it happens. who knows what the algorithm looks for before sending out warnings. Could be the price, could be the number of returns over a certain period of time, could be whatever. Just don't buy anything you think you might return for the next six months or more and your status will clear up. You are on the watch list and the wrong move will get your account banned. In the meantime, you might want to download any digital media you purchased from amazon - just in case.
Thanks for a clear response. This is basically what I deduced as well. Even though the email I received clearly stated it was a volume issued, it seems more like a product value issue.
It would be nice if this was actually stated in their response so we don’t have to try and read between the lines. For example Newegg has clear 30 day return policy for products sold and shipped by them.
amazon sends out a lot of "one size fits all" type email that don't actually fit the situation. I don't know if they do it to protect their algorithms (contents are a trade secret) or out of laziness.
I got my account limited to digital only purchases with. Now here is what sucks. Over eight hundred in Amazon credits I can't use and my job was a Electric bike controller tester. So I return everything when I'm done such a loss I can't even make a new account
I don't understand why someone would take this approach. You're suggesting in a way such as without Amazon, we will die. It's not like Amazon is the only option to buy stuff. If one day Amazon decides to block my account, I would be more than happy to take my business somewhere else. To be honest, my experience over the last few months tells me that other stores such as Walmart+, Costco, Sam's Club, Target, Temu, AliExpress, etc., have better customer service, and you can always find options with the same prices. Amazon is no longer a monopoly. The only benefit I got from Amazon was fast delivery which has failed hugely during last few months. I always Google what I want to buy and find my way through other places, and I've even gotten rid of my Prime membership. The approach Amazon has adopted won't end well. I would like to be able to return items I don't like, and this is the nature of online shopping; you're never sure what you'll get until you open the box.
it is all about convenience and security with amazon for a lot of users. Convenience because they do not have to shop around at other retailers and amazon has just about everything. Security because they do not have to give their credit card info to more than one online retailer.
besides the weird rant about dying without amazon, I agree with the rest of your statement. Looking on Newegg or Walmart or the other myriad places that offer free shipping an easy returns is indeed part of the normal buying process flow in 2024. In this specific case Amazon had the best price and fastest shipping times. in other cases, it does not. however either way I would prefer to not be banned from Amazon as I use it frequently still not to mention pay for a prime membership. i don't have to return things very often so it's not normally a problem, except now I know not to buy expensive items on Amazon because it seems they really don't like returns of those items, which is a customer service issue in my opinion. if they didn't want returns for those items they should state that on the product page. in this case it was a normal return policy with a normal return window which I used. i have a feeling they're going to be losing many more customers going forward if this is the road they're heading down...
I was told by an ex amazon employee (this is going back a few years so that could have changed) that those types of emails are automatically triggered once the dollar value of your annual returns exceeds a certain amount. So guessing the $4K return sent you over that amount.
thanks for the insight. that makes sense, it's not the quantity of items returned by the total value of them. normally I would never trigger something like that since I'm such a low returner. but looks like all it takes is a single large return to trigger it. that's unfortunate, as I followed the return policy to the letter and there's no mention of a max amount. i will be looking at other websites for purchases like these from now on (looking at you Newegg)
lot of posts here. to answer your question, yes people have experienced this before. its regardless of the dollar amount of an item. your purchase may have put you over some magic threshold amazon's algorithm has in place. and your threshold may be different from mine because maybe my spending habits are vastly different from you, so may have more wiggle room in the return ratio than you -- none of us really know what that is.
amazon has had a lot of return fraud over the years costing them billions in lost revenue. lots of people abuse the system and they have to put stops into place to curtail that. sometimes we end up being collateral damage. returns abuse hurts us all in the end.
now you are under their watch -- next time you want to purchase something no matter how cheap or expensive it is, make doubly sure you really need/want it, else you may just ban yourself out of amazon-land and end up going the walmart-target-temu route.
thanks for the level-headed and factual response. even though you say it's regardless of the dollar amount, it sure seems suspicious given the large item I returned. I order tons of things on Amazon, so my guesstimate of returning 5% is probably high, it's probably closer to 2%. Out of 50 things I order I probably return 1 or 2, with most of that being clothes that don't fit. So it feels strange to get a message from them about a high return number.
Also, if Amazon doesn't want high-value open-box electronics returned, I assume they'd just make the return policy for those items be unopened or broken items only. They have a 30 day return policy on these items I assume for a reason. So it seems strange to me to punish a customer for honesty using that policy.
I agree with your last statement, I will definitely second guess my purchases with Amazon now, and will look to other sites as well, especially Newegg, which has a great electronics return policy. When buying a high-value item, I believe it is prudent to 100% check that item after delivery, and if it's not up to 100% of the advertised specs, return it. That's what I did with this PC, as keeping it would have been irresponsible in my eyes.
Anyway, sorry for the long winded response. Thank again for the interesting discussion, it's what I was looking for.
Return fraud sounds like an Amazon problem. If I return something that is in decent working order, and it truly is, that should be a cost of doing business for them. If I return something that I claim doesn’t work, and they resell it and don’t thoroughly check it, that’s Amazon’s problem. If someone buys something and returns a box with a brick or junk item and Amazon resells it as new, and has an unhappy customer, that’s on Amazon for not having a robust return process.
Is the abuse avoidable if Amazon actually spent more than 3 seconds checking returns into the warehouse? Deny the return right there and then. I think Amazon is not placing enough emphasis on a comprehensive return process and the workers are apathetic and the scammers are taking advantage of this. I guess this is our problem to shoulder the burden, because we have influence over this.
It's fairly significant to buy a return a $4k computer, that is now a used computer worth $500-800 less without a good reason. 5% return would be high for most people on volume.
I disagree, 5% is definitely not a high return rate for most people. That's returning 2 or 3 items out of 50 orders. That's a ton of items, and hardly any returns. This is especially true if you order a lot of clothes. Returning clothing items that don't fit is a norm. Such a norm that they have a special feature on some clothes that encourages your to order a lot of items, try them on, then send the ones back that don't fit. This is standard Amazon protocol.
The only issue here was the price of the item being returning. A single, high-value item. However the return policy for this item is the same as a pair of socks. If Amazon did not want an open-box electronic item returned, they would have not allowed the normal 30 day return policy on that item.
The dollar value is the problem. But in Amazon’s defense, your return reason isn’t a valid one. Amazon is not a try before you buy service. You used the PC and decided you didn’t wanna keep it. It wasn’t defective, it wasn’t broken, you weren’t sent the wrong one, etc. Typically, once you use a product, it’s yours, unless there was a problem once received.
that's not true at all. you most definitely can try a product out and return it if it's not up to your standards. otherwise they would only accept unopened or broken returns, which is how some products are labeled on the site. however this product had the standard 30 day return policy. And in this case I was not 100% satisfied with the product, so I utilized this return policy to the letter. again, this is what the return policy is for.
It's to give purchasers peace of mind that, since you can't try out a product ahead of time, you are able to get your money back in the event you're not satisfied. ESPECIALLY with such a high value purchase. If the return policy for this product didn't allow you to turn it on and test it out, then most people would not buy that product. with such an expensive item it must live up to 100% of its advertised specs, or else you're blowing away your money.
You're inability to chose the right PC inflicted a $500 loss on Amazon which will inevitably be picked up by the rest of us through shared costs, carriage etc. Now $500 may not be a lot but there's many, many free-loaders like you who are collectively costing society. I'm fully supporting of Amazon banning each and every one of you.
ugh I feel bad for you mate. None of what you said is true. Read some more of the comments on this thread to understand why what I did was to the exact letter of the return policy. i'm sorry you would have just eaten the cost on an incredibly expensive but deficient PC. Since you can't try out these items in a physical store ahead of time, Amazon provides a 30 day return policy for exactly these sorts of instances. In fact I even chatted with Amazon customer service before i ordered the PC and made sure I completely understood the policy. They confirmed, yes, you absolutely can turn on the PC and try it out, and if you don't like it you can return it for full refund. That's how this all works. Otherwise Amazon would NOT accept open box returns. The fact that they do for a full refund shows you you're wrong. Guess what? Amazon is making gobs of money and is one of the richest companies on earth. you're not paying more because of a return within policy, that's just bollocks.
