Amazon Faces Class Action For Recharging Instant Refunds On Returned Goods

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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Amazon customers file proposed class action lawsuit alleging the company wrongfully recharged them for items that were properly returned on time and in original condition

Amazon customers lodge class action over charges for returned goods
Amazon.com customers sued the online retail giant in U.S. court in Seattle, claiming they were charged for purchases that had been returned on time.

Amazon.com customers sued the online retail giant in U.S. court in Seattle, claiming they were charged for purchases that had been returned on time.

Four residents of Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri said in the proposed class action lawsuit on Tuesday that Amazon "wrongfully re-charged the purchase price and applicable taxes" for their returns.

Amazon had "knowledge of its systemic failure to deliver on its promise of refunds for timely returned items," they said...

...Amazon's customer return practices have resulted in "substantial unjustified monetary losses by those who either do not notice" they have been charged or were "deterred by the inconvenience of having to figure out what happened and how to fix it," Tuesday's lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs, represented by law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, are seeking class action status on behalf of millions of U.S. residents over the past six years who were allegedly charged by Amazon after returning purchases on time and in their original condition.

The plaintiffs are asking for triple damages under Washington state's consumer protection act, in addition to other relief.

At issue is Amazon's "instant refund" process which provides a credit in advance once the buyer has dropped off the return at UPS Store, Kohl's, Wholefoods, or other authorized Amazon return location - with the caveat that the buyer may be recharged if Amazon does not actually receive the return within the given timeframe.

Amazon claims that its goal “is to make buying online as easy as possible” which includes offering “free, convenient returns on most items delivered in the U.S.”

Accordingly, “Customers can buy with confidence knowing Amazon has great selection, fast shipping, low prices, and easy, hassle-free returns.” Amazon Vice President of Worldwide Returns & ReCommerce Gopal Pillai recently boasted that Amazon “work[s] hard to continue to raise the bar in offering a hassle-free returns experience to [Amazon’s] customers.”

To return an item to Amazon, a customer navigates to “Your Orders” on the Amazon.com website and selects the item she wishes to return, or clicks a link contained in the customer’s order confirmation email from Amazon, enters an explanation for the return, and then chooses a drop-off location. Amazon emails the customer a quick response (“QR”) code that the customer presents with the item to be returned at the authorized drop-off location.

Customers may drop-off returns at over 18,000 locations at physical Amazon stores, Whole Foods Markets, participating Kohl’s and Staples locations, and The UPS Store.

Items to be returned can simply be handed to an associate of the drop-off location without a box or label, who will scan the QR code containing the return information and pack and ship the return for free.

From there, the return is transported to one of Amazon’s return processing
centers, such as those located in Phoenix, Arizona; Hebron, Kentucky; Shepherdsville, Kentucky; Las Vegas, Nevada; Dallas, Texas; and Houston, Texas.

In some circumstances, Amazon offers its customers the option of receiving an “instant refund,” whereby Amazon will refund the item’s purchase price before Amazon receives the item to be returned. If Amazon does not receive the item to be returned, Amazon recharges the customer the sale price of the item.

If the return is eligible for instant refund, the refund will be processed as soon as the customer drops off the product at the authorized drop-off location. Otherwise, the return is processed after the product arrives at the fulfillment center and the refund is approved.

The plaintiffs allege on various occasions were issued "instant refunds" when they dropped off items to be returned at authorized return locations but were then later recharged for the items despite having clear evidence they followed the proper return procedures.

Plaintiffs attorneys also allege these experiences are "typical of Amazon customers nationwide."

Read the full complaint:


Have you ever been wrongly recharged by Amazon for an item you returned and received an "instant refund" on? Let us know in the comments below!

AmazonReturnsLegal

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Liz Morton is a 17 year ecommerce pro turned indie investigative journalist providing ad-free deep dives on eBay, Amazon, Etsy & more, championing sellers & advocating for corporate accountability.

3 comments
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Curtis Parrish
Yes, I’ve experienced being recharged for an item I returned. Not only did I get recharged without any notice several weeks later, I had addressed the issue with customer service whereas they reassured me it would not happen. They had attempted to say I never sent the product in the beginning, which I was able to provide proof via UPS receipt. After providing proof I was issued the refund and guaranteed that the issue was resolved. Then several weeks later it was re-charged without notice. I only know of the one time. This was for a mini surveillance camera.
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Liz Morton
Thanks for sharing your experience Curtis!

