I’ve been watching an electronic item that has price changes several times a day as multiple sellers appear to be using automatic re-pricers trying to land the Buy Box (often beating Amazon.com out of it).
I saw a low price today and decided to check on the seller - who’s Store Name is “redacted Electronics(Serial Numbers Recorded)” - here’s their “About Seller” text:
Return Policy: All items that are returned will be assessed a restocking fee equal to 20% of the purchase price plus the cost of return shipping. Items that are returned used, opened, or missing parts/pieces/accessories will be assessed a restocking fee equal to 50% of the purchase price plus the cost of return shipping.
If your item arrives damaged or defective please contact us prior to submitting a return request and we will do our best to resolve the situation. In order to avoid paying a restocking fee, the Buyer must contact us and receive authorization to submit a return request prior to initiating the return. Failure to contact us prior to submitting for a return will result in restocking fees being assessed, regardless of the return reason.
While I don’t disagree that such ISgenerally the case, it must be admitted that there’s a reason why the CHC (“Customer-facing Help Content”) & SHC (“Seller Help Content”) pages referencing Return Policy include ‘carveout provisions’ which are only applicable, by and large, to 1P/Vendor Program Sellers.
Sadly, Vendor Accounts were being bandied about on the Dark Web for some years before Amazon’s 2019 “One Vendor Initiative” brought forth problems for 1P Sellers who fielded, also, 3P SoA Accounts (some of which consternation, it appears, has yet to be resolved), further complicated by the unwise decision to launch the (later shuttered) Vendor Central Program designed specifically to foster increased Sponsored Ads revenue.
I strongly suspect that the seller our friend @Setalpz has in mind may well be violating Amazon Return Policies - but absent any clue as to which entity it actually is (“Serial Number Recorded” suffixes for this or that Store Name have been in play for quite some time - mostly, it seems to me, as a “crib” used by 3P Sellers who’ve not learned how to navigate Amazon’s published policies properly) - I cannot decide with any certainty that something other than sheer shenanigans is in play…
It no longer has a link or visibility on the seller’s customer facing profile page; however, a seller can still create their return verbiage in the Return Settings > General Settings tab > Please Review Return Instructions: Customized j …
It is a pop up that allows for input which can be saved.
Not sure if the customer ever sees it anywhere in the return process (customized items are not returnable).
I suspect that I know which Amazon News Headline you’re most-likely referencing - but as you well know, “grandfathering” IS a thing.
In the earliest years of our sojourn in Sailing The River, because I’m tasked with keeping up with Amazon’s ever-evolving changes (along with being tasked to adjust our templated responses), I was forced over those years to make no less than six revisions to said templates which are presented to the Amazon Buyer Community.
Haven’t made a single revision to our Return Instructions since 042919, because I KNOW that ours are not only “grandfathered,” but also compliant with Amazon policy throughout all of the many vicissitudes which Amazon’s zig-zagging on the Return Instruction front has thrown across our bow since that time.
If you need to return something with a seller like that, select “defective” as your return reason and be ready to open an A-Z.
Most buyers are ignorant, but just like how sellers can figure out a buyer is scammy based on their behavior, this type of stuff is a pretty good indicator the seller is scammy so you should be ready for a fight.