Returning too many items on Amazon? Stay cautious, your account might be deactivated

The biggest reason that has helped Amazon pull customers is the ‘no-questions-asked’ return policy. The fact that anyone can return anything within 30 days without any explanation gives Amazon the leverage. The policy let the company manage all their operations smoothly avoiding customer disputes with couriers, sellers and manufacturers.

However, the rules have now changed. As mentioned in a Wall Street Journal report, Amazon USA has initiated the process of asking customers why they are returning these items and have even started banning accounts, from which even 10 per cent of the items were returned.

Many customers took to Twitter to express their angst against sudden banning of accounts.

Though Amazon has not denied customers from returning more than a particular number of items, the company, at its discretion, reserves the rights to terminate accounts according their will. But, the company refused to reveal how many would be considered too many.

“We want everyone to be able to use Amazon, but there are rare occasions where someone abuses our service over an extended period of time,” an Amazon spokesman said. “We never take these decisions lightly, but with over 300 million customers around the world, we take action when appropriate to protect the experience for all our customers.”

Nir Nissim, a customer, told WSJ that his account was suddenly blocked after he returned a computer drive earlier this year and four other products last year. A mail that he received from Amazon said: “You cannot open a new account or use another account to place orders on our site.” However, there was no mention of the fact that too many returns were the reason for blocking his account. He also had an unused $450 gift card to Amazon, and that was the reason troubling him.

Only after numerous attempts when he was able to contact a service rep, he was told the reason behind blocking his account. Only when he emailed Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that another employee replied and agreed to reactivate his Amazon account.