Amazon
Reviews and Complaints

Please refer to my previous complaint re: Amazon (Molemax). The Amazon sent me the following e-mail today, threatening to close my claim in 3 days. I hope you can contact them in 3 days, and have them return my money, or send me the packages that I had ordered. Thanks, Asha Rijhsinghani.

Below is their today's e-mail:
Hello from Amazon.com.

We are actively investigating your Amazon.com A-to-z Guarantee claim for transaction [protected]. The seller indicates that a return has not been received for this order.

In order to further assist us with our investigation, we will need the tracking number used to return the item. Please note that we will be unable to take further action until we receive this information. If this information is not received within three business days, your claim may be closed.

We look forward to your reply, and thank you for your patience during our investigation.

---
Shaila
Account Specialist
A-to-z Guarantee Program

Hi,
I bought a Toshiba laptop from a company name `SPddys` through `Amazon.com` online last month.

When I saw that there was a problem with the touchpad of the laptop, I immediately called the seller and he told me `I should be calling Toshiba and Amazon because Toshiba would help me for the technical support and I am paying the money to Amazon he was just shipping. However Amazon told me that it was NOT TRUE, I was actually paying the money to seller. That means he misguided me either by mistake or on purpose.

When I called Toshiba I did whatever the costumer service told me but it didn’t work. I also have a Toshiba laptop so I am not very far from using laptops and following the gudiences. I asked many times if there was anything that I could do to fix or adjust it but after several trials they assured me that it was defective. I even attached a mouse to be able to adjust it from the settings. ( Later in one of the e -mails the seller asked me how I was able to set the computer if the mouse pad was not working kind of indicating that I was lying. This is the very simple answer to that question.) Toshiba suggested me bring the laptop but they told me that once they opened it I wouldn’t be able to return it. Also why should I be paying full amount for the defective item and used the warranty? I didn’t have car or time to look for Toshiba service and go back and forth and wait for them to fix it. So I didn`t.My friends also suggested trying to fix it but I didn`t let them because of the warranty issue, once it was opened I wouldn’t be able to return it and it was not for sure that they would be able to . I also read some internet reviews on touch pad problems some of which wrote it could be an important system problem so I didn`t want to risk it.

After talking to Toshiba I called Amazon and told about it and they guided me to fill a file against him. I had limited time in the USA so I had to act quickly. However I was reluctant to file the case so I made sure that if he responded and fixed the problem I could cancel the file by asking the costumer service of Amazon. I called the seller again but he didn`t pick up the phone that day. I called him next day in the morning again the and left a voicemail message and but he didn`t turn me back. I sent him and e mail and he replied me telling if I had contacted him he would have fixed it but as I filed a case against him he wouldn’t be able to help me in an angry tone. I was surprised and told him that I was guided by Amazon after what he told me and I could cancel the file any moment if he fixed it thinking may be he didn’t know I could cancel the file and he could still fix it but he sent me an e mail telling he wouldn`t talk to me until the case was over. He wrote me it was against the rules to contact to customer if there was a file. I was totally confused because I called Amazon and they told me I could cancel the file if he would ever fix it? When I called Amazon telling all about, they recommended me not cancel the file. Also he didn’t contact me at all after that.

Before I returned the laptop I called Amazon again because I had concerns that the seller might not be very confidential and he was also angry and wouldn`t want to refund me but Amazon assured me that I would get a full refund because it is Amazon A Z. Had I known that there was a risk of being partially refunded I wouldn’t have returned it because I already had lost my confidence to seller but I had confidence in Amazon.

As I sent the laptop directly to seller not to Amazon since I was guided to do so, I can never be sure whether it was fixed after I returned it. If it was something fixable without opening the laptop, Toshiba would have guided me too or the seller could have called me and guided me but he never did. My all calls with Toshiba were also recorded. My case number is 1-[protected]. Amazon should receive the returned products to make sure that nothing is missing or they are not fixed by the sellers. This is the very big system error.

The seller has never been apologetic but rather angry and never wanted to negotiate with me. He not only failed to guide but also rejected to help me, he doesn’t have any customer service and didn’t answer my calls. He was not being professional. There was a mismatch between what Amazon assured me and what he told me.

He cut off $130 from me claiming it was flawless, he could only sell it as opened. What he told me he did and it worked was what Toshiba also guided me to do but it didn’t work at all. What Amazon responded me was the seller cut off %20 because it was returned and it was flawless and the case was over.

