Amazon has been accused of showing contempt for UK consumer law by insisting that customers whose orders fail to arrive submit a police report in order to qualify for a refund.
Some buyers have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after the retail giant required them to report missing deliveries to police, then refused to accept their crime reference number.
Under consumer law, it is the responsibility of the retailer to ensure purchasers receive their goods and liaise with the courier if there is a problem.
In June, the Observer investigated a complaint when a reader was told to get a crime reference number after a package with more than £70 of goods was not delivered. At the time, Amazon claimed one of its customer service agents was to blame for the misinformation.
However, since then, dozens of others have reported that they have been left without their orders, or their money, after police declined to investigate delivery failures and Amazon refused refunds.
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Customers who pay by credit or debit card can issue a chargeback via their bank, but, according to those who contacted us, Amazon is contesting their claims. Its stance comes amid soaring courier thefts, where parcels are taken from doorsteps or pilfered by delivery drivers. The number of overall claims for missing parcels jumped by 59% in the year to June, compared with the previous 12 months, according to technology firm Metapack.
At this point, it’s pretty clear that leaving packages on the doorstep and hoping they don’t get stolen is part of the current business model for couriers. Cheaper to do that than to retry delivery the next day.
I’ve had two packages stolen in the past month. Jokes on them, unless they really did want a chef hat and some paper gift bags.
I wouldn’t mind if they actually rang the doorbell or at least knocked when they did that. I’ve opened my front door after being in all day to find a surprise parcel before now.
I swear the training now is the keys to a van and a copy of Paperboy for the Commodore 64.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Some buyers have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after the retail giant required them to report missing deliveries to police, then refused to accept their crime reference number.
However, since then, dozens of others have reported that they have been left without their orders, or their money, after police declined to investigate delivery failures and Amazon refused refunds.
Sandy Fraser was told to submit a crime report after she received an unsealed box containing a power lead rather than the £1,184 computer she ordered.
When Francisco Martin failed to receive his £245 speakers, Amazon insisted the parcel had been delivered and advised him to obtain a police report.
Some Amazon Marketplace sellers have been accused of substituting worthless items that mirror the size and weight of an order to mislead parcel tracking systems.
Amazon refused to confirm whether it was company policy to demand a police report when expensive orders went missing, but admitted customer service failures in all the cases referred to it by us.
The original article contains 662 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Perhaps I’m missing something here, what is the issue with insisting thefts are reported to the police?
Isn’t a bigger issue that the
police declined to investigate delivery failures
Does that mean the police are denying a crime may have been committed? Or does it mean they agree there may have been a crime but they aren’t willing or able to commit resources to investigate what happened?
It’s because consumer protection laws put the burden on the retailer to ensure delivery of products. It’s more accurate to say that the crime has been committed against Amazon, rather than the customer.
It’s not difficult to get a crime reference number, even if the police do nothing about it afterwards, but it can be a bit of a faff in terms of time and effort - last time I did it, it took a couple of hours on the phone in all, which isn’t much, but I would’ve found it much more frustrating if I was reporting something that Amazon should have followed up.
You are missing something. The article quotes the police:
“Police Scotland told me that, since the courier’s contract is with Amazon, no crime has been committed against me and I should get Amazon to sort it out,” she said.
Thanks! I think that’s the context I was missing. OP cut a few paragraphs when quoting the article. Lesson learned I should read the source.
Does that mean the police are denying a crime may have been committed?
Unless you have, for example, video doorbell footage of a porch pirate then it could very easily be a cock-up. I can phone them.up and say someone has nicked my keys but I could very easily have left them somewhere I don’t usually do.
Most likely the latter. Like if you report your bike stolen the police isn’t going to go out and look for it but you’ll have a reference for your insurance claim.
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