Amazon did what?

[Chama]

Amazon shipped me an obviously used product instead of the new one I ordered! Yep, they really did. I ordered a Victron 100/50 Charge Controller from Amazon. It arrived on Friday and when I opened the shipping box, the Victron package box inside was beat up and actually had portions of a previous shipping label on it.

When checking the Victron unit, it had obvious signs that the unit had been previously put in service by someone. It has white spray paint on it and you could clearly see where the unit had been bolted to a wall. Naturally, I took photos of the box with other shipping labels and of the product itself showing signs of a previous installation. I sent an email address with the photos of box and product and, naturally, the address the CS rep gave me did not work. Does anyone know of a working email address at Amazon for such matters?

[diannelgraham]

Originally Posted by Chama

Amazon shipped me an obviously used product instead of the new one I ordered! Yep, they really did. I ordered a Victron 100/50 Charge Controller from Amazon. It arrived on Friday and when I opened the shipping box, the Victron package box inside was beat up and actually had portions of a previous shipping label on it.

When checking the Victron unit, it had obvious signs that the unit had been previously put in service by someone. It has white spray paint on it and you could clearly see where the unit had been bolted to a wall. Naturally, I took photos of the box with other shipping labels and of the product itself showing signs of a previous installation. I sent an email address with the photos of box and product and, naturally, the address the CS rep gave me did not work. Does anyone know of a working email address at Amazon for such matters?

If it has free returns I would just return it as defective and then order a new one. A lot faster then trying to talk to a real person at a Amazon.

[emers382]

We had a CPAP mask arrive from Amazon obviously used. Yuck! Sent it back and said we'd never order any CPAP stuff from them.

Just this week I had to return a vacuum cleaner filter which was the wrong one, even though the part number on Amazon was the same as the one printed on old part.

[oldwave]

Yes I ordered a multiplus 2000 from them and it was clearly opened, their victron supplier is lame. I recommend PKYS in Maryland for ordering Victron equipment. Peter is knowledgeable and honest and will tell you not to buy something from him if it’s not going to do the job correctly. Great experience.

[Rossue]

Yeah, just return it; no one bats 1000. On the other hand I recently bought a Moen wall mount faucet from Amazon. New price $300- Used-like new $100. It was like new.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by oldwave

.... I recommend PKYS in Maryland for ordering Victron equipment ...

Another huge fan of PKYS here, not just for Victron but all of the lines they carry. My experience with many orders has been consistently excellent service (and their 'notify when back in stock' system really works!).

As for Amazon .... yeah, I use 'em on occasion, have several commodities on convenient 'recurring subscription' to keep my elder Mom stocked-up on essentials, and yeah sometimes stuff happens. But at least in my experience with Prime the returns system is painless. YMMV.

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by Chama

Amazon shipped me an obviously used product instead of the new one I ordered! Yep, they really did. I ordered a Victron 100/50 Charge Controller from Amazon. It arrived on Friday and when I opened the shipping box, the Victron package box inside was beat up and actually had portions of a previous shipping label on it.

When checking the Victron unit, it had obvious signs that the unit had been previously put in service by someone. It has white spray paint on it and you could clearly see where the unit had been bolted to a wall. Naturally, I took photos of the box with other shipping labels and of the product itself showing signs of a previous installation. I sent an email address with the photos of box and product and, naturally, the address the CS rep gave me did not work. Does anyone know of a working email address at Amazon for such matters?

Just go to your order page select the item, choose 'Return or replace items', when asked the reason for the return enter choose item not as described and in the free text enter that the 'Item was USED, NOT NEW. It had obviously been previously returned.

[mfschu]

Last week I ordered a cover for my Honda generator. What showed up was a tiny little bag the size of a pencil case! Of course I'm returning it and ordered another which was perfect. I've had good luck buying opened or slightly used items sometimes from Amazon to save a few dollars. Mostly things like a tonneau cover or something that I know is going to take some abuse right away.

[Carmel Clown]

I have started ordering things directly from a company’s website instead of Amazon. I haven’t had to wait long and they sometimes have free shipping or a cheap option. But I prefer to buy from somewhere other than China and ordering directly allows me to see where a product is made.

[Mike G]

The Amazon warehouse people aren't always going to look inside to verify a return is ok for return to stock, nor to look inside before packing to ship. Not every worker is conscientious. But returns certainly are easy, especially if one lives close to a dropoff point.


