[jasonkester]

Seems entirely reasonable to shut off a customer like this.

It makes sense for Amazon to eat losses in returns, since the goodwill it generates offsets the a comparatively tiny losses it has to eat. But at some point you have to draw a line with obviously abusive customers. 37 returns in 3 years in not something that happens to a regular unlucky guy. It's the pattern you see in the guy who buys the 50" plasma screen a week before the Superbowl then returns it the day after. It's a guy you don't want as your customer.

[SyneRyder]

Even if the returns are genuine, it appears that puts him at over a 10% return rate. That's stratospheric - I believe 1% or less is a more typical range.

[anon1385]

There are categories of products on Amazon where the majority of the listings are counterfeit products. One could easily face returning a product 3 or four times before finding a listing that is what it claims to be (or before giving up and finding a retailer that isn't trying to defraud you).

Examples include oral-b toothbrush heads and "genuine" apple laptop batteries.

[massysett]

Because of this I only buy items that Amazon ships and sells if the item is a brand name item that is widely available. (Fulfilled by Amazon can be ok if buying from a brand that has chosen to have Amazon do all their fulfillment.) The amount of deceptive, substandard, and counterfeit crap on Amazon's site is enormous and they don't seem to be trying to do anything about it.

[forgetsusername]

At what point do you simply stop trying to buy these items from Amazon? I don't purchase everything from there; it's good for some things, terrible for others. Mailing stuff back is a pain.

[dazc]

Are these sold by amazon or marketplace sellers?

[anon1385]

>Dispatched from and sold by Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oral-B-TriZone-Electric-Toothbrush-R...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oral-B-Precision-Clean-Toothbrush-Re...

See the various reviews about them coming apart and cutting people in the mouth. Being able to scrape off the logo with a fingernail is the usual giveaway.

[dazc]

My impression here is that some people are getting fakes, possibly because they are buying from marketplace sellers. The reviews don't distinguish but the number of positive reviews suggests this?

That said, one has to ask why Oral B, and others, are allowing their brands to be tarnished in this way. I'm assuming there are many more dissatisfied customers who don't take the trouble to leave a review?

[tyingq]

If you expand the replies to most of the unfavorable reviews, it becomes clear that the fakes are from marketplace sellers, and not the main listing. As you say though, Amazon and Oral B should be doing something about it.

[awinder]

Don't forget the historical context here too: physical stores don't have costs in return shipping for unhappy customers, and this was as much a move to ease customer concerns about online shopping earlier on. Amazon isn't paying register employees and gets a lot of expense saving out of that, in return they probably were going to have to expect a greater rate of return. He also had a return rate of 10%, so maybe labeling the guy as a total problem customer is a bit much.

I don't understand why Amazon wouldn't trend towards a restocking fee if they were really concerned about this type of customer. And it seems like they generate way more bad will (and likelihood of lawsuits and regulations) for stuff like not refunding gift card balances. But it's their biz so, whatever.

[joesmo]

So the customer didn't do anything wrong but Amazon should be able to lie to him about their policies and fuck him over when its convenient for them just to make a few extra dollars. Yeah, that seems really reasonable to me.

[lucaspiller]

Also in the UK returns on Amazon are free, so it must be costing them quite a bit.

[1293712]

Have you actually used Amazon in Europe?

[samastur]

Yes, regularly. Never had to return a thing.