SO he got my money and can still sell it to good price and he lost nothing. It is totally unfair because I had hard time calling all the people and dealing with that issue and I hardly got my partial refund. I did everything according to guidance and now I am paying for that. I wrote to Amazon again about this but they no longer contact me.
I really dont know what else I can do.

Thanks
Dilek Sahin

was paid for an item through amazon payments service online in the amount of 300. I verified my bank account with amazon and attempted to withdraw the 300 dollars into my chase bank account. I received a email saying the transfer failed. I called my bank and they said the transfer was not blocked on their end. I proceeded to attempt the withdawl again at which time I realized they put a hold on my account. I was given no reason for the hold and told customer service could not access my account. I was told my account could only be accessed by an account specialist. They proceeded to tell me that there is absolutely no phone number and all contact must be emailed to the account reps and that I would receive a response withing 48 hours.
After a total of 5 phone calls I still hadnt received a response from anyone. I called amazon again today may 21st and Customer service told me that it was my fault that I hadnt received a response because the form I filled out was incomplete.I had not told them my banks phone number. I told the customer service rep that I had not filled out the form, but rather one of their reps had filled it out for me and never asked me what my banks phone number was. I have multiple bank information on my account and asked the rep which number he needed and he told me he could not tell because he could not access the account. I would have to re fill out the form and wait an additional 24-48 Hours for a response from an acoount representative. I told the rep that I want the 300 dollars deposited in my bank account and my amazon payment account closed or I want the Amazon payments customer that sent me the money to have their credit card credited back for the 300 dollars. The rep told me he can do nothing to the account because its on hold and he would have to wait for an account specialist to take the account off hold. So at this point in time i cant even close my account or thouch my 300 dollars. This is the worst customer service I have ever had. This actually isnt customer service because the department does not have the power to provide me with any service whatsoever. All of the service lies in the hands of the Account specialist who dont even have a phone number.

I made an e-shopping to Amazon.co.jp and after got the information I should pay more than 80 USD for duties and taxes (the amount spent for shopping was 35 USD) I refused delivery and ask Amazon to cancel my order.

Sent them a mail to inform and got a reply saying they has refund my CC account. I was surprised to discover that I was CHARGED (again) in 44 USD! Really... Not a credit but a DEBIT!

After send information to Amazon, got an answer to check later or contact my CC company and clarify issue. What? Debit is still there. I am so upset to Amazon I could resign from refund, even, but having a amount charged from my CC is an insult!

When ordering new or used books, CD's, DVD's from one of Amazon.com's small vendors, a customer is offered 3 shipping options: Standard Shipping, Expedited U.S. and International.

In the USPS handbook of regulations, Standard Shipping is flatly defined as Parcel Post rate, nothing else.

Media Mail service is not offered by Amazon, but Media Mail is the service most Amazon small vendors are giving Amazon customers in order to maintain their profit margin. Media Mail service costs less that Parcel Post or 1st Class rate, and takes far longer for the shipment to deliver to its destination than either Parcel Post or 1st Class mail.

For example, a single book sent Parcel Post or 1st Class from NYC to Honolulu will typically reach its destination in 7-10 days, whereas a book sent Media Mail rate will typically take 29 days or more-- a difference of weeks. And shipping Media Mail, the longer transit time (up to 6 weeks, cross country) means greater risk of damage to the shipment with repeated handling and processing, and the routine open inspection of Media Mail, to which Parcel Post and 1st Class are not subject.

The customer pays for Standard Shipping, defined by USPS regulations as Parcel Post service, but the customer gets Media Mail Service.

I phoned Amazon Customer Service, and was told that for a vendor to arbitrarily decide to ship by Media Mail when the customer has paid for Standard Shipping, is flatly against Amazon policy. But every Amazon small vendor I've written to or talked with, says that Amazon actually suggests that sellers ship via Media Mail. They also complain that Amazon has been eating into more and more of the small vendor's profit margin with the fees and commission it extracts, and that it's useless complaining about it to Amazon. So Amazon cheats its small vendors, and these small vendors cheat the customers in turn.

A customer can argue with these small vendors about this issue until they're blue in the face, but most often, you get nowhere. And likewise, you get no help from Amazon, other than a referral to their A-Z Guarantee, which does not cover this issue. Making out an Amazon complaint form is not only time consuming and pointless, as no response or action from Amazon follows it, but Amazon limits customers to submitting 5 complaint forms in their lifetime business relationship with Amazon!