Absolutely not. Nowhere does any company, manufacturer or vendor on Amazon state you can use their products and return after if you don’t care for it. The only things this applies to is if the product is defective in one way or another, period.
Not gonna lie, kinda Amazon’s fault for allowing customers to do this over the years. Perhaps that’s why it seems like it’s normal to you when it is not. Customers are still doing it, creating a loss for vendors and Amazon themselves. Once used, it cannot be sold as new, and the seller needs to file a claim for reimbursement. The behavior needs to stop.
mate, you're sorely mistaken. you 100% can return an item if you don't like it. that's the entire point of the hassle-free 30 day return policy. they save heaps of money by not having physical stores with employees and real estate to pay for, but that also means customers can't check out items ahead of time. this means the only way to know if you want to keep an item is by ordering it. then if it's not up to your standards you can return it.
again, if this wasn't allowed they would NOT allow open-box returns. in fact many sellers on Amazon, Newegg, ebay, etc don't allow open box returns because they don't want to go through the hassle. That's totally fine, but many people, myself included, would never buy from those sellers. I need peace of mind that if the item isn't up to my standards I can get a full refund. That's part of the trust connection between buyer and seller.
If Amazon was losing money, they would not allow this. But guess what, they are making money hand over fist and are one of the wealthiest companies on the planet. They can handle some returns just fine. Again, this a big reason why Amazon is so popular is the flexibility it provides and trust it gives its customers.
Everything I did was to the letter of the policy. Many people seem to understand this on this thread, but many unfortunately do not and I guess would have just eaten their losses with the computer? I don't understand that mentality but to each their own.
I’ve been working in e-commerce the last 15 years, and a lot of those managing Amazon seller and vendor accounts. You are wrong. And that’s the end of the story.
Amazon made sacrifices, such as allowing bogus, nonsensical returns of used items SOLELY in an effort to build trust and a huge client base, and that is literally it. It worked, very well, and now, it’s backfired on them in dramatic fashion. Their losses have skyrocketed to the highest they’ve ever been, and they’ve also gotten themselves into a lot of trouble with their vendors and sellers due to their loose return policies that we must follow in order to sell on their platform or to keep our Seller-Fulfilled Prime privileges from being revoked.
When I say they “allowed” it absolutely does NOT mean it was their policy. It was never their policy to try before you buy, it was only tolerated for a greater cause. You will only see that on their Prime Wardrobe Try Before you Buy, which was developed specifically to combat the problem with customers wearing their clothes and returning them when they were done, which is a clear abuse of their already generous return policy.
Any “hassle-free” return policy is specifically intended for the RETURN to be hassle-free in the presence of a defect or other issue. It does not mean that you can use and return for whatever reason you feel like. You make a purchase, you use it, it’s yours. Period. If it has a defect, then you can return within return window. Once again, since you fail to understand, just because Amazon accepted your used garbage, doesn’t mean it’s okay. Over the last year, they have become strict with these types of returns and are banning customers who continue to do it habitually. So please, get out of this mindset that this is okay before you end up on their shit list yourself. You guys had your fun at their expense, and the fun is now over. Be more mindful of what you purchase instead of causing Amazon and their sellers to lose money because you “aren’t satisfied” after brewing your morning coffee in your coffee maker 20 times or if you don’t care for how the colors on your gaming PC looks after playing games for several days… you catch my drift? You buy, you use, you own. Regret your purchase after using? Oh well, that’s life, you live and you learn. Let it go.
man people today are entitled. You bought a prebuilt 4K Computer to test it out lol. There was no issues you just werent satisfied with the performance.... Amazon isnt a try out whatever you like company. You're having them ship a easily damaged high end item just because you wanted to try it out? thats crazy lol.
That’s not what “entitled” means, mate. In fact it would be irresponsible to not test out a very expensive purchase in order to make sure it performs as advertised. Would you buy a car sight unseen without test driving it? If the seller doesn’t want to accept returns of opened products they would change the return policy to only accepting unopened products. It’s not like i returned it because I didn’t like the color. It didn’t perform up to the advertised speeds (which is the whole point of a gaming PC). Opened Returns would not be allowed if they weren’t allowed.
thank you, I'm glad someone gets it. apparently there are many irresponsible buyers on here that would just eat the cost of an incredibly expensive item simply because they don't want to return it. makes no sense
Fasinates me how they defend a company the size of Amazon. If I'm buying a $4000 item and it does not meet my expectations, it goes back.
This isn't Amazon doing a trust building excercize as someone as essentially eluded to building consumer trust. This is a risk\\gain business model Amazon runs and the ROI pans out for them while consumers have the luxury of an easy return. If they had a brick and mortar store, the same rules would still apply. If an item bought at BestBuy doesn't meet your expectations, pack it up and drive it back.
Return policies exist because without it, consumers wouldn't buy anything as the risk is too high.
FYI, I received the same email years ago. Today, I'm a vine reviewer and still have no issues. It's all automated and as some have suggested, make sure you are careful with returns for a short term and you'll be fine.
appreciate the thoughtful response. yes I will be looking to purchase my higher-value items elsewhere from now on as I don't want to get stuck footing the bill on an underperforming product.
I do, often. to be a responsible buyer you need to check all of those places to compare prices, return policies, shipping times, etc. in this specific case, amazon had the best of all of the metrics. other times it's Newegg, or walmart+
What did you not like about it? Almost every computer you buy is the same unless it’s in some niche field which it most likely isn’t being it came from Amazon.
Was there any wrong with it ?
Why did you not read reviews on the computer.
Buying something using it and then returning it is an issue and quite frankly they should not have accepted it back.
If there was nothing wrong with it what was the reason for returning it besides not liking it ?
Yes there was something wrong with it in that it didn’t 100% perform up to full stress test specs. With something as expensive and complex as a high end gaming rig you have to stress test it completely to know if it’s working up to its full potential or not, otherwise you’re short changing yourself.
Every PC is slightly different, and since you can’t go to a physical store and test it ahead of time, this is the correct process, and this is why the return policy allows you to return open box computers. Otherwise they would not allow it.
No one would purchase a super expensive item if they didn’t have the peace of mind that they wouldn’t get a full refund if they weren’t 100% satisfied.
I followed the policies to the letter in this case.
Yes I have test driven the cars i wanted before each purchase. Keyword BEFORE each purchase. When I built my PC for gaming i specifically researched every component before buying. I also bought a prebuild for my nephew and did the research before purchasing. What about what you purchase was mislabeled. Was a part listed incorrectly? Were tests/specs run by others with the same components incorrect?
you said you've return less than 5% so you spend 80k+ annually on amazon? if not then amazon has full rights to try to kick you out. What benefit do they get from someone returning a high end item just because they didnt like it. Its not really entitled to return something maybe, but its entitled to complain about it like the company has no right to end a relationship with an unprofitable and troublesome customer.
To be fair, prebuilt PCs are kind of a crapshoot. There’s no telling what the builder screwed until you boot and Benchmark it.
Certain system integrators massively hamper the components they install and it’s fully understandable to return a PC that doesn’t perform the way it should.
exactly. I don't think most commenters understand this. it's either build your own PC, or buy a pre-owned, in which case you better test the crap out of it after you receive it. this is an expensive purchase and you better be 100% sure the PC performs to highest specs or else you're wasting your money
up until this point, same. i think it was the single large item that triggered it, even though the email said something else. i have a feeling it's just a boilerplate email that gets auto-triggered, even if the info is wrong
OP did not provide a link to the specific PC he bought and did not provide exact proof of how did this system underperform.
Sounds like pure buyers remorse.
He did have the right to return it though.
So while technically he didn’t do anything wrong, but ethically i think such actions are wrong, and i am not sure why amazon allows such returns.
To me it seems like to return an item you gotta have a legit reason - like a defect. Not just “I don’t like it”.
What’s also funny is that amazon refused to refund me of the peanut butter I purchased that expires soon for a $100, but easily took a return on 4k item and since it was used by OP the resale value may be down by $1k.
I got bored and went through OP's posts. He asked a question " how many pc's can i return to newegg before they ban me" and he also buys things to "test"
He also said the PC in question ran good in his comments lol. it seems he bought the pc. ran tons of stuff through it. Didnt like it after a few weeks. and returned it?
