Returning items (was Amazon ban zombie thread)

[mr ploppy]

First of all, if an electronic device is purchased and is defective, the best solution is to contact the manufacturer, NOT Amazon. They will then replace or repair the product. The only exception would be the Kindle, itself, since Amazon manufactures it.

No, the first port of call should be where you bought it from. It is their responsibility to provide you with a working device. The only time you would go to the manufacturer is if it develops a fault after you bought it and within whatever warranty period you got with it.

So if you bought a dead Kindle from Tesco you would take it back to Tesco, not send it to Amazon.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

No, the first port of call should be where you bought it from. It is their responsibility to provide you with a working device. The only time you would go to the manufacturer is if it develops a fault after you bought it and within whatever warranty period you got with it.

So if you bought a dead Kindle from Tesco you would take it back to Tesco, not send it to Amazon.

Absolutely right. Your contract is with the retailer, not the manufacturer, and - whatever they might claim - they have a legal obligation to either repair or replace it, or to offer you a refund.

[tubemonkey]

I'm assuming that's British law. Here in the States, you generally deal with the store during the return period (14 days, 30 days, 90 days, etc) for defective items. After that, most stores will refuse to deal with it and will direct you to the manufacturer and the terms set forth in the warranty.

Some stores have very generous return policies; but they're the exception to the rule.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I'm assuming that's British law. Here in the States, you generally deal with the store during the return period (14 days, 30 days, 90 days, etc) for defective items. After that, most stores will refuse to deal with it and will direct you to the manufacturer and the terms set forth in the warranty.

I think it's a general principle of contract law, rather than statute law in any particular country.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Mike L

I think it's a general principle of contract law, rather than statute law in any particular country.

More than likely, since different stores have different policies.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I'm assuming that's British law. Here in the States, you generally deal with the store during the return period (14 days, 30 days, 90 days, etc) for defective items. After that, most stores will refuse to deal with it and will direct you to the manufacturer and the terms set forth in the warranty.

Some stores have very generous return policies; but they're the exception to the rule.

What always jars me are those products that have the big notice inside: "If you have a problem with the product, contact us directly, NOT THE PLACE YOU BOUGHT IT FROM". What's up with that? ;p

[wvcherrybomb]

Originally Posted by kjk

What always jars me are those products that have the big notice inside: "If you have a problem with the product, contact us directly, NOT THE PLACE YOU BOUGHT IT FROM". What's up with that? ;p

In my experience these are usually products that consist of many parts and must be assembled by the consumer. The companies would much rather send you missing or damaged parts than get this stuff sent back to them by the retailers.

I have called several of them in the past and had parts shipped to me free of charge and very quickly. They have even gladly replaced parts that I broke myself during assembly at no charge.

You CAN still return those items to the store where you purchased, but it's much easier to just call the number provided. Nothing to be wary of.

[karunaji]

Originally Posted by Mike L

I think it's a general principle of contract law, rather than statute law in any particular country.

The EU law is that you can return online purchases within 14 days for any reason (with some exceptions, of course). In fact you can return the item even if you simply changed your mind. Many sellers conveniently hide this fact and do not take such returns lightly and may even ban you from further purchases but at least you can buy online from untested sellers without fear of being stuck with expensive but poor quality item.

[sirmaru]

Amazon will take back any product within a 30 day period of purchase. As a matter of fact in my situation, the only 2 products I did return were my first Kindle 3 for a replacement and the Kindle cover with metal hooks for a refund. Amazon honored both requests without any objection.

I also returned a blue tooth speaker to a 3rd party seller via Amazon and also received a replacement without a problem. I had ordered a $ 500 chair from a 3rd party Amazon seller and changed my mind on it. Amazon helped me resolve the issue with the seller and I received a refund to my credit card with the shipment cancelled.

However, after 30 days the manufacturer usually has a one year warrenty. If the product breaks after one year, I usually dump it and just buy the next generation.

