5 ms·

I just ordered a MyQ garage door hub from Amazon Warehouse (listed as missing or damaged original packaging). When I opened it up it felt a little off. The prot

by eco 7y ago

I just ordered a MyQ garage door hub from Amazon Warehouse (listed as missing or damaged original packaging). When I opened it up it felt a little off. The protective film on the device had obviously been removed and reattached and nothing fit very well in the designated slots in the packaging. The device itself had faint scratches and dust on it. I decided to check the model number and sure enough, it was the previous model. Someone had obviously ordered the new model (presumably because the new one gained support for Apple HomeKit) then stuffed their old one in the box and done a refund through Amazon. Amazon handled it fine and I got a replacement that was correct but now I'm pretty skeptical of how Amazon processes the returned items they place up for sale again.

irrational 7y ago
Similar experience with a sawhorse. It was clearly a used item when I opened it. I got a replacement no problem, how is it more cost effective to pay shipping twice than to pay someone to check it once?
- JakeTheAndroid 7y ago
  The people that process the returns make next to nothing and run off a script of yes/no and anything weird gets escalated. A Q/A person to validate a range of products for authenticity (or at least more so than now) likely costs more per hour. They have their supply chain so efficient, it's likely very cheap for them to move physical items across the globe.
  - ldoughty 7y ago
    It would cost them $20/hr per validator (burdened). If only 5 items an hour are bad returns, that's $4 per item identified. It's likely cheaper to have you, the customer, do the valuation because you might not even realize the issues... And if you do, you might be too lazy to return it. Which further let's the value of hitting a validator.. so the employee would now be to probably find twice as many bad returns per hour for the company to break even.
- belltaco 7y ago
  Depends on the rate of the fraud. If, for example, 2 out of 10,000 returns are fraudulent, probably it costs lesser to process 2 replacements than check 10,000 items.
muzika 7y ago
I buy many retuned items from Amazon warehouse. I find that about 5% of them are like this - people put either their old item or some other junk back in the box. Just happened again 2 days ago with a stroller my wife bought.
rahimnathwani 7y ago
I had a similar experience with an expensive Toto toilet seat from Amazon Warehouse Deals. When it arrived, it was clear the packaging had been opened (which I expected), but: - the toilet seat had signs of handling - it didn't work when installed - the previous purchasers return note was in the box. IIRC they said the reason for return was that they changed their mind about wanting it My guess is that they bought a replacement on Amazon, and fraudulently sent back their old non-functioning one in the new packaging. Amazon gave me a refund without fuss.
mk89 7y ago
Same here. TV from Amazon warehouse; no remote control. Who knows! Maybe the person needed just the 30$ remote :)
dfcmt 7y ago
This reminds me of a story I read once of a guy who bought a 1000€ GPU from Amazon and got a 100€ GPU instead, obviously from a return. When he got to return it to get his 1000€ back, he was told that he had sent the wrong GPU, that it had been destroyed by them (like you would shred a sheet of paper) and asking for the right card to be sent to them.
- djitz 7y ago
  Something similar happened to me when I was a teenager. I bought a 3dfx Voodoo card from Best Buy the day it came out and when I got home, it had a parallel printer port card in the box. After several arguments with managers went nowhere and I finally got a hold of the regional manager and got a replacement. I thought the money I saved for so many months was lost. But alas, I was finally playing Quake deathmatch in glorious 3D after some heartache.
  - zelon88 7y ago
    When I was a kid I had a family member who would perform these "swappy swaps" that you were the victim of. He would go out and buy a new card, gently open the wrapper so that it could be melted back on with a heat gun, remove the card, replace it with something of similar weight, and reseal the package with a heat gun. One time I ruined the wrapper on him and he had to take the item to Blockbuster. He made up some BS about it being a birthday gift that the wrong child opened and he needed to use the cellophane machine. It didn't work, and Best Buy wouldn't accept his return. That was one of the last times I saw him use that trick. I also saw him sign up for a store credit card using someone else's social security information. His plan was to get approved, buy a TV, and then shred the card. Luckily for whoever SSN that was; their credit got denied on the application and he was unable to steal a TV. Sorry to hear your Best Buy horror story, or to think that I saw that stuff go down. On the bright side my family member no longer engages in those types of transactions and mostly flies straight these days.
    - djitz 7y ago
      Oh, that’s interesting. Back then, I was sure that an employee made the switch because of just how flawless the packaging looked. No judgement here. Pretty much everyone has done or is related to someone who does some sort of crappy thing(s). “Swappy swaps” LOL
empath75 7y ago
We got a child seat cover with a broken zipper and someone else’s name written on the tag.
Svoka 7y ago
This is why we can’t have nice things. it’s upsetting that we have to build rules and laws around “worst” behaviors.

by eco 7y ago

irrational 7y ago

Similar experience with a sawhorse. It was clearly a used item when I opened it. I got a replacement no problem, how is it more cost effective to pay shipping twice than to pay someone to check it once?