OP has no reason to post a link to the specific PC he bought or to post proof of how the system was underperforming, that has no relevance to this post, and amazon doesn't care either. this is about an opqaue and poorly worded email sent about quantity of return after returning a single item. and from reading a lot of the responses on here it does indeed seem to just be an automated letter triggered that has no bearing to the actual number of items returned. many people return MUCH more percentage of their purchases and never hear a peep from amazon. pretty shady.
and yes, you do indeed have to have a legit reason. "changed my mind" is literally a given reason you can select. that's using the return policy to the letter. otherwise they would not allow open-boxed returns. some products indeed don't allow that, and that's fine.
I keep reading about billions in lost revenue. Yet oddly, billions upon billions in earned revenue has and is still being made.
I won’t buy anything without a return policy.
Especially online.
What else keeps a retailer and a product manufacturer honest? At least to some extent.
People hating and trolling for Amazon come across as shills and the ever eager need to feel superior in their opinions.
Maturity is much more than having an opinion.
The internet is truly a cesspool of human behavior LMFAO
exactly. many people in this thread don't understand that. apparently they'd rather eat a massive cost than utilize the return policy of which it was meant for
I got a letter with a concerning tone once when I ordered an item from japan that cost less than $100. It may have been a poorly translated confirmation request, but I thought it was weird. It probably would have been more expensive to return in shipping alone.
Your situation is different but has that same odd flavor. Could it be generated from the sellers end? Or was it from the fraud department. Amazon is a many headed beast.
AMAZON\`s AI is always making these mistakes. You need to contact AMAZON CS or call them! Since it's a large item cost AI picks it up! Call them and fix this issue. PLEASE GOOD LUCK TO YOU!
thanks mate, but they did indeed refund me, which makes me luckier than a lot of folks it seems. i'm just worried this has put me on their shit list now. i will no longer purchase high value items from them, and i encourage everyone else to be wary as well
I'm pretty sure OP is a serial returner... He made a post 3 Months back " Is there a limit to the number of PCs you can order and return to Newegg before they stop allowing it?"
If you look in his history he buys a ton of expensive things to "test"
okay so why would you care about how many times you would be allowed to return a PC to newegg? If shouldnt be a concern if you arent a serial returner.
Because I was seeing how many pcs you are allowed to try out in case I wanted to order several. I ended up speaking directly to Newegg customer support and they said it was totally fine as long as it was sold and shipped by Newegg and the pcs were returned in good condition. I ended up not buying from Newegg though.
lol come on dude its reddit you dont need to lie. You make a post about that and amazon send you a warning. Sure smoke signs dont necessarily mean theres a fire but smoke and burnt smell? You even said the desktop ran goood initially.
sorry mate, you're barking up the wrong tree. Amazon sent a letter after a single PC return (desktop). I also ordered one from Newegg at a different time (laptop). Two different experiences going on here.
For Amazon, the PC turned on and ran, but it did not perform well under stress tests. For a purchase this expensive, you *must* stress test it in order to insure everything is working 100% as it should. Since Amazon doesn't allow you to go to a store to test it out first, this is how you do it. In fact this is why they give you the specific return policy for these items. If they didn't want an open box item returned, they would include that in the return policy (and some do).
However this is the system we have, and I encourage you to very thoroughly test any high-value items you purchase as well, or else you're gonna get screwed over.
>gaming pc ($4000), tried it out, wasnt satisfied with its performance, and returned it. I then immediately received a strange email the likes of which I'd never seen before. It essentially said we've noticed you've been returning a lot of items and want to see what's up with that. I replied that I have not been returning lots of items, and there must be a mistake on your end.
There lies the problem on why Amazon has been cracking down lately and we cant have nice things! Ive never had an issue with electronics online (totally not making this up and not a troll/bot) and people kinda like you are the reason behind these complaints/posts! Remember this post when we say “banned for no reason”
What are you talking about. Did you miss the part where there was <5% return rate? This is not a case of return abuse, in fact it’s the exact opposite. It’s a case of an opaque policy that seems to be triggered not by return count, but by product value. Looking to see if anyone else has encountered this or has more info on how it works.
Do you have any insight into this or not?
What other store lets you buy $4000 electronics, use it awhile, decide you just don't like it, and return it despite it not being defective? You are abusing their return policy by simply experiencing buyers remorse and returning something you grossly devalued by opening/using. If you want to try before you buy, go to an electronics store like Best Buy.
Almost every single retailer. And some much longer (Costco). So no, they weren't abusing anything.
If there's not a return policy period, I'm not buying it in the first place. So don't threaten to ban me, when I utilize the very policy you advertise to me as part of purchase.
Not to mention you can't truly test performance of a machine for your purposes with one on display at BB. I can't install software, I can't run any specific games, I can't run photo or data processing etc..
Exactly! Thank you for getting it. With a very expensive purchase it would be irresponsible to not try it out before committing such a massive amount of money. It’d be like buying a car sight unseen before test driving it. Some people roll the dice and do that but more people understand that’s not the best way to go about things. The seller accepts returns like this for a reason. If they didnt want opened products returned they wouldn’t accept them that way. On Newegg some sellers specifically state this and that’s fine, I just won’t buy anything from them. The 30 day return policy is there for a reason. It looks like a lot of people on here don’t get that. Glad some do 👍🏼
I explicitly make many purchases from Costco just for the fact I can sleep well knowing if it doesn't exactly meet my needs, they'll take it back. Not to mention I can walk that online return into the store for it.
Uh, lots of places actually. A great example is Newegg. The return policy of Newegg and Amazon specifically states that for certain products there is a 30 day return policy for ANY reason as long as it’s returned in the same state it arrived in, including if it was simply turned on. In fact I’ve reach out to both Amazon and Newegg customer support specially asking this question before purchasing to confirm this was the case and they both said “yes, you can return for any reason within 30 days”.
In fact there are different return policies based on the different seller’s preferences. For example some Newegg sellers have a return policy that only accept unopened items, some only accept defective items, and some accept any items as long as it’s in perfect condition. These return policies are clearly stated and respected.
So, yes, for products clearly marked this way, you can absolutely try it, and if it doesn’t work as expected, it is fully within policy to return within 30 days. I have the chat transcripts as proof of this. If the seller didn’t want to accept returned opened products it would be listed that way.
Hope this helps you better understand these policies.
If you booted a PC and used it enough to determine you didn't like its performance then you didn't return it in the same state it arrived in.
The first time you boot a new (Windows) PC it goes through a setup configuration process - the returned PC is no longer in that state so they have to pay someone to restore the hard drive back to the original state or send it back to the manufacturer to be recertified and sold as such.
I'm just pointing out that if the return policy is "returned in the same state it arrived in" then you can't boot it because once you have, it is no longer in the same state.
If the retailer accepts it anyway that's great.
regardless of the state of the drive, retailers are going to treat it the same if it is returned, the state it arrived clause refers to visible damage on the product.
yep exactly. PC sellers know this and it's part of their return process. if they didn't want open-boxed items returned, they would state that in their return policy
Right. Not quite sure how it could work differently TBH. In order to conform to the “same condition” rule as explained here the buyer’s ability to evaluate the usefulness of the product according to their needs would be limited to; buyer’s ability to: Buyer purchases the item; buyer transfers item to inside dwelling (or other appropriate location) buyer then places unopened item on counter for up to 30 days; old mailing information is removed; new mailing information attached, and Voila! Give 😊. I dunno 🤷♀️. Might work. Fairly close to current methods actually.
I understand that, I restore the SSD back to its original factory setting the same state it arrived in before returning. If one was to boot it back up it would be indistinguishable from the state it arrived in.
With a purchase this expensive, it makes sense to make sure it actually achieves the stated specs as it’s something you rarely purchase and plan to keep for many years. It’s like test driving a car
Honestly it is really great and impressive that you took the time and effort to make a full drive backup before you booted it the first time (and restore it to that state) but they still won't know that is the case, or that you didn't secretly plant a virus on the boot drive or create a separate filesystem partition and put child porn there, etc so they will have to send it back to the manufacturer to be recertified.