[fettpett]

I have a feeling that there was more to that story, but I digress...Some companies are good about returns and others arent. I bought a power supply for my desktop a couple years ago and it fried on me after a couple weeks, I called the place that I got it from and they wanted me to pay like $20+ for the shipping...that was more than what I purchased the stupid power supply for. I took the loss and went an got a better one that lasted over a year

[Barty]

Amazon has been very good (possibly too good/easy/lenient) with exchanging defective/broken kindles for me. I do hope they don't just one day decide I've made one return too many and pull the plug, but instead give me a warning "sir, as much as we value your business, you're killing us with all these returns. WTF, man?"

[chamekke]

I accidentally bought two Kindle books wirelessly (I'd been attempting to download samples), and returned both to Amazon for a refund. However, both times I failed to press the "Purchased accidentally?" link that allows you to "return" them instantaneously.

The first time I was under the impression I'd downloaded the sample, and only twigged when I was far, far into the book that it was too long to be a sample. (Yes, you'd think I would have noticed the confirmation of purchase page. I think I pressed the Back button so quickly that the Kindle flashed on it only momentarily, so I didn't spot it.)

The second time, there was a bit of delay (maybe my network was slow?) and I thought I was pressing down to select Sample instead of Buy, but managed to press Buy. Then I squawked "Back! back!" and pressed the Back button in the hope that I could reverse before the purchase went through... but of course what happened was that I bought the book AND wasn't able to press the "Purchased accidentally?" link because I reversed back to the main book page too quickly :-P

I immediately contacted Customer Service and asked them to take the book back (in the second case, I did not even open it - which I hope they could see). They were very gracious about the whole thing. I, of course, felt like a complete idiot.

So henceforth I am being very slowwwww and careful, as I really do not want to find myself being banned. (And that's one thing about purchasing via the website and uploading via USB port, rather than via the Kindle itself: it's almost impossible to make that mistake!)

[kranu]

Originally Posted by chamekke

I accidentally bought two Kindle books wirelessly (I'd been attempting to download samples), and returned both to Amazon for a refund. However, both times I failed to press the "Purchased accidentally?" link that allows you to "return" them instantaneously.

The first time I was under the impression I'd downloaded the sample, and only twigged when I was far, far into the book that it was too long to be a sample. (Yes, you'd think I would have noticed the confirmation of purchase page. I think I pressed the Back button so quickly that the Kindle flashed on it only momentarily, so I didn't spot it.)

The second time, there was a bit of delay (maybe my network was slow?) and I thought I was pressing down to select Sample instead of Buy, but managed to press Buy. Then I squawked "Back! back!" and pressed the Back button in the hope that I could reverse before the purchase went through... but of course what happened was that I bought the book AND wasn't able to press the "Purchased accidentally?" link because I reversed back to the main book page too quickly :-P

I immediately contacted Customer Service and asked them to take the book back (in the second case, I did not even open it - which I hope they could see). They were very gracious about the whole thing. I, of course, felt like a complete idiot.

So henceforth I am being very slowwwww and careful, as I really do not want to find myself being banned. (And that's one thing about purchasing via the website and uploading via USB port, rather than via the Kindle itself: it's almost impossible to make that mistake!)

Haha! The sample vs buy thing gets me all the time. Thankfully, I usually catch click the Purchased Accidentally button. Only once did I have to contact customer service for an accidental ebook purchase.

I think that one should be able to return a book through the firmware within 3 minutes of purchase. That way, if the book is poorly formatted or different from expectations, the customer can easily return the book without having to take the time to contact customer service. In addition, there should also be a list of options (after clicking the return button) to explain why the book should be returned.

However, it's not a significant problem. Contacting Amazon customer service is relatively painless.

[JSWolf]

If you buy a product from a store and it comes with a problem, go back to the store and get them to swap it out for a working product.

[hedwig]

Originally Posted by chamekke

I accidentally bought two Kindle books wirelessly (I'd been attempting to download samples), and returned both to Amazon for a refund. However, both times I failed to press the "Purchased accidentally?" link that allows you to "return" them instantaneously.

That One-Click Buy is a tricky thing. I was browsing books on my Kindle and the next thing I'd bought one. But fortunately I did see the "Purchased Accidentally" link and pressed it immediately. I am now extra careful when browsing ... guess I learned my lesson.