TLDR: Amazon is promising refunds in support chat that never get refunded.

I’m not posting this lightly. I’ve spent a lot of time tracking a disturbing pattern I’ve encountered repeatedly with Amazon support, and it’s time to bring it into the open.

Best-case scenario: this is a widespread failure limited to customer service agents that Amazon is actively working to fix.

Worst case: it’s a deliberate company policy designed to save Amazon millions by quietly avoiding refunds it claims to issue.

Either way, it deserves a clear and public response from Amazon.

What Keeps Happening

Whenever I’ve contacted Amazon support about a return — whether for a late delivery, a defective item, or an accidental order — I’ve noticed a consistent pattern. Instead of processing a normal return, the agent often says something like:

• “We’ll refund the product, and you can keep it.”

• “We’ll issue a partial refund.”

• “Once it arrives, you can keep it and we’ll refund you.”

Over time, I noticed this was happening every single time, even when I didn’t ask for a refund. Support would steer the conversation in that direction — and I’d walk away thinking it had been resolved.

But one day I realized… I never actually checked if those refunds were processed.

So I went back through my order history — and found that I couldn't identify that anything had been returned by looking at the orders. So I contacted support to ask if they had been.

The Bigger Problem

Here’s where things get serious: Amazon doesn’t let you access your support chat transcripts. That means any record of what the agent promised — is gone.

When I realized this, I contacted support again and asked for copies of my chats. I just wanted to verify what I’d been told over the years.

What followed was probably the most annoying support possible.

• I was passed between six different agents

• Each one spent 20–30 minutes with me, then disconnected before resolving anything

• Eventually, one admitted: no, they won’t give me my chat transcripts

• They would only look into it if I gave them the exact order number — which is impossible for a pattern that spans years.

What I Discovered

Eventually I convinced one of them to trust me and that if we checked my past support logs he would see a promised refund and that no refund was given.

It was a slow and painful process, but every single order we reviewed showed that a refund had been promised in the chat — and none were ever issued.

The support agent acknowledged this.

In just the first 4 cases we checked, I found over $350 in missing refunds. I’m confident there’s more, but without access to the transcripts, I can’t verify it unless I spend more hours fighting with support.

To make things worse, instead of offering to fix the situation, the agent simply offered me a $20 Amazon gift card.

I refused. I told them:

You already owe me far more than that — and offering a random gift card after confirming missing refunds makes no sense.

Why I Think This Is Intentional

This doesn’t feel like a few rogue agents taking shortcuts. I believe it’s a company policy. Why else would it be setup in a way where

• Customers cannot verify their refunds from their amazon account

• The place the refund was promised the customer cannot access

• Support agents dropping the chat when pressed

The only reason this would be done by amazon is to save return costs and they know that customers are not likely to verify the future refund goes though and even if they did want to check or verify it they can't. This approach likely saves Amazon millions.

What I Want Amazon to Answer

1. Why are chat transcripts not available to customers if that is the sole place a customer has proof a refund was promised?

2. Why are support agents promising refunds that never happen?

3. How is a customer supposed to track or verify these refunds take place?

4. How can I get my whole chat log and then get the refunds that were supposed to be issued and never were?

If You’ve Contacted Support — Go Check

If Amazon support ever told you they’d refund something — go back and verify that it actually happened. Don’t assume it did just because they said so in chat.

And if something like this has happened to you, please comment or message me. I’d like to hear more real-world examples.

This issue is bigger than just my account.

Hello hustlers, I have a new method for you guys.

Today I will leak I think the best Refund / Replace Method for Amazon.com that i got by an EX.Rep OF Amazon.com Itself!

Get free Items yourself!!

So , Let's begin!

SO... YOU WANT AN AMAZON REFUND/REPLACEMENT METHOD THAT ISN'T SHIT, PUBLIC, OVERUSED, AND SATURATED? If I heard you correctly then this thread is for YOU!

I will be discussing the methods available, the ones I used and the ones in public or being used by 99% of the people. I will give pros/cons to each method.

I will be also showing how to replace/refund items ordered from a certain amount of time/months.

Here we go!

Let us start from the basics, and NO! NO skipping ahead. If you won't read the basics, you will not have any understanding of the advanced methods.

Method #1 - "I didn't receive the package "

The most common method or excuse that will get you whatever you want if it's below $100 - $300. Go to chat or phone (phone is overkill if you use this method), tell them "hey rep, I have a problem with this order. I didn't receive it" The rep will most likely refund it right away or send a replacement, or maybe after asking you if you checked with your neighbours and family members, which in this case just say you already did, or you don't have family members.