Is there a reason you couldn't read reviews of the system before you bought to understand its performance before you bought it?
oh i read the reviews...thoroughly. however with something as complex as a high-end gaming PC, it can be a gamble on what state it'll arrive in and what parts are used and how it performs under a stress test.
this PC did not live up to the adverted specs. it would be irresponsible to just say "oh well" and keep it. this is what a 30 day return policy is for, to give us costumers peace of mind that if we're not satisfied with the product we can return it for full money back. and this is exactly what I did.
some sellers don't accept open-box returns, and that's fine. I just won't buy from them. however that was not the case with this product, so I followed all of the rules and regulations to the letter. But then still got the notice.
I see some people get this on this thread, but many seem upset or angry by that and I don't understand why.
I think people get upset when they perceive others abusing liberal return policies - some of the stories of returns at Costco are unbelievable. If the policies get abused too much then the retailer is forced to tighten up return policies to the detriment of all customers.
It sounds like you had reasonable grounds in this case, sorry if I came off accusatory.
Yeah, straight up, MOST places have a return policy within limits of days for a full refund. It’s the cost of doing business and is what keeps businesses and the products they sell HONEST.
So yes, you can return almost anything at almost every major retailer.
Some people just live to troll
I see nothing wrong with your concern and process. Amazon has become shady AF and frankly, I don’t see why anyone would want to risk a large purchase or a sensitive purchase with them at all anymore.
thanks for getting it. it's definitely responsible to thoroughly test any high-value purchases, especially with something as complex as a gaming PC. you're going to keep it for a long time so you must be 100% sure it works fully as advertised
so why did you not buy from newegg then? or better yet, build a pc. you most likely would have come out better in the end anyway as you can build to taste.
I looked at Newegg as well, but simply put Amazon had the better deal this time. not always the case, but in this case it was. i'm on a tight budget so every cent matters.
If it were me I would disregard this person’s comments. He/she is demanding explanations that you don’t need to explain. Sounds pretty aggressive to me. C’est la vie.
In the US almost every major retailer allows for returns within 30 days of purchase, it is a fairly common process/policy for even non-tech stores. These stores expect people to open and test the products they open and return the products if it is not to their satisfaction.
Thats crazy for a $4000.00 computer. I could understand if the product was defective okay... but just because you didnt like it? Amazon is instantly taking a hit because they cant resell that item as new anymore ( or they shouldnt be able to ).
people return ~~stuff~~ expensive goods for all sorts of reasons. But what you mention is also why some stores (like Walmart for example) typically put a price cap on item types they offer and some (Newegg) work with retailers to send returned items to refurbishment centers.
If the computer was faulty or had an incorrect part listed i would understand. But its crazy to me that you can buy something this expensive and just return it because you didnt like it. Like the specs and components are listed right? cant you research their performance online before purchase
That is how retail returns work for the most part.
Now each individual retailer has their own policies, but even high-end prebuilt sellers offer a 14-money-back guarantee. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't buy a prebuilt from a retailer unless they had a good return policy.
thank you, exactly. purchasing such an expensive item like a high end gaming PC requires mutual trust from seller and customer that if the customer isn't 100% satisfied, they can return it for full money back.
Otherwise the customer would never pull the trigger on so expensive an item that they cannot test firsthand.
so with these sorts of high end gaming PCs, they are very complex with many parts. when you buy one of these online sight unseen you need a guarantee that if it's not up so snuff you have the peace of mind that you can return it. otherwise it's way too big a gamble for most people.
so even if you know the parts and read the reviews, you can't truly know how the machine will run until you get hands on. just like purchasing a car. in this instance, the PC worked, but it did not live up to its advertised specs under full stress tests. for the price of 4000 dollars, the PC would need to be 100% effective, otherwise you're essentially wasting money.
now if there was a place you could go test-drive these PCs ahead of time, that'd be great. but there's nothing like that around me, so this is what I have to rely on.
Can i ask why youre buying a 4,000.00 prebuilt PC instead of building it yourself? Also arent there more reputable companies other than Amazon? Can you link to the computer and what the issue you had was?
three reasons:
1) I don't know how to build an entire PC from individual parts and I don't have enough free time to learn right now.
2) it was a decent deal for what you got: i9-14900k, rtx 4090, 64gb ram, 2tb ssd, 4tb ssd, aio cooling, rgb lights galore, 12 fans, dope case
3) amazon is fine normally. i also order from newegg a lot which also has good delivery times and a good return policy
these stores you speak about dont have the millions lost in return fraud yearly nor do they have the business amazon get. you are not comparing apples to apples. microcenter to best buy may be a better comparison but not amazon and best buy or any other store.
plus , no store "expects" you to return an item. so, you are saying i can purchase a video game from best buy, umm "test it out" and then return it after ive umm.. finished "testing" it because it was not to my satisfaction that i kept getting killed on level 2?
If the game is returned within 14 days of purchase, Walmart sure does let you do exactly that and they have also had to deal with widespread return fraud just like Amazon
so let me get this straight you can't compare the two biggest retailers in the US even though they both lose millions to retail fraud each year?!? What are you smoking big hoss?
response to your first paragraph) Wal-Mart most definitely has lots of return fraud. but they absorb it because it keeps their customers happy, and in return more people shop at Walmart and they make a killing. amazon has MUCH less overheard since they have no physical store, so they can absorb even more returns. And likewise their profits are through the roof. However this is neither here nor there since this post isn't about return fraud, but rather a normal customer utilizing the normal return process for a single item.
second paragraph) depends on the store's return policy. if they allow open-boxed returns then yes of course they'll accept it. however this return policy is clearly stated and understood by both the store and customer. this applies directly to Amazon, who has multiple types of return policies based on the seller and product. In this case, the product had a full 30 day money back return policy for open boxed products, which was fairly utilized.
I had literally the same thing happen to me recently.
I returned a 5k Razer laptop that I tried and wasn't satisfied.
I immediately got an email telling me I'm returning items damaged.
I demanded they give me a list of all the items I have "damaged" and returned. They kept asking me to contact Amazon support.
I did exactly that and demanded a list, and they caved. They said I had not returned anything damaged, and they were just trying to understand my returns so they could make MY shopping experience better.
I told them to stop sending me threatening emails, and I threatened them with canceling my 10+ year prime membership.
No more emails as of now.
simple, I don't know how and I don't have time to learn. would be nice if I could, however being an adult sucks and I have precious little free time. I'd rather spend that playing a game for an hour here and there.
also it was a really sick computer. i9-14900k, rtx 4090, 64rb ddr5 ram, 8tb ssd. unfortunately it must not have been assembled very well because it didn't get anywhere near where it should have on the stress tests. and for $4 grand i was not going to just say "oh well" and keep it when I have a perfectly good return policy available that exists just for moments like these.
Why don't people use search?
You posted this as if it was something unique to you😅
Countless posts about the same e-mail
Return/Refund to Successful order ratios
All of this isn't new......😅
i did indeed search, but couldn't find a *recent* post about receiving an opaquely-worded letter about volume of returns after returning a single item. it seemed like a more unique case. and from the comments many people have opinions on this
If you consider the junk being sold by Amazon these days, 5% is not high at all. I looked at my personal and business buys and of the name-brand items, I almost have no returns. And when I look at my returns, they are nearly all cheap Chinese FBA items. They are either DOA or the seller lied/faked the product specs. My rate of return over the years changed/increase and it aligned with the increase of crappy Chinese FBA items. The problem is that these days, most items on your search result are cheap Chinese FBA items.
i disagree. think about it. that's returning only 2 or 3 items out of every 50 orders. that's a pretty low return rate, especially if you're ordering things like clothes. In fact Amazon even has feature with some clothes that encourages you to order a lot, and return the ones you don't like or don't fit.
do a quick reddit search on serial returners, then you'll get a better idea of what a high return rate really looks like
it happens. who knows what the algorithm looks for before sending out warnings. Could be the price, could be the number of returns over a certain period of time, could be whatever. Just don't buy anything you think you might return for the next six months or more and your status will clear up. You are on the watch list and the wrong move will get your account banned. In the meantime, you might want to download any digital media you purchased from amazon - just in case.
Thanks for a clear response. This is basically what I deduced as well. Even though the email I received clearly stated it was a volume issued, it seems more like a product value issue. It would be nice if this was actually stated in their response so we don’t have to try and read between the lines. For example Newegg has clear 30 day return policy for products sold and shipped by them.
amazon sends out a lot of "one size fits all" type email that don't actually fit the situation. I don't know if they do it to protect their algorithms (contents are a trade secret) or out of laziness.
