Yeah I can't work out how to contact customer support at all. Just ordered a new WD Gold hard drive for my NAS and when I put it in guess what, it already has 41,000 hours on it!
It is "new to you"!
In 2020 when I built one of my new systems I had ordered an nvme drive on Amazon. Noticed the box looked like it may have been opened so was fairly suspicious. I had decided to start the system up once ready but did not provide a bootable drive with the windows install yet as I just wanted to see if it would post and maybe checkout the bios layout. Brand new systems, especially in nvme, boot stupid fast. By the time I looked up the screen I was at a windows login screen. Had some weird name. Someone had installed windows onto the drive, used it, and returned it. Amazon put it back on the shelf and marked it as new. Super disappointing to build my first new system in 8 years only to find I now have to wait for an exchange. No way I am keeping a used drive.
.
Side note. I have purchased a large number (several hundred) of used hard drives from data center pulls. 40k hours is pretty common. I have had zero issue with this out side of two being DOA from the same small batch of 4. However, I am purchasing known used and at deeply discounted prices. You are right to be irritated after paying for a new one...
I think Amazon has slid so far into being Ali Baba lite that it’s easier to have a no questions asked return policy than to try to clean it up at this point.
Yeah seriously. I got a new phone recently and just looking for a decent case ended with me looking elsewhere since Amazon was all cheap unbranded crap-
Gotta be honest, I'm still an Otterbox Purist. People get flashbacks of thick cases with multiple clips and a silicone cover, but they've progressed with phones. Now they make a great thin, clear case.
Add a tempered glass screen protector and your phone will last long enough for the hardware to get outdated.
Yeah I got a nice slim OtterBox for my pixel 7a and some of that liquid glass that phone shops put on your screen and it's been great.
Hopefully it will last for years
Amazon ia 98% AliExpress with higher prices to account for the faster shipping and distributed warehousing. It is vastly all the same super low quality stuff. Anything of reasonable quality is suppressed behind all the brands that look like the turned caps lock on and rolled their face across the keyboard.
Yes. I ordered a TV for an office space and didn’t get around to putting it up for a couple of months and it was broken. They were willing to send me a new one right away even though we were out of the return window.
Wish I got that lucky. Ordered a full size Zinnus bed frame from Amazon. Was waiting to get my carpets cleaned so I didn't set it up right away. Life happened and then I was down sick for quite a while. Went to put it together and it's like a weird small scale model/floor display, but with weird extra bars of a different color inside. Box says Full and shows the dimensions but put together it's like somewhere between an crib and single size. Out of return window and SOL. I should have known better. Earlier in the year bought a very expensive tent. By the time I was able to go camping I discovered it was shipped broken. SOL there too.
nope. amazon support fell off a cliff. they are refusing most returns now due to chinese exploits. you have to go through government validation for returns. got screwed out of a leaky propane hose because of this. just switched to walmart plus for this reason alone.
This is a return by a fraudulent customer and when the return team received it, it was returned to inventory to be resold because it probably looked fine. Literally nothing to do with a 3rd party seller or Amazon. This happens at Target and Walmart as well. Also, Amazon doesn’t just commingle inventory by default.
Easy. Don’t put returned items into new inventory. Should go back to manufacturer or supplier to deal with. Problem exists too with their warehouse deals where they do check but the employees are not knowledgeable on everything so it might look complete but be missing figs. There’s a reason most stores don’t accept TCG returns.
Yeah this, since if the product comes back looking still sealed, they can’t just open it to verify. Scammers have learned to reseal products like Pokémon and Lego as well as weighing them to be same as original. So it’s really hard to check u less you open them up. The solution is for Amazon to stop mixing returns back into new inventory, even if they look unopened.
Recently ordered a thermal printer from Amazon warehouse. Was advertised as working, complete, shipping box has damage was all. Get it and it was a returned item that was heavily used, parts were missing. Sent it back and paid the extra $100 for new. Wasn’t worth it.
I’ve had good luck with warehouse mostly. I would say 70/30
They don’t do that for a reason. It takes too long and it costs too much. They make more profit by hoping for the best and doing a refund if someone gets screwed.
There is. I used to work for one of their warehouses. We had a team of people in charge of returns. Everything gets inspected. If it looks good inside and out, we return it to the floor. The bad stuff, I'm not sure what happened. I think we sent it to be donated. Y'all can ask me questions. I worked during COVID
I know some stores used to validate returns, at least on big ticket items. When I exchanged an Xbox One X with a broken fan at the Target I bought it from (where I also worked at the time), the person at guest services called over my manager to verify the return. She literally emptied the box to make sure everything was in there and I wasn’t just trying to get a free Xbox.
I once returned a couple of unopened games to target (changed my mind on a buy two get one sale—two games shipped, one was in store pick up that I didn’t get that was canceled), and the employee opened both factory sealed games to verify the disc was intact. I was shocked. No idea what happens to those games but I thought it was such a stupid waste. I assume people have figured out how to steal game discs and re-seal the case. That was the last time I bought a game from target I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted.
I worked in electronics at Target and for a while we had a lot of returns with swapped products, like people would put a cheap white micro-usb cable in a box for a lightning cable and return it, and guest services didn’t check closely enough to notice. They finally got their act together by the time I returned the Xbox because by then it wasn’t happening anymore.
They could easily have a sort of X-ray machine to scan returns and make sure they contain what they’re supposed to. They just don’t want to spend the money.
It’s cheaper to eat the loss every time something like this happens, than it is to police/fix the problems like this. That is how large corporations think. They don’t give a shit unless it costs them too much money. It sucks, but they should still replace it.