Pros: Easy and basic. Cons: You can't really use these on large items (by size) or expensive items starting from $700+ without getting into an investigation.

Method # 2 - "I receive nothing inside the package "

Only use this method when in the tracking, or when you receive it, the item was "SIGNED" upon receiving. This will get you from $100 - $500 or depending upon the level of the rep. The rep will ask for an investigation WITH the carrier, but before he can do that, tell the rep that you "already called the carrier, and they told me it they didn't do anything and it was already like that when they delivered it" When they ask if the package was tampered or not, tell them it is perfectly sealed and no tampering. Pros: If method #1 doesn't work for you, this will. Cons: They will most likely attempt to do an investigation, depending upon the price and the rep.

Method #3 --- [Improved Method for Method #2]

Just say basically the same thing, except, mention that you receive the package, with your name and labels on it, your address, the item name, etc. But when you opened you only got the packaging paper and the INVOICE.

Pros: More believable method than method #2, as the rep will think that this must be a problem in the warehouse and the packaging department forgot to put the item inside. Cons: same, but less likely to be investigated compared to method #2

Method #4 --- "I didn't receive my item, but received a wrong one in the package"

NEVER screw this up since it's difficult to backtrack your mistake. Only do this when you know what you are doing. If you tell them you received a wrong item, THEY WILL MOST LIKELY ask you to return that item. You don't want that do you?

So how will this method work? Tell them you received an item that is not allowable or prohibited to be shipped by a carrier and accepted by Amazon. What are those? Dangerous stuff but realistic stuff.

[These are the list of items prohibited by Amazon in 2010, just before the ex worker quit working there. This may be updated already and the list might be outdated but its still the basics. Most of these are also prohibited by the carrier] Broken glasses - say you received a perfume bottle but its broken and shattered. Also, you could say you got wine bottles or anything. Liquid fuel - say you got a small canister of butane, or lighter fluid. You asked the carrier for it to be sent back, but they refuse. Flares/explosive stuff - say you got these and the carrier refused to ship them back. A bunch of batteries - same thing Sulphur - same. etc... I know you get what I mean now. SHARP, POISONOUS, EXPLOSIVE, FLAMMABLE materials. These are classified as HAZMAT. ACT worried and pissed off. Also, your son/daughter OPENED the package and you are really worried with what might have happened. bottomline, convince them that the item cannot be returned, and you disposed them immediately. Tell them that you have already reported this to amazon too that they endangered your family. You can also say you received a few bricks (proceed to method #5)

Pros: worked for me most of the time when all methods fail.

Cons: ahhh most of the time too, the reps will replace the item BUT forget to switch of the "Item needs to be returned" trigger. If that happens, just call back and explain. Sometimes they just tell you to ignore that message and assure you that you wont be charged on your card.

Method #5 --- "Return Method / Box method"

You get the label for returns, ship them an empty box, or a few bricks.

Pros: will work, most likely.

Cons: the hassle of the process.

Method #6 --- "Trade-in method"

I haven't tried this one yet. But it looks promising and i have heard it works.

Trade-in an item for money, when you get the shipping address,

Buy something cheap off of ebay. Send it to amazon address.

Pros: will probably work

Method #7 --- "Acid leak method"

This has been patched already [works with exception] and the rep will ask you to return the xbox, ps4 or anything that has battery. Once you say you threw it out, they will refuse to refund you unless you talk to a supervisor and ask for exception. The only way this would work is when you say your kid opened the packaged and tasted the battery acid. Tell them he is in the hospital now and you are really pissed off. Tell them you already threw the item away and you demand for the refund and if possible for the damages.

Pros: with the exception its good, just make you story straight

Cons: if you don't do it properly, you're screwed.

INSIGHTS:

MOST orders in Amazon.com that are more than 3 months ago will have their tracking removed. That's right. You usually see a "Track Package" in an orange button beside the order in the orders page. But that is removed if its made after 3 months or 6 months. USE THIS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!

Note that there are TWO kinds of SEing here:

Internal - which the blame would be on the warehouse of amazon

External - the blame would be on the CARRIER (UPS, FEDEX, USPS etc)

and UNLESS you want an ANGRY DELIVERY MAN knocking down your door and beating the shit out of you, ALWAYS put the blame on Amazon, not the carrier.