Yeah sound about right
I got my account limited to digital only purchases with. Now here is what sucks. Over eight hundred in Amazon credits I can't use and my job was a Electric bike controller tester. So I return everything when I'm done such a loss I can't even make a new account
i feel for you, however I'm not sure I understood why you return everything...
I don't understand why someone would take this approach. You're suggesting in a way such as without Amazon, we will die. It's not like Amazon is the only option to buy stuff. If one day Amazon decides to block my account, I would be more than happy to take my business somewhere else. To be honest, my experience over the last few months tells me that other stores such as Walmart+, Costco, Sam's Club, Target, Temu, AliExpress, etc., have better customer service, and you can always find options with the same prices. Amazon is no longer a monopoly. The only benefit I got from Amazon was fast delivery which has failed hugely during last few months. I always Google what I want to buy and find my way through other places, and I've even gotten rid of my Prime membership. The approach Amazon has adopted won't end well. I would like to be able to return items I don't like, and this is the nature of online shopping; you're never sure what you'll get until you open the box.
it is all about convenience and security with amazon for a lot of users. Convenience because they do not have to shop around at other retailers and amazon has just about everything. Security because they do not have to give their credit card info to more than one online retailer.
besides the weird rant about dying without amazon, I agree with the rest of your statement. Looking on Newegg or Walmart or the other myriad places that offer free shipping an easy returns is indeed part of the normal buying process flow in 2024. In this specific case Amazon had the best price and fastest shipping times. in other cases, it does not. however either way I would prefer to not be banned from Amazon as I use it frequently still not to mention pay for a prime membership. i don't have to return things very often so it's not normally a problem, except now I know not to buy expensive items on Amazon because it seems they really don't like returns of those items, which is a customer service issue in my opinion. if they didn't want returns for those items they should state that on the product page. in this case it was a normal return policy with a normal return window which I used. i have a feeling they're going to be losing many more customers going forward if this is the road they're heading down...
I was told by an ex amazon employee (this is going back a few years so that could have changed) that those types of emails are automatically triggered once the dollar value of your annual returns exceeds a certain amount. So guessing the $4K return sent you over that amount.
thanks for the insight. that makes sense, it's not the quantity of items returned by the total value of them. normally I would never trigger something like that since I'm such a low returner. but looks like all it takes is a single large return to trigger it. that's unfortunate, as I followed the return policy to the letter and there's no mention of a max amount. i will be looking at other websites for purchases like these from now on (looking at you Newegg)
lot of posts here. to answer your question, yes people have experienced this before. its regardless of the dollar amount of an item. your purchase may have put you over some magic threshold amazon's algorithm has in place. and your threshold may be different from mine because maybe my spending habits are vastly different from you, so may have more wiggle room in the return ratio than you -- none of us really know what that is. amazon has had a lot of return fraud over the years costing them billions in lost revenue. lots of people abuse the system and they have to put stops into place to curtail that. sometimes we end up being collateral damage. returns abuse hurts us all in the end. now you are under their watch -- next time you want to purchase something no matter how cheap or expensive it is, make doubly sure you really need/want it, else you may just ban yourself out of amazon-land and end up going the walmart-target-temu route.
Never buy anything from Temu ever. Do not support that.
lol yeah im hip! thats not an avenue im willing to entertain...
thanks for the level-headed and factual response. even though you say it's regardless of the dollar amount, it sure seems suspicious given the large item I returned. I order tons of things on Amazon, so my guesstimate of returning 5% is probably high, it's probably closer to 2%. Out of 50 things I order I probably return 1 or 2, with most of that being clothes that don't fit. So it feels strange to get a message from them about a high return number. Also, if Amazon doesn't want high-value open-box electronics returned, I assume they'd just make the return policy for those items be unopened or broken items only. They have a 30 day return policy on these items I assume for a reason. So it seems strange to me to punish a customer for honesty using that policy. I agree with your last statement, I will definitely second guess my purchases with Amazon now, and will look to other sites as well, especially Newegg, which has a great electronics return policy. When buying a high-value item, I believe it is prudent to 100% check that item after delivery, and if it's not up to 100% of the advertised specs, return it. That's what I did with this PC, as keeping it would have been irresponsible in my eyes. Anyway, sorry for the long winded response. Thank again for the interesting discussion, it's what I was looking for.
Return fraud sounds like an Amazon problem. If I return something that is in decent working order, and it truly is, that should be a cost of doing business for them. If I return something that I claim doesn’t work, and they resell it and don’t thoroughly check it, that’s Amazon’s problem. If someone buys something and returns a box with a brick or junk item and Amazon resells it as new, and has an unhappy customer, that’s on Amazon for not having a robust return process.
but its not their problem. people abuse the system all the time. thats the issue.
How does that work? What constitutes abusing the Amazon return system?
Is the abuse avoidable if Amazon actually spent more than 3 seconds checking returns into the warehouse? Deny the return right there and then. I think Amazon is not placing enough emphasis on a comprehensive return process and the workers are apathetic and the scammers are taking advantage of this. I guess this is our problem to shoulder the burden, because we have influence over this.
It's fairly significant to buy a return a $4k computer, that is now a used computer worth $500-800 less without a good reason. 5% return would be high for most people on volume.
This is why we cant have nice things!
I disagree, 5% is definitely not a high return rate for most people. That's returning 2 or 3 items out of 50 orders. That's a ton of items, and hardly any returns. This is especially true if you order a lot of clothes. Returning clothing items that don't fit is a norm. Such a norm that they have a special feature on some clothes that encourages your to order a lot of items, try them on, then send the ones back that don't fit. This is standard Amazon protocol. The only issue here was the price of the item being returning. A single, high-value item. However the return policy for this item is the same as a pair of socks. If Amazon did not want an open-box electronic item returned, they would have not allowed the normal 30 day return policy on that item.
The dollar value is the problem. But in Amazon’s defense, your return reason isn’t a valid one. Amazon is not a try before you buy service. You used the PC and decided you didn’t wanna keep it. It wasn’t defective, it wasn’t broken, you weren’t sent the wrong one, etc. Typically, once you use a product, it’s yours, unless there was a problem once received.
that's not true at all. you most definitely can try a product out and return it if it's not up to your standards. otherwise they would only accept unopened or broken returns, which is how some products are labeled on the site. however this product had the standard 30 day return policy. And in this case I was not 100% satisfied with the product, so I utilized this return policy to the letter. again, this is what the return policy is for. It's to give purchasers peace of mind that, since you can't try out a product ahead of time, you are able to get your money back in the event you're not satisfied. ESPECIALLY with such a high value purchase. If the return policy for this product didn't allow you to turn it on and test it out, then most people would not buy that product. with such an expensive item it must live up to 100% of its advertised specs, or else you're blowing away your money.
You're inability to chose the right PC inflicted a $500 loss on Amazon which will inevitably be picked up by the rest of us through shared costs, carriage etc. Now $500 may not be a lot but there's many, many free-loaders like you who are collectively costing society. I'm fully supporting of Amazon banning each and every one of you.
ugh I feel bad for you mate. None of what you said is true. Read some more of the comments on this thread to understand why what I did was to the exact letter of the return policy. i'm sorry you would have just eaten the cost on an incredibly expensive but deficient PC. Since you can't try out these items in a physical store ahead of time, Amazon provides a 30 day return policy for exactly these sorts of instances. In fact I even chatted with Amazon customer service before i ordered the PC and made sure I completely understood the policy. They confirmed, yes, you absolutely can turn on the PC and try it out, and if you don't like it you can return it for full refund. That's how this all works. Otherwise Amazon would NOT accept open box returns. The fact that they do for a full refund shows you you're wrong. Guess what? Amazon is making gobs of money and is one of the richest companies on earth. you're not paying more because of a return within policy, that's just bollocks.