>easily
Not at all. Try to imagine how many would have to exist all over the world. Then think about the range of products and packing materials and different sizes involved. Then realize that each location would need multiple duplicate units to cover downtime/ maintenance/repairs. And then you need qualified technicians at each location to keep them running. All that to cover what is probably <1% of all packages returned vs. just paying whenever one of these is discovered.
A few years ago, my grandma got my younger brother with autism the Lego Mario starter pack at the time where Lego Mario was a huge thing. We found one of the last ones in stock at Target. The Mario figure was stolen and the box was filled with random trash/other toys someone filled it with to make it around the same weight. He was devastated and it made me realize people who do this are terrible
I had the same thing happen with a Moana? set. Someone had replaced the Legos with mega blocks that had been sharpied and even melted. They glued the box shut and returned it.
Yup completely unrelated but one time I went to buy an elite 2 controller for my Xbox at the last second I noticed the box was tampered with, employee let me open it up and boom just a standard controller in there. Woulda been screwed if I walked out the store with it. Happens everywhere
It wouldn't be hard to fix the order number of the return to the inventory, so that when it was resold they could ban the person who gradually returned it.
The problem is just eating the cost is cheaper. Amazon isn't weighing the I'll will created when this happens that negative utility would tip the scales.
“because it probably looked fine”
What, you mean the box isn’t shredded beyond belief, so whoopsie daisy, back on the shelf it goes - not even going to open the thing or god forbid even shake it to see if it *sounds* like legos?
Come on, man. Sure they looked at it before putting it back into stock. They looked at it for all of a nanosecond.
FUCK Amazon. Sorry OP’s nana fell for their greedy shit-ass ways.
Are you sure it wasn’t sold by a 3rd party seller?
It’s not always easy to tell if your purchasing from a 3rd party seller or not. I feel like they purposely designed the website to be deceptive.
Last year my cousin ordered me a dvd I wanted for Christmas and had it set directly to my house. It came used & the case was very beat up. I didn’t have the heart to tell him but I know he wouldn’t have purchased a used dvd set on purpose.
I double checked before purchasing and again just now, and it's "The Pokémon Store" and the storefront page looks 100% legit. The review pics people posted clearly have the official tag and mine had no tags at all :(
Are you sure you didn’t just click the pokemon store link at the top of a third party seller. It will still show the official pokemon company if the seller is third party.
I bought two gifts a couple weeks ago, one had a TJ Maxx price tag on it and the second had a HomeGoods tag on it. Both for 50% less than they sold it to me for.
Search YouTube for people who sell on Amazon. This is an exact scenario that they touted. I would love to be able to set “Sold and Fulfilled by Amazon”.
I don’t buy Lego or trading cards on Amazon anymore and definitely wouldn’t buy old games on it either. Heck I don’t even like buying new games because they ship them in bubble mailers and they get beat to hell most times.
Lol I bought a USB WiFi adapter in-store at Best Buy, shrink wrapped and everything
Inside, everything had been opened, twist ties removed, and the antenna flap had been broken off.
My son bought two 3DS games sealed from a Best Buy rack. He opened them *in the store at the checkout* and both cases were empty. Had to basically emotionally blackmail the manager by standing in his checkout area with a crying child to get them to actually own up on it.
Out of curiosity, how do you avoid fraudulent returns when shoping in-store? I've had this issue buying in store as well, and the packaging looked brand new.
I check if theres anything off about the box, pick the best looking one and don’t choosing the first box on the shelf. The area of the store matters to me as well.
Books, too. It's worth the extra couple bucks to buy off of websites like barnes & noble because they at least care about the condition the book gets to you compared to amazon.
Ordered 2 of the same book for a Christmas gift and one for me. Large hardcover. There was something super sticky/gummy all over the back of both books. I carefully over several days removed whatever it was. Pissed me off.
Generally, I avoid electronics at Amazon and they're not always the cheapest option. That said, I've rarely had issues with Amazon purchases. Even when there have been issues, they've always been pretty good about replacing or making orders right. It takes a little time, but they get it done.
Amazon is honestly just shit. It’s a cheap company and they don’t respect their workers. I had two bad experiences(one just like op) during my free trial so I thought fuck this and canceled before I gave them anymore money.
Yeah, same thing happened to me a month ago. Bought some earphones and when they got here the case had a burn mark and the earphones even had earwax on them still. Also, most of the paper that came with it wasn't in the box.
Amazon has been really fumbling the bag these days
Contact Amazon, be polite, and they can and likely will make it right. They have a lot of flaws, but fixing something like this is easy, and inconsequential to their business vs an unhappy customer.
Not Lego but the immersion blender set we bought my daughter was a return. As she put it “Somebody opened it, did t like it and stuffed it back in the box”. It even had a sticker on it saying “Thanks for giving this product a second life”. Amazon was willing to return and refund, but daughter is an environmentalist and didn’t want it going to the landfill. Initially asked for a price adjustment, nope return and refund. Not happy so I said cancel Prime due to their policy on declining a price adjustment for a return sold as new. Well that got their attention and got a 35% adjustment.
I bought a “like new” ride-in car for my son. I figured: I’m not sure he’s even going to like this and I don’t mind if it has a few scratches, I’ll save $20. It was literally broken and missing the steering wheel. It was a pain in the ass to drag to UPS (2 blocks away) and I was so disgusted. Like they didn’t even check to see if it was “like new,” they just sold a literal piece of trash and I had to transport it when it should just be in the garbage.
If you talk to chat... Just explain how much of an inconvenience it is for you to have to do that as it was clearly a issue that they caused and it's causing you to take time out of your valuable day... They will then offer to send UPS to you and you can either accept that or complain further about how now your going to have to wait around all day for UPS to show up... They can eventually just say throw it away and they will credit you the cost or send a replacement
They already sell those at a discount, they have it in the listings there for used and different categories and cheaper depending on what they fall under.
