[odnes]

This this a clear cut case and amazon should process the refund, however, in general refunding is a hard problem for Amazon to solve due to the sheer volume fraud that occurs.

For anyone unaware, go to telegram and do a public search for 'refunding'. There are hundreds of channels where you can pay someone to refund >£10,000 of stuff for you for a 10% fee. Afaik, the main method that 'refunders' use to defraud amazon is to (1) initiate a return (2) modify the return label so UPS accepts it into their system but (3) deliver it to the wrong address. So it looks to amazon as being successfully delivered to the return warehouse, but what actually got delivered was a brick, to some random house.

I wouldn't be surprised if >1% of macbook and iPhone refunds are fraudulent in this way. Someone in a cybercrime lab they should write a paper about this whole ecosystem because it is a huge black market.

[lotsofpulp]

What you described is not a hard problem, it is an expensive problem because Amazon does not want to hire human labor to deal with returns. Almost all other retailers do it, and they all have 3% profit margins.

[confiq]

> So it looks to amazon as being successfully delivered to the return warehouse, but what actually got delivered was a brick, to some random house

but how amazon does not check the quality of the return? I mean, even if UPS confirms that the package arrived to right address, wouldn't someone from amazon warehouse check if the package is valid?

[odnes]

Well there is nothing for them to check. From what I've read, they wait two weeks then mark the package as 'lost in transit'.

I think for the last-mile of delivery, couriers rely on the actual address written on the package, not the address that the barcode scans to. I might be wrong though.

[amatecha]

For returns you have to print a barcode and put it in the box. You don't get your refund until they physically scan the code in the box. Maybe it's not standard everywhere, but this process has been around for some years now. If the package never gets to the return center, no refund would be processed…

[texaswhizzle]

I’ve never been asked to print a barcode and put it in the box. I just returned a $300 item last week, and all they wanted me to do was ship it back.

This is also true for Amazon business purchases. I have returned items around $600 and have never been asked to put a code in the box.

But I’ve never returned anything over $1,000.

[amatecha]

That's interesting, maybe it's different per country or perhaps even city/region? The two times I've ever returned something, I had to put a little printed barcode thing into the box with the returned item. Just did this a couple months ago.

[muststopmyths]

Same. I return stuff frequently and they stopped the barcode-in-the-box practice a couple of years (at least) ago.

In the USA FWIW. And no super expensive stuff.

[odnes]

Hmm, maybe I'm wrong then. Though I could imagine that if this happened to you legitimately that you would have some legal recourse to get your money back; you fulfilled your end of the return by posting it, its not your fault the courier screwed up.

[longwave]

Amazon UK usually refund you as soon as the package is scanned into the shipper's tracking system. I've dropped off a return at a Hermes point and received a refund notification while walking back to my car.

There is the caveat that they will recharge you if the item isn't in good condition, but if they never receive it, I guess they can only assume the shipper lost it.