On Tuesday, March 26, Amazon was supposed to deliver the iPhone 15 and accompanying Otterbox case to my home.
Amazon says a signature is required upon delivery. So naturally I made sure I was home all day so I could sign for the shipment – which I had already spent over £700 on.
But I’m not worried about whether I’ll be distracted from work, since I’ll hear the doorbell after all (I have an Amazon Ring video doorbell that records activity outside my door).
At 11:31, I received an email telling me that the iPhone and case had shipped.
Then, at 14:34, I received an email telling me they had been delivered.
I guess that’s weird. I didn’t hear the doorbell, didn’t sign for anything, and I definitely didn’t receive an iPhone or case from Amazon.
Signing into my Amazon account, I was informed that the iPhone and case had been “delivered to residents” at 12:51.
Well..well, I was the only one in the house at the time – and it certainly wasn’t handed to me. My partner (who was away at the time) confirmed that she didn’t magically receive it either.
A quick check outside the house revealed no trace of the package, and neighbors confirmed they had not received the package either.
It’s all a mystery. Amazon claimed the package was “delivered to the resident” and said a signature was required upon delivery.
So how could it not belong to me?
I did what everyone should do in this situation. I contacted Amazon customer service. They told me I have to wait until the end of Thursday, March 28th to request a refund because sometimes errors happen…and delivery can be delayed.
I think that’s fair enough. I will wait two days and then ask for a refund for the unshipped items.
Two days later, still no sign of the iPhone 15 or case, I asked for a refund.
Rizza, a customer service agent at “the most customer-centric company on earth,” responded to my request:
The carrier appears to have recorded your package as being delivered on March 26, 2024. Please check with your neighbor or a member of your household to see if they have received the package on your behalf.
We need 3 days (72 hours) to investigate this issue. If you have not received your refund by March 31, 2024, please let us know.
Oh, it turned out that I had to wait for two days, and now I have to wait for another three days? Um. . good. I guess this is starting to get a little frustrating.
Luckily, I didn’t have to wait three days to hear back from Amazon. Unfortunately, I don’t like what Amazon said on March 29 when it announced the conclusion of the investigation:
AMZN_UK Confirm [ITEM] The product you ordered was included in the package when it left our fulfillment center and was delivered to you in perfect condition. Therefore, we are unable to exchange or refund this item.
As you might imagine, I wasn’t too happy with this response. So I replied to the email:
Hello
Item not delivered.
They claimed I was in the house when it was delivered. No bells or knocks. My doorbell does not record any evidence of delivery or activity outside my door.
None of my neighbors reported any deliveries being made to them.
However, Amazon claims that “it has been handed over to residents”
I have been your Prime Business customer for many years, as well as a personal Prime subscriber.
Are you saying I lied about this? My company paid for the iPhone and case and we just want shipping or a refund.
What is the process for escalating this complaint?
Additionally, Amazon said, “A signature is required upon delivery. Please make sure someone is available to sign for this shipment.”
So, if you do claim that the iPhone was delivered, can you provide a signature? As a reminder, I was home all day, no one delivered my missing iPhone and case, my neighbor didn’t receive a package sent to me, and my Ring doorbell didn’t register any delivery attempts.
So, please provide your signature.Or please refund/exchange
Can you tell I’m not happy? you’re right!
I also dropped a line to Amazon UK’s PR agency to tell them I planned to write about my experience and give them a chance to respond to any comments (and hopefully they can resolve the issue.) At the time of writing, they still haven’t responded I.
But Amazon customer service did Come back to me. This is what they said:
We have investigated your order and AMZN_UK has confirmed that the goods you reported missing were delivered to you intact. Therefore, we will not exchange or refund the contents of this shipment.
We are unable to provide you with any further assistance regarding this matter. We appreciate your business and hope to see you again soon.
So Amazon continues to claim that the phone and case it delivered to me are in good condition. When I asked for photo proof of delivery, or (presumably) a signed copy from the Amazon delivery driver when “handing it over to the resident,” they ignored me.
AMZN_UK confirms that the item you ordered was in the package when it left our fulfillment center and has been delivered to you in perfect condition. Therefore, we are unable to exchange or refund this item.
If you do not have any further feedback about your Amazon shopping experience, please consider this issue closed and rest assured that you can continue shopping as usual.
We are unable to provide additional information about this issue, and we may not respond to additional emails about this issue.
Ouch. It sounds like Amazon not only withheld my money, but even refused to respond to any more questions about non-delivery.
back Post about my experience on Twitter On LinkedIn, it seems there are also a lot of people who have had terrible experiences getting refunds after Amazon failed to deliver expensive items.
good news! @amazonUK Got back to me about a £700 iPhone they failed to deliver (and won’t refund or replace)
Bad news, that’s what they told me… 😞 Watch my video
Based on this experience, why would anyone buy expensive stuff from Amazon again?
Please repost if you agree. https://t.co/G9LgoSnPdd pic.twitter.com/XagmcfuqO8
— Graham Cluley (@gcluley) March 30, 2024
Then when I asked to escalate my complaint, the final push came like this:
I know you want to escalate this issue, however, all Amazon Account Specialists are trained to find the best solution to a customer’s problem.
Well, Amazon, I can help you find the “best solution” this customer. Give me my money back, or give me back the damn iPhone and case you didn’t give me.
So, what are my next steps?
Well, I could request a chargeback from my payment card company – this is a refund method when you don’t receive the goods or services you paid for and the retailer refuses to refund the money.
However, many people tell me that Amazon does real Don’t like it when people do this to them, and consumers may find themselves unable to use any of Amazon’s services in the future (which seems to me like a pretty small-scale retaliation – especially when Amazon was at fault in the first place).
I also reported the iPhone theft/fraud to the police. I have done this despite Thames Valley Police telling me they will not investigate. Presumably they think, like me, this is an Amazon problem.
I could also take Amazon to small claims court, where Amazon would be forced to provide actual proof that it delivered the iPhone 15 and case to me.
Of course, it would be absolutely ridiculous for a customer to go to such lengths to get a refund or exchange from Amazon. But there seems to be no other way around the brick wall of customer service.
Well, I guess I could always make a video and write a blog post complaining about Amazon’s appalling customer service – and ask friendly viewers and readers to share them around the web.
Does anyone at Amazon still care about taking care of their legitimate honest customers?