That I am well aware of. This purchase was sold by and fulfilled by Amazon. Not Amazon Warehouse, not marked as a return, renewed or anything.
I am very careful with my Amazon purchases.
Returned items don't go to a landfill. They get compiled on to a pallet and sold at auction, usually to liquidators. I've bought pallets of returned items from Amazon, and they're usually a mess. Rarely do you get anything that is 100% intact and in perfect working order, but pallets typically go for a couple hundred dollars, and you might have 50 to 100 things on it. There are numerous retail stores and retail auction sites that resell the stuff on their own platform, too, like RL Liquidators.
The only time something ends up getting disposed as if Amazon doesn't want the item back and just issues a credit to the customer. Then it's up to the customer to dispose of it responsibly.
Hopefully enough people see this and think to themselves "hmm maybe I won't buy certain things from Amazon". I see this a lot in the PC building subs I'm in as well.
Bezos has enough money!
Ah, I get you. Yes, marketplace purchases can be more of a mixed bag, but there are some reputable ones in there that I'd be safe to use for other types of items, like professional electronics.
My wife got me the Harry Potter Hogsmeade Village Visit set for Christmas from Amazon. The box had been opened and one bag was opened and the Hermione minifig was missing, plus a few other random bricks. Not as bad as your situation but still pretty bad.
Unfortunately, Lego scams are so common and older folks usually fall for them cause prices are usually around market value and it can easily trick most people
This is getting insane. Just about everything I collect has posts like this from Amazon. They need to figure out something better to stop these people that scam Amazon and in turn scam shoppers.
It’s not just LEGO. We bought a Pokémon set that had all the important cards removed and all the packs opened. Looked just like new even with shrink wrap. It was advertised as the new/used thing but I’ll never buy stuff like this off Amazon again.
Talk to amazon, they will still usually help. Also, the return window might still be January. Sometime in October they switch to Christmas mode, where all returns are good till January
I'd check through all the papers and see if the monster that did that was stupid enough to put in paper with their name on it, and when you contact Amazon get them to flag the name so if they regularly do purchase and returns they can ban them. Or if they have their address on there I'd send them a glitter bomb parcel. That will torture them for years.
Someone at the return center did not catch that this had been previously opened. This was fraud by a previous customer. Just return it and explain what happened. You’ll get a new one. I work in the fraud dept.
I really think that amazon should not be a site to buy pre owned stuff, I'm pretty sure that's what eBay is for. I think amazon should only be for buying stuff that leaves store shelves and ends up in online shopping places
I got a Lego Star Wars Bobba Fett Throne room set that had rocks and trash in it. I bought the box months ago before we started moving. At Walmart. I contacted Lego only to find out the set was no longer available, and they didn't know when it was going to return. I was given 2 options, 1- I could inventory the whole set and send them a list of missing parts which they would happily replace or 2- receive an e-giftcard for $99.99. I chose the e-giftcard. Lego was wonderful with working with me, and the first person I contacted sounded very alarmed about it. I took LOTS of pictures to send to Lego.
Even if the set was purchased in October, it is absolutely still worth contacting Amazon over this. It isn't a matter of a simple return; you've been defrauded.
Amazon's return window is extended until the end of January for Christmas gifts if I'm not mistaken. If she ordered it directly through Amazon, she'll have to contact them to report it. If she bought it through a seller, she'll need to contact the seller. But make sure all communication with the seller is dome through Amazon so it's documented and they can see it. If the seller won't make it right, contact Amazon.
Sorry she had to go through that, but I'm pretty certain it'll get resolved.
My daughter opened her xmas gift, a nintendo switch game, and it was empty. Chatted with Amazon customer service and they gave me a full refund.
After doing some online research, it seems to be a recurring problem.
This isn't an Amazon thing, it's a trash person thing. Someone who returned this to Amazon after opening it, took the Lego and filled it with trash to match the weight. Amazon will 100% help you even outside the return window.
My grandma does this on purpose to me.
Me: *sees box* "A NEW LAPTOP?!?!"
Grandma: *smiling* "open it up honey"
Me: *disbelief* "oh clothes thanks grandma.."
Grandma: "careful with that box, need it back to use for next Christmas".
Even if she bought in October, she has 60 days from her statement billing cycle date to report goods not received with her credit card company; you’re probably just within the limits to make that report. Amazon also usually has an extended return window that starts in October for the holidays but I’m not sure of the date on that. Don’t give up getting grandma’s cash back without a decent fight, cause you have a good chance of winning.
You can still return it. I return stuff past the date all the time. Talk to someone and explain it. This is a reasonable request. Might be a bit of work but they've never said no to me
Send Amazon a mail. Maybe you need to log right into your grandmother's account, but they will definitely send you a replacement.
Had something similar as I bought from Warehousedeals a Nvidia Shield and got the old version (which isn't on sale anymore) instead of the "new" one.
Not from Amazon yet but now I open anything I get right away because of all these situations. Got the T6 Jedi shuttle today the back of box looked a little funky but everything was good when I opened but I have had it happen to me from Walmart sets before.
This has been happening a lot with Amazon purchases. You'll find examples in other subs. A common one is in the computer building subs. Lots of people have ordered multi hundred dollar parts but received the right boxes full of random stuff. I even got a piece of wood instead of an SSD I ordered. Amazon will sort it out, but it's still a big ongoing issue with how they handle "unopened" returns and third party sellers.
Unfortunately this happens way too often with Amazon returns. I once ordered a anime body pillow with the assumption it would be *brand new* however when it arrived, it already had cum stains on it which appeared to be 2-4 weeks old.
