Blocked from Amazon?

amother

OP ↓

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 12:05 pm

I read on another thread how people can get blocked due to too many returns.
I was wondering if anyone knew what the algorithm is... I am worried as I bought a lot over the last week but returned most of it. Was trying to find an article of clothing but nothing fit and I marked that as the reason for returning it. (If anyone looks at what it was they could probably see how I bought say 4 black skirts and none fit). I do keep some of what I bought and I return within a day or two of receipt if that matters...

I want to keep trying to find something to wear for YT but don't want to be blocked!!

What does "abusing" the return system mean?

amother

DarkGray

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 12:22 pm

Don’t know the rules but their tolerance has to be high I have bought insane amount of shoes for multiple kids before school season and returned tons.
They even have an option to buy without paying if you might return it.

Molly Weasley ↓

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 12:35 pm

amother DarkGray wrote:

Years ago I was blocked for returning one item. Sounds crazy, but that's what it is. Their Appeals process is non-existent

amother

↑ OP

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 1:08 pm

Molly Weasley wrote:

Years ago I was blocked for returning one item. Sounds crazy, but that's what it is. Their Appeals process is non-existent

Meaning your first return got you blocked? What was their reason?
Was the item not in perfect condition, with tags etc?

Amarante

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 1:29 pm

They aren’t going to reveal their algorithm because it would defeat the purpose.

Zappos is owned by Amazon and has an unlimited return policy for shoes.

From what I have read certain types of returns trigger the ban almost immediately like expensive electronic devices particularly the kind that might be used once instead of renting.

amother

Sapphire

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 2:02 pm

Their algorithm is messed up. Here's my very annoying Amazon story:
Purchased two of an item. Only got one. Contacted Amazon, who contacted the third party seller on my behalf, who agreed I only got the one item. This is all in writing. Amazon then instructed me to fill out an "incident report" so that I would get my refund for the amount I paid for, but did not receive.

It was a 6 question report, the last of which said "how many incident reports have you filed with Amazon previously?" to which I correctly answered "zero."

Got an email from Amazon saying to expect my refund in X days. A day later, I got an email from Amazon fraud office that Amazon sent to the third party seller and cc'd me, that due to my high number of incident reports filed, they will no longer honor my claim and instructed the third party NOT to send me the refund.

Cue my MONTH'S worth of calls and emails to them, getting literally nowhere. At one point, they said I needed a police report. Their customer service was worse than useless. They don't let you speak to the fraud department, and said I can only email them directly by replying to the email I received. Doing so gave me this fun response: "we have received your request. The jogging outfit you ordered is delayed." or other equally nonsensical auto- responses. (The item I didn't receive was not even a jogging outfit).

After many weeks I gave up and filed a claim with the credit card and was happy to send them the written documentation from Amazon and the third party agreeing immediately that they only sent me one of the two items I paid for. I got the chargeback on my credit card, but certainly no one gave me back those hours I spent on this. Oh, they also told me they were going to cancel my account. They didn't, but I rarely use Amazon anymore. Good riddance. I try to support small businesses anyway. I use Amazon to search for a product, then when I find something interesting, google the seller and buy it that way. Amazon can go kicks rocks. We are going down a very sad and sorry slope when we allow algorithms to replace human beings.

↑ Molly Weasley

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 2:20 pm

amother Sapphire wrote:

My sob story:
I purchased several items over a couple of years, spending around $25 in total. I also bought one "expensive" gift for about $125.

Unfortunately, the item arrived used and didn't feel suitable as a gift, especially since it was a personal electronic item, (think shaver, etc) it made me very uncomfortable to consider giving it as a gift.

I returned it, received a refund, and promptly bought the same exact item again. Shortly after that, I found myself banned.

amother

Steelblue

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 2:49 pm

They block people who always choose item was damaged every time. Happened to a friend of mine until she realized what it was. Turns out those items are trashed and not resold and they lose money or make the seller lose money and if they see a pattern of someone just using that return code to get free label (there are other ways to get label) they ended up blocking.