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Maybe the reason for this is more consumer friendly laws? In the EU you can return any* online/telephone ordered purchase within 14 days (among other laws). *E

Maybe the reason for this is more consumer friendly laws? In the EU you can return any* online/telephone ordered purchase within 14 days (among other laws). *Exceptions are software, digital products, etc.

marban 5y ago
More a matter of business practice in general — The fact that Amazon makes it easier than any other shop is just one reason why I prefer peace of mind over the cheapest price. And yes, the law is in place but most shops make it way too difficult (Acknowledging the reason, time to refund, "Lost" returns, Direct vs. Marketplace, etc.).
- ohmaigad 5y ago
  You don't have to have a reason to return online order within 14 days.
  - marban 5y ago
    It makes a difference as to who's responsible for return fees.
  - donkeyd 5y ago
    You're right. That doesn't mean that some shops won't ask and expect an answer though. So even though you're legally not required to do so, you'll have to go through an argument about that with the shop, which is annoying and time consuming.
    - ruph123 5y ago
      This is not a thing. At least in Germany I never once had anyone ask me why I want to return before I could. 90% of the time you already have a return label in the package. Worse case you don’t and you cannot even request one through the website, you send an email and get the label. I was only ever asked about my return _after_ it was issued by Charles Tyrwhitt after I ordered and returned a good number of items (due to their fit being all over the place). That was fair IMO. On the other hand Amazon has numerous times shown that if you return too much (or don’t behave due to some other opaque metric) your account can get suspended. Even my account was suspended once, though I am only a moderate shopper and have returned less than 10 items over my 18 years membership. I raised the issue with support and asked why (there weren’t even any returns around that time) and they could not tell me but reinstated my account. Good demonstration of power and a reminder to move away from using kindles. Amazon returns may be easy until you cross some threshold and end up on their bad side.
      - donkeyd 5y ago
        This is a thing, at least in the Netherlands. Especially if you order from smaller shops. I hardly ever do that, but it really does happen.
    - ohmaigad 5y ago
      If the shop is giving you hard time report them to the necessary authority and never shop there again.
- ruph123 5y ago
  I did not mean that EU laws make returning on Amazon easy in general but that these laws may make Amazon less likely to behave the same in a way they do e.g. in the US.
kevindong 5y ago
It's not mandated anywhere in US law, but the vast majority of reputable retailers (e.g. Walmart, Amazon, Target etc.) have very generous return policies. They're usually far more generous than 14 days. As you might expect, there are of course reasonable limitations (e.g. customized products, digital products, etc.). Amazon: 30 days https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GKM69DUUYKQWKWX7 https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=... Walmart: 90 days https://www.walmart.com/cp/returns/1231920 https://www.walmart.com/cp/returns/1231920 Target: 90 days: https://help.target.com/help/subcategoryarticle?childcat=Returns&parentcat=Returns+%26+Exchanges&searchQuery=search+help https://help.target.com/help/subcategoryarticle?childcat=Ret...
- ruph123 5y ago
  Yet very often they charge restocking fees which is unheard of here. And also these policies are up to their discretion. As you can see in e.g. Walmart’s policy they reserve the right to decline the refund. Better to have a guarantee by having it in the law. Again as stated before, Amazon is known to shut down accounts for returning too often. E.g.: https://www.wsj.com/articles/banned-from-amazon-the-shoppers-who-make-too-many-returns-1526981401 https://www.wsj.com/articles/banned-from-amazon-the-shoppers...

marban 5y ago

More a matter of business practice in general — The fact that Amazon makes it easier than any other shop is just one reason why I prefer peace of mind over the cheapest price. And yes, the law is in place but most shops make it way too difficult (Acknowledging the reason, time to refund, "Lost" returns, Direct vs. Marketplace, etc.).

ohmaigad 5y ago
You don't have to have a reason to return online order within 14 days.
- marban 5y ago
  It makes a difference as to who's responsible for return fees.
- donkeyd 5y ago
  You're right. That doesn't mean that some shops won't ask and expect an answer though. So even though you're legally not required to do so, you'll have to go through an argument about that with the shop, which is annoying and time consuming.
  - ruph123 5y ago
    This is not a thing. At least in Germany I never once had anyone ask me why I want to return before I could. 90% of the time you already have a return label in the package. Worse case you don’t and you cannot even request one through the website, you send an email and get the label. I was only ever asked about my return _after_ it was issued by Charles Tyrwhitt after I ordered and returned a good number of items (due to their fit being all over the place). That was fair IMO. On the other hand Amazon has numerous times shown that if you return too much (or don’t behave due to some other opaque metric) your account can get suspended. Even my account was suspended once, though I am only a moderate shopper and have returned less than 10 items over my 18 years membership. I raised the issue with support and asked why (there weren’t even any returns around that time) and they could not tell me but reinstated my account. Good demonstration of power and a reminder to move away from using kindles. Amazon returns may be easy until you cross some threshold and end up on their bad side.
    - donkeyd 5y ago
      This is a thing, at least in the Netherlands. Especially if you order from smaller shops. I hardly ever do that, but it really does happen.
  - ohmaigad 5y ago
    If the shop is giving you hard time report them to the necessary authority and never shop there again.
ruph123 5y ago
I did not mean that EU laws make returning on Amazon easy in general but that these laws may make Amazon less likely to behave the same in a way they do e.g. in the US.

kevindong 5y ago

It's not mandated anywhere in US law, but the vast majority of reputable retailers (e.g. Walmart, Amazon, Target etc.) have very generous return policies. They're usually far more generous than 14 days. As you might expect, there are of course reasonable limitations (e.g. customized products, digital products, etc.). Amazon: 30 days https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GKM69DUUYKQWKWX7 https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=... Walmart: 90 days https://www.walmart.com/cp/returns/1231920 https://www.walmart.com/cp/returns/1231920 Target: 90 days: https://help.target.com/help/subcategoryarticle?childcat=Returns&parentcat=Returns+%26+Exchanges&searchQuery=search+help https://help.target.com/help/subcategoryarticle?childcat=Ret...

ruph123 5y ago
Yet very often they charge restocking fees which is unheard of here. And also these policies are up to their discretion. As you can see in e.g. Walmart’s policy they reserve the right to decline the refund. Better to have a guarantee by having it in the law. Again as stated before, Amazon is known to shut down accounts for returning too often. E.g.: https://www.wsj.com/articles/banned-from-amazon-the-shoppers-who-make-too-many-returns-1526981401 https://www.wsj.com/articles/banned-from-amazon-the-shoppers...