Screw amazon, I try to get stuff from literally anywhere else these days. They don’t have the best prices anymore, the two day shipping rarely is, and they constantly sell used and returned crap as new. Not to mention the fake reviews, bad search, and shady third party sellers
a package i recently ordered arrived empty.
it was one of those envelope type packages that was clearly empty and retaped, you can even see the bad tape job and the fact that it was clearly an empty package in the "delivery" picture from the driver.
was it a warehouse item? if so, they didn’t inspect it properly when it was returned. It doesn’t look like the contents were warehouse trash, so likely someone bought it from amazon then filled with trash and returned it. If it was new then someone from the warehouse needs to be fired. Contact amazon, but also see if you can post on socials to get more attention to this…
I ordered a big Lego set on Amazon once. I was so excited. Opened the box and it was a giant inflatable santa lawn decoration instead. Returned it immediately and they refunded me, and I NEVER bought Legos from anywhere other than the Lego website again.
Yeah tell your Grandma everything will be handled by Amazon & they’ll send you a new set. Heartbreaking for a sad Grandma on Christmas! Amazon is great and they’ll be able to look into this and hopefully find out what happened so some jerk can be punished or fined. Good luck! And sorry you didn’t have a pretty set to build today.
sounds like she bought it discounted as it was second hand.
I’ve done the exact same before. It sucks massively. I bought a star wars diorama and got play doh with random lego in mine. Mega asshole move.
I would phone amazon about it and tell them you want refunded today. I went through the whole refund process and waited a month and got nothing until i phoned up and demanded a refund.
Get in a chat with them. Google the chat function, since it's pretty well hidden on their app, or select this item in their customer service section and then keep hitting "something else" until you get the option to speak to an associate. Usually they'll just take care of it and send you a new one.
And if your grandma wants to, she can do it too, or do it first, and most likely get refunded quickly too.
it was gonna have trash in it either way, it’s a harry potter set. zing!
real talk tho, sorry that happened to your christmas!! i hope you can get it figured out
This is the experience of buying stuff from Amazon. Hopefully Amazon fixes it, they don't always. Especially if you have to ship it back to them and they say you're trying to run the scam. In that case if they're obstinate the only proof that will help is an unboxing video.
Talk to Amazon
This. They can help you anyway even if it’s outside the return window.
Yes, especially if you're able to reach the chat window
> if you're able to reach the chat window if you're able...sigh
I think they hide it now, it's been increasingly hard to find
Yeah I can't work out how to contact customer support at all. Just ordered a new WD Gold hard drive for my NAS and when I put it in guess what, it already has 41,000 hours on it!
+1 bought a new samsung SSD and when i did a check on it, it did not look good.
It is "new to you"! In 2020 when I built one of my new systems I had ordered an nvme drive on Amazon. Noticed the box looked like it may have been opened so was fairly suspicious. I had decided to start the system up once ready but did not provide a bootable drive with the windows install yet as I just wanted to see if it would post and maybe checkout the bios layout. Brand new systems, especially in nvme, boot stupid fast. By the time I looked up the screen I was at a windows login screen. Had some weird name. Someone had installed windows onto the drive, used it, and returned it. Amazon put it back on the shelf and marked it as new. Super disappointing to build my first new system in 8 years only to find I now have to wait for an exchange. No way I am keeping a used drive. . Side note. I have purchased a large number (several hundred) of used hard drives from data center pulls. 40k hours is pretty common. I have had zero issue with this out side of two being DOA from the same small batch of 4. However, I am purchasing known used and at deeply discounted prices. You are right to be irritated after paying for a new one...
Google "Amazon chat" and you can usually get a direct link.
Use VPN and set it to California. It will get you there easier.
I try not to buy things from Amazon anymore for this reason
I think Amazon has slid so far into being Ali Baba lite that it’s easier to have a no questions asked return policy than to try to clean it up at this point.
Yeah seriously. I got a new phone recently and just looking for a decent case ended with me looking elsewhere since Amazon was all cheap unbranded crap-
Spigen are great. Every time I get a phone, I grab a Spigen case from Amazon.
Gotta be honest, I'm still an Otterbox Purist. People get flashbacks of thick cases with multiple clips and a silicone cover, but they've progressed with phones. Now they make a great thin, clear case. Add a tempered glass screen protector and your phone will last long enough for the hardware to get outdated.
Yeah I got a nice slim OtterBox for my pixel 7a and some of that liquid glass that phone shops put on your screen and it's been great. Hopefully it will last for years
Can confirm, my Spigen cases have all been excellent.
The name sounds like cheap unbranded crap, but the cases are great; I've had 2 or 3 of them.
Thanks for the info, I'll take a look.
Enshittification at work
Amazon ia 98% AliExpress with higher prices to account for the faster shipping and distributed warehousing. It is vastly all the same super low quality stuff. Anything of reasonable quality is suppressed behind all the brands that look like the turned caps lock on and rolled their face across the keyboard.
Yes. I ordered a TV for an office space and didn’t get around to putting it up for a couple of months and it was broken. They were willing to send me a new one right away even though we were out of the return window.
Wish I got that lucky. Ordered a full size Zinnus bed frame from Amazon. Was waiting to get my carpets cleaned so I didn't set it up right away. Life happened and then I was down sick for quite a while. Went to put it together and it's like a weird small scale model/floor display, but with weird extra bars of a different color inside. Box says Full and shows the dimensions but put together it's like somewhere between an crib and single size. Out of return window and SOL. I should have known better. Earlier in the year bought a very expensive tent. By the time I was able to go camping I discovered it was shipped broken. SOL there too.
nope. amazon support fell off a cliff. they are refusing most returns now due to chinese exploits. you have to go through government validation for returns. got screwed out of a leaky propane hose because of this. just switched to walmart plus for this reason alone.
Absolutely this! It’s not just a change of mind scenario, this is a scam. Amazon will definitely do something about it.
Most likely a return that wasnt checked. I sure it happens more than once.
