It would not be an exaggeration to say that a majority of purchases and sales have now shifted from in-store to online, and Amazon is the leading platform facilitating that shift. A majority of online shopping in the U.S. specifically is done via Amazon. This is why the e-commerce platform has had a fast-growing journey, developing specific customer-centric features to optimize experiences on both sides. However, return, exchange and refund are some hectic parts that often make part of your online shopping experience at Amazon.
This article will teach you how to request a refund on Amazon in a few easy steps, so you don’t have to continuously worry about the money you are owed and chase their customer service for it. Before we start, if this guide piques your interest, have a look at our previous guides on ‘When Does Amazon Pay?’ and ‘How To Close Amazon Seller Account’. The following questions answered below will help you understand if you can ask for a refund via a certain method and how you can go about it.
How can we get a refund from Amazon via email?
The email process is a bit of a hybrid method, which can help you reach the customer service at Amazon with your queries regarding a refund. It could be called conventional even since email has been used for customer complaints majorly for a time now. The problem here is that you cannot get a guaranteed response via email, because Amazon has an online system in place for customers to lodge purchase-related complaints.
However, there can be a specific scenario falling outside of the standard options available within the online complaint form. For this purpose, exploring the email option does not harm. This is how you can go about lodging your complaint and asking for a refund via email.
- Start with getting all the specifics about your complaint and issue with the order, including details about your order e.g. the product title, seller name, product value, etc
- Draft a comprehensive email about your complaint including all the necessary details about your order and complaint
- Make sure you have the right email address before you sent out your email complaint
- To make sure they have received and checked your email, you can contact Amazon customer support via phone and let them know about your specific situation, there will already be proof of complaint in the email form
How can we get a refund from Amazon via the website?
The most used method and the method Amazon itself recommends customers use is the online method, using their website.
- On Amazon’s website, there is a ‘Returns and Replacements’ option under their ‘Let us help you’ category on the main page, where you can find details regarding your returns and how you can get a refund for it.
- Another method is to directly sign in to your Amazon account (a necessary part of when you use Amazon to buy products), and go to ‘Your Orders’ from within the same main category shown above
- Here you will find a list of options with your previous orders, including those you have received and those currently due to deliver
- Find the one you are looking to ask for a refund for, and you will find an option to ‘Return or Replace Items’ within that section, this is a critical part of this guide on ‘how to request a refund on Amazon’
- It will now show a list of reasons for refund or return that you can choose from, click on the one you want to go with
- It will then give you the option to either return or replace, choose a return
- Finally, when ‘Issue a Refund’ appears to go with it
After your complaint is officially lodged, depending upon your item value, it will be refunded within a few weeks
How can we get a refund from Amazon in-person at the store
Most of the Amazon purchases are made online, from the comfort of your home, therefore the complaint process also has to go through that channel. There is rarely a scenario in which you are required to go to an Amazon store for a refund request, but it is not out of the question.
This works well for people who have made their purchases in-store as well. What you need to do here is make sure the receipt of the item you purchased and its original packaging are both intact. Go to the store you got your product from, or any other location if that’s more convenient from where you are currently residing, and ask for a refund showing your receipt and the original product in the form that it arrived, bringing your official complaint with the product.
How can I get a refund from Amazon via phone or letter?
Two methods that once might have been good alternatives for a refund and return, using either phone or physical letter for a complaint, do not work for Amazon now. If you need to lodge your complaint, get a refund, exchange, or replacement even, you have to reach them out via the internet. You can use the phone or letter as a way to aid your process of complaint after doing the needful via the online form, but not singularly as the only way. It is important to send them your grievance with the product in written form via their standard questionnaire.
A bonus method or way that many are unaware of, is getting Third-party service providers to do the refund tracking for you. Examples include DoNotPay or Reconcile, which relieves you of the responsibility of going through the hassle of chasing your refunds. All you have to do is provide them with the payment details that you use to make your purchases, and they keep track of everything for you.
How does a refund without a return work?
Lastly, an interesting aspect many forget to consider when looking for a refund for their purchase. There are scenarios in which you do not have to send your product back in order to get a refund. This includes several different scenarios generally, and the decision to ask for a return depends upon Amazon after it makes its own deductions. But the two most common scenarios that it can benefit you in are; if the product you bought is not that expensive, and it costs more to ship it back than its original value, and if the product came to you completely destroyed during its journey.
If your refund request falls under the above situation, you might get a notification on your Amazon account, within the Returns section or a representative might get in touch with you. Either way, it is not an entirely wasteful scenario for Amazon, as it helps with customer retention as well. Hopefully, our guide on how to request a refund on Amazon will help you get that refund you have been chasing. If you would like to learn more about Amazon’s guides we have other articles on ‘How Do Amazon Return Pallets Benefit your Business?’, ‘What is Amazon Digital Charge’ and ‘How to Find Archived Orders on Amazon’ that you can check out.
