Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/08/12/red-team-wins.html
…
4 Likes
The return address is an apartment building that has a 1* review.
I never understand this attitude. If it’s a Marketplace transaction, it’s NOT from Amazon. It’s no better than eBay and only a little better than Craigslist.
In theory Amazon has better marketplace controls than eBay.
If it doesn’t say seller Amazon, it’s not from Amazon.
If it at least says “fulfilled by Amazon”, you’re in some middle ground where the seller at least shipped it to Amazon first and presumably, they did some quality control that it actually is what it says it is before putting it in the warehouse.
Without either of those, you’re back at buying from some random seller that just happens to leverage Amazon for the credit card processing instead of PayPal.
15 Likes
That;s mostly true,
In my experience, Amazon usually stands with their customers over their sellers. For instance I recently purchased a used book from a third party seller. Turns out the seller was a scammer, He supposedly shipped it via USPS without tracking. I waited the allotted time until it was supposed to come in. Messaged the seller, then after not being contacted by the seller I was refunded my money along with a courtesy credit.
8 Likes
I find this report most odd. I’ve done business with Amazon for more than seventeen years and they have never failed to come through if there is a problem with them or with a third party seller (Marketplace).
Mind you, I’d never buy a $1,500 dollar item from a total stranger with no significant history (I understand there was only one feedback on that seller.) If something goes wrong, even if you get your money back, you are out the time and frustration and nervous energy and have to start your shopping all over again.
I’m not saying the person is making this story up, I just do not understand the outcome as it is evident, as presented that the package was shipped to the wrong place.
This makes things a little gray as Amazon provides the seller with a printed shipping label based on the info the buyer provides and the seller, if smart, uses it. SO something is amiss from the get go here.
Things just do not quite add up but I’m cursed if I know from which side the problem emanates.
This is literally the plot of the movie Paper Moon. They sell bibles to widows, deciding on the price when they take a look at the house. Lots of other cons and grifts to learn there too.
7 Likes
The book is much better. 
5 Likes
This seems really odd. There’s a mechanism to contact the seller through Amazon in which they need to respond within 2 days, and the A-to-Z guarantee thing doesn’t just guarantee the item being shipped, but the item not being “materially different”. Bath mats are “materially different”. Call me a rules follower or something… It does sound a bit like the customer service representatives are detached from actually problem solving (I’ve noticed this, they may as well just replace them with robots), but I also find it interesting that the need to accelerate to the issue to well - everywhere else was the user’s solution.
2 Likes
Across the state lines is federal, it would be totally worth it.
4 Likes
The text was quite clear (to me, at least). The package was not shipped to the wrong place, as you suggest. A deliberately different package was shipped to a very deliberately “wrong” place, very deliberately. It is therefore clear from the write-up that the problem emanates from the seller side.
The seller, being a fraudster, had no use for the Amazon-provided shipping label as he/she had no intention of ever shipping anything to the buyer’s address.
1 Like
Contact Visa or MasterCard and chargeback the transaction. It’s not like he signed for it when he bought it.
4 Likes
You don’t need to have anything cross state lines to get nicked for mail fraud. The Postal Inspectors are there to investigate frauds against the US Mail, which this certainly would be even if it were sent down the street.
3 Likes
You may be misunderstanding me: What I thought I said was that since the package was shipped to the wrong address however this happened, the buyer clearly did not get his merchandise and thus Amazon should have either forced the seller to reship or make good on the situation and failing that, Amazon should have made good within the limits of their “a-to-z” which does have written limits and a lifetime maximum of claims…
What was in the package is immaterial for this argument as the buyer never received the package at all.
The situation as shown with Amazon walking away is so contrary to my own.extensive experience with Amazon over almost two decades and well over a thousand orders that I am left wondering if there are parts to this story not being given.
We are only seeing one side of a three sided story and even the most honest person has an inbuilt tendency to leave off piddly details that do not support their side of things.
2 Likes
Fair enough. I misunderstood what you did not write. Why Amazon “walked away” is indeed mysterious. But you talked about “the package” as if it was simply that the lens ended up at a different address. You appeared to not understand why the seller did not use the Amazon-provided label - when it was clear they had no intention of doing so. And you did not know which side the problem emanated from when it was 100% clear it was from the seller. That’s what I was responding to. I seriously wondered if you had read the whole text. But if you meant only to comment on Amazon’s role in all this, well that would be a very fair and reasonable question to raise.
Ebay seller sent partial order. When I opened a dispute with Ebay they said you received package tracking number shows delivered . Would not even hear the explanation and closed dispute in seller’s favor .I researched seller info and told her I was going to contact her state’s Atty General . Since she didn’t have the other items i purchased she mailed me a refund .
2 Likes
I’ve had the false delivery move tried on me on Amazon, and managed to get my money back. Amazon is loosely administered and its ripe for scammers.
We are expected to use our signature on official documents as though that had some legitimate legal status. But in practice, the signature is not looked at, nor does it have any legal significance. Why continue the charade?
1 Like
I just don’t use third-party sellers on Amazon any more.
The exception is if the seller is also the manufacturer, and frankly I’m pretty cautious about that, too.
Terribly written story, read it twice through and still don’t know what the scanner actually did!
Ships from the beginning of the story to the end with no explanation of how a lens was involved, just that a widow got a package, big deal.
If I need to read the original source material why even bother write the story, to provide filler for another crap pseudo news site with way too many ads, that’s why!
1 Like
Are you disappointed in BoingBoing?
1 Like
