How Many Returns You Get Before Amazon Bans Your Account? No one knows for sure

[Svnla]

A lot of ATOTers are heavy Amazon users, what do you say?

I had never returned anything to Amazon, yet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/quora/this-is-why-nobody-knows_b_9695332.html?

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[SlitheryDee]

That is an interesting question. I didn't know amazon would even do that, though it makes perfect sense to me. Some customers can end up costing a business more money than they give them simply due to abusing the return policy. Being a retailer, I have intimate experience with this phenomenon. I decided long ago that I was probably better off refusing further service to these customers once I identified them rather than letting them continue to abuse me, and apparently amazon feels the same way.

 

[TwiceOver]

I have a few per year, but it is far outweighed by my quantity of orders.

 

[lupi]

Returned one item four times after which they cancelled the order and said they would investigate the problem.

 

[Pardus]

If your returns equate to more than 20% of the total volume purchased in any given month, then you are on Amazon's radar. If this continues for more than 3 months in a row, you may get banned. I purchase $5 Amazon gift cards every week, so even though I may sometimes returns up to 3 items in a month. My purchases far outweigh the returns.

Last month, I was trying to get a bluetooth headset, had to return the same item 5 times in a row as Amazon kept sending me a used one, I found someone else's hair on the headset, no way was i going to use it. That was my worse month. But Amazon did say they had a problem with the re seller, not sending a new product out to it's customers.

Amazon treats it's Prime members differently than those who do not have Prime service.

 

[DrPizza]

I'd think it would be percentage of purchases, rather than quantity of purchases - if those who run Amazon have any common sense. And, their data should be able to go even deeper - percentage of the actual value of the purchases. Hence, if you buy 10 $5 gift certificates, and buy and return one $100 purchase per month, that should also stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I do not think I have ever returned anything. I had one shipment disappear--USPS carrier lied and misdelivered--which they overnighted without any cost on my part. I think I had something arrive (DVD, BD, CD) that was unplayable and they replaced that with overnighted at their cost. But nothing returned.

 

[zerocool84]

I've only ever returned one thing to Amazon ever. I don't buy things online that I don't need or research before I buy.

 

[Sonikku]

Amazon treats it's Prime members differently than those who do not have Prime service.

Non prime users are like the plebeians in Amazon's eyes.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Am I reading the article incorrectly (or am I the only one who actually read it)?

The article is talking about Amazon SELLERS. How many returns does a seller get before he's no longer permitted to sell on Amazon? IMO, if you're an Amazon customer (buyer) you should be glad they give the boot to sellers who see an excessive number of returns.

 

[Svnla]

Am I reading the article incorrectly (or am I the only one who actually read it)?

The article is talking about Amazon SELLERS. How many returns does a seller get before he's no longer permitted to sell on Amazon? IMO, if you're an Amazon customer (buyer) you should be glad they give the boot to sellers who see an excessive number of returns.

From the article:

“Computer programmer Greg Nelson is a self-confessed Amazon addict, buying hundreds of items on its site. But after sending back 37 items of 343 purchased, the online giant has blocked his account with immediate effect - and told him he would lose a gift card balance that he had on the account.
He insists there was a genuine reason for all his returns over the past two years - the goods were either faulty, damaged, or not as described. However, Amazon has refused to let him continue buying from the site without giving him, in his words, a “proper explanation.”

Been drinking already?

 

[Strk]

I would think it would also depend on the truthfulness of why you're returning it. I can think of a post a while back about people talking about putting the wrong reason to return to avoid restocking/shipping fees. Personally, I put the reason I'm returning it. I think I've only paid once (I didn't measure properly on a tv mount). The rest of my returns have been mostly clothes, which include free returns. I actually have three things sitting in my car waiting for me to go to the UPS Store.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Am I reading the article incorrectly (or am I the only one who actually read it)?

The article is talking about Amazon SELLERS. How many returns does a seller get before he's no longer permitted to sell on Amazon? IMO, if you're an Amazon customer (buyer) you should be glad they give the boot to sellers who see an excessive number of returns.

There are parts that read like they're weeding out poor quality sellers who generate an inordinate number of returns. There are other parts that clearly say that they're talking about buyers who are essentially tire kickers who buy a buttload of stuff with no intention of keeping it. The article should be more clear.

 

[Imp]

Haven't had one in a while but I had two years in a row where it was like 3 or 4 items and I got worried.

I actually felt worse returning a bag to J.Crew a few months ago. Paid for in cash, went back the next day to return it, the cashier had to check with the manager first...

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I've actually returned quite a bit but I also buy quite a bit..

 

[SparkyJJO]

I've returned a couple things but not much. Rarely do I order something unless I'm absolutely sure I want it, and if I return it likely it is for an exchange because it arrived broken. One item I did send back a second time for a refund because the first arrived DOA and the second partially failed after only 10-15 minutes of use. Obvious QC issues with that power inverter at that point.

 

[madoka]

I think I spend about $25K per year at Amazon for personal items. I've never returned an item as it would cost me more to make the trip to the PO than to just keep it. I have complained about lost packages twice. Once with DHL and once with Ontrac, the two shadiest delivery companies out there. Ontrac listed my item as delivered, but if you went to their page, it said "delivery exception" which was their code for that the item was delivered to the wrong address.

This thread reminded me of the outrage of this poster over having been banned for life from Amazon:

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads...e-forever-because-of-too-many-returns.552203/

Eventually he admits that he returned $12,000-$14,000 worth of Macbook Pros for minor screen defects, which IMHO, justifies the ban.

 

[LTC8K6]

I've been a prime member for a while. I order from Amazon a lot. I have technically only returned one item, because almost every time I would have returned an item, Amazon has told me they did not want the wrong item back.

The one item I did return was when they sent me a 10 pack of Intel wireless cards when I had ordered just one. I sent the other nine back.

 

[pcslookout]

I returned my share of items to Amazon still no ban.

 

[pcslookout]

I would think it would also depend on the truthfulness of why you're returning it. I can think of a post a while back about people talking about putting the wrong reason to return to avoid restocking/shipping fees. Personally, I put the reason I'm returning it. I think I've only paid once (I didn't measure properly on a tv mount). The rest of my returns have been mostly clothes, which include free returns. I actually have three things sitting in my car waiting for me to go to the UPS Store.

I remember this too I always put the reason why I am returning which is not needing or wanting the item anymore.

Only once with a belt I ordered was the wrong size.

 

[pcslookout]

Returned 5 or 6 items last year and beginning of this year.

Ordered 6 to 7 items in the same time frame.

 

[SparkyJJO]

That reminds me I did return a shirt because it was too big, but I ordered the same shirt in the next size down. The one I returned was still sealed in the package because I had ordered two of that shirt and I just kept the too big one I had already opened and worn (I washed it and gave it to my dad).

 

[pcslookout]

I returned a PS4 and Surface 3

 

[pcslookout]

I wonder how many returns you can do on Newegg before you get banned as well ?

 

[Carson Dyle]

Let's face it. Amazon is in business to make money, and they do it on some very thin margins. What other recourse do they have? Although _refusing_ returns instead of blindly OKing them all comes to mind. My guess is that the labor involved in reviewing all returns makes the practice cost-prohibitive. So they accept all returns and when you trip the meter (algorithm) that says you're costing them too much money, you get the permanent boot.