When you SE, always try your best to have a great relationship with the carrier in your place. Delivery men also work hard to earn money and feed their family. STUPID SKID refunders/ SE'rs who put the blame on the carriers should not be allowed to SE. Delivery guys lose their jobs after a couple of reports saying the package was tampered. So please do not do that. You are a Social Engineer, not a scam artist. BIG DIFFERENCE.

Be creative. Do not use the same methods again and again. Use different methods and reasons relative to the order.

If it is signed by you when you receive it, of course you cant say you didn't receive the package

If an order is made a long time ago, you can't always say you were in prison or you were in a hospital when you made lots of orders after that.

Personally I tell them "I order things for my company, and upon checking the inventory listing, I noticed that we haven't really received this order. can you please help me out with this, once I pass this report to my boss and he sees this I will get fired from my job"

Dear all,

I placed an order for a Gimbal on amazon for $600. A week later, I realized that it was the wrong model I needed. SO I placed a return for pickup. But didn't leave the order for pickup and waited for a few days to let the return get cancelled, so that I can place a new return request where I can just hand it to UPS. But now I opened Amazon, it says that the item is returned successfully and the refund is issued to my credit card.

What do I do now? I don't wanna feel lucky because what if they charge my credit card and request for the product and they might not accept the return request because it is over return window.

EDIT: I would take free $600 anyday. It’s just that fear I have “what if they find out about this after May 22nd (my return window end date) and will they even ask me to return the product or will they just charge me without any return options?”

I'm just kinda baffled, will I get flagged if I pick that option ?

I received a book that was a bit damaged.

I'm kinda annoyed as a collector, but then again, if I keep the book and get the refund... Is it stealing ??

The thing is, it's such a pain to go through all the required steps to return something worth 7€.

As for getting a replacement, I think I'd rather just buy it in a physical bookstore to pick one in a state that's up to my standards. Too easy to damage a book during transport.

So yeah, the refund without return option is the most convenient to me, by a huge margin.

I refunded one item ever, using the refund without return option, during summer 2023.

Granted I had 62 orders in 2023.

So yeah, any chance I get a warning or something ?

Sorry if this was covered before.

I have been using Amazon for years and I generally spend some time researching before purchasing (from other sources as well as Amazon), so I rarely return things.

My dad recently had a significant surgery, and while at his place, I found some things that could use improvements to help his day- to- day and bought a few items to help him.

They were all crap. A detachable shower head made of PLASTIC (not disclosed as plastic) and numerous other items. So I returned them with the reason "quality not adequate". The refunds were issued and I looked into them and saw they were all 5%-15% less than what I paid with tax.

I got on the chat with amazon customer service, and they said that they only refund 100% is if the product is damaged.

They gave me a "one time adjustment" (🙄) for the full amount.

Keep an eye on your refunds and if you have to return, say its damaged rather than anything else.

EDIT:

To everyone who calls this bull, this was the item charges and refunds from amazon. No refund limitations listed on any products. The CS agent said specifically it was my "claim type" after "looking into it" for 10 mins.

I'm in Canada

https://imgur.com/a/K5A8KKr

More edit:

Proof of shipping BY AMAZON https://imgur.com/a/66xROVB

Karaoke machine - $30 less refund I just caught this as part of proof for this post, so I'm going back to complain

https://imgur.com/a/kZJmSNk

I’ve had my account since 2015 and 150+ orders never once returned an item or requested a refund. I bought a laptop for around $900, it arrived yesterday and I had to give courrier a one time passcode. The laptop was sold and shipped by Amazon. I took it and called Amazon customer service right away and told them I got the box but there was no laptop in it. I told them the box didnt look damaged or anything upon arrival. They told me I have to wait 72hrs then call them back while they do an investigation. They will then determine if they can give me a refund or replacement. Is this normal? Should I get the refund or am I fucked?

This shit is infuriating. I initiated this return in May. It's been received. The tracking info shows it was accepted. They wouldn't issue me a refund until it was received. Then they delayed the refund further. Then they said they couldn't issue the refund and to contact customer service. So I did. And now they want me to fill out reports. Mind you, these incident reports go no where. So am I stuck filling a claim with my cc company?

My cousin did this about 7x last year and plans to do it again. But I'm sure that the system of Amazon will recognize this pattern of those kind of "returns" from him where you can keep the item but still get your money back. I didn't even know this was possible.