The fact remains, that in most media transactions, even though the Amazon customer pays for Standard Shipping (Parcel Post service), they still don't get their merchandise for weeks, because they're getting cheated with Media Mail Service by the small vendors.

I've found it helpful to instead order the media directly through a small vendor Amazon has listed as having the item, without going through Amazon at all, or to contact the small vendor ahead of making the purchase on Amazon and getting a pledge from them to ship 1st Class or Parcel Post for the Standard Shipping fee paid to Amazon, which many have been willing to do.

Well, this is short and sweet! My husband ordered a book from Amazon.com and then a few weeks later, a $79 charge appeared on our account. This is such a deceptive business practice. Reason being is that people ordering a book from them are not knowingly signing up for this 'Prime Membership' that is billed annually. I did a google search and discovered that there are HUNDREDS of complaints! Listen up Amazon, if that many customers out there are pissed off and not knowingly signing up for this membership, perhaps you should figure out another way to gain business for that product! Granted 'its in the small, fine print' Hence, the asterick strikes again!

Amazon.com will apparently refund back your money, just call [protected]. Or logon to your account to manage your 'Prime Membership' But nevertheless, they need to figure out a better method than automatically signing people up. We will NEVER order from AMAZON.com again! Never. Period.

I am a regular buyer from amazon. yesterday i bought 2 items from amazon.com. A corsair memory kit and a gigabyte motherboard. as the usual process was they charged my debit card for it and my bank sent me an sms stating the amount. after sometime i received another sms from my bank of the same amount of the corsair being transferred to amazon. i called them up and spoke to them about this. the moment i kept the phone my debit card was again charged for the corsair memory kit. this was really getting ugly because even in my orders it showed i had just bought 1pc of both the items. i called them up again and spoke to them about it. and as luck would have it i kept the phone and within 10minutes i was charged again for the gigabyte motherboard and i couldn't do anything about it. in all i have been charged thrice for the corsair memory kit and twice for the gigabyte motherboard. I called up amazon again to know what the hell was going on and how could they just keep charging me. all they had to say was it will take 24hrs to find out whats happening.

I don't know what to do now. anyone had any similar incident. I cant even call my bank and ask them to block the money as it is already transferred to amazon from my debit card.

I am a student with not much money in my account and they swiped out all from it. i would appreciate if someone could guide me in the right direction about this.

regards,
Sher

I have filed two separate complaints (within last 9 months)with Amazon regarding poor packing practices when shipping electronics and other sensitive or breakable items.
The first complaint was done through the standard customer service line while the last was done with a direct phone call and email to Amazon corporate offices.

I began 7 years ago using Amazon consistently for on-line ordering and was very pleased with expediency of order fulfillment, customer service with a misinformation of a product through one of the store fronts and concern regarding gear that came in in a damage box. Overall packaging quality at that time was good and with ordering photography equipment packing was, in my opinion, a natural concern.

Beginning at the end of 2007 when ordering Christmas gifts, I noticed a significant deterioration with packaging and initially allowed benefit of the doubt due to Christmas season. However my next order and subsequent orders came in with minimal to no packing and damaged cartons.

When calling customer service and also corresponding with corporate office, I was advised in each situation issues would be passed to fulfillment. My call to corporate headquarters spurred by my having started a company, placed and order and the box arriving damaged. I refused the package, called customer service and had issues there in having the order replaced. I than contacted Amazon corporate headquarters offering a dollar volume of business I had done, explaining the nature of my business and addressing concerns regarding packaging.

Ultimately, it was inferred I should not refuse orders (anyone using Amazon is most likely familiar with their process of take in a package and than call customer service with issues) and the packing concerns I had would be passed to fulfillment.

Today there is a discussion with the photography/canon (Amazon tags) that has been addressing this issue ongoing. Personally, I have closed my corporate account and have scoured the web searching for other on-line services from which to make purchase while using Amazon as a price comparison base, individual reviews of various items and looking at photographs for specific lenses I am considering buying.

Overall, I would like to continue purchasing from Amazon but can not given the apparent lack of response to mine and other complaints that while possibly passed to fulfillment, have not been responded to in noticeable manner, meaning better quality packing.