FYI, I've edited your comment to remove the images because they contained personal identifiable information about you and your Amazon account.

Value Added Resource is not associated with Amazon or any of the marketplaces we cover and that type of information should only be shared over secure, verified contact with Amazon support directly or an attorney, should you wish to explore that option in light of this class action suit.
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trazom
"Plaintiffs attorneys also allege these experiences are "typical of Amazon customers nationwide.""

Rubbish!

This happens to people who consistently abuse the return process. Or, put another way, obsessive compulsive return-ers.

THAT, or to those who return items outside the stated return window.

Americans have lost the ability top follow simple instructions, now that we have collectively immersed ourselves in the toxic wasteland of "social media."
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Recent Comments
Avatar PlaceholdereCommerce Pro5 hours ago
Bonanza (or bMarketplace, or whatever they want to call themselves this week) is FINISHED.

They just "killed the golden goose". I imported my 1500+ eBay items to there since it was free. Turned out just to be a lot of work for (maybe) 3 sales a month.

The total fees were higher there before this new $20 a month cost structure, even though they claimed otherwise. When one factors in the 3.49% + 49 cent PayPal processing fees so one can get paid, there went a good chunk of profit.

Now they have boosted their commission to 11%, and still claim that the cost to sell there is less than eBay's. And remember that this does not include payment processing. WHY?? Makes no sense at all.

On eBay, for $27.95 a month, I sell over 100 items there every 30-31 days. Makes ZERO SENSE to pay a site $20 to make just a couple of sales. Since they now allow 50 "free listings", I have trimmed my offerings back to just below that amount. Also had to raise all my prices accordingly to absorb the extra selling costs.

The people who run the show here obviously didn't realize that eBay sellers who imported their listings gave the site a great depth of product, which would attract more buyers. Now that will be gone, because NO ONE will pay them $20 monthly for little to no sales.

The site also has technical issues that they refuse to fix. It was a decent resource to enable the occasional sale, but they will soon be stacked onto the eCommerce trash heap of companies that THOUGHT they could compete with Amazon and eBay. Etsy may also suffer the same fate soon, as many sellers are also leaving their site due to high fees, website issues, and poor management.

Basic eComm rule here: When you do not carry any inventory, and sellers are solely responsible for supplying your site with the goods offered, DON'T BITE THE HAND WHICH FEEDS YOU!!!
Avatar PlaceholderMksowa2 days ago
They need to fix a very broken system full of nasty attitudes. The patrons no longer matter.
Avatar PlaceholderMarty_J2 days ago
Was just checking to see if it would post without creating an account but….
eBay seller since 2022
Just started selling about a year and half ago

800 items sold 99.7 feedback

Recently I went away for family things for 30 days set my acct to be away … got back with items not received cases opened

I wasn’t able to revise existing listings post new listings OR refund the buyer from my eBay funds …

The items were caught up in recent wild fires but ended up being delivered late. I had to beg the buyer to let me pay them off of eBay to close the case because it was on hold and I wasn’t able to refund them from my eBay acct etc…. So luckily they obliged and I did … but ever since then my acct must be strikes as high risk because funds have been on hold 3 days after delivery since then indefinitely might I add… I get the run around everytime etc etc FINALLY I got someone saying it’s temporary it’ll be back to normal etc. these r all reps from escalated departments… one lady told me that with my history and feedback I’ve proved beyond doubt that I’m reliable seller and shouldn’t be on hold she put in for a appeal never heard back got the run around for another few months… they keep telling me I’ve been chosen for the new update they r rolling out total BS … do you believe that sellers will stay on eBay with these holds ? No they will simply go to another platform … they r 100% making money on the holds and use any reasoning to tell you basically no and keep profiting…. The get around is creating a new acct… these cases were closed without eBay having to step in and might I add I lost $$ and its been truly frustrating esp since I’ve built the acct up but I know I can do it again.. when they tell me its going to happen to all accts I just mention how my brother just opened one n now has immediate payments they don’t know what to say I don’t think they really even know.,, its sad n scummy but I see a class action lawsuit coming honestly ! I don’t know💬 if I forgot anything but well written thanks for the information. Have a great one!