OK the amount is paltry but still, there is a principle at stake here -
I ordered some CDs from amazon.co.uk and use the Free Super Saver Delivery option 'cos the order was > £39
Many weeks later (today) I get an email saying that one item has been removed from my order because it is now unavailable. A bit disappointing but that’s life. Unfortunately the order total is now < £39 so the buggers now charge me postage, and I have no opportunity to change the order because it has gone to dispatch (where it will no doubt languish for days).
So I call the toll-free number and get to talk to a phone-drone who can do nothing but spout policy-this, policy-that. I ask to speak to a supervisor. At first I think sanity prevails - ‘Yes Mr Ticker, I am authorizing a refund of the delivery charge’. Simple, sorted, common sense prevails. But wait a mo. The amount he is quoting is less than that being charged. It seems he is willing to refund the charge but not the VAT on it (that’s a bit like Sales tax for you non-Europeans). But how can you charge a Value Added Tax on something with no value? You can’t. The government will not be expecting any payment, so amazon must be trousering my cash. For some reason this trifling amount of small change is making me very :mad:
No consolation at all, but Ryanair are in court in Ireland at the moment over the very same thing - they charge VAT on non-refundable tickets, and then pocket the VAT if you cancel the ticket.
Ticker, I was going to add my own Amazon rant, but I hope you don’t mind if we pool our outrage and conserve thread space:
I hate returning things. I avoid it not so much for the inconvenience, but I figure if someone has gone through the effort of getting me a gift, there may be some greater purpose to it. And you know what? Sometime there is. Books or music I would never have sought out on my own, or a boldly striped shirt I would never have chosen for myself, can turn out to be real treasures. And that is part of what gift giving is all about.
So it was with a heavy heart that I packed up a Journey concert on DVD into its original Amazon packaging. But I was never going to ‘discover’ Steve Perry and find enjoyment. After weighing the crime of letting the DVD go to waste against my policy of avoiding returns, I resolved to ship it back. The deciding factor, of course, was the nice Amazon customer service person who assured me that I’d get a credit certificate (less the shipping fee), and the gift giver would never be notified. “That’s a good policy,” I thought, because I wouldn’t have returned it otherwise.
So I couldn’t have been more surprised when my sister, obviously uncomfortable, screwed up her resoulve to ask me if already had that Journey concert. “Journey Concert?” Blaargh!
Amazon, you illegitimate, idiot offspring of imbecilic parents, I would indeed have let the DVD go to waste in order to avoid hurt feelings. Sure I could have just done so, sure I could just have been honest with my sister, but you assured me that this could be done! No waste, no hurt feelings, everyone happy, right? And after going out of your way to notify her of the return, you neither credited her account nor sent the credit voucher. How much sense does that make? You stole money from my little sister, you ill-bred cretins.
In the US, you can simply refuse delivery, UPS bounces it right back at them, and the whole lot gets refunded automatically. Dunno if that option exists in the UK or not, but it may be worth looking into.