He even ordered the same article twice (separate orders) and asked twice for a return label in the amazon chat (he knew they wouldn't be able to send him one) and the customer support refunded him the money. Wouldn't they get suspicious if he ordered the same article twice and wanted a refund for both? They would be like: If you didn't like it the first time, then why would you order it again?

How many times can he do that until amazon blocks his account? Would he get a notification before his account gets flagged?

TIL apparently I need to hypercheck that all of my Amazon returns are ACTUALLY refunded...

I just got an email notifying me that a return I did was never processed due to being "unresolved", giving me an order # and amount ($634.94), but no item details, just a link. I didn't click the link and actually thought it was a scam until I checked the email ([email protected]) and opened Amazon in a new window and searched the Order # in my orders and it popped up. A camera. FROM AUGUST 2022. Apparently they couldn't "verify I returned the correct item" so they never refunded it. (I ABSOLUTELY did.) Buuut no email at the time?? The fuck??? (And funny enough, they had no problem confirming the other two items in that return, and those amounts were refunded at the time--I just checked my 2022 bank statements to confirm--but not this one item.) What's worse, they worded the email like they were doing ME a FAVOR by refunding me at all. Icing on the shitcake.

Fortunately, even tho that exact card number has long changed, I still have that account open so I still got actual money back vs just Amazon credit. Still, think of the amount of interest $634 would've accrued in 3 fucking years...

I chatted in and bounced around Amazon's cust service reps trying to get an answer on why this took 3 years...but the best I got was "sorry for the inconvenience...this will never happen again.." I did ask for a credit compensation, threw out $50 as a number, just to see what they said. I don't normally ask for free shit, and really hated asking even in this case, but this was literally them holding a large amount of money for a LONG ASS TIME, so I felt there was some justification to it. And to the last rep's credit, he did give that to me.

In any case....CHECK YOUR REFUNDS PEOPLE! ESP those big ticket items!

endrant

PS: for anyone wondering how I didn't notice an amount this large not being refunded to my credit card, this was sadly during the a dark period of my life that I'd been maxing my CCs to financially support an abusive ex (the camera was for his business)...i was deep in debt and sunk into a major depression...so I'd given up trying to keep track of anything.

It came into a discussion between my wife and her husband, about items you can purchase on Amazon that you don't need to return after requesting a refund.

Any Amazon experts that can weight in, in this hypothetical topic?

So, like many of you, I've been caught in the endless loop of Amazon suddenly withholding refunds despite having both my money and the product back in their possession. I've posted elsewhere on this sub the details of my situation, but to keep this short, I wanted to give everyone a heads up that Amazon will apparently claim to have issued you a refund or partial refund for one item, when it was actually for a different item altogether. Basically, they're trying to get away with not giving you your money by telling you they already gave it to you, when they actually have not. So DOUBLE CHECK when Amazon claims to issue a refund that (a) you got the refund, (b) that it was actually for that item and not from a previous return for something else, and (c) that it sticks and they don't try to reverse it.

Specific details:

- I ordered a new Nutribullet Pro blender for $109.28

- I received (of course) a fucking used Nutribullet. Requested a return, explained why, sent it back, ordered direct from Nutribullet.

- Over a month later, still didn't get my refund, govt ID etc etc. Filed a chargeback with Chase.

- Cancelled Prime.

- Amazon reached out asking why I charged back. I explained. They replied the next day saying they apologized and they would be working with Chase to resolve this dispute. Got notification in the Amazon app that a refund had been issued for $109.28.

- Today, I get a letter from Chase regarding this dispute. They say that Amazon told them they had already issued a partial refund for $63.49, and that Chase would be working to recover the remaining difference.

- Turns out, the $63.49 refund I already received from Amazon was for a BLINK OUTDOOR CAMERA 3 that I ordered and returned weeks ago (the field of view wasn't wide enough for my needs, so I ended up buying the more expensive Blink Outdoor Camera 4 instead). Amazon is USING THAT REFUND for an entirely different item to LIE to Chase, claiming to have partially refunded me for the Nutribullet.

This shit is wild. Be on the lookout.

Never again, Amazon. Never again.

Screenshots of the transactions and correspondence can be found here.

So I bought a pair of $15 shorts. They didn’t fit. I went to return them. Amazon instead refunds me immediately on a gift card and I keep the shorts. How is this even possible? What is stopping people from doing this all the time on stuff that actually fits them? Keep getting refunded to a gift card and keeping the item….huh?

