RE: DNA a refurbed phone from Amazon 08-26-2022, 02:17 AM
#8
Update: I did it!
It has taken an entire month. I won't go into detail for length and security reasons, but summary as follows.
1. Using email/chat based customer service is useless. Even when I had a police report number, they just copy pasted the same response saying "report needs to be complete before we can refund"., even though no police force in the UK would ever investigate a stolen phone, even with CCTV. I've experienced it before. Message is also ambiguous in that it says contact us again if police won't cooperate further. I'd already pointed out the Police won't do anything further.
The chat assistants all copy and pasted that message, some of them within seconds of me getting through the automatic filters. One of them even immediately ended the chat after, which could be due to not wanting to deal with a difficult case (plenty of evidence phone wasn't delivered); wanting to hit targets; being sick of DNAers or because my account was flagged. This brings me to...
2. My account was already flagged having done several small refunds for goods that were left outside by dumb couriers and subsequently stolen. All of these refunds were more than 6 months apart and there can't have been more than 3 of them in the last 3 years or so. Account is 10+ years old. When I spoke to an (actually helpful) person on the phone they transparently warned me that previous refunds were the reason for the lack of refund. I will no longer use this account for valuable purchases as I doubt ill get a refund/replacement if something is stolen or mislaid.
3. Emailing jeff@Amazon.com definitely expedited the process and got me out of the usual endless loop of "no refund for you, despite police report" emails, but calling seems crucial.
4. Another interesting nugget of info is that they do call the Police to confirm the details of the report. One of the assistants I spoke to on the phone told me it takes more than an hour for an Amazon employee to speak to Police and cover everything. Given how few Police there are in the UK today, and how dismissive they are of anything that isn't serious high value or violent crime, this must have a massive fail rate where Police won't cooperate. The assistant said 'no confirmation=no refund!'
In conclusion, they eventually refunded me and phone hasn't been blocked (which I was terrified of) so looks good. Hope this helps others.
It has taken an entire month. I won't go into detail for length and security reasons, but summary as follows.
1. Using email/chat based customer service is useless. Even when I had a police report number, they just copy pasted the same response saying "report needs to be complete before we can refund"., even though no police force in the UK would ever investigate a stolen phone, even with CCTV. I've experienced it before. Message is also ambiguous in that it says contact us again if police won't cooperate further. I'd already pointed out the Police won't do anything further.
The chat assistants all copy and pasted that message, some of them within seconds of me getting through the automatic filters. One of them even immediately ended the chat after, which could be due to not wanting to deal with a difficult case (plenty of evidence phone wasn't delivered); wanting to hit targets; being sick of DNAers or because my account was flagged. This brings me to...
2. My account was already flagged having done several small refunds for goods that were left outside by dumb couriers and subsequently stolen. All of these refunds were more than 6 months apart and there can't have been more than 3 of them in the last 3 years or so. Account is 10+ years old. When I spoke to an (actually helpful) person on the phone they transparently warned me that previous refunds were the reason for the lack of refund. I will no longer use this account for valuable purchases as I doubt ill get a refund/replacement if something is stolen or mislaid.
3. Emailing jeff@Amazon.com definitely expedited the process and got me out of the usual endless loop of "no refund for you, despite police report" emails, but calling seems crucial.
4. Another interesting nugget of info is that they do call the Police to confirm the details of the report. One of the assistants I spoke to on the phone told me it takes more than an hour for an Amazon employee to speak to Police and cover everything. Given how few Police there are in the UK today, and how dismissive they are of anything that isn't serious high value or violent crime, this must have a massive fail rate where Police won't cooperate. The assistant said 'no confirmation=no refund!'
In conclusion, they eventually refunded me and phone hasn't been blocked (which I was terrified of) so looks good. Hope this helps others.
(This post was last modified: 08-26-2022, 02:23 AM by Cash_receiver.)
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