Long time reader, first time writer here. Just wanted to pass along my recent experience with Amazon Warehouse Deals [AWD].

So maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know this, but AWD is not considered to be "Amazon" as the seller. What that means is that though Amazon will back up their return policy, which is pretty sweet, they will in no way take any responsibility for the sale of the item, no matter how misrepresented or inaccurate the description was.

I recently purchased a Shop Vac for what I thought was a great deal, and it was described as "with 5% or less of surface area with cosmetic defects." Sounded pretty good to me, as I am personally afflicted with a much higher percentage of cosmetic defects. However, they didn't mention that it was missing the tool rack, the wet filter, and the liner bag. So I did what I usually do and gave Amazon a ring.

I'm not sure if I'm just an idiot who doesn't understand how things are supposed to work, but I was under the impression that this was actually inspected by an Amazon employee working at an Amazon warehouse somewhere, and that by their oversight I would be assisted in finding replacement parts. However, the customer service agent explained to me that Amazon Warehouse Deals is really just a shipping service and that though Amazon would honor the return/refund/exchange policy, they were in no way responsible for the misrepresentation of the condition of the item being sold. Sad face.

I suppose maybe this might have been common knowledge and I was a fool for not reading the ultra-fine print at the bottom of the website, but I thought this to be a bit of a deceptive practice. So much so that I broke my silence to the frugal audience and thought it should be passed along to you all. Please correct my ignorance if I'm the guy in the wrong.

TL;DR: Amazon Warehouse Deals is a shipping division of Amazon, not a seller, and not responsible for the labeling or description of the products being sold, no matter how inaccurate or misrepresented it may be.

EDIT/Clarification: I felt that because Amazon performed the inspection of the product and advertised it as complete that they should have been responsible for either replacement parts or an exchange, but because it's a Warehouse Deal they can only issue a refund and do not hold themselves responsible in any meaningful way for selling an item with an inaccurate inspection report. At the moment there are no replacements for the Vac at the price I paid, so I'll either have to pay more to get a replacement or wait until another shows up at the price I paid.

EDIT2: So I may have spoke too soon. Amazon contacted me and offered to give me 30% off the price of the vac if I could find the replacement part on my own. They took ownership of the mistake in their product inspection and offered to amend it. Once again they rank as my personal favorite in customer service, and I'll be left eating my words.