OT: Amazon: not good service

fyi only. Ordered a book from a "reseller" via Amazoon 7 days ago week. Nothing until today when I get an email giving me a refund. No apology, no explaination. Also *after* I placed the order I get a confirmation saying the book *may* be shipped 5 weeks hence. Amazooon books! Never again from an Amazoon-reseller for me.

Reply to
dave
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A week or two back there was a warning on Radio 4 that people who buy through Amazon resellers are finding they have no recourse if something goes wrong, even if they used a credit card. I can't recall the details, but if the company you pay by credit card (Amazon) isn't the supplier, then the protections you've come to expect don't exist.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Coupel of points,

If you buy DIRECT from Amazon, instead of a third party seller who is simply using them to advertise on, you won;lt have this. You'll pay a few bucks more, but at least youknow it will be shopped out promptly.

If a third-party seller on Amazon has ripped you off, there is a complaints procedure you can go through with Amazon and they can get your money back, but it's a little fiddly trying to navigate your way to the right page to lodge a "dispute". I had this with a guy who sold me a duff MP3 player, but as soon as an official dispute was lodged with them, he relented.

However as you were given a refund, then you can't do this.

Reply to
Simon (Dark Angel)

Yes they do; amazon has (or certainly had because I have used it) a procedure and generally works in favour of the buyer. The amazon "sellers" are not all the same so you need to check the feedback to see which ones are good. Many are excellent in my experience.

Robert

Reply to
RobertL

...which is fine if the seller refunds the return postage costs. Some don't and then you end up out of pocket. Because you got the cost of the original product back, Amazon (via their dispute procedure) don't want to know.

IME vastly overstating the condition of second-hand/OOP books on Amazon Marketplace is endemic. And some of the excuses you get when you have the audacity to complain to the seller are laughable.

Reply to
mike

There's rather a lot of amazon resellers, so tarring them all with the same brush might be a bit much. Supplying negative feedback for that seller would be beneficial for everyone else.

But here's the really bad bit about Amazon Marketplace:

Claim Limits:

  • Buyers are limited to a lifetime maximum of five claims for purchases from third party sellers on the Amazon.co.uk website.

(from ) Now I /do/ find that discouraging.

Reply to
Jon Fairbairn

I would guess that is to protect Amazon and its sellers from serial fraudulent claimants who exploit the fact most sellers would probably find it easier just to settle a claim that argue the toss for ever and a day. If that is the case then it is a sensible rule.

mark

Reply to
mark

I'm sure it is.

Sensible perhaps for Amazon. For buyers from Amazon market place it's too strong; anyone who does a lot of buying is likely to hit it eventually (it's unlikely to affect me because I don't buy much). A fairer rule would be to limit it to a fraction of the number of transactions a buyer has made.

Reply to
Jon Fairbairn

I had a good experience! Ordered a book from a seller on Amazon, and they had mis-stated the edition. In fact they said they had the other edition in stock but had sold it in the meantime, although I don't really believe that.

Contacted the seller who asked me to seal up the package, mark it 'not known at this address', and drop it in a postbox. I wasn't willing to do that (fraud, no tracking, etc...) so I posted it recorded delivery. They ignored all requests to pay the return postage. Complained to Amazon and they credited my account within days.

Reply to
Bob Eager

This is the message I got from them last week:

Please understand that the A-to-z Guarantee covers only the cost of your order and does not include reimbursement for other fees including return costs. As stated in the Amazon return policy: 'Postage charges for returning the item are borne by you.' As a result, we ask that you contact your seller directly regarding these fees.

Reply to
mike

This procedure is only available for a short time after purchase. After that you're on your own.

Reply to
Mark

Surprised no-one has given a plug for abebooks.com which acts as a front end for a huge number of second hand booksellers. IME s/h booksellers are *very* cautious about describing book condition. I've bought lots of stuff via ABE for myself, and if the condition is described as "good" or better you could give them away as a present and the recipient would never know.

No connection other than as a very satisfied buyer

Reply to
newshound

Alibris are pretty good too!

Reply to
Simon (Dark Angel)

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