Amazon has been accused of flouting UK consumer law by insisting that customers whose orders fail to arrive file a police report in order to qualify for a refund.
Some shoppers have been left with hundreds of pounds out of pocket after the retail giant asked them to report missing deliveries to the police and then refused to accept their crime reference number.
Under consumer law, it is the retailer’s responsibility to ensure shoppers receive their goods and to liaise with the courier if there is a problem.
In June, the Observer investigated a complaint when a reader was told to get a crime reference number after a parcel containing goods worth more than £70 failed to arrive. At the time, Amazon said one of its customer service agents was to blame for the misinformation.
Since then, however, dozens of others have reported being left without their orders or money after police refused to investigate delivery failures and Amazon refused refunds.
Sandy Fraser was told to file a crime report after receiving an unsealed box containing a power cable instead of the £1,184 computer she ordered.
“Police Scotland told me that as the courier’s contract was with Amazon, no crime had been committed against me and I should get Amazon to sort it out,” she said.
“Amazon insisted that they needed to confirm this with Police Scotland, but refused to spend the 20 minutes it takes to get through to the helpline. I asked the police to send me a report, which I sent to Amazon, but they refused to accept it either”.
Customers who reported missing or incomplete deliveries claimed they were given misleading advice in an automated email seen by the Observer, apparently written for buyers in the US, which said missing deliveries were “costly for Amazon”.
When Francisco Martin did not receive his £245 speakers, Amazon insisted the parcel had been delivered and advised him to file a police report. “The email said they would only accept the report if it was ‘made for stolen items/theft/larceny/misdelivery or similar crime’,” he said. “How will the police react if I report an ‘incorrect delivery’ as a crime?”
According to Gary Rycroft, consumer law expert at Joseph A Jones & Co solicitors, Amazon is in breach of the Consumer Rights Act, which makes the retailer legally responsible for goods until they are safely received. “In my view, their response shows a contempt for both the law and the customer,” he said. “The burden of proof is on Amazon to show that the goods were delivered, not on the consumer to show that they were not. Given that it is using terminology that mirrors US law, it seems that they cannot even be bothered to design a policy that complies with UK law.”
Customers who pay by credit or debit card can issue a chargeback through their bank, but according to those who have contacted us, Amazon is disputing their claims. Its stance comes amid a surge in courier theft, where parcels are stolen from doorsteps or by delivery drivers. The total number of claims for missing parcels jumped 59% in the year to June compared with the previous 12 months, according to technology firm Metapack.
Some Amazon Marketplace sellers have been accused of substituting worthless items that reflect the size and weight of an order to fool parcel tracking systems.
If Amazon suspected a customer of fraud, it was the company that had to report it to the police, Rycroft said, and refunds could not be withheld without proof of wrongdoing. Amazon refused to confirm whether it was company policy to demand a police report when expensive orders went missing, but admitted customer service failures in all the cases we brought to their attention.
“We work hard to create a trusted shopping experience by protecting customers, sellers and Amazon from abuse,” it said. “We regret that this experience fell short of the high standards we expect, and the customers in question will receive a full refund.”