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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,709
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns


@NickNack wrote:

I don't return things to Amazon very often, although I order from them every week.  I have worried about getting banned from ordering from Loft.  I always order two sizes and return one.  I wear two sizes in their clothes and usually can't even tell from the reviews which size I should order.  I wonder if all retailers have a policy like this.


Although it doesn't answer your question about "all retailers" this excerpt from the linked article might give you some insight:

 

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that chains such as Best Buy Co. and J.C. Penney Inc., have hired a third-party firm called Retail Equation to develop a “risk score” on each customer for the purpose of policing returns.

The eyes through which you see others may be the same as how they see you.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,892
Registered: ‎07-03-2013

Re: Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns

The shoppers referenced in the article must have known they were doing something shady.  Especially the ones who bought just to be able to leave a review.  I think banning isn't such a bad idea because extra costs end up being spread across all customers.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,522
Registered: ‎11-20-2013

Re: Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns

I'm so sick and tired of the dishonesty and fraud going on everywhere that I'm glad they've started doing this. Problem is, some of the stuff they sell is junk and should be returned, and the only way you'd know is to get it home. Maybe if they weed out all those false reviews they can concentrate on that. I use fakespot.com all the time and most often the items are a D or F, meaning reviews are false determined by some algorithm. A lot of the third party sellers are defrauding the customer by selling knock offs and watered down  personal hygiene and beauty products with both glowing and terrible reviews. I'm not buying their clothing until they iron out all the wrinkles. LOL

 

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Re: Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns

The second link is one that requires that I turn off my ad-blocker. Is this info available anywhere else, or could someone c/p it?

 


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Re: Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns


@suzyQ3 wrote:

The second link is one that requires that I turn off my ad-blocker. Is this info available anywhere else, or could someone c/p it?

 


@suzyQ3  Here it is.  

 

AmazonAmazon is said to be punishing customers for making what the company considers to be too many returns. AP

 

 

Amazon is said to be barring customers the company thinks have returned too many items.

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday documented complaints that the e-commerce giant had barred customers who had returned items. Amazon apparently failed to alert the customers that they had returned too many items before the bans.

The Journal spoke with two people and cited dozens more online who said they had been barred from Amazon, as well as others who received emails from the company after returning some items.

 

The wave of account closings were apparently linked to concerns regarding review fraud.

Some people in private Facebook groups who were barred from Amazon admitted to violating policies through activities like leaving good reviews in exchange for a reward, such as gift cards. Some said they may have committed acts, such as reviewing products they received free or at a discount, that they did not realize were not allowed. And others said they had no recollection of violating the company's policies.

Returns can create issues for retailers. In addition to costing the company money, some Amazon customers may also be purchasing items and then returning them in exchange for payment or rewards, falsely inflating the reviews of third-party sellers.

"We want everyone to be able to use Amazon, but there are rare occasions where someone abuses our service over an extended period of time," an Amazon spokesman told The Journal. "We never take these decisions lightly, but with over 300 million customers around the world, we take action when appropriate to protect the experience for all our customers."

Amazon is not alone in this. Best Buy, Home Depot, Victoria's Secret, and a host of other retailers are discreetly tracking how often shoppers return purchases and, in some cases, punishing people who are suspected of abusing their return policies.

In March, The Journal reported that the third-party company The Retail Equation keeps "return activity reports" on customers dating back several years. If The Retail Equation notices activity it considers fraudulent, customers can be punished.

Fraud costs retailers up to $17 billion annually in the US, according to The Retail Equation.

"Rather than forcing retailers to impose stricter return policies such as 'no receipt, no return' or 14-day limits on returns, the system actually allows retailers to offer the other 99 percent of consumers more lenient and flexible return policies," the company says on its website.

 

 

The Bluebird Carries The Sky On His Back"
-Henry David Thoreau





Honored Contributor
Posts: 41,255
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns

here you go.......for those having problems accessing the information.

 

 

Amazon is said to be barring customers the company thinks have returned too many items.