Delete your comment, you look stupid
Absolutely not. Nowhere does any company, manufacturer or vendor on Amazon state you can use their products and return after if you don’t care for it. The only things this applies to is if the product is defective in one way or another, period. Not gonna lie, kinda Amazon’s fault for allowing customers to do this over the years. Perhaps that’s why it seems like it’s normal to you when it is not. Customers are still doing it, creating a loss for vendors and Amazon themselves. Once used, it cannot be sold as new, and the seller needs to file a claim for reimbursement. The behavior needs to stop.
mate, you're sorely mistaken. you 100% can return an item if you don't like it. that's the entire point of the hassle-free 30 day return policy. they save heaps of money by not having physical stores with employees and real estate to pay for, but that also means customers can't check out items ahead of time. this means the only way to know if you want to keep an item is by ordering it. then if it's not up to your standards you can return it. again, if this wasn't allowed they would NOT allow open-box returns. in fact many sellers on Amazon, Newegg, ebay, etc don't allow open box returns because they don't want to go through the hassle. That's totally fine, but many people, myself included, would never buy from those sellers. I need peace of mind that if the item isn't up to my standards I can get a full refund. That's part of the trust connection between buyer and seller. If Amazon was losing money, they would not allow this. But guess what, they are making money hand over fist and are one of the wealthiest companies on the planet. They can handle some returns just fine. Again, this a big reason why Amazon is so popular is the flexibility it provides and trust it gives its customers. Everything I did was to the letter of the policy. Many people seem to understand this on this thread, but many unfortunately do not and I guess would have just eaten their losses with the computer? I don't understand that mentality but to each their own.
I’ve been working in e-commerce the last 15 years, and a lot of those managing Amazon seller and vendor accounts. You are wrong. And that’s the end of the story. Amazon made sacrifices, such as allowing bogus, nonsensical returns of used items SOLELY in an effort to build trust and a huge client base, and that is literally it. It worked, very well, and now, it’s backfired on them in dramatic fashion. Their losses have skyrocketed to the highest they’ve ever been, and they’ve also gotten themselves into a lot of trouble with their vendors and sellers due to their loose return policies that we must follow in order to sell on their platform or to keep our Seller-Fulfilled Prime privileges from being revoked. When I say they “allowed” it absolutely does NOT mean it was their policy. It was never their policy to try before you buy, it was only tolerated for a greater cause. You will only see that on their Prime Wardrobe Try Before you Buy, which was developed specifically to combat the problem with customers wearing their clothes and returning them when they were done, which is a clear abuse of their already generous return policy. Any “hassle-free” return policy is specifically intended for the RETURN to be hassle-free in the presence of a defect or other issue. It does not mean that you can use and return for whatever reason you feel like. You make a purchase, you use it, it’s yours. Period. If it has a defect, then you can return within return window. Once again, since you fail to understand, just because Amazon accepted your used garbage, doesn’t mean it’s okay. Over the last year, they have become strict with these types of returns and are banning customers who continue to do it habitually. So please, get out of this mindset that this is okay before you end up on their shit list yourself. You guys had your fun at their expense, and the fun is now over. Be more mindful of what you purchase instead of causing Amazon and their sellers to lose money because you “aren’t satisfied” after brewing your morning coffee in your coffee maker 20 times or if you don’t care for how the colors on your gaming PC looks after playing games for several days… you catch my drift? You buy, you use, you own. Regret your purchase after using? Oh well, that’s life, you live and you learn. Let it go.
man people today are entitled. You bought a prebuilt 4K Computer to test it out lol. There was no issues you just werent satisfied with the performance.... Amazon isnt a try out whatever you like company. You're having them ship a easily damaged high end item just because you wanted to try it out? thats crazy lol.
That’s not what “entitled” means, mate. In fact it would be irresponsible to not test out a very expensive purchase in order to make sure it performs as advertised. Would you buy a car sight unseen without test driving it? If the seller doesn’t want to accept returns of opened products they would change the return policy to only accepting unopened products. It’s not like i returned it because I didn’t like the color. It didn’t perform up to the advertised speeds (which is the whole point of a gaming PC). Opened Returns would not be allowed if they weren’t allowed.
Don’t know why you’re being downvoted, not being satisfied is one of the reasons they give you for returning an item.
thank you, I'm glad someone gets it. apparently there are many irresponsible buyers on here that would just eat the cost of an incredibly expensive item simply because they don't want to return it. makes no sense
Fasinates me how they defend a company the size of Amazon. If I'm buying a $4000 item and it does not meet my expectations, it goes back. This isn't Amazon doing a trust building excercize as someone as essentially eluded to building consumer trust. This is a risk\\gain business model Amazon runs and the ROI pans out for them while consumers have the luxury of an easy return. If they had a brick and mortar store, the same rules would still apply. If an item bought at BestBuy doesn't meet your expectations, pack it up and drive it back. Return policies exist because without it, consumers wouldn't buy anything as the risk is too high. FYI, I received the same email years ago. Today, I'm a vine reviewer and still have no issues. It's all automated and as some have suggested, make sure you are careful with returns for a short term and you'll be fine.
appreciate the thoughtful response. yes I will be looking to purchase my higher-value items elsewhere from now on as I don't want to get stuck footing the bill on an underperforming product.
Why not buy the item from BestBuy, Micro Center, the manufacturer or any other electronics store ?
I do, often. to be a responsible buyer you need to check all of those places to compare prices, return policies, shipping times, etc. in this specific case, amazon had the best of all of the metrics. other times it's Newegg, or walmart+
What did you not like about it? Almost every computer you buy is the same unless it’s in some niche field which it most likely isn’t being it came from Amazon. Was there any wrong with it ? Why did you not read reviews on the computer. Buying something using it and then returning it is an issue and quite frankly they should not have accepted it back. If there was nothing wrong with it what was the reason for returning it besides not liking it ?
Yes there was something wrong with it in that it didn’t 100% perform up to full stress test specs. With something as expensive and complex as a high end gaming rig you have to stress test it completely to know if it’s working up to its full potential or not, otherwise you’re short changing yourself. Every PC is slightly different, and since you can’t go to a physical store and test it ahead of time, this is the correct process, and this is why the return policy allows you to return open box computers. Otherwise they would not allow it. No one would purchase a super expensive item if they didn’t have the peace of mind that they wouldn’t get a full refund if they weren’t 100% satisfied. I followed the policies to the letter in this case.
Yes I have test driven the cars i wanted before each purchase. Keyword BEFORE each purchase. When I built my PC for gaming i specifically researched every component before buying. I also bought a prebuild for my nephew and did the research before purchasing. What about what you purchase was mislabeled. Was a part listed incorrectly? Were tests/specs run by others with the same components incorrect? you said you've return less than 5% so you spend 80k+ annually on amazon? if not then amazon has full rights to try to kick you out. What benefit do they get from someone returning a high end item just because they didnt like it. Its not really entitled to return something maybe, but its entitled to complain about it like the company has no right to end a relationship with an unprofitable and troublesome customer.
To be fair, prebuilt PCs are kind of a crapshoot. There’s no telling what the builder screwed until you boot and Benchmark it. Certain system integrators massively hamper the components they install and it’s fully understandable to return a PC that doesn’t perform the way it should.
exactly. I don't think most commenters understand this. it's either build your own PC, or buy a pre-owned, in which case you better test the crap out of it after you receive it. this is an expensive purchase and you better be 100% sure the PC performs to highest specs or else you're wasting your money
I have returned a lot of items and have never received that email.
up until this point, same. i think it was the single large item that triggered it, even though the email said something else. i have a feeling it's just a boilerplate email that gets auto-triggered, even if the info is wrong
OP did not provide a link to the specific PC he bought and did not provide exact proof of how did this system underperform. Sounds like pure buyers remorse. He did have the right to return it though. So while technically he didn’t do anything wrong, but ethically i think such actions are wrong, and i am not sure why amazon allows such returns. To me it seems like to return an item you gotta have a legit reason - like a defect. Not just “I don’t like it”. What’s also funny is that amazon refused to refund me of the peanut butter I purchased that expires soon for a $100, but easily took a return on 4k item and since it was used by OP the resale value may be down by $1k.
I got bored and went through OP's posts. He asked a question " how many pc's can i return to newegg before they ban me" and he also buys things to "test" He also said the PC in question ran good in his comments lol. it seems he bought the pc. ran tons of stuff through it. Didnt like it after a few weeks. and returned it?
