I noticed when I return an item from amazon at the post office, usually after 2 hrs they refund money even before the item is delivered to amazon warehouse. But today when I returned an item no refund yet, on status saying refund will be processed after receiving item.
Did amazon change the return policy ?
Depends on the item, value, inspection requirement, theft/fraud/return rate etc. Might even be randomised spot checks.
A $20 LED bulb return isn't going to be treated the same as a $1,000 GPU.
After 2 weeks I contacted them and got the refund. Seems no more auto refund.
Always been this way, and like others have said, not for every item.
My last 2 were auto refunds, but maybe 3rd time is the charm
I've had a mix of instant auto-refunds, two weeks waits, and having to contact support.
Same happened to me. It will take 3 weeks
I just had a $100 refund and they told me to keep the item…
There was nothing really wrong with it except one of the parts was very different to what was advertised, and caused some minor issue.
All I needed was some extra, longer bolts, but they told me they will issue a refund and I can keep the product…
So now I have $100 to buy 8 new bolts at Bunnings.
They told me refund will take 3-4 business days.
Lucky you!
I cancelled Amazon Prime in time, but their promised refund never arrived.
It depends on their like IDK account safety check department (or may be called loss and prevention department review of your account department).
like you probably would have done too many returns I think to raise their early return refunds threshold
most likely value, i've returned some items around $100 or less and got instant refund once it was lodged with Auspost, but my faulty PS5 I had to wait til it arrived at their warehouse.
I got a refund for $140 bathroom led mirror, bought 15 months ago. (They said I can keep item too!) After that my auto refund stopped
What is this item that you're returning?
Zugu iPad case $112
$112 isn't cheap..
No big deal about waiting a few days/weeks for a refund.
My experiences were varied. Recent local return was on 5 Feb, I get refund on 6 Feb. Another local return was on 22 Dec, I received refund on 30 Dec. My location is in Blacktown area, the return was to Chullora - same city.
Return a board game from Amazon US on 12 Dec last year, get refunded on 11 Jan.
For me, it's been that if I paid for using and receive a refund via 'gift card/balance' then it's processed immediately. If/when I've paid via credit card and wish for the refund to go back there, then it takes ages.
i had to return some items in january which were completely different from what was advertised and each time it took a couple of weeks to be returned and for the refund to be processed. stupid me. then i bought the item i was after from aliexpress
I think, not sure, that the item has to be shipped or sold by "amazon AU" to get returns instantly. I returned two things that were just "amazon" and while the tracking showed them as coming from an AU warehouse, I haven't received a return notification yet. If that isn't the reason, I'm betting that people gamed the system and were just sending back a box of dirt. However their official policy has always been "refunded once received".
Their official line was advance refund, then if not received then they will charge your card.
I had this happen twice, once Amazon US with item dropped off at Wholefoods, and another Amazon AU. Both got charged and then I got them refunded.
However, the system has definitely changed. It got a fancy returns page showing the status of return. E.g. I returned something today (sold and shipped by Amazon AU, shoes under free return policy) The initial return screen warned that the refund can take up to 39 days, and then when I dropped the item off, there is a new tracking screen. Before it was nothing until they received and processed the item. (Sometimes they don't process the items weeks after Auspost shows it as delivered)
I have a wrong item sent return, I wonder how that will go. Once I was blamed for sending the wrong item even though I specified in the return notes that it was the wrong item to start with.
Amazon probably have an algorithm that tells them if they need to inspect the item or if they know ahead in time that it is just going in the trash or not.