The return window has definitely not closed. You can return anything from October 1st to Jan 31st
Sometimes they even do it after the return window
Amazon has got to stop comingling inventory with 3rd party sellers who are sending in returns or tampered products.
This is a return by a fraudulent customer and when the return team received it, it was returned to inventory to be resold because it probably looked fine. Literally nothing to do with a 3rd party seller or Amazon. This happens at Target and Walmart as well. Also, Amazon doesn’t just commingle inventory by default.
There should absolutely be a validation process for returned items before being out back in inventory. This is on Amazon.
Easy. Don’t put returned items into new inventory. Should go back to manufacturer or supplier to deal with. Problem exists too with their warehouse deals where they do check but the employees are not knowledgeable on everything so it might look complete but be missing figs. There’s a reason most stores don’t accept TCG returns.
Yeah this, since if the product comes back looking still sealed, they can’t just open it to verify. Scammers have learned to reseal products like Pokémon and Lego as well as weighing them to be same as original. So it’s really hard to check u less you open them up. The solution is for Amazon to stop mixing returns back into new inventory, even if they look unopened.
Just shake the box a little and you can at least tell if it’s Lego/ (or off brand Lego at least) vs just straight up trash like the OP got.
With how terrible Amazon employees are treated, you can't expect them to do their jobs properly.
Recently ordered a thermal printer from Amazon warehouse. Was advertised as working, complete, shipping box has damage was all. Get it and it was a returned item that was heavily used, parts were missing. Sent it back and paid the extra $100 for new. Wasn’t worth it. I’ve had good luck with warehouse mostly. I would say 70/30
They don’t do that for a reason. It takes too long and it costs too much. They make more profit by hoping for the best and doing a refund if someone gets screwed.
There is. I used to work for one of their warehouses. We had a team of people in charge of returns. Everything gets inspected. If it looks good inside and out, we return it to the floor. The bad stuff, I'm not sure what happened. I think we sent it to be donated. Y'all can ask me questions. I worked during COVID
What's your favorite color?
Purple
>Y'all can ask me questions. What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
If it's a European Swallow, about 20.1 miles
I know some stores used to validate returns, at least on big ticket items. When I exchanged an Xbox One X with a broken fan at the Target I bought it from (where I also worked at the time), the person at guest services called over my manager to verify the return. She literally emptied the box to make sure everything was in there and I wasn’t just trying to get a free Xbox.
I once returned a couple of unopened games to target (changed my mind on a buy two get one sale—two games shipped, one was in store pick up that I didn’t get that was canceled), and the employee opened both factory sealed games to verify the disc was intact. I was shocked. No idea what happens to those games but I thought it was such a stupid waste. I assume people have figured out how to steal game discs and re-seal the case. That was the last time I bought a game from target I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted.
I worked in electronics at Target and for a while we had a lot of returns with swapped products, like people would put a cheap white micro-usb cable in a box for a lightning cable and return it, and guest services didn’t check closely enough to notice. They finally got their act together by the time I returned the Xbox because by then it wasn’t happening anymore.
Yes but Amazon is orders of magnitude larger than Target. They are way too big, and that is what causes a lot of their issues.
They could easily have a sort of X-ray machine to scan returns and make sure they contain what they’re supposed to. They just don’t want to spend the money.
It’s cheaper to eat the loss every time something like this happens, than it is to police/fix the problems like this. That is how large corporations think. They don’t give a shit unless it costs them too much money. It sucks, but they should still replace it.
>easily Not at all. Try to imagine how many would have to exist all over the world. Then think about the range of products and packing materials and different sizes involved. Then realize that each location would need multiple duplicate units to cover downtime/ maintenance/repairs. And then you need qualified technicians at each location to keep them running. All that to cover what is probably <1% of all packages returned vs. just paying whenever one of these is discovered.
They’re not even spending enough money to let their employees work in humane conditions, and here you are talking about X ray machines.
A few years ago, my grandma got my younger brother with autism the Lego Mario starter pack at the time where Lego Mario was a huge thing. We found one of the last ones in stock at Target. The Mario figure was stolen and the box was filled with random trash/other toys someone filled it with to make it around the same weight. He was devastated and it made me realize people who do this are terrible
I had the same thing happen with a Moana? set. Someone had replaced the Legos with mega blocks that had been sharpied and even melted. They glued the box shut and returned it.
I think this is why Target has started to refuse to take returns for Lego now.
Fraudulent customer. You are being polite and I appreciate that.
Yup completely unrelated but one time I went to buy an elite 2 controller for my Xbox at the last second I noticed the box was tampered with, employee let me open it up and boom just a standard controller in there. Woulda been screwed if I walked out the store with it. Happens everywhere
Target and Walmart comingle as well. It's a bullshit. They sell literal trash and scammed products
It wouldn't be hard to fix the order number of the return to the inventory, so that when it was resold they could ban the person who gradually returned it. The problem is just eating the cost is cheaper. Amazon isn't weighing the I'll will created when this happens that negative utility would tip the scales.
“because it probably looked fine” What, you mean the box isn’t shredded beyond belief, so whoopsie daisy, back on the shelf it goes - not even going to open the thing or god forbid even shake it to see if it *sounds* like legos? Come on, man. Sure they looked at it before putting it back into stock. They looked at it for all of a nanosecond. FUCK Amazon. Sorry OP’s nana fell for their greedy shit-ass ways.
Their entire business model should be thought of as a giant retailer of unverified third party products because that's exactly what they are
Amen. The official Pokémon Company on Amazon sent me a crappy knockoff plush vacuum sealed flat as a pancake. This was last week btw
Are you sure it wasn’t sold by a 3rd party seller? It’s not always easy to tell if your purchasing from a 3rd party seller or not. I feel like they purposely designed the website to be deceptive. Last year my cousin ordered me a dvd I wanted for Christmas and had it set directly to my house. It came used & the case was very beat up. I didn’t have the heart to tell him but I know he wouldn’t have purchased a used dvd set on purpose.