 

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday documented complaints that the e-commerce giant had barred customers who had returned items. Amazon apparently failed to alert the customers that they had returned too many items before the bans.

The Journal spoke with two people and cited dozens more online who said they had been barred from Amazon, as well as others who received emails from the company after returning some items.

 

 

The two people who spoke with The Journal seem to be part of a wave of hundreds of people who were barred from Amazon in late March and early April, as previously reported by Business Insider.

 

The wave of account closings were apparently linked to concerns regarding review fraud.

 

Some people in private Facebook groups who were barred from Amazon admitted to violating policies through activities like leaving good reviews in exchange for a reward, such as gift cards. Some said they may have committed acts, such as reviewing products they received free or at a discount, that they did not realize were not allowed. And others said they had no recollection of violating the company's policies.

 

Returns can create issues for retailers. In addition to costing the company money, some Amazon customers may also be purchasing items and then returning them in exchange for payment or rewards, falsely inflating the reviews of third-party sellers.

"We want everyone to be able to use Amazon, but there are rare occasions where someone abuses our service over an extended period of time," an Amazon spokesman told The Journal. "We never take these decisions lightly, but with over 300 million customers around the world, we take action when appropriate to protect the experience for all our customers."

 

Amazon is not alone in this. Best Buy, Home Depot, Victoria's Secret, and a host of other retailers are discreetly tracking how often shoppers return purchases and, in some cases, punishing people who are suspected of abusing their return policies.

 

 

In March, The Journal reported that the third-party company The Retail Equation keeps "return activity reports" on customers dating back several years. If The Retail Equation notices activity it considers fraudulent, customers can be punished.

Fraud costs retailers up to $17 billion annually in the US, according to The Retail Equation.

 

"Rather than forcing retailers to impose stricter return policies such as 'no receipt, no return' or 14-day limits on returns, the system actually allows retailers to offer the other 99 percent of consumers more lenient and flexible return policies," the company says on its website.

 

- via the business insider

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-bans-people-too-many-returns-2018-5

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 33,631
Registered: ‎03-20-2010

Re: Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns

[ Edited ]

This has been going on for years.....a relative was a Dept Store Manager and she told how customers bought dresses for proms, weddings, New Year's Eve parties etc and of course returned them the day after the event....some even had food stains on them.......  Several families bought their kids school clothes and right before the next school year they were returned stating "they didnt wear well"......  Corporate Headquarters told her she had to take them back even though she knew people were ripping the store off..............

 

Let's see- Amazon's Prime is going up in price, they play pricing games with thousands of items to offset sales at other stores, meanwhile they raise prices on others and since people think Amazon is always the lowest and dont comparison shop, they get those sales too, they expanded into technology, and then the grocery game....And word has it that they want to expand into banking and medical insurance.....

Now we hear that big mighty Amazon can't take a few returns back after the billions they make..Hmmm sounds like Amazon is getting a tad greedy.....I find it amusing that some customers tried to take advantage of Amazon.......Could it be "karma" because Amazon has taken advantage of customers and driving other retailers out of business along with lost jobs................

 

 

I returned an item because one of their third party vendors didnt send me the named brand item he had pictured and included in the descriptin of the item....I got a piece of cheap junk instead, a credit card hacked, and they ARE NOT always the cheapest........Never shopped with Amazon again!!!  

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,733
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns

@NickNack@sunshine45, thank you both.

 

@Spurt, your prerogative, of course. Personally, I always comparison shop, and almost always, Amazon wins. I also have always received stellar CS. I've had any occasional problem fixed almost immediately.

 

And I don't blame them, no how big they are, for wanting to drop those who have become a liability, although I hope that after this article, they will give people a warning.


~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,399
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Banned from Amazon: The Shoppers Who Make Too Many Returns

People get all bent out of shape when they get THE LETTER from QVC shutting off shopping privileges due to too many returns.  Apparently they don't realize all merchants have their eyes on customer returns.

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