JakeTheAndroid 7y ago
The people that process the returns make next to nothing and run off a script of yes/no and anything weird gets escalated. A Q/A person to validate a range of products for authenticity (or at least more so than now) likely costs more per hour. They have their supply chain so efficient, it's likely very cheap for them to move physical items across the globe.
- ldoughty 7y ago
  It would cost them $20/hr per validator (burdened). If only 5 items an hour are bad returns, that's $4 per item identified. It's likely cheaper to have you, the customer, do the valuation because you might not even realize the issues... And if you do, you might be too lazy to return it. Which further let's the value of hitting a validator.. so the employee would now be to probably find twice as many bad returns per hour for the company to break even.
belltaco 7y ago
Depends on the rate of the fraud. If, for example, 2 out of 10,000 returns are fraudulent, probably it costs lesser to process 2 replacements than check 10,000 items.

muzika 7y ago

I buy many retuned items from Amazon warehouse. I find that about 5% of them are like this - people put either their old item or some other junk back in the box. Just happened again 2 days ago with a stroller my wife bought.

rahimnathwani 7y ago

I had a similar experience with an expensive Toto toilet seat from Amazon Warehouse Deals. When it arrived, it was clear the packaging had been opened (which I expected), but: - the toilet seat had signs of handling - it didn't work when installed - the previous purchasers return note was in the box. IIRC they said the reason for return was that they changed their mind about wanting it My guess is that they bought a replacement on Amazon, and fraudulently sent back their old non-functioning one in the new packaging. Amazon gave me a refund without fuss.

mk89 7y ago

Same here. TV from Amazon warehouse; no remote control. Who knows! Maybe the person needed just the 30$ remote :)

dfcmt 7y ago

This reminds me of a story I read once of a guy who bought a 1000€ GPU from Amazon and got a 100€ GPU instead, obviously from a return. When he got to return it to get his 1000€ back, he was told that he had sent the wrong GPU, that it had been destroyed by them (like you would shred a sheet of paper) and asking for the right card to be sent to them.

djitz 7y ago
Something similar happened to me when I was a teenager. I bought a 3dfx Voodoo card from Best Buy the day it came out and when I got home, it had a parallel printer port card in the box. After several arguments with managers went nowhere and I finally got a hold of the regional manager and got a replacement. I thought the money I saved for so many months was lost. But alas, I was finally playing Quake deathmatch in glorious 3D after some heartache.
- zelon88 7y ago
  When I was a kid I had a family member who would perform these "swappy swaps" that you were the victim of. He would go out and buy a new card, gently open the wrapper so that it could be melted back on with a heat gun, remove the card, replace it with something of similar weight, and reseal the package with a heat gun. One time I ruined the wrapper on him and he had to take the item to Blockbuster. He made up some BS about it being a birthday gift that the wrong child opened and he needed to use the cellophane machine. It didn't work, and Best Buy wouldn't accept his return. That was one of the last times I saw him use that trick. I also saw him sign up for a store credit card using someone else's social security information. His plan was to get approved, buy a TV, and then shred the card. Luckily for whoever SSN that was; their credit got denied on the application and he was unable to steal a TV. Sorry to hear your Best Buy horror story, or to think that I saw that stuff go down. On the bright side my family member no longer engages in those types of transactions and mostly flies straight these days.
  - djitz 7y ago
    Oh, that’s interesting. Back then, I was sure that an employee made the switch because of just how flawless the packaging looked. No judgement here. Pretty much everyone has done or is related to someone who does some sort of crappy thing(s). “Swappy swaps” LOL

empath75 7y ago

We got a child seat cover with a broken zipper and someone else’s name written on the tag.

Svoka 7y ago

This is why we can’t have nice things. it’s upsetting that we have to build rules and laws around “worst” behaviors.