As you know, Amazon has a reputation of always striving for customer satisfaction, even if it means letting them keep both the item and payment, often out of the third party seller’s pocket, in cases when something goes wrong with the order.
Amazon shoppers can hardly tell the difference between purchasing directly from Amazon and buying from a third party seller.
While Amazon is known to offer painless refunds and issue additional credits for any inconvenience, sellers usually fight disputes and avoid refunding, unless necessary.
Recently, a Canadian woman called Mannella had a very negative experience when shopping on Amazon and placing her order from a third party seller.
The Vancouver woman’s online nightmare began when she went searching for a key fob shell case for her 2009 Mazda 5.
She found one on Amazon from a third-party seller. The product description stated no programming was required.
“It said simply swap your existing electronics inside this key shell and install your original key to this key case. It was supposed to be as simple as that,” she said.
After buying two key fob shell cases, Mannella said she swapped the fobs as instructed.
“I hit the beeper and the lights went on and I thought it works. Then I had to go somewhere the next day and when I turned the car over it would not start,” said Mannella.
She was forced to have her car towed to a nearby dealership where a vehicle diagnostic test later determined she needed two new keys cut and reprogrammed for her car to start up again.
The total bill for the inconvenience was $436.09 (CAD).
“It wasn’t Mazda’s fault. It was Amazon’s fault. They shouldn’t be listing something like that on their site if they can’t back it,” Mannella said.
She said she reached out to both Amazon and the third-party seller. She was eventually refunded for the two key fobs, but not for her car bill.
“I was refunded for the product, but not for the Mazda bill,” Mannella said.
“I asked them for what I wanted in writing and verbally and I couldn’t move that forward myself,” she added.
A national retail advisory firm based in Vancouver said when it comes to third-party sellers on Amazon, consumers are taking their chances.
“What attracts us to Amazon is how quick it is to click and get something. Amazon’s idea of customer service is really about making that easy and making sure the package gets to you super quickly.
But in terms of the quality of that item or any follow up on after sale support it’s really buyer beware. If you are in Canada and you are buying from a Canadian company you know that there are consumer protection laws here. You are not really covered when you are buying from anywhere in the world coming through Amazon, so shoppers should know that,” they added.
Once the story became medialized, the consumer advisory firm reached out to Amazon on Mannella’s behalf. Within days, she received a $500 gift card from the e-commerce giant as a goodwill gesture.
Since Amazon was notified about Mannella’s experience, the key fob shell case she purchased is now listed as “currently unavailable” and the product description of “no programming is required” has been removed.
And what actually happened with the seller?
Amazon’s A-to-Z guarantee only covers the original product price and shipping cost. No additional credits can be taken out of the seller’s balance to cover any damages the buyer incurred by using the product.
If the seller was based in the same country as the buyer, she would be able to take the matter to local authorities and demand a repayment, however this wasn’t the case.
So Amazon simply compensated the buyer and the seller was most likely hit with a Customer Product Condition Complaint, which caused his listing to become blocked and require a Plan of Action.
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