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Ask HN: Why doesn't Amazon returns allow “wrong size” as a reason?
I've returned several items to Amazon recently that were the wrong size. When choosing a reason for the return, there is no option to indicate this. I have to say it "arrived too late" or there was a "better price elsewhere" or one of a dozen other inaccurate reasons. Why on earth would Amazon not offer this option, which would obviously be the correct one in many cases?
Most recently this happened with a snowboarding helmet, which was too small. Surely I'm not the only person who incorrectly guessed his snowboard-helmet-size (I've since learned it varies by brand).
In addition to helping the buyer, it would also help subsequent buyers, who would then know if an item is true to size or not.
- tvontheradio99 4y agoTBH, I think they could easily add another 10 reasons not captured in the current set. My guess is they've made a decision to limit the number of reasons to a specific number and reevaluate the list every _______ months.
- gnicholas 4y agoI get the need to limit the number of possibilities, but for articles of clothing, why would size not be one of them? I've also found that the return options vary based on which reason you pick. Sometimes they try to charge you for the return; other times it's a free UPS pickup.
- latchkey 4y agoIf they try to charge you, just contact support, be nice, and they will give you an option for free. Note: this might only work for prime members who order frequently.
- gnicholas 4y agoYeah, we've done this too. It's a bit of a hassle, and when it's after the holidays and we're returning a bunch of items it is annoying when each one has to be processed with its own QR code, which is what ends up happening.
- latchkey 4y agoI have an amazon return center pretty close to me and they have a machine that you scan the code, door opens, put item in, close door, done. I've done so many returns that the QR codes only take a few minutes to do all the items.
- gnicholas 4y agoFor me, the Amazon return center would be 60-90 mins roundtrip. There's a UPS store down the street, and a Whole Foods about 15 mins away. But regardless of where I'm returning, it's not great if I have to keep track of a bunch of different QR codes while I'm waiting in line and juggling all the packages.
- latchkey 4y agoAs someone who returns a fair number of items (we also order quite a lot too), who cares... I mean, what is that data used for? why would you care about giving them accurate data? I just pick random answers usually.
- gnicholas 4y agoAs noted in a different thread, I have found that the return options you get differ based on which option you pick. Sometimes this means you have to pay 5-10 bucks for a scheduled UPS pickup, or spend 5-10 mins on the phone with Amazon getting them to process the return as complimentary. I don't understand how this is consistent with the "free returns, for any reason" policy on so many of the items that I've bought.
- latchkey 4y agodon't call them... use the chat assistant and immediately ask for 'agent'.
- injb 4y agoI don't know if we see the same options. When I look at the options for recent purchases of things that have sizes (just checked now) I see at least 2 that are perfectly consistent with "wrong size": * bought by mistake * no longer needed Both of these are true if the item is the wrong size (unless you ordered the right size and they sent you the wrong one in which case "wrong item was sent" is appropriate).
- gnicholas 4y agoI do see how these are close to "wrong size". But my interpretation of "bought by mistake" was that I didn't mean to purchase a thing, not that I meant to purchase a thing but it turned out to be the wrong size. It's also not "no longer needed" since that implies it was once needed, which it wasn't. But I agree that these are some of the more consistent options, out of all of the possibilities.