Amazon's return policy is a weapon for free shopping? "Buyer" was arrested for defrauding $300,000

Amazon’s return policy has always been criticized, and there are endless cases of fraud using return loopholes.

Amazon shuts down seller’s account due to no evidence of selling counterfeit goods!

Recently, a seller reported that Amazon had detained nearly $50,000. The seller said that two weeks ago, the seller received a complaint from a customer who received a counterfeit product from their store . The seller then handled the issue for the customer , offering to replace the item for free and requiring the buyer to provide photo evidence or return the product so that he could verify the authenticity of the claim himself.

But the seller said the customers did not provide any evidence to support their counterfeit claims .

In the absence of evidence, Amazon chose to close the seller's account and asked the seller to provide product invoices to prove the authenticity of the product . In addition, Amazon also asked the seller to explain why the customer believed that the product was fake . However, since the buyer did not provide any evidence of the counterfeit claim, the seller did not know where to start.

As a precaution, the seller eventually changed suppliers, provided proof of the new supplier's permission to sell the product, and sent Amazon multiple invoices and the requested information. However, the seller said that Amazon just kept replying that the information was insufficient and asked the seller to provide information (but the seller had already submitted this information eight or nine times).

The seller said Amazon also sent him an email saying that the account might be permanently deactivated and they might not respond to emails anymore , but the seller still had nearly $50,000 in the account .

In response to the seller's experience, some people said that the funds held by Amazon are time-limited, not permanent. Amazon is just protecting itself in case it has to return a large number of counterfeit goods through AZ or similar methods.

But some people said that if there is no clear evidence that the seller is selling counterfeit goods, maybe their funds will be released in a few days. But some sellers said that this is due to counterfeiting, and Amazon cannot release their funds before proving that the goods are real. If the number of appeals is used up, the seller needs to wait 90 days to see if Amazon will release the funds. If not, it is recommended to take legal action.

In response, the seller said that he was ready and willing to take any necessary measures to reactivate his account . He did not sell counterfeit products and had no evidence to prove that his supplier sold counterfeit products. He would do his best to resolve the matter.

This kind of thing is not uncommon in Amazon forums.

Taking advantage of platform policies to get free stuff

Recently, I learned from the Amazon forum that a new Amazon FB M seller said that one of his customers asked for a return, but he never used the return label and the seller did not agree to return the product. But a few weeks later, the buyer contacted Amazon for a refund. Although Amazon could not see the tracking information and the seller confirmed to Amazon twice that he had not received the returned product, Amazon still refunded the customer.

The seller submitted a Safe-T claim, but it was denied. The response received was :

Amazon Customer Service orders are not eligible for reimbursement of SAFE-T claims. Please contact Selling Partner Support to get your reimbursement request. The seller said he wanted to know what he could do to get reimbursed for the customer stealing the product ? What can be done to get Amazon to flag this kind of nonsense buyer account .

Sellers commented on this:

Seller A: When you sign up for Amazon’s customer service, you basically give them the power to refund all customers without a return…

Seller B: I thought that as a new seller I was automatically included in the program.

Seller C: This is FBM, not FBA.

In fact, as early as October, Amazon updated its return policy , including the European and American sites. The free return policy announcement of the European site shows that from October 5, 2021, if the FB M sellers on the European site do not provide a local return address, then buyers who purchase low-priced goods can request a refund but do not need to return the goods. The low price standard of the UK site is 20 pounds;

The low price standard in Germany, Italy, France and Spain is less than 25 euros, which includes value-added tax and shipping costs. Amazon will automatically refund the buyer on behalf of the seller.

The US site's self-delivery policy announcement states that starting October 26, 2021, all fashion (apparel, shoes, jewelry, watches) sellers' self-delivery trademarks will be forced to indicate free returns, which means that the shipping costs for such FB M orders will also be refunded to the buyer when the goods are returned.

In order to improve user experience, Amazon frequently updates its return policy. However, some unscrupulous buyers take advantage of this opportunity to use the platform policy to get something for free, which makes sellers miserable.

I believe that many sellers have experienced the above cases to some extent. They have no way to appeal and can only swallow their anger. However, the law is vast and nothing can escape it. Such fraudulent buyers are usually repeat offenders and it is inevitable that they will be discovered. There are many related news cases.

Great news! "Buyer" arrested for defrauding $300,000

Recently, foreign media reported a case in which a man from Manassas was arrested for exploiting this loophole to commit fraud on Amazon.

According to court documents, from 2017 to 2020, the man opened multiple Amazon accounts , purchased high-end goods online and had them shipped to his residence, then initiated returns on the grounds that the items were delivered too late or did not match the online description, and then he sent back replacements of very low value. In this way, he could not only get high-priced products, but also a full refund from Amazon.

For example, in June 2019, the man bought a rare Fender Telecaster electric guitar from Amazon for about $2,600, then returned a Squier Telecaster electric guitar of the same color for about $400. He also obtained a $37,000 home theater system in the same way by returning a $2,000 model.

In the above two cases, he defrauded a total of about $300,000. The law will eventually punish this behavior. The man will be sentenced on March 22, 2022, when he will face up to 20 years in prison.

Many sellers applauded this result. Amazon has always followed the principle of "the customer is God" and will first stand on the side of the buyer when a dispute occurs. There are few successful cases of sellers' appeals for such malicious returns, and they can only blame themselves for their bad luck. This typical case of being caught has given the group of sellers who have suffered this a sigh of relief.

However, many sellers also said that they should try to communicate and file a complaint in a timely manner when encountering such cases. A tough attitude can not only prevent similar behavior next time, but also mark unscrupulous buyers, which will also make it easier for Amazon to pay attention and increase the possibility of the seller winning the case in the future.

Many of Amazon's policies are always subject to mixed reviews from sellers after they are released. Some loopholes in these policies are exploited by bad people, and sellers will suffer losses to varying degrees. If a seller encounters losses in their interests, they should take timely authorization to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

Amazon

return policy

300,000