I made an order trough Amazon.com (a book) when I realized that I wasn't buying from Amazon books. I was actually ordering trough this other company -SmartSavings- and that they will automatically enroll you on some sort of membership for one dollar a month. I cancelled the order right in there and called the company and told them I was not interested on any membership enrollment deal. they told me not to worry that since the order didn't go trough I was not going to be enroll at all. after one month I checked my account and to my surprise I found a charge for a dollar in my account from that company. I asked them to fix the problem and they gave me a confirmation number. I also told them that I was going to report them to the better business bureau because they were committing fraud enrolling people without asking on their membership. Maria so be aware of the hidden words and messages, read everything. another company to be careful about is Gamemobile. Maria from Texas

A buyer, using someone else's account, purchased a Battery Grip for a Canon EOS 30D that I had for sale. Despite paying standard shipping, I sent it Priority.

The buyer, whose name I STILL do not know, apparently allowed the item to sit at the address of record for 3 weeks before opening the box. She CLAIMS that I sent the wrong item, so she wrote me asking for a refund. I pointed out that Amazon rules required her to contact me within 14 days of receipt of the item (and I have USPS delivery confirmation of when it was delivered).

Despite this rule violation, I offered her a FULL refund, except that she had to pay for the return S/H, which is another Amazon rule. She flipped out and demanded that I pay for everything! So, she refused the refund and filed a complaint with Amazon.

I find this to be an violation of the Terms of Use by Amazon.com. The buyer has allowed the item to sit somewhere for 3 weeks before looking at it; that's HER fault, not mine. Because she failed to contact me within 14 days of delivery, and refused to accept a refund, I don't see how they allowed her to file a claim! It's clear she has not abided by the Terms of Use, and thus the claim should not have been allowed.

Finally, the claim is still pending, despite the fact that more than 30 days have passed since delivery. ANOTHER Amazon.com rule requires the return of the item within 30 days to get a refund. This has not been done by the Buyer, her THIRD rule violation.

Given the large number of rules violations, I will not refund this woman's money, regardless of what Amazon.com decides in their Claim hearing.

Because of the Claim, Amazon.com has FROZEN my Payments Account, and may keep it frozen for up to 45 days! I thought PayPal was the only company to perform such reprehensible acts, but it now appears we have another!

I have warned Amazon.com that if a Refund is awarded, I will bring legal action against them and the Buyer for the repeated violations of Amazon's rules by the Buyer, and the FAILURE of the Claims department to refuse this claim due to those rules violations.

we have had our amazon seller account closed permanently, after complaints from sellers, but we refunded all unhappy customers and we can not control customers who lie and find items cheaper else where, purposely damage items then ask for a refund as they are low on funds. we run 2 stores and they problems exist in the real world, and they do happen with online sales.
We contacted amazon many times explaing we refunded or replaced all un happy customers, and would like to work more closely with amazon to keep things within their rules and guidlines, we even asked if we could trade on a 6 months trail period.
Amazon were not help what so ever, no converstaions or discussions, perviosuly they were happy to take their cut of the 5k we sold each month on their site. we feel very let down and the lack of communication and flexibility of amazon is disgusting.

I purchased natural progesteron cream from this company on October 17, 2008, they withdrew the money 2 days later. The only way of contacting them is by email because the toll free number is for orders only, and when I send an email requesting the status of the order they tell me it is back ordered and that it will be shipped out in 5-7 business days. To date, still have not received the goods.
Now they won't address my emails and I have requested that they send my money back and they don't respond to the email. I have purchased and paid for this purchase an amount of $107.73 US Funds and have not received anything.

Shopped around for a panasonic bmp-bd55 blu-ray dvd player. I found one at Amazon.com for 399.00 which is the manufactured suggested retail price. I assumed Amazon had a good rep, so I agreed even though it wasn't a great deal, I had a 25.00 gift certificate and it said free shipping. Also, I was getting a little tired of shopping only to maybe save a few bucks if any, so I went ahead with the deal. According to amazon.com they had the item in stock.

I agreed to pay Amazon $374.00 (399 less my 25.00 discount) for the dvd player that they said was being shipped by (a retail company). My card was promptly charged by amazon, and then three days later I got an email from the retail company that said they were out of them. They did promise (the retail company) they would sell me a replacement for the same price, however it wasn't what I wanted and those items are inferior to the item I ordered, so I declined, and asked for the refund.

I immediately went back to the amazon website. SURPRISE! They now have 3 in stock for $499.00. What's the deal? The under-the-table goings on over there don't matter to me as a buyer. I got baited into purchasing the 399.00 item, only to be told it's out of stock, and switched over to another retail seller at $100.00 more than what was agreed to.