About buying elsewhere: sometimes another site will be cheaper or better than Amazon, sometimes not. Recently my wife picked out some sneakers, a brand called Fitville, and wanted me to order them in size 8W. It's the size she has always worn, no problems, that size almost always fits her fine. Amazon's price was a bit lower than theFitville dot com website and the latter didn't have free returns, but every time I tried to check out on Amazon the description would change to say size 6.5! So I ordered direct from Fitville. Big mistake, I rolled the dice and lost, because it turns out the shoes shipped from China and took a couple weeks. Then the shoe openings were so small my wife could not even get her feet into them! No real tongue, it was a faux tongue in appearance only, which made the laces essentially decorative. Return shipping was about $16 on a $50 pair of shoes, ouch! And they made me submit 3 specific photos of the product to verify condition, before they would even reveal the return address!
As it turns out (when we got the shoes we discovered), they are sold as "unisex" and the man's size (equivalent to women's 8W) is 6.5... which explains what Amazon checkout was showing me.

[Vermilye]

Another point with Amazon - many items listed on Amazon are not actually provided by Amazon, but one of their associates. While complaints are probably a good idea, check who you are complaining to, and be sure to check the company ratings.

[rbryan4]

I've noticed Amazon trying to pull a fast one more frequently these days.

Had an old Purdy 2.5" XL-Glide paint brush that I finally admitted needed replacing after over 30 years of service. Ordered a new one on Amazon.

When it arrived there was no paper wrapper, just a loose brush. Punched on the copper ferrule were the letters S E C O N D.

Clearly they'd sent a second rather than first quality, and charged me first quality price. The return was easy enough, but it smacks of shiftiness.

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

I've noticed Amazon trying to pull a fast one more frequently these days.

Had an old Purdy 2.5" XL-Glide paint brush that I finally admitted needed replacing after over 30 years of service. Ordered a new one on Amazon.

When it arrived there was no paper wrapper, just a loose brush. Punched on the copper ferrule were the letters S E C O N D.

Clearly they'd sent a second rather than first quality, and charged me first quality price. The return was easy enough, but it smacks of shiftiness.

With Amazon you have to pay attention to the seller and who it is shipped by;


Sold and Shipped by Amazon.
First quality products, no hassle returns.

Though I have more recently seen some previously returned products. When I do I always order the replacement wait for it to come, before sending back the return. That way I'm sure to not get the same item back, and make sure I have one good working item between the two of them.




3rd party seller. Shipped by Amazon.
Caveat Emptor on the product, no hassle returns.




Sold and shipped by 3rd party.
Caveat Emptor on the product, returns might be a hassle. However, Amazon customer service will usually make it right even if the Seller pushes back.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by TTMartin

With Amazon you have to pay attention to the seller and who it is shipped by

Yep, I've always assumed that if it was sold and shipped by them, it would always be first quality. But this "second" item was actually sold and shipped by Amazon. Go figure.

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Yep, I've always assumed that if it was sold and shipped by them, it would always be first quality. But this "second" item was actually sold and shipped by Amazon. Go figure.

Unfortunately, people will buy items that are Seconds from eBay, Alibaba, or the like. Then buy a first quality product from Amazon and return the Second to Amazon as unused not needed. This didn't use to impact other people other than raising the overall cost to everyone, when Amazon didn't resell unused returns. I wonder if you ordered the item again before returning the existing one if you would get a second again. I'm guessing no.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by TTMartin

Unfortunately, people will buy items that are Seconds from eBay, Alibaba, or the like. Then buy a first quality product from Amazon and return the Second to Amazon as unused not needed. This didn't use to impact other people other than raising the overall cost to everyone, when Amazon didn't resell unused returns. I wonder if you ordered the item again before returning the existing one if you would get a second again. I'm guessing no.

Any number of things could have happened, but the thing that bothers me is that Amazon knowingly sold as new, a second, clearly stamped, and without the retail sleeve/packaging. That's just wrong.

[emers382]

Good news for a change on Amazon. We just received an order twice but was not double charged, most of it was dog bones which we can't return, oh well.

[Mike G]

This reminds me of the time my son bought a 5 quart jug of synthetic motor oil at walmart. When he opened it he discovered it was full of waste oil. Someone returned it, pulled a fast one on WM, and the workers never noticed & put it on the shelf for sale.


Stuff happens. Nobody's perfect. And some don't even try.

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by Mike G

This reminds me of the time my son bought a 5 quart jug of synthetic motor oil at walmart. When he opened it he discovered it was full of waste oil. Someone returned it, pulled a fast one on WM, and the workers never noticed & put it on the shelf for sale.

Stuff happens. Nobody's perfect. And some don't even try.

I had rented a Case 580 backhoe for 24 hours. It was getting dark and I wasn't finished, so I ran to Home Depot right before they closed to buy halogen lights on a stand. I got back to set it up and found out I had purchased a box of rocks. SMH

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Mike G

Stuff happens. Nobody's perfect. And some don't even try.

True enough. But just to be clear, in my case it was a product without any package at all. Literally an unwrapped paint brush, stamped second. It's one thing for the merchant to be fooled by their stock due to some customer sleight of hand. It's quite another when the sleight of hand is obviously from the merchant themselves. [emoji53]