Usual Amazon incompetence.
We sold a Porsche key fob to someone with an incomplete seller name, its just a single word, no Christian name or surname. Like an 80's pop star......
The key fobs are supplied in a plastic bag with an adhesive sealing strip (important for later) and then in a presentation box.
Customer had it delivered and immediately messaged us stating "The empty box sent to me , so disrespect the customer" and started a return. Here we go! The return reason: Missing parts or accessories.
Bit of background. This colour fob was discontinued in 2021. We found some old stock by chance when we were moving premises. Happy days. It's impossible to find. There are 2 companies in the USA who claim to have stock and one in Poland. One of the companies in the USA always shows stock until you order one, I know this from experience, then they notice it's not on a shelf and remove it from their site. These things happen. Long and short is no one has these for sale in the UK, they're like hens teeth to find in Europe, and if you want one we have them. It's a rare piece of kit!
Now, a customer ordered one in December and returned it because it was allegedly damaged, there was a scratch on the front. I asked for a picture, no picture, we then had to pay for the return. When it arrived there was no plastic bag, just a fob in a box with a dirty big "scratch" on the crest. But, when I ran my thumb over the "scratch" it was an outie, not an innie. A scratch is always an innie. I scraped the "scratch" with my thumbnail and it came off, it was a bit of adhesive plastic stuck to the crest. Clearly a piece of the missing plastic bag! So we have one fob minus a bag which will now be the very last one sold, obviously.
When I personally picked the fob for this order I checked the box to see if it was the one missing the bag, it wasn't, so it was wrapped and sent. Therefore, I absolutely checked this item before posting. Imagine my surprise when this customer received an "empty box". But, rather than requesting a replacement of an extremely difficult to find key fob they cannot get anywhere else, they wanted a return and refund. Obviously I asked for a photo of said box with zero expectation of getting one, and I wasn't disappointed.
The parcel arrived back with zero signs of damage to the postage box, naturally, and inside was a Porsche presentation box with no Porsche key fob. Of course, that was expected. Since this was the predictable sequence of events I'd already contacted seller support asking what protection I might expect and they informed me of the Safe-T option. I have to admit to being skeptical of any protection or support, and once again I've not been disappointed.
After 4 attempts to get this resolved the return reason stands at "Reason: Not received in original condition". As a result the claim keeps being denied because.....
"We have denied your reimbursement request for the order xxxxxxx.
Why is this happening?
The issue that you reported is not eligible for reimbursement per our reimbursement policy."
Interesting response, especially since the Safe-T policy claims we're protected if:
1. Issue with a returned product: A Buyer returns a damaged, incomplete or different product.
We've been selling on Amazon for 10 years. We've sold over 10k items. To date the number of "The empty box sent to me , so disrespect the customer" claims stands at...... 1.
What is the point of this Safe-T policy? Just another waste of my time and effort. Just another frustration at Amazon's unique ability to insult sellers. I've yet to try and deal with Amazon where I didn't just give up because it's impossible to get anything resolved. This company is the most disgusting, ignorant, and frustrating organisation I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. eBay would have resolved this by now. Anyone looking at the facts and not reading a script that says "you must screw the seller over" would have sorted this out by now. Yet, thieves have found another way to rip off sellers under Amazon's nose and with Amazon's full protection.
I despair. This cesspit isn't worth the effort some days.
Pinned by community manager
