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The era of “free” returns is coming to an end at Amazon and other retailers
- Khelavaster 3y agoBringing an item to UPS for free returns is totally fine..!
- erik_seaberg 3y agoIf you happen to live near a UPS store or Whole Foods, sure, but Amazon has to be doing a lot of business shipping to people in remote areas.
- Beached 3y agoas one of those people, it sticks to drove 30m one way to get to a ups store. I already avoid Amazon because returning items is such a hassle, and about 1/3 items has to be returned because damage, false advertising (getting a product other than what was listed/depicted), or wrong measurements listed on product description or any of the other many issues. most products people won't do pickup at my house already, ups stores are a pain. I hate the whole Amazon return ecosystem.
- cchance 3y agoI mean this could be solved by just adding an exception for those very rural not near a UPS, Prime, Wholefoods, Kohls... if delivery location > X minutes' drive from a free return spot, offer free return pickups
- bennyelv 3y agoThis must be US only? Consumer protection law in the EU/UK has got this covered for those citizens. There could be unforeseen consequences for this regardless: 1. The amount of dodgy sellers slinging garbage on amazon has only been growing, and the only reason I (and probably other people) risk it is because you can just send things back if they turn out to be terrible. 2. People might start damaging your goods deliberately in order to return them if they feel that your returns policy isn't fair.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago>Consumer protection law in the EU/UK has got this covered for those citizens. There's nothing in the EU guarantee free returns. All shops are allowed to get you to pay for the returns shipping fees yourself, and for the wear and tear on the product if it's been opened and used. Amazon is currently one of the few exceptions that pays for the returns fees and reimburses 100% no questions asked, but most other smaller shops don't do that.
- xulres 3y agoI don't know how it is for the rest of Europe but in Germany every big online shop and even most of the small ones offer free returns.
- FirmwareBurner 3y agoBig stores in Germany yes, but in Austria no, shipping it back is on your dime as per EU law to most but the biggest shops.
- xulres 3y agoThere is no law that says that the customer has to bear the costs of returns in the EU.
- j3r3miah 3y ago[dead]
- jen20 3y agoThese are the same, practically. I for one hope it will cause a resurgence of brick and mortar retail. Too many things are only available sight-unseen from an Amazon-alike, and turn out to be crap, not as described, poorly made etc when they arrive. Already return shipping is a pain in the ass, if it's a pain in the ass that also costs money, I will be done with Amazon for all products instead of just products prone to forgery - and with it will go my prime membership.
- cchance 3y agoReturning is literally dropping it off at kohls or a prime dropoff or ups... like i've never found the free options that are still free ... a pain in the ass lol
- mensetmanusman 3y agoReturns cost a lot of money to process. Not sure why they were free this long, definitely rife for abuse.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoI don't own a vehicle, and I'm not very strong, so taking an item somewhere for return shipping can get very tricky. Last year, I purchased a "stair climbing" hand truck through Wal*Mart, but it was sold by a third party. Big mistake. The device was defective, and had a tendency to fail catastrophically while on stairs and drop its load. I initiated the refund process, and eventually, the vendor gave me 100% back, and said to keep the item. I was very nervous the other week as I ordered a spring mattress, about 50 pounds worth. It's shipped rolled up with all the air taken out. Thankfully, I'm keeping it. The biggest return I've made is a rather heavy UPS unit that failed. It was under warranty -- thanks, TrippLite! I took a taxi to the UPS store, and I just told them to package it up. No fuss.
- rekabis 3y agoI just did a return to Amazon where I bought a pair of GFCI adapters for power cords, and got a children’s book of Christian devotionals instead. Doubly useless because both my wife and I are childless and effectively atheist. But that return was completely free of charge. We’re in Canada, if that counts, and my own history of returns may have also helped: I average only one every two years at the minimum. I can probably count less than five returns in the last decade and a half of using Amazon.