The best way to get free shit on Amazon is to order something shipped and sold by Amazon. This doesn't work with third party sellers.

When it comes open up chat support and say the box was empty or just had packing material. Usually they will offer a refund or send out another. You can pick. You can even get the replacement order and say that was empty to get two items and a full refund. It's called double dipping. I've tripped dipped before.

If the chat person says no, open up another chat until you find someone who says yes. Usually works the first time but one time I had to go through three customer service rep s. Usually works up to orders of 1500 USD.

Jeff bezos is scum. This way you aren't hurting third party sellers just trying to make a living.

I did this for years to support a drug habit because I didn't want to become a street criminal or homeless person.

Eventually Amazon will ban your account or blacklist your address. Usually if it's an account ban unless you start using vpns and laptops with WiFi, it's very hard to get around. Amazon has insane ability to stop multiple accounts. They even monitor your damn resolution on your monitor.

Also to get around the blacklist wait two weeks and then message support and say why is my address blacklisted and just say you just moved here and usually they will unblack list the address.

Another tip is to buy aged Amazon's accounts with lots of orders. You can easily find these even on the clear net. Even more on dark net. If you just make a fresh account, you will get denied the refund easier.

Also works to have an Amazon prime account because Amazon is very customer service facing company. They live to suck your cock.

Source: did this for years and probably made 50k reselling shit to pay my rent. I've been sober for years now though and I don't do this anymore. Yeah I guess you could argue I probably got a few support guys in trouble but I doubt it.

EDIT: Thanks for the replies, asking them explicitly about arranging the return myself has done the trick. I've now got parcelforce coming tomorrow morning with no need to print another label.

So a few weeks ago I bought a smart monitor from Amazon, which didn't work when it arrived. I contacted the manufacturer who advised me to return it for a refund. To return the monitor to Amazon, the process is:

1. Ask to return the item via the app/website. They send you a returns label which you must print yourself. I don't own a printer, so I have to do this bit at work.

2. Be at home the next business day between 8am and 8pm for the courier to collect the item.

I tried this once a week ago, but I needed to go out at 5.30pm, so when no one had been to collect at that point, I cancelled the return. I then had to wait for another opportunity to print the label at work one day and then be at home all day the next day. I've been waiting at home for the courier, and just received a notification that the courier attempted to collect and I wasn't at home. This isn't true, I've been in all day and no one has rung the doorbell. It's infuriating, the process for returns is too difficult.

My query is - has anyone had success getting Amazon to provide an alternative method of returning an item (like dropping off the parcel at a parcel shop), can I get them to refund the money anyway, or should I proceed to try a chargeback on my card? Any advice?

Hello! I want to preface this by saying that I'm very frustrated and upset at how terrible the handling of this has been going on and I have no idea what to do now.

I initially bought a big purchased at the beginning of July (around 200$) and the purchase was supposed to arrive on the 8th of July, with an obligatory signature in order to confirm delivery. When I ordered this object, I was out of the house but was to return before the delivery date so I was not so stressed about it. Though, a few hours before my arrival, on the 5th, I received a notification alerting me of my package delivery. I was very confused as this was the 5th, and not the 8th and the order requested an obligatory signature during check out. As I arrived home, nothing was there, I asked neighbours, I went to the postal office and still, nothing. As I went on the app to complain, I was told to wait until the 8th before complaining and so I did.

Nothing appeared on the 8th, so I requested again and was asked to file a police report to declare the stolen object. I was confused, but I did, with my local police department and as they were not able to give me a copy of the report, I provided Amazon with the file number and told them that the department was ready to talk to them any time if they requested any additional info.

It's been more than two weeks now, I was told to wait two weeks and still, no update. I called twice and am being told that I would be referred to a "specialist". I received an email and confirmed details about the whole ordeal and details on the order and I keep getting the same copy and paste answer by everyone. At this point, it's to the extent thay the electronic signature just reads "Default", no employee name or anything. I provided order details, the file number, everything they need and nonetheless, I am not being helped and feel I am being laughed at.

I rarely purchase myself anything new or expensive as I am not very wealthy and a student, so I tend to thrift everything I own.

I don't know what to do anymore and Amazon is being very unhelpful and the police department was very confused about their requests as well.

(I'm sorry for the grammar and wording mistakes, english isn't my first language"

Forgot I even returned this impact driver. Lol