Replacement instead of refund - possible scam?
A customer contacted me to say an item would not charge and started a return. When the return was under way, the customer asked me if she could have a replacement rather than a refund, as she had ordered 3 of these items from me in the past and this was the first faulty one, so she would just be ordering again. When I searched for previous orders from this customer, I could not find any. Also, when the item was returned, I could not find the fault. I messaged the customer, who then claimed that the fault is only apparent after a few minutes of use. I refunded the customer, but I believe that had I replaced the item as she wanted, instead of refunding, she would then have claimed that no refund was given. Annoyingly, she had also claimed a refund from Amazon for the return postage (using RM Special Delivery, so expensive) - something I have not seen before.
Is this a well known scam? I am a fairly new seller and have had a lot of attempted scams lately. I believe that scammers are looking for newer sellers, based on relatively few reviews.
Seller_z6B2L9xab6HlP
If you don’t provide a paid label it’s best to tell customers the maximum amount you’re willing to refund for return postage and specify which postage option they could get for that (e.g. “If the item is deemed to be faulty we will refund postage costs equivalent to Royal Mail 2nd Class Large Letter, which should cost 88p. You may like to get a certificate of posting.”)
9 replies
Seller_rGxU96BK6T914
Always try to use FBA services if your packages are not over sized. You will feel peace of mind & can concentrate on business building.
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
You actually did it right.
As a rule of thumb, never replace an item.
Far better to return and the customer re-order.
It’s safer by far.
However, the mistake you did make, is that you never sent them a label for the return postage.
You should always do this when they are claiming a fault.
That is why they were able to contact support and get a refund for what they asked.
Seller_bdSdLjti4IugQ
Doesn’t seem like a scam to me… She said she’s purchased them before either from yourself (could be under someone else account from same household not uncommon for me to order stuff on my account and my wife to order on her account for example just whoever gets their first)… You should have provided her with a free return label as part of the return if the item is faulty it’s for the seller to cover the cost… so instead shes had to pay for it and then asked Amazon to refund it as the product was faulty…
Seller_z6B2L9xab6HlP
If you don’t provide a paid label it’s best to tell customers the maximum amount you’re willing to refund for return postage and specify which postage option they could get for that (e.g. “If the item is deemed to be faulty we will refund postage costs equivalent to Royal Mail 2nd Class Large Letter, which should cost 88p. You may like to get a certificate of posting.”)
Seller_3A03USqpyGEw1
Hello
I don’t know if the return was for an e-cig or not
But It’s the case , I also experienced with a purchase I made the same issue
Bought an expensive ecig which worked fine for 2 months
Then each time after 5 to 10 minutes of use it blocked and unable to vape with it until next day
Day later same issue so I have returned it