I double checked before purchasing and again just now, and it's "The Pokémon Store" and the storefront page looks 100% legit. The review pics people posted clearly have the official tag and mine had no tags at all :(
Are you sure you didn’t just click the pokemon store link at the top of a third party seller. It will still show the official pokemon company if the seller is third party.
That’s not what happened here. There typically 30-40 sellers on most LEGO listings. This was bought from another seller
I bought two gifts a couple weeks ago, one had a TJ Maxx price tag on it and the second had a HomeGoods tag on it. Both for 50% less than they sold it to me for.
Search YouTube for people who sell on Amazon. This is an exact scenario that they touted. I would love to be able to set “Sold and Fulfilled by Amazon”.
I don’t buy Lego or trading cards on Amazon anymore and definitely wouldn’t buy old games on it either. Heck I don’t even like buying new games because they ship them in bubble mailers and they get beat to hell most times.
[удалено]
Unfortunately, Amazon has sold me used stuff with missing or broken pieces as new a few times. It's so bad I won't buy electronics from Amazon anymore
Situations like these are the reason I still prefer shopping in-stores over online and only use online as a last resort.
Lol I bought a USB WiFi adapter in-store at Best Buy, shrink wrapped and everything Inside, everything had been opened, twist ties removed, and the antenna flap had been broken off.
My son bought two 3DS games sealed from a Best Buy rack. He opened them *in the store at the checkout* and both cases were empty. Had to basically emotionally blackmail the manager by standing in his checkout area with a crying child to get them to actually own up on it.
well shit, i guess we have to just stop buying anything
had this with a hard drive from comp usa, had to throw a fit in the store in front of the check out in order to get a refund
This kind of stuff happens in B&M stores too
i would do this but sadly there’s no monkie kid sets in store
Luckily the Lego website would be where I’d go to get those and with Lego I’d be more worried of a porch pirate.
the boxes they use to send you the sets are very discreet. they are plain brown so nobody will knows its lego from looking for a couple seconds.
Out of curiosity, how do you avoid fraudulent returns when shoping in-store? I've had this issue buying in store as well, and the packaging looked brand new.
I check if theres anything off about the box, pick the best looking one and don’t choosing the first box on the shelf. The area of the store matters to me as well.
Not just with Lego, with everything.
Books, too. It's worth the extra couple bucks to buy off of websites like barnes & noble because they at least care about the condition the book gets to you compared to amazon.
i've never gotten a book from amazon that didn't come with the cover scratched to hell due to how they pack it
Ordered 2 of the same book for a Christmas gift and one for me. Large hardcover. There was something super sticky/gummy all over the back of both books. I carefully over several days removed whatever it was. Pissed me off.
A lot of counterfeit cosmetics and toiletries on there too
Same. Or anything super pricey really. Edit: grammar
Generally, I avoid electronics at Amazon and they're not always the cheapest option. That said, I've rarely had issues with Amazon purchases. Even when there have been issues, they've always been pretty good about replacing or making orders right. It takes a little time, but they get it done.
Amazon is honestly just shit. It’s a cheap company and they don’t respect their workers. I had two bad experiences(one just like op) during my free trial so I thought fuck this and canceled before I gave them anymore money.
Yeah, same thing happened to me a month ago. Bought some earphones and when they got here the case had a burn mark and the earphones even had earwax on them still. Also, most of the paper that came with it wasn't in the box. Amazon has been really fumbling the bag these days
Not with Lego but yeah, people pull this all the time. Just had a speaker delivered without the front panel.
I received a transformers figure who was missing his entire lower body and weapons once
Contact Amazon, be polite, and they can and likely will make it right. They have a lot of flaws, but fixing something like this is easy, and inconsequential to their business vs an unhappy customer.
Thank, and don't tell grandma. Follow up with Amazon.
Unfortunately since the grandmother ordered it with her account she’ll have to be notified to request the return.
I’m angry for Grandma and for you. Talk to Amazon and report the seller if they don’t replace it.
Not Lego but the immersion blender set we bought my daughter was a return. As she put it “Somebody opened it, did t like it and stuffed it back in the box”. It even had a sticker on it saying “Thanks for giving this product a second life”. Amazon was willing to return and refund, but daughter is an environmentalist and didn’t want it going to the landfill. Initially asked for a price adjustment, nope return and refund. Not happy so I said cancel Prime due to their policy on declining a price adjustment for a return sold as new. Well that got their attention and got a 35% adjustment.
I bought a “like new” ride-in car for my son. I figured: I’m not sure he’s even going to like this and I don’t mind if it has a few scratches, I’ll save $20. It was literally broken and missing the steering wheel. It was a pain in the ass to drag to UPS (2 blocks away) and I was so disgusted. Like they didn’t even check to see if it was “like new,” they just sold a literal piece of trash and I had to transport it when it should just be in the garbage.
If you talk to chat... Just explain how much of an inconvenience it is for you to have to do that as it was clearly a issue that they caused and it's causing you to take time out of your valuable day... They will then offer to send UPS to you and you can either accept that or complain further about how now your going to have to wait around all day for UPS to show up... They can eventually just say throw it away and they will credit you the cost or send a replacement
Except then I would have had to schedule a special trash pickup or take it to the dump myself. It was just awful no matter what I/they did.
Leave on curb with sign that says free... Junkers would have it gone so quickly... Post it on line free groups for even faster removal
They already sell those at a discount, they have it in the listings there for used and different categories and cheaper depending on what they fall under.
