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I recently had a similar experience with Amazon. I bought a pair of AirPods but didn’t like them, so I returned them the next day. Amazon confirmed they’d recei

I recently had a similar experience with Amazon. I bought a pair of AirPods but didn’t like them, so I returned them the next day. Amazon confirmed they’d received the package, but when the estimated refund date passed, I got a message saying they needed more information. When I contacted customer service, they told me I had to send them a copy of my ID to process the refund. I was really frustrated; I’ve had this account for over 20 years and never had any issues before. I spoke with several representatives, but they all gave me the same response, and a few were even rude and aggressive, something I’d never experienced with Amazon before. Since I didn’t want to share my ID, I decided to go through my credit card provider (Visa) instead and filed a claim. Visa refunded my money, but shortly after, I got an email from Amazon asking why I’d raised a Section 75 claim (the UK’s credit card protection scheme) and informing me that my account would be closed for fraudulent activity. I replied with proof that they had received my return and never issued a refund. That was the last I ever heard from them, and the last time I bought anything from Amazon.

YokoZar 1y ago
> I’ve had this account for over 20 years and never had any issues before. "Aged" accounts are a thing you can buy on the black market, as well as hacked accounts of users with long chains of legitimate activity. It's not as strong of an anti-fraud signal as you might think.
- vdfs 1y ago
  But 20 years of regular purchases to the same address(es) is easy for them to verify
  - qcnguy 1y ago
    Yes but so what? All that proves is the account is aged. It doesn't prove it's not been taken over or sold. People move pretty regularly or order things for friends/family, a change of address doesn't mean anything.
    - stanski 1y ago
      So they sold their account to a fraudster who also moved into their old address? Sure, it's possible but now verging on the ridiculous. They can use common sense for the refund. They are just choosing not to.
      - y0eswddl 1y ago
        the real reason is that adding friction to returns decreases them in general - even legitimate ones.
      - qcnguy 1y ago
        You don't know they sold their account to a fraudster. You only know that the delivery address changed. That's a very weak signal.
qcnguy 1y ago
Amazon is in a hard spot with this stuff. They have massive problems with refund fraud, where people buy things and returning fake or used items in the box. Asking for ID is one way they try to spot people who are engaged in this activity repeatedly. When you refused to show your ID and did a chargeback, you did the exact same thing actual fraudsters end up doing, and of course they need to fraudulent accounts as otherwise the whole concept of mail-order returns collapses. You didn't explain why you didn't want to share your ID with Amazon, but it's not an unreasonable request from them as a way to combat fraud.
- rasz 1y ago
  How is ID going to help with this in any way? They charge you (bank account/CC) and send you stuff (address), they inspect the return (or rather Should inspect it). What more would they need?
  - lostmsu 1y ago
    Limit people from creating more accounts.
    - y0eswddl 1y ago
      it was an account with almost 20 years of purchase history, how does that even apply?
      - chipsrafferty 1y ago
        A perfect account for a fraudster to buy/hijack.
        smegger001 1y ago
        Not if its all being sent to the same address as always
        1y ago
techjamie 1y ago
AirPods are very commonly swapped with fakes and returned. It wouldn't surprise me if they added a blanket policy requiring ID for all AirPod refunds no matter what. Source: I work in LP, but not for Amazon.
- joquarky 1y ago
  That's Amazon's problem, not mine. They should inspect their returns more carefully before refunding.
  - mlrtime 1y ago
    Apple products and a few other brands go through a different process for returns at Amazon. Amazon can't verify everything, but for it's own Fire devices it does check S/Ns. Also Apple has it's own system, they do not mess around. I suggest not buying Apple products from Amazon.

YokoZar 1y ago

> I’ve had this account for over 20 years and never had any issues before. "Aged" accounts are a thing you can buy on the black market, as well as hacked accounts of users with long chains of legitimate activity. It's not as strong of an anti-fraud signal as you might think.

vdfs 1y ago
But 20 years of regular purchases to the same address(es) is easy for them to verify
- qcnguy 1y ago
  Yes but so what? All that proves is the account is aged. It doesn't prove it's not been taken over or sold. People move pretty regularly or order things for friends/family, a change of address doesn't mean anything.
  - stanski 1y ago
    So they sold their account to a fraudster who also moved into their old address? Sure, it's possible but now verging on the ridiculous. They can use common sense for the refund. They are just choosing not to.
    - y0eswddl 1y ago
      the real reason is that adding friction to returns decreases them in general - even legitimate ones.
    - qcnguy 1y ago
      You don't know they sold their account to a fraudster. You only know that the delivery address changed. That's a very weak signal.

qcnguy 1y ago

Amazon is in a hard spot with this stuff. They have massive problems with refund fraud, where people buy things and returning fake or used items in the box. Asking for ID is one way they try to spot people who are engaged in this activity repeatedly. When you refused to show your ID and did a chargeback, you did the exact same thing actual fraudsters end up doing, and of course they need to fraudulent accounts as otherwise the whole concept of mail-order returns collapses. You didn't explain why you didn't want to share your ID with Amazon, but it's not an unreasonable request from them as a way to combat fraud.

rasz 1y ago
How is ID going to help with this in any way? They charge you (bank account/CC) and send you stuff (address), they inspect the return (or rather Should inspect it). What more would they need?
- lostmsu 1y ago
  Limit people from creating more accounts.
  - y0eswddl 1y ago
    it was an account with almost 20 years of purchase history, how does that even apply?
    - chipsrafferty 1y ago
      A perfect account for a fraudster to buy/hijack.
      - smegger001 1y ago
        Not if its all being sent to the same address as always
        1y ago

techjamie 1y ago

AirPods are very commonly swapped with fakes and returned. It wouldn't surprise me if they added a blanket policy requiring ID for all AirPod refunds no matter what. Source: I work in LP, but not for Amazon.

joquarky 1y ago
That's Amazon's problem, not mine. They should inspect their returns more carefully before refunding.
- mlrtime 1y ago
  Apple products and a few other brands go through a different process for returns at Amazon. Amazon can't verify everything, but for it's own Fire devices it does check S/Ns. Also Apple has it's own system, they do not mess around. I suggest not buying Apple products from Amazon.