A Problem with Getting a Refund from Amazon

Twodogs on 16/07/2022 - 00:11
Last edited 04/08/2022 - 13:42

I have a problem with amazon i bought 2x 4TB western digital nas drives from this deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/690476 .
When they arrived they were loose in a box with 1 small piece of bubble wrap and instinctively took a photo .
I put them in my nas and it couldnt initialise 1 and the other just made a grinding noise them took them out and connected them in a hard drive caddy and spent ages trying to get it working , eventualy i went to WD website and downloaded their hard drive tester both of the drives failed .
So i jump on amazon and start a return for them the same day i got them had to pack them up and take them to the parcelpoint , so i bought them friday then sent them back the following wednesday 5 days later.
I contacted amazon with their chat tool told them i wanted them replaced as ive waited 10 days for them to arrive they said they cant replace the drives they said no as they were from amazon usa , i said yes but i ordered them from amazon australia they said all they can do is a refund ok well they said it takes 5 -10 days for a refund ……………….. well 10 days later still no refund , contacted them again they said they cant give me a refund until the drives arrive in the USA and said i need to wait 2-3 more weeks ….. as you can imagine i lost my shit……. what i wanted to know is amazon right about the refund taking so long ? or are they bullshitting me .Ive made over 500 orders from amazon australia and this is my first return so i dont really know if theyre lying to me.

Thanks in advance.

P.s my apologies for the great wall of text …….
Here's how they arrived https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/51366/97023/phuqed_hdd…

EDIT : ::::::::::: Thanks for the reply's and with everyone saying this is normal practice makes me feel so much better i was rolling it over in my mind constantly working myself up and getting more angry ……. ah well im bloody idiot :-) .

** Finally my refund has been deposited back on my CC , one thing i would say is unless its an incredible deal buy from Aus Amazon . For me it was not worth the time it took from the day i ordered 17th June to 4/8/22 and how ever long it takes for my 2 new hard drives arrive which ARE NOT from amazon to finaly set my nas up **

Computing Computer Component Hard Drive Western Digital

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Comments

  • Hybroid on 16/07/2022 - 00:20
    +20

    Yes, this is correct process. The items get back to Amazon USA before you get a refund. Especially for commonly frauded items.

    Sometimes you get a refund issued as soon as the return label is scanned at AusPost but it's not on everything and not for global store products.

    • foxmulder on 16/07/2022 - 00:40
      +1

      This. There are also times that you need to follow up after a month if there is no news.

    • Twodogs on 16/07/2022 - 12:23

      Thank you .

  • El cheepo on 16/07/2022 - 00:26
    +12

    They have a threshold/standard for what they instantly refund and what need verification first.
    Some stuff is quick and easy, some takes longer.

    As hybroid said, its a commonly attempted fraud item.
    They will need to verify it first before refunding you.

    Other than been inconvenient, its not exactly the end of the world. Your down $200ish bucks for a couple weeks 🤷🏽‍♂️

    • Twodogs on 16/07/2022 - 12:23

      Thank you

  • SF3 on 16/07/2022 - 00:56
    +2

    It’s Amazon very much doubt they’ll just take your money and run.

    • Twodogs on 16/07/2022 - 12:23

      Thank you

  • SBOB on 16/07/2022 - 08:18
    +2

    as you can imagine i lost my shit

    What other online retailer refunds an item before receiving the item back?
    Seems pretty reasonable condition for refund, and you chose to buy HDDs from Amazon us as the seller, knowing they were coming from the US.

    Amazon does refund without returning or once a parcel is lodged in some cases but that's a bonus, not an expected.

    • Twodogs on 16/07/2022 - 12:23

      Thank you

  • Xyzzy on 16/07/2022 - 09:38
    +3

    I've had to return items to Amazon US. It does take a while but it did go through smoothly.

    Given the huge convenience of being able to order items from the US with (currently) no additional shipping costs, often being able to get goods that it is otherwise difficult to source in Australia, a slow returns price is a small price to pay.

  • teacherer on 16/07/2022 - 10:20
    +2

    Wait for them to get back my guy

    • Twodogs on 16/07/2022 - 12:24

      Thank you

  • JimmyF on 16/07/2022 - 10:53
    +3

    contacted them again they said they cant give me a refund until the drives arrive in the USA

    Ok fair enough….Stops people sending empty boxes back etc otherwise.

    Ive made over 500 orders from amazon australia and this is my first return so i dont really know if theyre lying to me.

    So you have had 499 positive transactions. They are not lying to you, wait for your return to be well be returned to them and then they will issue you a refund.

    • Twodogs on 16/07/2022 - 12:24

      Thank you

  • garetz on 16/07/2022 - 10:57
    +3

    I wouldn't worry, you will get your refund sooner or later, i agree with you, that packaging is atrocious. That is one of the reasons i never buy internal disks from amazon, only externals that come prepackaged very well itself.

    • Twodogs on 16/07/2022 - 12:24

      Thank you

  • ozbs25 on 16/07/2022 - 11:17
    +1

    This is standard practice. The fact that they let you refund pretty much no questions asked does leave quite a bit of room for fraudulent activities. It's only fair that you get the money back once they see that you haven't sent them a brick. It takes quite a while for stuff to get back to the States so you'll have to be patient. I think I waited a month+ for an Amazon US item to be refunded.

  • Morien on 16/07/2022 - 12:01
    +1

    My goodness that is horrible packing.

    I'm only ever going to buy external drives from Amazon. At least they have their own box with packaging material.

    • Twodogs on 16/07/2022 - 12:22

      Yeah as soon as i opened the box i was are you kidding me shipped like this from the USA thats why i took the photo straight away , when i sent them back i included the photo in the package and i packaged them well as i had a heap of packaging at home as im a bit of a hoarder which has left one room in our house um unusable but thats another story as they say .

  • harshbdmmaster718 on 16/07/2022 - 16:06
    +2

    " they said they cant give me a refund until the drives arrive in the USA and said i need to wait 2-3 more weeks ….. as you can imagine i lost my shit……. what i wanted to know is amazon right about the refund taking so long ? "

    Seriously?

    That's how most refunds work, the goods have to be returned before the refund is given. I have heard so many stories of people pulling a sly one on Amazon by "claiming it's broken when it's not" or "returning something else in the box" to secure a refund. In the past some of these customers didn't get exposed until the next customer received "the returned product" and it turns out to be completely different from what was ordered. I experienced this myself with Amazon AU. It was clear to me someone purchased the product, then sent another product back in the same packaging and it was sold onto the next customer.

    Amazon AU seems to be spoiling local customers by giving the refund as soon as you drop it at the post office and scan the barcode. But you have to remember this is a "courtesy" by Amazon, they don't have to do it they are doing it as a gesture of good will that you are returning exactly what you purchased and that you are not trying to shaft them.

  • jonathonsunshine on 03/08/2022 - 15:14

    I bought a couple a drives from the Amazon Global store, if I have to return them one day cause they died, what is my window for doing this? They are Seagate Ironwolf Pro with a 5 year warranty.

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