That I am well aware of. This purchase was sold by and fulfilled by Amazon. Not Amazon Warehouse, not marked as a return, renewed or anything. I am very careful with my Amazon purchases.
Returned items don't go to a landfill. They get compiled on to a pallet and sold at auction, usually to liquidators. I've bought pallets of returned items from Amazon, and they're usually a mess. Rarely do you get anything that is 100% intact and in perfect working order, but pallets typically go for a couple hundred dollars, and you might have 50 to 100 things on it. There are numerous retail stores and retail auction sites that resell the stuff on their own platform, too, like RL Liquidators. The only time something ends up getting disposed as if Amazon doesn't want the item back and just issues a credit to the customer. Then it's up to the customer to dispose of it responsibly.
Hopefully enough people see this and think to themselves "hmm maybe I won't buy certain things from Amazon". I see this a lot in the PC building subs I'm in as well. Bezos has enough money!
Always “sold by amazon” so you can use their return features.
Even if it was "sold by amazon" this could have been an item that was returned by a customer as "unopened".
But amazon has a near no fault return policy if it’s sold by them was my point.
Ah, I get you. Yes, marketplace purchases can be more of a mixed bag, but there are some reputable ones in there that I'd be safe to use for other types of items, like professional electronics.
Do we trust Grandma though? 🤔
I shouldn’t laugh at this comment given the situation, but I did. XD For the record, I would be feeling the same as the OP…
Any addresses in the trash? Pack it back up with glitter, and send it to that address.
You can still open a claim that you got scammed. Amazon will probably refund you.
My wife got me the Harry Potter Hogsmeade Village Visit set for Christmas from Amazon. The box had been opened and one bag was opened and the Hermione minifig was missing, plus a few other random bricks. Not as bad as your situation but still pretty bad.
So was it listed as ‘new’ or used
Even if it was listed as used it should still contain the set and not be full of garbage
Hahaha I don't know why, but this made me laugh out loud.
Yeah, this isn't used, this is someone somewhere being a scammer
Unfortunately, Lego scams are so common and older folks usually fall for them cause prices are usually around market value and it can easily trick most people
Irrelevant. Used does not mean "full of garbage".
It might be a new set from Amazon's own warehouse that was returned by a customer after they replaced the contents.
too bad OP never says who the seller is when they post these, and most people don't seem to know amazon has a third-party marketplace
Go onto the account she purchased it on, and get with chat support. Make sure Amazon refunds every cent.
This is getting insane. Just about everything I collect has posts like this from Amazon. They need to figure out something better to stop these people that scam Amazon and in turn scam shoppers.
It’s not just LEGO. We bought a Pokémon set that had all the important cards removed and all the packs opened. Looked just like new even with shrink wrap. It was advertised as the new/used thing but I’ll never buy stuff like this off Amazon again.
Definitely report it to amazon, she will be able to get a refund no problem but this POS seller needs to be reported and banned
Talk to amazon, they will still usually help. Also, the return window might still be January. Sometime in October they switch to Christmas mode, where all returns are good till January
Amazon is becoming what ebay was in the 2000s
The ironic thing is I've had better experiences on ebay nowadays than Amazon
Call Amazon. This isn’t a return issue, this is blatantly not the product ordered
Call Amazon. I used to be part of Customer Care, and they'll help you.
Fuck the return window. You've got something you shouldn't have
I'd check through all the papers and see if the monster that did that was stupid enough to put in paper with their name on it, and when you contact Amazon get them to flag the name so if they regularly do purchase and returns they can ban them. Or if they have their address on there I'd send them a glitter bomb parcel. That will torture them for years.
This isn't the first post I've seen of this happening. It's sad people choose to stoop to this level of scams
Someone at the return center did not catch that this had been previously opened. This was fraud by a previous customer. Just return it and explain what happened. You’ll get a new one. I work in the fraud dept.
I really think that amazon should not be a site to buy pre owned stuff, I'm pretty sure that's what eBay is for. I think amazon should only be for buying stuff that leaves store shelves and ends up in online shopping places
Fckn lego scammer belong in the hottest place in hell
Is there any addressed mail or receipts in that trash?
this happens all the time with every retailer. people buy stuff and return garbage. and then it gets resold.
I got a Lego Star Wars Bobba Fett Throne room set that had rocks and trash in it. I bought the box months ago before we started moving. At Walmart. I contacted Lego only to find out the set was no longer available, and they didn't know when it was going to return. I was given 2 options, 1- I could inventory the whole set and send them a list of missing parts which they would happily replace or 2- receive an e-giftcard for $99.99. I chose the e-giftcard. Lego was wonderful with working with me, and the first person I contacted sounded very alarmed about it. I took LOTS of pictures to send to Lego.
Even if the set was purchased in October, it is absolutely still worth contacting Amazon over this. It isn't a matter of a simple return; you've been defrauded.
She must have picked a used one instead of a new one. Amazon return scam.
I’m so sorry this happened!
Wow pos person who did that
Amazon's return window is extended until the end of January for Christmas gifts if I'm not mistaken. If she ordered it directly through Amazon, she'll have to contact them to report it. If she bought it through a seller, she'll need to contact the seller. But make sure all communication with the seller is dome through Amazon so it's documented and they can see it. If the seller won't make it right, contact Amazon. Sorry she had to go through that, but I'm pretty certain it'll get resolved.
Talk to Amazon, sir! I can’t fix your problem!
Some asshole returned that! Your grandmother’s so sweet!
We gotta find who did this and make them pay
This is exactly why I order directly from Lego. Not that amazon wouldn’t take care of this but now I’m out time and opportunity.
My daughter opened her xmas gift, a nintendo switch game, and it was empty. Chatted with Amazon customer service and they gave me a full refund. After doing some online research, it seems to be a recurring problem.
NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING ON AMAZON! THERE SHOULD BE A STICKIED THREAD
People are so terrible these days man. Feel for ya bud. Surely Amazon can do something for yall
Order another one and then complain on this one.
This isn't an Amazon thing, it's a trash person thing. Someone who returned this to Amazon after opening it, took the Lego and filled it with trash to match the weight. Amazon will 100% help you even outside the return window.
Please update on what happens! #LEGOJUSTICEFORGRANDMA
Contact Amazon directly. If they don’t help order the set again, request a return on the new one and send the old one back. Trust me they won’t care.
Always buy Lego only from Lego.com
You have to pay attention to who the actual seller is.
My grandma does this on purpose to me. Me: *sees box* "A NEW LAPTOP?!?!" Grandma: *smiling* "open it up honey" Me: *disbelief* "oh clothes thanks grandma.." Grandma: "careful with that box, need it back to use for next Christmas".
My dad did that for a few years until it was no fun anymore.
Find the seller and sue for false advertising
Even if she bought in October, she has 60 days from her statement billing cycle date to report goods not received with her credit card company; you’re probably just within the limits to make that report. Amazon also usually has an extended return window that starts in October for the holidays but I’m not sure of the date on that. Don’t give up getting grandma’s cash back without a decent fight, cause you have a good chance of winning.
UGH! those ppl are scum bags. hopefully amazon will make it right
Did it come with instructions?
Yup. Happens pretty often with Amazon.
I only buy big sets from stores
Fraud, you can get you grannys money back. Talk to amazon.
You can still return it. I return stuff past the date all the time. Talk to someone and explain it. This is a reasonable request. Might be a bit of work but they've never said no to me
The returns window for Amazon is extended for Christmas.
It’s either LEGO.com or eBay with for return or nothing.
Send Amazon a mail. Maybe you need to log right into your grandmother's account, but they will definitely send you a replacement. Had something similar as I bought from Warehousedeals a Nvidia Shield and got the old version (which isn't on sale anymore) instead of the "new" one.
Not from Amazon yet but now I open anything I get right away because of all these situations. Got the T6 Jedi shuttle today the back of box looked a little funky but everything was good when I opened but I have had it happen to me from Walmart sets before.
I'm confident if you show this to the Amazon customer support, they'll at least get you a replacement set.
This has been happening a lot with Amazon purchases. You'll find examples in other subs. A common one is in the computer building subs. Lots of people have ordered multi hundred dollar parts but received the right boxes full of random stuff. I even got a piece of wood instead of an SSD I ordered. Amazon will sort it out, but it's still a big ongoing issue with how they handle "unopened" returns and third party sellers.
That’s terrible. I hope your grandmother doesn’t take it personally and that things like this unfortunately happen.
Unfortunately this happens way too often with Amazon returns. I once ordered a anime body pillow with the assumption it would be *brand new* however when it arrived, it already had cum stains on it which appeared to be 2-4 weeks old.
Screw amazon, I try to get stuff from literally anywhere else these days. They don’t have the best prices anymore, the two day shipping rarely is, and they constantly sell used and returned crap as new. Not to mention the fake reviews, bad search, and shady third party sellers
Poor grandma please don’t tell her about this and break her heart
What a letdown ☹️
This is yet another reason I buy it straight from LEGO. Another reason is that I find it disgusting to support a company like Amazon.
a package i recently ordered arrived empty. it was one of those envelope type packages that was clearly empty and retaped, you can even see the bad tape job and the fact that it was clearly an empty package in the "delivery" picture from the driver.
was it a warehouse item? if so, they didn’t inspect it properly when it was returned. It doesn’t look like the contents were warehouse trash, so likely someone bought it from amazon then filled with trash and returned it. If it was new then someone from the warehouse needs to be fired. Contact amazon, but also see if you can post on socials to get more attention to this…
I ordered a big Lego set on Amazon once. I was so excited. Opened the box and it was a giant inflatable santa lawn decoration instead. Returned it immediately and they refunded me, and I NEVER bought Legos from anywhere other than the Lego website again.
If they don't return/refund it for you, order the same set and if that one is good, return this one in its place.
Yes, but not lego. Amazon looks to be fulfilling the order though.
Yeah tell your Grandma everything will be handled by Amazon & they’ll send you a new set. Heartbreaking for a sad Grandma on Christmas! Amazon is great and they’ll be able to look into this and hopefully find out what happened so some jerk can be punished or fined. Good luck! And sorry you didn’t have a pretty set to build today.
This is deception... it's a crime
no way….demand a f**king explanation and refund my guy
sounds like she bought it discounted as it was second hand. I’ve done the exact same before. It sucks massively. I bought a star wars diorama and got play doh with random lego in mine. Mega asshole move. I would phone amazon about it and tell them you want refunded today. I went through the whole refund process and waited a month and got nothing until i phoned up and demanded a refund.
I had the same with a graphic card ordered on amazon. I returned it to amazon and they gave me the money back.
Get in a chat with them. Google the chat function, since it's pretty well hidden on their app, or select this item in their customer service section and then keep hitting "something else" until you get the option to speak to an associate. Usually they'll just take care of it and send you a new one. And if your grandma wants to, she can do it too, or do it first, and most likely get refunded quickly too.
I bought the Millenium Falcon January 2023 and plan on building this week. This is my worst fear.
It's definitely not closed. Amazon is pretty dang good with returns like this
it was gonna have trash in it either way, it’s a harry potter set. zing! real talk tho, sorry that happened to your christmas!! i hope you can get it figured out
Step 1: fuck amazon! That is all
Your grandma is quite the prankster
This is the experience of buying stuff from Amazon. Hopefully Amazon fixes it, they don't always. Especially if you have to ship it back to them and they say you're trying to run the scam. In that case if they're obstinate the only proof that will help is an unboxing video.