Amazon's Blanket BAN On TOO MANY RETURNS
Amazon has gone to WAR with everyday customers who return items purchased from its site.
One day Amazon notified Paul Fidalgo via email that his account was being permanently closed due to excessive returns. The email stated that his account was closed because he consistently returned a large number of his orders.
Paul, a 40-year-old communications director residing in Saco, Maine, mentioned that he had returned several smartphones within a short time frame, unaware of the potential consequences. Despite his pleas for Amazon to reinstate his account, the company refused.
For a year, Paul had to adjust his shopping habits by using multiple websites instead of relying on Amazon's convenient all-in-one platform. While he could still access books he had purchased for his Kindle, he was unable to buy any new ones. Paul described the experience as both frustrating and disorienting, remarking that it made him realize how deeply Amazon had become intertwined with his daily routine until he was cut off from it.
Amazon is known for having one of the most generous and lenient return policies in online shopping. However, customers are discovering that Amazon can be as unforgiving as it is accommodating.
It's not as simple as creating a new account; customers who are blacklisted by Amazon are permanently banned from using its services again. The company employs sophisticated technology to prevent banned customers from returning to the platform.
Amazon does not clearly outline the violations that can lead to account closures or the specific actions the company may take. However, some customers claim they were permanently banned for merely requesting refunds for a small number of damaged or missing items.
One such case involved a 20-year-old customer identified by The Wall Street Journal, who was informed that his Amazon account was permanently closed due to a violation of the terms of use. Not only was he banned, but Amazon also told him he could not open a new account or place orders through another customer's account.
Although Amazon’s return policy doesn’t explicitly state that excessive returns can result in a ban, the company’s terms of use reserve the right to terminate accounts at its sole discretion.
A former Amazon manager explained that the company terminates accounts for behaviors such as requesting too many refunds, returning incorrect items, or violating other rules like attempting to sell copyrighted material. These cases are typically reviewed by a human after an algorithm flags suspicious account activity.
Customers are also more likely to be flagged if they provide unusual reasons for their returns. For instance, an account might be flagged if a customer claims an item didn’t arrive as described when 99% of other customers returned the item simply because they didn’t want it.
A former senior Amazon manager noted that if a customer's behavior consistently deviates from the norm, they are not the type of customer Amazon wants.
Recently, many Amazon customers have voiced complaints on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and other forums, claiming that Amazon closed their accounts without warning or explanation.
It's possible that Amazon closes accounts because a user is identified as a problematic customer, not necessarily due to multiple refund claims. This was confirmed by a former policy enforcement investigator at Amazon.
The company also shuts down accounts when users violate other rules, such as failing to disclose compensation for writing reviews, which can create additional challenges for the company.
This scenario occurred with a popular blogger who shared her experience of being blacklisted by Amazon. She had written numerous reviews to support authors, particularly self-published ones. She also reviewed advanced copies of books obtained for free through author newsletters or directly from authors in exchange for reviews. However, she claimed she always disclosed this in her reviews.
When attempting to write her latest review, she received an error message stating she had violated Amazon's review guidelines. Although Amazon reinstated her reviewing ability twice after she contacted them, they permanently banned her on the third attempt without any explanation and did not respond to her follow-up emails.
This issue is not unique to Amazon; retailers lose billions of dollars annually due to problem customers or fraudulent behavior, including requesting refunds for used, stolen, or externally purchased items. Well-known chains like Best Buy and J.C. Penney have even hired third-party firms like Retail Equation to develop risk scores for customers to manage returns.
Ultimately, Amazon’s account closure policy is part of a broader industry trend where retailers seek to protect themselves from return abuse and customer fraud. While some may see this as unfair, Amazon has determined that certain customers are simply not worth keeping.
