This is a good one re: refunding shipping when wrong item shipped

So I ordered a briefcase from Unbeatable Sales--a third party seller on Amazon. They are a huge third party seller.

They shipped me a wallet, not a briefcase. It's not even close. (And the weight of the package was a few ounces, so even if they want to contest the mistake, the shipping weight proves it could not have been a briefcase).

So I returned it as "wrong item".

They receive the return and refund me the purchase price MINUS the substantial shipping cost I originally paid. I wrote and said I was not going to pay shipping on an order where they didn't ship what I ordered.

Their response:

We received your request for your original shipping to be refunded.

Please be advised we do not refund original shipping charges.

Shipping is a service and the item was delivered using a carrier method, this is the reason why the fee is non-refundable.​

I'm not worried. I'll get it back from an Amazon A-Z case, and they'll get a black mark. But the hubris of sellers sometimes amazes me. I guess they figure some people will accept that response.

 

I had a similar occurrence recently when a third-party Amazon seller shipped me the wrong item. I submitted a return request, and they agreed but did not provide a return shipping label. No big deal, I've had to pay up front for international Amazon returns in the past and get reimbursed once the return has been received (the seller was in Spain, but the item had been listed on Amazon Canada and was fulfilled by Amazon UK).

The seller issued a full refund as soon as he received the return, minus the return shipping. I emailed him and indicated that I wasn't going to eat the cost for return shipping since it had been his error, and got no response. I escalated to Amazon Canada and they refunded the return shipping, although I wound up having to call them as the nominal amount of the refund was correct but they issued it in the wrong currency (CAD$13 instead of US$13).

 

I just had a similar problem, Amazon third party seller shipped wrong item, return shipping page stated if it was their error they would pay my return shipping, get refund without my return shipping, contacted them and they claimed what it said was nothing to do with them and Amazon must have written it, yeah right. I gave them one star, complained to Amazon who refunded me and said they'd get a strike on their account, Amazon Marketplace sure is getting like the bad side of eBay, I do hope Amazon have a big cleanup before it's too late.

 

eBay sellers try to pull the same thing. It's BS.
If it's the wrong item, broken, defective etc, the buyer should not have e to cover any shipping.

If the buyer simply wants to return the item because it's not what they expected etc, then I have no problem paying shipping.

 

Recently I bought a CD from an Amazon Marketplace seller and they send me the wrong thing. I noticed the standard "return item" option wasn't available on the order, and I contacted Amazon. They replied that this item was not available for returns(!), but since I was a longtime customer they would make an exception. They refunded me the purchase price, including shipping - but on my order history the item is not marked as having been returned or refunded.

Since then I have shied away from Amazon Marketplace in general, and have bought only from 3rd parties who use the Fulfilled By Amazon service, since Amazon fully stands by those and allows easy returns including shipping cost.

In general, I agree with @Dubmart that Amazon Marketplace does seem to be fraught with perils (or at least annoyances), not unlike eBay.

 

Wow, no returns allowed, that's shocking, fortunately in the UK and I believe the rest of Europe we have legislation guaranteeing our right to return items sold online for a full refund. I rarely look at .com these days as I can't afford the shipping, but the UK site is becoming riddled with blatant scam sellers in electronics, cameras etc., and people are getting caught, even mainstream newspapers are carrying stories so Amazon do have a growing problem on two fronts and if they don't sort it out their reputation will take a big hit. To be fair their customer service was great, but as I told them they really should be preventing the problems and vet their marketplace properly.

 

I had one seller try this on me once. I found a George Jones record listed on ebay. What was listed was an original pressing as pictured. What arrived was a Gusto reissue. I contacted the seller and it turned out he didn't send the wrong lp. He didn't bother photographing the item he had. He just found a picture online but never double checked the details. He was definitely a novice. Anyway, I told him I'd like a refund and I'd be happy to return the lp at his cost.

Of course he went ballistic. He wrote "Make a claim via ebay". I guess he though eBay would rule against me. They didn't.

I'm a pretty reasonable person but you make a mistake, well you got to put it right. You can't be blaming everyone else for it.

 

Did you tell the seller: "Sure, I'll file a claim with eBay. With Gusto!"

 

So a late follow up on my original post.

As I mentioned, I bought a briefcase. They shipped me a wallet. I returned the wallet. They refused to refund the significant shipping costs they charged me. I wrote back and complained. They refused.

I complained to Amazon, Amazon almost immediately ruled in my favor and forced the seller to refund the shipping costs. So all good, 100% refunded--no thanks to the seller.

So I left negative feedback for the seller. Stuck to the facts, did not mention Amazon in the feedback so that they would not be able to get feedback removed.

It's a couple of months later, and I guess after trying their usual tricks to get the feedback removed, and failing, they now want it removed by me. They've sent me a couple of "since we so generously refunded your money, could you now remove the feedback?" emails. Emails I've ignored.

The other day, I got a "we've refunded an additional amount...could you NOW remove the feedback?" email. And, yes, lo-and-behold, I got an email from Amazon saying I had received a refund on that order. Guess what? They refunded me $0.12 more. Just as a way to put that return/refund back on my radar.

I thought about writing them to tell them that there's nothing they can do to get me to remove that feedback--that the window for that closed when they were d*cks in the first place about the return. But then I thought better of it, and I will continue to ignore them...

 

They might be trying to bait you into saying something which in turn will enable them to finally get Amazon to remove your negative. Smart move in staying silent at this point.

 

As a guy with 30 years in retail, this kind of behavior by the seller always astounds me.

A dispassionate observer could see they were going to lose the argument. They would end up refunding the OP's shipping charge. So why not do it up front and be gracious about it? Why turn it into a fight? Do you want to lose both the sale and the customer?