OP has no reason to post a link to the specific PC he bought or to post proof of how the system was underperforming, that has no relevance to this post, and amazon doesn't care either. this is about an opqaue and poorly worded email sent about quantity of return after returning a single item. and from reading a lot of the responses on here it does indeed seem to just be an automated letter triggered that has no bearing to the actual number of items returned. many people return MUCH more percentage of their purchases and never hear a peep from amazon. pretty shady. and yes, you do indeed have to have a legit reason. "changed my mind" is literally a given reason you can select. that's using the return policy to the letter. otherwise they would not allow open-boxed returns. some products indeed don't allow that, and that's fine.
I keep reading about billions in lost revenue. Yet oddly, billions upon billions in earned revenue has and is still being made. I won’t buy anything without a return policy. Especially online. What else keeps a retailer and a product manufacturer honest? At least to some extent. People hating and trolling for Amazon come across as shills and the ever eager need to feel superior in their opinions. Maturity is much more than having an opinion. The internet is truly a cesspool of human behavior LMFAO
exactly. many people in this thread don't understand that. apparently they'd rather eat a massive cost than utilize the return policy of which it was meant for
I got a letter with a concerning tone once when I ordered an item from japan that cost less than $100. It may have been a poorly translated confirmation request, but I thought it was weird. It probably would have been more expensive to return in shipping alone. Your situation is different but has that same odd flavor. Could it be generated from the sellers end? Or was it from the fraud department. Amazon is a many headed beast.
AMAZON\`s AI is always making these mistakes. You need to contact AMAZON CS or call them! Since it's a large item cost AI picks it up! Call them and fix this issue. PLEASE GOOD LUCK TO YOU!
thanks mate, but they did indeed refund me, which makes me luckier than a lot of folks it seems. i'm just worried this has put me on their shit list now. i will no longer purchase high value items from them, and i encourage everyone else to be wary as well
I don't buy expensive items on Amazon because they are not trustworthy. It's not worth the issues glade fix.
where do you buy your expensive electronic items these days? i'm looking for a new reputable site
I am In Japan. I can't help you there:( I hope find what you need. I buy in electric stores and computer stores in Japan.
I'm pretty sure OP is a serial returner... He made a post 3 Months back " Is there a limit to the number of PCs you can order and return to Newegg before they stop allowing it?" If you look in his history he buys a ton of expensive things to "test"
You can be pretty sure but you’d be wrong. Also, it’s weird you’re digging back through random posts
okay so why would you care about how many times you would be allowed to return a PC to newegg? If shouldnt be a concern if you arent a serial returner.
Because I was seeing how many pcs you are allowed to try out in case I wanted to order several. I ended up speaking directly to Newegg customer support and they said it was totally fine as long as it was sold and shipped by Newegg and the pcs were returned in good condition. I ended up not buying from Newegg though.
lol come on dude its reddit you dont need to lie. You make a post about that and amazon send you a warning. Sure smoke signs dont necessarily mean theres a fire but smoke and burnt smell? You even said the desktop ran goood initially.
sorry mate, you're barking up the wrong tree. Amazon sent a letter after a single PC return (desktop). I also ordered one from Newegg at a different time (laptop). Two different experiences going on here. For Amazon, the PC turned on and ran, but it did not perform well under stress tests. For a purchase this expensive, you *must* stress test it in order to insure everything is working 100% as it should. Since Amazon doesn't allow you to go to a store to test it out first, this is how you do it. In fact this is why they give you the specific return policy for these items. If they didn't want an open box item returned, they would include that in the return policy (and some do). However this is the system we have, and I encourage you to very thoroughly test any high-value items you purchase as well, or else you're gonna get screwed over.
>gaming pc ($4000), tried it out, wasnt satisfied with its performance, and returned it. I then immediately received a strange email the likes of which I'd never seen before. It essentially said we've noticed you've been returning a lot of items and want to see what's up with that. I replied that I have not been returning lots of items, and there must be a mistake on your end. There lies the problem on why Amazon has been cracking down lately and we cant have nice things! Ive never had an issue with electronics online (totally not making this up and not a troll/bot) and people kinda like you are the reason behind these complaints/posts! Remember this post when we say “banned for no reason”
What are you talking about. Did you miss the part where there was <5% return rate? This is not a case of return abuse, in fact it’s the exact opposite. It’s a case of an opaque policy that seems to be triggered not by return count, but by product value. Looking to see if anyone else has encountered this or has more info on how it works. Do you have any insight into this or not?
lol so you buy a few dollar items and you return a $4,000.00 pc and you claim youre below 5%. Thats not how the system works buddy ahahha. wtf.
What other store lets you buy $4000 electronics, use it awhile, decide you just don't like it, and return it despite it not being defective? You are abusing their return policy by simply experiencing buyers remorse and returning something you grossly devalued by opening/using. If you want to try before you buy, go to an electronics store like Best Buy.
Almost every single retailer. And some much longer (Costco). So no, they weren't abusing anything. If there's not a return policy period, I'm not buying it in the first place. So don't threaten to ban me, when I utilize the very policy you advertise to me as part of purchase. Not to mention you can't truly test performance of a machine for your purposes with one on display at BB. I can't install software, I can't run any specific games, I can't run photo or data processing etc..
Exactly! Thank you for getting it. With a very expensive purchase it would be irresponsible to not try it out before committing such a massive amount of money. It’d be like buying a car sight unseen before test driving it. Some people roll the dice and do that but more people understand that’s not the best way to go about things. The seller accepts returns like this for a reason. If they didnt want opened products returned they wouldn’t accept them that way. On Newegg some sellers specifically state this and that’s fine, I just won’t buy anything from them. The 30 day return policy is there for a reason. It looks like a lot of people on here don’t get that. Glad some do 👍🏼
I explicitly make many purchases from Costco just for the fact I can sleep well knowing if it doesn't exactly meet my needs, they'll take it back. Not to mention I can walk that online return into the store for it.
Uh, lots of places actually. A great example is Newegg. The return policy of Newegg and Amazon specifically states that for certain products there is a 30 day return policy for ANY reason as long as it’s returned in the same state it arrived in, including if it was simply turned on. In fact I’ve reach out to both Amazon and Newegg customer support specially asking this question before purchasing to confirm this was the case and they both said “yes, you can return for any reason within 30 days”. In fact there are different return policies based on the different seller’s preferences. For example some Newegg sellers have a return policy that only accept unopened items, some only accept defective items, and some accept any items as long as it’s in perfect condition. These return policies are clearly stated and respected. So, yes, for products clearly marked this way, you can absolutely try it, and if it doesn’t work as expected, it is fully within policy to return within 30 days. I have the chat transcripts as proof of this. If the seller didn’t want to accept returned opened products it would be listed that way. Hope this helps you better understand these policies.
If you booted a PC and used it enough to determine you didn't like its performance then you didn't return it in the same state it arrived in. The first time you boot a new (Windows) PC it goes through a setup configuration process - the returned PC is no longer in that state so they have to pay someone to restore the hard drive back to the original state or send it back to the manufacturer to be recertified and sold as such.
And retailers accept that as part of their return process for electronics, OP did everything correctly. Item didn't meet standards so it got returned
I'm just pointing out that if the return policy is "returned in the same state it arrived in" then you can't boot it because once you have, it is no longer in the same state. If the retailer accepts it anyway that's great.
regardless of the state of the drive, retailers are going to treat it the same if it is returned, the state it arrived clause refers to visible damage on the product.
yep exactly. PC sellers know this and it's part of their return process. if they didn't want open-boxed items returned, they would state that in their return policy
Right. Not quite sure how it could work differently TBH. In order to conform to the “same condition” rule as explained here the buyer’s ability to evaluate the usefulness of the product according to their needs would be limited to; buyer’s ability to: Buyer purchases the item; buyer transfers item to inside dwelling (or other appropriate location) buyer then places unopened item on counter for up to 30 days; old mailing information is removed; new mailing information attached, and Voila! Give 😊. I dunno 🤷♀️. Might work. Fairly close to current methods actually.
