How much effort do you go through to fix a retailers error?

[Tap]

I bought 3 items on Amazon and had them sent to my mom who lives in another state. Part one was a power strip and chocolates, part two was a $70 space heater that I wanted her to have to help with the cold weather she is having.   I know I put the address in because amazon prompted me to fix a part of the address. Then I had to verify my cc number so I left the computer for a bit, finally verified it and sent the package.  I went to track the package the next day and it showed it as being shipped to my house instead of hers.  I know I put the address in and remember clicking the box selecting that address, but I guess I missed that it switched back (or honestly don't remember checking) on the final page before I ordered. 

 

I reordered the same packages but now they were going to take 4 more days to get there because of the weekend. :0( 

Oh well, I should have verified the address before the final order was placed; it was my fault. 

 

I called Amazon and talked to a very ditzy girl for 30 minutes and asked her to cancel the order that was coming to my house (or maybe she just spoke English without actually understanding it?). She kept repeating "I can confirm that the package will be delivered by 8pm Friday to your address" but finally figured out what I needed and canceled the order. The packages had already been shipped so I  requested the packages be sent back to Amazon by Fedex, without being delivered first.  She finally figured it all out and I got two emails verifying the cancellations.  I didn't open the emails, I just left them in my box.

 

The two packages had one order number but were being shipped from 2 different locations.  She canceled part one of the original order correctly, but she chose the wrong second part (a completely different order from the next day) and canceled that one instead of part 2. 

 

Part one canceled correctly.

Part two  arrived at my house.  

 

 

I called amazon back last night to have them send me a return label, so I can send the heater back.  20 minutes of time on the phone, but he understood what I needed. He kept wanting to cancel the one that was sent to my mother, instead of me.  I verified  that he was sending me a return label tor the correct one, and that I would need to drop it off at FedEX and then once Amazon received the package, they would issue a refund. I saw my email come in from Amazon so I left it in my inbox

 

 

I checked my email this am and found only a full refund for the heater....and no return label.   :cursing:  :banghead:  :banghead:  :banghead:   This guy clearly understood and even mentioned that it could take a couple of weeks for the refund to completely process through Amazon. 

 

 

At this point I don't want to call back and try to explain myself Again!  

 

 

WWYD?  just keep the refund and the heater?  Or put even more effort in to fix the mistake AGAIN.  I have already spent almost an hour on the phone fixing it!  

 

 

Seriously, I am tempted to just donate the heater to the church and give it to someone who could really use it. 

[idnib]

I would mail a letter to their corporate office giving them the order number and a deadline for sending a return label. I would tell them that after the deadline, if I had not received the return label, I would be keep both the refund and the heater. I suppose if they wanted to they could later charge you for the heater if you kept it, but you could dispute that with your cc company. I doubt it would get that far.

 

Amazon.com Inc. 
410 Terry Ave N 
Seattle, WA 98109

 

After that I would donate the heater guilt-free.

 

Edit: Keep a copy of the letter in case there's a cc dispute later. I doubt there will be.

[songsparrow]

There is the possibility that you can still refuse delivery of the package and it will go back to Amazon if you haven't opened the package. I would phone UPS and ask them about doing this.

 

If you cannot refuse delivery, I wouldn't do anything else further until you confirm that the correct items arrive to your mother and the credit goes through on your credit card.

 

After those are confirmed, I would send an email to Amazon explaining what happened and requesting a return address label for the heater that you received. Then, I would see how they reply. I always prefer to contact them in writing so that there's a written record of the conversation.

[poppy]

I'd keep the refund and the heater.  You did everything in good faith, at this point, just move on.

 

In the future, don't call amazon, use IM instead. Then you have a transcript, plus they email you stuff as you're typing. Plus I think there is  less of a language barrier with written text vs trying to understand each other's accents.

[songsparrow]

The only reason I'd hold off on keeping the heater / giving it away is because Amazon now has a return option where they'll credit the refund to you immediately but then you have 30 days to return the item. If you don't, you are re-charged for it.

[Tap]

The only reason I'd hold off on keeping the heater / giving it away is because Amazon now has a return option where they'll credit the refund to you immediately but then you have 30 days to return the item. If you don't, you are re-charged for it.

Hmmm interesting.  How would I know if they used this form of return?  

[songsparrow]

The last time I did a return where I selected that option, I received three emails from Amazon.

 

The first email had a link to print my return label.

 

The second email, received the same day, told me the amount of my refund.

 

Neither of those two emails mentioned the fact that I needed to return the items within 30 days.

 

Then the next day I received a third email from Amazon that said: "We're writing about your order, No. ---. You'll need to return the items to avoid the charges, detailed below, to your payment instrument . . . For your convenience, we've created return labels you can use to return your items. To print them out, click on the links below and follow the instructions."