargeback