My Amazon UK (high value) return got stolen, what can I do?

I have filed a report on action fraud. But they dont investigate case by case. Not sure what the chances are that my issue will get investigated...

About zero, this isn’t really what Action Fraud are for. Your local force, or the force where the offence was committed, would be the investigating agency.
 
Have any long term forum members had these issues on high value returns? It seems it's only newbies just signing up to discuss their plight to be affected..

I have been a member since 2006, don't know if that counts ;)

I am going through the exact same thing as many on here. I returned a laptop (worth over £1000) and they received something else instead. Courier was arranged through Amazon (Hermes). I have never had an issue with Hermes so saw no issue, but that should be neither here nor there with regards to a resolution.

I have never had such shocking customer service from a company. I know some of you think that Amazon will treat you differently going by your standing. They won't. I have ordered hundreds of items from them of many different values. They don't care about returns or refunds up until a certain value. If it is something like £1,000+ and something goes wrong, THAT is when you are screwed.

I have done enough research of this issue online since this happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Some things I have found:

  • Hermes seem to be the courier where these losses are happening.
  • It has happened to numerous individuals (there are a couple of YouTubers with decent followings this has happened to, with disclaimers of 'I still love you Amazon' as they are affiliates).
  • Amazon will not believe you or try to help you AT ALL.
  • You will constantly be told to return the correct item
  • They will not take the matter up with Hermes, even though the contract is between Amazon and Hermes
  • They will not accept any evidence, serial numbers, photos, etc etc to conduct an 'investigation'

I know some of you are thinking that these people are scammers, but from all the stories I have read, I don't see this. There are way too many of them and there is a common theme - Hermes.

I have raised a report through Action Fraud. I have contacted a couple of media outlets to cover this story as it seems to have happened a lot in the past 12 months.
 
I think the moral of this story, use the click down on the Amazon returns so you can choose Royal Mail. I was get Hermes as the first option, and click down to when I can get a Royal Mail option. Understandably this may not be available on all items, but worth it if it is.

Proper nightmare really. Amazon moved up their security since they had thee MPGH Social engineering forum closed down, but now the honest people are classed as collateral to stop the crooks. Ive bought many items over a grand off Amazon, will definitely make me think twice in the future.

I remeber our local Hermes woman, she freely admitted she would check out what was in some of the boxes from time to time to see if they where worth keeping. They would stay in her car overnight on her driveway in SE London. I stopped using Hermes for my own business at this point, but this was over four years ago now, was hoping they had gotten better.
 
Sometimes you don’t get the option for unknown reasons , happened to me once and I got in touch and they offered a RM solution 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
Agreed, NEVER use Hermes for high value items. I found out the hard way.

Having said that, this now also stands for Amazon. They have shown that they will do nothing to try and help you. I actually can't imagine any other company's automatic response to be 'return the item or no refund' after you have already explained you have returned it.
 
What are we classing as high value ?

I'd probably have concerns buying anything over £500 on Amazon now. I think you have to class what is 'high value' by how much you can afford to lose.

Baring in mind you will eventually get your money back if you use a credit card, but Amazon normally ban your account if you initiate chargebacks, along with any account using the same computer/IP address as. So it becomes hassle considering Amazon is basically 'owning' our shopping these days, and will probably do more so in the future.

The problem with a company becoming that powerful....eBay is much the same for Sellers. They will brutalise you because 1, theres plenty more sellers where you came from, 2, there are very few alternatives. You as a business, person, seller are completely expendable.

Same as Amazon with their customers. Cause an inconvenience to them, and you'll be expended!
 
I'd probably have concerns buying anything over £500 on Amazon now. I think you have to class what is 'high value' by how much you can afford to lose.

Baring in mind you will eventually get your money back if you use a credit card, but Amazon normally ban your account if you initiate chargebacks, along with any account using the same computer/IP address as. So it becomes hassle considering Amazon is basically 'owning' our shopping these days, and will probably do more so in the future.

The problem with a company becoming that powerful....eBay is much the same for Sellers. They will brutalise you because 1, theres plenty more sellers where you came from, 2, there are very few alternatives. You as a business, person, seller are completely expendable.

Same as Amazon with their customers. Cause an inconvenience to them, and you'll be expended!

Very true. There is nothing which compares to Amazon right now, and the fact you can be discarded, through something which is not your fault, is worrying.

Also consider just how much information and data they already have of you. Taking on a company of this stature is pretty scary.

Thankfully I did not invest in their Amazon photos or devices, I chose Google instead. But what would happen to these if they ban you? Lose all your photos, have your Alexa devices become redundant? Also, what happens to your consumer rights for other goods you have purchased if you are banned? Say if a fault develops with something you have already bought?

As I said, scary. This is why I have been trying my best to get the issue sorted through Amazon, rather than my credit card.
 
Very true. There is nothing which compares to Amazon right now, and the fact you can be discarded, through something which is not your fault, is worrying.

Also consider just how much information and data they already have of you. Taking on a company of this stature is pretty scary.

Thankfully I did not invest in their Amazon photos or devices, I chose Google instead. But what would happen to these if they ban you? Lose all your photos, have your Alexa devices become redundant? Also, what happens to your consumer rights for other goods you have purchased if you are banned? Say if a fault develops with something you have already bought?

As I said, scary. This is why I have been trying my best to get the issue sorted through Amazon, rather than my credit card.

Have you tried writing to Jeffs office directly? They have sorted out a few issues that customer services couldn't wrap their heads around a few years ago.

I think all your Alexa devices do become redundant (I'd never have anything like that in my house full stop anyway!) and your other purchases will probably have to go through email/written communucation to Amazon's head offices and small claims court if required. Absolute nightmare of hassle that's for sure.

Never even thought about the personal data they hold. Frightening stuff. And with the high street vanishing at a rate of knots, traffic and parking charges through the roof in town centres, older age meaning less mobility and younger people already inducted into online purchasing, Amazon will one day control E-commerce entirely I would imagine. Maybe become equally as powerful as a government (they already rent storage to the government!), because we all have to buy products....Thankfully I'd say thast was a good 20 years away and I'll be half dead then :)
 
Thankfully I'd say thast was a good 20 years away and I'll be half dead then
Probably less, but it does need competition. Could there be any company in a position to step up? Not sure Tesco, Microsoft or anyone else is.
Maybe as oil/energy companies face reduced fuel sales (mandated EV switch) they could diversify.
 
Interesting thread. Shame that certain delivery companies cannot be trusted.
I would always get proof of posting, especially for high value items. I believe that if you go down the card chargeback route, they do ask for proof that you returned the item. As long as you have that, you're going to get a refund.
 
Interesting thread. Shame that certain delivery companies cannot be trusted.
I would always get proof of posting, especially for high value items. I believe that if you go down the card chargeback route, they do ask for proof that you returned the item. As long as you have that, you're going to get a refund.

I don't think the refund through the card is an issue as that much is fairly assured, it's the aftermath of getting said refund..
 
Have you tried writing to Jeffs office directly? They have sorted out a few issues that customer services couldn't wrap their heads around a few years ago.

I think all your Alexa devices do become redundant (I'd never have anything like that in my house full stop anyway!) and your other purchases will probably have to go through email/written communucation to Amazon's head offices and small claims court if required. Absolute nightmare of hassle that's for sure.

Never even thought about the personal data they hold. Frightening stuff. And with the high street vanishing at a rate of knots, traffic and parking charges through the roof in town centres, older age meaning less mobility and younger people already inducted into online purchasing, Amazon will one day control E-commerce entirely I would imagine. Maybe become equally as powerful as a government (they already rent storage to the government!), because we all have to buy products....Thankfully I'd say thast was a good 20 years away and I'll be half dead then :)
Yep I've tried every email. Tried sending emails to some executives' work emails but getting bounce backs.

They seem to now have accepted receipt of some of my evidence and asking me to wait until this particular person returns on Wednesday, as he is most 'familiar' with my case.
 
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I don't think the refund through the card is an issue as that much is fairly assured, it's the aftermath of getting said refund..

Oh I see, yeah I just read the previous message about Amazon banning people once they do this.
 
Yep I've tried every email. Tried sending emails to some executives' work emails but getting bounce backs.

They seem to now have accepted receipt of some of my evidence and asking me to wait until this particular person returns on Wednesday, as he is most 'familiar' with my case.

Fingers crossed for ya. One thing is for sure, you'll be on the Amazon s**tlist after this (theres a thread about this somewhere on here), so be wary of future returning...
 
If you guys used to work with someone 10 years ago, who you were relatively friendly with, and is pretty high up at Amazon in another area, would you reach out to them?

I think it could be quite unprofessional for me to do so, but would you do it if you had the chance?

EDIT: I will not do the above.

What I have also now done is reported it as lost or stolen to Asus. Apparently noone will be able to use it now :) I am sure this is completely irrelevant to Amazon and their robots however.
 
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If you guys used to work with someone 10 years ago, who you were relatively friendly with, and is pretty high up at Amazon in another area, would you reach out to them?

I think it could be quite unprofessional for me to do so, but would you do it if you had the chance?

EDIT: I will not do the above.

What I have also now done is reported it as lost or stolen to Asus. Apparently noone will be able to use it now :) I am sure this is completely irrelevant to Amazon and their robots however.

Personally, if the cost is non retractable, I would. However if you still have credit card protection, its about weighing up the value of the favour to you. For a person say on a minimum wage job, who saved for a year to buy it, then yes, it would be worth it to contact said person. If you're financially comfortable and this is more an annoyance than a life changing amount, it might be worth exploring all other options first.

The ASUS blocking does not work btw, tried that when I got burgled on my Zenbook, and low and beyond it was still working when I got it back six months later from the Police after they did a raid :) :)
 
Personally, if the cost is non retractable, I would. However if you still have credit card protection, its about weighing up the value of the favour to you. For a person say on a minimum wage job, who saved for a year to buy it, then yes, it would be worth it to contact said person. If you're financially comfortable and this is more an annoyance than a life changing amount, it might be worth exploring all other options first.

The ASUS blocking does not work btw, tried that when I got burgled on my Zenbook, and low and beyond it was still working when I got it back six months later from the Police after they did a raid :) :)

Yeah I decided against. Instead, I have sent a 'letter before action' to their Holborn address. Even though, this is normally used for small claims or ADR schemes (which Amazon do not seem to be a member of), I didn't think it would do any harm before I contacted Barclaycard.....................

I look forward to my account being closed down in a few days :D
 
I'm returning a £400 item today, remembering this thread I contacted customer services.

They authorised return via hermes, I said I'd rather not as there are to many reports of theft, but would prefer RM. In the end he agreed, made a note on my file and sent me a qr code and an email to reply to with proof of posting etc. He also advised me to take photos, which I've done.

Postage is refundable but above £10 you have to supply proof of payment.

Worth trying for high value items, anything is better the hermes.
 
I'm returning a £400 item today, remembering this thread I contacted customer services.

They authorised return via hermes, I said I'd rather not as there are to many reports of theft, but would prefer RM. In the end he agreed, made a note on my file and sent me a qr code and an email to reply to with proof of posting etc. He also advised me to take photos, which I've done.

Postage is refundable but above £10 you have to supply proof of payment.

Worth trying for high value items, anything is better the hermes.
Good choice going with RM. Him suggesting you take photos may be the advisor genuinely trying to help, but imo he is just people pleasing.

From my experience they aren't interested in any supporting evidence.

FYI I called for an update on the off-chance someone could help. The manager was really understanding, said he would try to get the investigation team to actually call me, and was very apologetic.

He understood EVERYTHING I had said and even repeated it back to me.

Five minutes later I received an email from the same manager.

"Upon checking the details of the return, I see that the item was received by our fulfilment center. Although your package has arrived at our returns center, we haven't processed the refund for the item. I have checked with the reason for the delay in the refund process and could see that you have returned the wrong item to us, which is why we did not process the refund.

We would have processed the refund, if you had returned the correct item to us. We are unable to take any further action on this issue.

I hope you understand our limitations in this situation.

It is our privilege to have you as our valued customer & we want to make sure you are always taken care of".

Incredible customer service.
 
Good choice going with RM. Him suggesting you take photos may be the advisor genuinely trying to help, but imo he is just people pleasing.

From my experience they aren't interested in any supporting evidence.

FYI I called for an update on the off-chance someone could help. The manager was really understanding, said he would try to get the investigation team to actually call me, and was very apologetic.

He understood EVERYTHING I had said and even repeated it back to me.

Five minutes later I received an email from the same manager.

"Upon checking the details of the return, I see that the item was received by our fulfilment center. Although your package has arrived at our returns center, we haven't processed the refund for the item. I have checked with the reason for the delay in the refund process and could see that you have returned the wrong item to us, which is why we did not process the refund.