This is nothing more than a BAIT and SWITCH Scheme! I called amazon, and talked to a robot. I couldn't get anywhere with him, and refused to get me to a supervisor. Rightfully, since Amazon advertised the deal at 399.00, and I agreed to pay 399.00, then the deal was made and they owe me that dvd player for the price we agreed on!

So beware. Although I guess there's little I can do about this, they get enough business off their bait and switch tactics, and their "free shipping" scams that I've heard about and the transactions are too small to pay lawyers to help you. It will never be fixed. I guess that's one reason why the american economy is in the toilet. People just want to keep ripping other people off. Amazon.com is no exception!

Guess you never know who you can count on - we thought we were dealing with amazon.com and not being farmed out to a company that sent us a centennial 12 - set dvd from china. Like the complaints i have read, my credit card was charged but when we received the dvd there was no packing slip or any paperwork indicating their refund / exchange policy like a reputable company would include with merchandise ordered. So, there was no order number or phone number for contact. There is no phone number listed anywhere on their website or the e - mail submission page. I've sent several e - mails indicating the dvd was defective and we'd like a refund but as you'd expect - they do not respond! Guess there's no way to get our money back? I was directed to this complaint website from amazon.com, so i feel sure they are aware that us citizens are having problems.

Let me say that I was an avid Amazon supporter, but not anymore. On January 9, 2009, I was finally able to order an item that Amazon had shown as Out of Stock for several weeks. When I placed my order, the item showed in stock with next day delivery available. To save money, I chose their Free Super Saver Shipping. The item should have been shipped within 5 business days. After completing my order, I checked the status and everything seemed OK. I checked a few days later, and Amazon showed the item with an estimated delivery of February 20th - March 13. I immediately went to their site and saw that the same item had increased in price, but still had a 1 day delivery option. I spent another 2 days with their useless customer service department trying to make them understand that I shouldn't have to wait 2 months for an item that they show available with 1 day shipping. One of the reps explained that I could cancel my order and pay the new price to be sure I got the item quicker. That just blew me away and so, needless to say, I'm done with Amazon!

Beware of Amazon.com! What you think you are buying from them may will be brokered to other outside internet companies. When this happens all Amazon.com does is immediately bill your credit card and hands over the new vendor’s contact information to you. You are left holding the bag on whether you will get the product you ordered and/or on time from this unsolicited vendor.
Recently I purchase a Wii game from Amazon. Prior to committing to the order I was told this item would be shipped to me within two days. Once the order was placed and my credit card charged I was told that a new company go4green now had the order and if I had any question to contact them. Amazon.com had taken the money and washed it hands of any responsibility of providing delivery of this product.
Two weeks later, after not receiving the order, Amazon offered this same product at half the cost and again with a delivery promise of two days. When I contact Amazon’s customer service I was told “too bad” this order is out of our hands and to contact the new vendor. The new vendor was now globetics.net. Apparently go4green had sold my order to globetics.net.
In the end I have spent twice the amount of money if I had just gone and bought the product at a local electronics store and the Christmas present will not be delivered until next year.
The bottom line is that you are probably better off going directly to the end supplier versus using Amazon.com as a middle man with no function other than to take your money.

I have had an Amazon account for two years. I make appr. $2500 a month, that's what I live on. Last night as I am entering some new inventory into the I am told I cannot my account has been suspended. I have emailed several times, I cannot get a respondence as to why. My overall performance rating is 94%... it went down this month to 90% because of some unjust negative feedbacks. There was a sale that could not even be completed because the hour prior I sold the book on Amazon but their database still showed I had it, a customer tried buying it & I refunded money as I could not complete sale & much to my surprise two weeks later I get a negative feedback from him. I make them a lot of money per month in commission (since they are the highest of all the venues I sell through) plus $40.00 subscription fee for the privilege of paying these crazy fees, unfortunately it is the best venue to sell to the masses & 75% of my sales are done through Amazon. I now have all my money in their account being held for 90 days in case there is a dispute, & I still have not received a respondence as to why. I have two children, & this is how I support them... I am frightened as I really don't know what to do!

Some users on the site violated my privacy by somehow finding my full real name (I think via a lot of google research) and posting libelous comments about me in a comment thread under this book, disclosing my full name. My full name is NOT publicly available information on my amazon account, and I have REPEATEDLY flagged the comment as abusive (which it very clearly is). Amazon.com has never done anything about this.