Oh no, Amazon strikes again ....

[schildi]

What would you do from here?

Ordered unlocked pixel phone for DS (b-day gift) on black friday.

Phone arrived yesterday as expected.

This morning, Amazon order page shows it as to be delivered today.

But, the tracking information shows this:
"Undeliverable
Unfortunately, a problem occurred during shipping and we had to cancel your delivery. The package is being returned, and we will issue a refund within 3 - 5 business days after the return is processed. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience."

Going to UPS directly, and entering the tracking number, it shows correctly as delivered.

Now, I don't want a free phone (well, maybe I want one, but it's not right). So I contacted Amazon CS right away this morning via chat. Explained everything, got apology and a $5 coupon towards future orders (for the inconvenience). And an assurance that the order status has been updated to 'delivered', and that it will show online as such within 30 minutes.

Well, that was like 5 hours ago, and nothing has changed in terms of the status on my Amazon order page.

What is my moral and legal obligation at this point? What would you do?

I did request an email with a transcript of the chat, and I have received that.

Please, Amazon, don't make me waste any more time on this!

[hoops902]

I don't think you have any moral or legal obligation here.  Honestly, I would have gotten the phone and figured that they'd eventually figure out the status issue on their own.  My assumption would have been that when the return item didn't get delivered back to them, at some point they'd have a person actually look at it and realize it was delivered.  I presume they don't "process the return" until they get the return delivered to them, hence I'm not going to get a refund since they will never process the return.  I figure it just sorts itself out...and if it doesn't, they can't afford what I charge for my time so just ignoring it is best for all of us.

[schildi]

One concern with the "do nothing" approach is that I see them blacklisting the phone if they don't receive it back.

And then it turns into a headache for me, if the phone suddenly stops working at the most inconvenient time.

Don't even want to think about what it would take to fix that if it were to happen, and I see that as a likely outcome, unfortunately.

[sesfw]

I would return the phone, return receipt requested.

[schildi]

Dec 3, 2019 18:19:51 GMT -5 sesfw said:

I would return the phone, return receipt requested.

That's not really a good option for two reasons:

- it's a b-day present, needed in 2 days.

- it's not available anymore at the price I paid.

[raeoflyte]

Did you actually get a 2nd phone? Or Amazon just isn't showing the 1st phone as delivered?

[saveinla]

I would wait on this until a week or so and if you see the money has been received then call again.

[saveinla]

Dec 3, 2019 15:23:52 GMT -5 schildi said:

One concern with the "do nothing" approach is that I see them blacklisting the phone if they don't receive it back.

And then it turns into a headache for me, if the phone suddenly stops working at the most inconvenient time.

Don't even want to think about what it would take to fix that if it were to happen, and I see that as a likely outcome, unfortunately.

Why would they blacklist the phone? They can blacklist the seller, but only if you complain.

Unless you bought extra warranty, I don't think you can return anything after the 3 or 6 month window to Amazon anyways.

If the phone stops working before then, you still have the chat transcript to show as proof.

[Deleted]

I tried to cancel a Walmart order.  They delivered it.  A few weeks later I got an email saying that they would be refunding my money on the cancelled order.  They never did, which is what I expected.  Something similar happened with a CC.  I did a chargeback because it hadn't been delivered in 30 days.  It was delivered a few days later.  The CC reversed the chargeback or recharged me.  I don't remember which.

You did the right thing in contacting them.  Now let them work through this without further muddying the waters.  If you haven't worked it out in a couple of weeks, try again.  But don't make it more complex at this point.

[schildi]

There is no second phone involved.

The Amazon webpage says that the item is being returned to Amazon, and my concern is that if it never arrives there (which it can't), that they consider the phone lost (and therefore blacklist it). A blacklist of lost or stolen phones is a list of the phone's serial (IMEI) numbers, and those phones won't be able to connect to any cellular network.

I'll wait and see what happens. This could get interesting.

[gambler]

The phone is unlocked can not be blacklisted. You did the right things Amazon will figure it out in a few days so let it be until after christmas. 

[schildi]

Dec 3, 2019 20:15:43 GMT -5 gambler said:

The phone is unlocked can not be blacklisted. You did the right things Amazon will figure it out in a few days so let it be until after christmas. 

Yeah, that's the plan.

Any phone can be blacklisted though, you are incorrect there. It's what happens when you report the phone lost or stolen.

[bobosensei]

I wouldn't do anything more.  If something happens to the phone you have proof from the conversation that you told them you received it and wanted to keep it, and they probably already sorted this out and just failed to communicate it to you.

[schildi]

Amazon CS has no idea what they are doing. The status is still the same. One more chat with CS, and this time I am told that the status can't be changed, pretty much that they can't do anything.
We'll see what happens. Is this what happens when a company gets too big?

[countrygirl2]

I reported an amazon charge immediately after making it, thought it was cancelled, called the seller and they refunded it. So I figured it would drop, couple weeks later amazon issues me a refund too!  I called, they said sorry, thanks for my honesty and I need to see if its been reversed.  I think they have such high volume, they don't have the personnel to check.