We would have processed the refund, if you had returned the correct item to us. We are unable to take any further action on this issue.

I hope you understand our limitations in this situation.

It is our privilege to have you as our valued customer & we want to make sure you are always taken care of".

Incredible customer service.

Without wanting to sound xenophobic, if you manage to get someone in Ireland on the Customer Service line you are far more likely in getting a deeper investigation/resolution.

All that foregin call centre CS person has done has gone to the computer , looked up the case, and repeated back to you what it says. They won't ever go any further.

It's unusual you havent gotten a reply from Jeffs office team ( [email protected]) - I've not known them not to reply. You really must be on the Amazon s**t list!

My mind wanders what item Hermes did replace the item with...although it could just be operator error at the returns facility. So many plausible options which Amazon seem to be reluctant at investigation. Goes back to what I said earlier, customers are expendable when you have global domination in an ever increasing population.

I was contemplating buying a recondition amazon Macbook - fully intent on returning it as it's merely a replacement for mine while its getting sent off for a new battery :) but I might buy it from eBay now. At least your return is guaranteed as soon as it is scanned by the Post Office/courier.
 
Without wanting to sound xenophobic, if you manage to get someone in Ireland on the Customer Service line you are far more likely in getting a deeper investigation/resolution.

All that foregin call centre CS person has done has gone to the computer , looked up the case, and repeated back to you what it says. They won't ever go any further.

It's unusual you havent gotten a reply from Jeffs office team ( [email protected]) - I've not known them not to reply. You really must be on the Amazon s**t list!

My mind wanders what item Hermes did replace the item with...although it could just be operator error at the returns facility. So many plausible options which Amazon seem to be reluctant at investigation. Goes back to what I said earlier, customers are expendable when you have global domination in an ever increasing population.

I was contemplating buying a recondition amazon Macbook - fully intent on returning it as it's merely a replacement for mine while its getting sent off for a new battery :) but I might buy it from eBay now. At least your return is guaranteed as soon as it is scanned by the Post Office/courier.

I think I did get a reply from [email protected] (or I assume I did). That is the 'executive customer relations team' where the chap, seems to constantly be out of the office for 5 days at a time and no-one else is able to 'investigate'.

I did try to call Amazon several times, with the aim of trying to get through to someone in Ireland. Actually before I spoke to the aforementioned, customer services' manager of the year, it was someone in Ireland who spoke to me. As she was only frontline, she said she would pass me onto a team that could help. That is when I was passed on to God's gift for customer service.

My 'investigator' is back today, so let's see if he replies. In the meantime I have sent the letter which was signed and received yesterday.

The item which they claim to have received is a hairdryer (one they sell), which is so ironic, considering I wish I did have the need for one :p
 
I think I did get a reply from [email protected] (or I assume I did). That is the 'executive customer relations team' where the chap, seems to constantly be out of the office for 5 days at a time and no-one else is able to 'investigate'.

I did try to call Amazon several times, with the aim of trying to get through to someone in Ireland. Actually before I spoke to the aforementioned, customer services' manager of the year, it was someone in Ireland who spoke to me. As she was only frontline, she said she would pass me onto a team that could help. That is when I was passed on to God's gift for customer service.

My 'investigator' is back today, so let's see if he replies. In the meantime I have sent the letter which was signed and received yesterday.

The item which they claim to have received is a hairdryer (one they sell), which is so ironic, considering I wish I did have the need for one :p

You should send them a tongue in cheek photo of why you don't feel you need a hairdryer :)
 
Then they will say that's the reason why you substituted it in your return.
 
Without wanting to sound xenophobic, if you manage to get someone in Ireland on the Customer Service line you are far more likely in getting a deeper investigation/resolution.

All that foregin call centre CS person has done has gone to the computer , looked up the case, and repeated back to you what it says. They won't ever go any further.

It’s not being xenophobic (my birth ethnicity is not English for the record). Whenever I’ve had an issue with a company and contacted customer services (quite recent examples are Vodafone and Scottish Power, Virgin Media also in the past); if the call is re-routed to a country (for diplomacy’s sake) where the advisor is not a first language English speaker, it has been an absolute waste of time.

I really don’t see the point of their employment as they are almost always unable to solve the simplest of issues, never mind anything a bit more taxing. I often tend to hang up and try to reach a native English speaking advisor.
 

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