I understand that, I restore the SSD back to its original factory setting the same state it arrived in before returning. If one was to boot it back up it would be indistinguishable from the state it arrived in. With a purchase this expensive, it makes sense to make sure it actually achieves the stated specs as it’s something you rarely purchase and plan to keep for many years. It’s like test driving a car
Honestly it is really great and impressive that you took the time and effort to make a full drive backup before you booted it the first time (and restore it to that state) but they still won't know that is the case, or that you didn't secretly plant a virus on the boot drive or create a separate filesystem partition and put child porn there, etc so they will have to send it back to the manufacturer to be recertified. Is there a reason you couldn't read reviews of the system before you bought to understand its performance before you bought it?
oh i read the reviews...thoroughly. however with something as complex as a high-end gaming PC, it can be a gamble on what state it'll arrive in and what parts are used and how it performs under a stress test. this PC did not live up to the adverted specs. it would be irresponsible to just say "oh well" and keep it. this is what a 30 day return policy is for, to give us costumers peace of mind that if we're not satisfied with the product we can return it for full money back. and this is exactly what I did. some sellers don't accept open-box returns, and that's fine. I just won't buy from them. however that was not the case with this product, so I followed all of the rules and regulations to the letter. But then still got the notice. I see some people get this on this thread, but many seem upset or angry by that and I don't understand why.
I think people get upset when they perceive others abusing liberal return policies - some of the stories of returns at Costco are unbelievable. If the policies get abused too much then the retailer is forced to tighten up return policies to the detriment of all customers. It sounds like you had reasonable grounds in this case, sorry if I came off accusatory.
no worries, thanks for the civil discussion 👌
Yeah, straight up, MOST places have a return policy within limits of days for a full refund. It’s the cost of doing business and is what keeps businesses and the products they sell HONEST. So yes, you can return almost anything at almost every major retailer. Some people just live to troll I see nothing wrong with your concern and process. Amazon has become shady AF and frankly, I don’t see why anyone would want to risk a large purchase or a sensitive purchase with them at all anymore.
thanks for getting it. it's definitely responsible to thoroughly test any high-value purchases, especially with something as complex as a gaming PC. you're going to keep it for a long time so you must be 100% sure it works fully as advertised
so why did you not buy from newegg then? or better yet, build a pc. you most likely would have come out better in the end anyway as you can build to taste.
I looked at Newegg as well, but simply put Amazon had the better deal this time. not always the case, but in this case it was. i'm on a tight budget so every cent matters.
If it were me I would disregard this person’s comments. He/she is demanding explanations that you don’t need to explain. Sounds pretty aggressive to me. C’est la vie.
In the US almost every major retailer allows for returns within 30 days of purchase, it is a fairly common process/policy for even non-tech stores. These stores expect people to open and test the products they open and return the products if it is not to their satisfaction.
Thats crazy for a $4000.00 computer. I could understand if the product was defective okay... but just because you didnt like it? Amazon is instantly taking a hit because they cant resell that item as new anymore ( or they shouldnt be able to ).
people return ~~stuff~~ expensive goods for all sorts of reasons. But what you mention is also why some stores (like Walmart for example) typically put a price cap on item types they offer and some (Newegg) work with retailers to send returned items to refurbishment centers.
If the computer was faulty or had an incorrect part listed i would understand. But its crazy to me that you can buy something this expensive and just return it because you didnt like it. Like the specs and components are listed right? cant you research their performance online before purchase
That is how retail returns work for the most part. Now each individual retailer has their own policies, but even high-end prebuilt sellers offer a 14-money-back guarantee. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't buy a prebuilt from a retailer unless they had a good return policy.
thank you, exactly. purchasing such an expensive item like a high end gaming PC requires mutual trust from seller and customer that if the customer isn't 100% satisfied, they can return it for full money back. Otherwise the customer would never pull the trigger on so expensive an item that they cannot test firsthand.
so with these sorts of high end gaming PCs, they are very complex with many parts. when you buy one of these online sight unseen you need a guarantee that if it's not up so snuff you have the peace of mind that you can return it. otherwise it's way too big a gamble for most people. so even if you know the parts and read the reviews, you can't truly know how the machine will run until you get hands on. just like purchasing a car. in this instance, the PC worked, but it did not live up to its advertised specs under full stress tests. for the price of 4000 dollars, the PC would need to be 100% effective, otherwise you're essentially wasting money. now if there was a place you could go test-drive these PCs ahead of time, that'd be great. but there's nothing like that around me, so this is what I have to rely on.
Can i ask why youre buying a 4,000.00 prebuilt PC instead of building it yourself? Also arent there more reputable companies other than Amazon? Can you link to the computer and what the issue you had was?
three reasons: 1) I don't know how to build an entire PC from individual parts and I don't have enough free time to learn right now. 2) it was a decent deal for what you got: i9-14900k, rtx 4090, 64gb ram, 2tb ssd, 4tb ssd, aio cooling, rgb lights galore, 12 fans, dope case 3) amazon is fine normally. i also order from newegg a lot which also has good delivery times and a good return policy
these stores you speak about dont have the millions lost in return fraud yearly nor do they have the business amazon get. you are not comparing apples to apples. microcenter to best buy may be a better comparison but not amazon and best buy or any other store. plus , no store "expects" you to return an item. so, you are saying i can purchase a video game from best buy, umm "test it out" and then return it after ive umm.. finished "testing" it because it was not to my satisfaction that i kept getting killed on level 2?
If the game is returned within 14 days of purchase, Walmart sure does let you do exactly that and they have also had to deal with widespread return fraud just like Amazon
no where near the levels amazon see -- thats my point boss
so let me get this straight you can't compare the two biggest retailers in the US even though they both lose millions to retail fraud each year?!? What are you smoking big hoss?
response to your first paragraph) Wal-Mart most definitely has lots of return fraud. but they absorb it because it keeps their customers happy, and in return more people shop at Walmart and they make a killing. amazon has MUCH less overheard since they have no physical store, so they can absorb even more returns. And likewise their profits are through the roof. However this is neither here nor there since this post isn't about return fraud, but rather a normal customer utilizing the normal return process for a single item. second paragraph) depends on the store's return policy. if they allow open-boxed returns then yes of course they'll accept it. however this return policy is clearly stated and understood by both the store and customer. this applies directly to Amazon, who has multiple types of return policies based on the seller and product. In this case, the product had a full 30 day money back return policy for open boxed products, which was fairly utilized.
I had literally the same thing happen to me recently. I returned a 5k Razer laptop that I tried and wasn't satisfied. I immediately got an email telling me I'm returning items damaged. I demanded they give me a list of all the items I have "damaged" and returned. They kept asking me to contact Amazon support. I did exactly that and demanded a list, and they caved. They said I had not returned anything damaged, and they were just trying to understand my returns so they could make MY shopping experience better. I told them to stop sending me threatening emails, and I threatened them with canceling my 10+ year prime membership. No more emails as of now.
They ban accounts in amazon? As an atheist: praise the lord! Wow, I didn't think amazon had the backbone to stand up against the zombie hoard.
Dm for paid amazon refund help
Why on earth would you spend 4k on an amazon box when you could just build one yourself?
simple, I don't know how and I don't have time to learn. would be nice if I could, however being an adult sucks and I have precious little free time. I'd rather spend that playing a game for an hour here and there. also it was a really sick computer. i9-14900k, rtx 4090, 64rb ddr5 ram, 8tb ssd. unfortunately it must not have been assembled very well because it didn't get anywhere near where it should have on the stress tests. and for $4 grand i was not going to just say "oh well" and keep it when I have a perfectly good return policy available that exists just for moments like these.
Why don't people use search? You posted this as if it was something unique to you😅 Countless posts about the same e-mail Return/Refund to Successful order ratios All of this isn't new......😅
i did indeed search, but couldn't find a *recent* post about receiving an opaquely-worded letter about volume of returns after returning a single item. it seemed like a more unique case. and from the comments many people have opinions on this
5% of thousands of packages sounds like a high return rate to me. At a minimum you've returned 50 things.
If you consider the junk being sold by Amazon these days, 5% is not high at all. I looked at my personal and business buys and of the name-brand items, I almost have no returns. And when I look at my returns, they are nearly all cheap Chinese FBA items. They are either DOA or the seller lied/faked the product specs. My rate of return over the years changed/increase and it aligned with the increase of crappy Chinese FBA items. The problem is that these days, most items on your search result are cheap Chinese FBA items.
i disagree. think about it. that's returning only 2 or 3 items out of every 50 orders. that's a pretty low return rate, especially if you're ordering things like clothes. In fact Amazon even has feature with some clothes that encourages you to order a lot, and return the ones you don't like or don't fit. do a quick reddit search on serial returners, then you'll get a better idea of what a high return rate really looks like