Amazon India - Feedback Thread
- Thread starter ashishsahu
- Start date
adventureguy
Level H
Didn't get a mail regarding my pickup. Pinged them once again and they generated an replacement order on the spot. Nice.
How long does it take for a refund to reflect on an account? Return pickup was finally done on the 13th Feb and confirmation from Amazon.
Also, did anyone else noticed? The so-called "Lighting Deals" going on nowadays is just a gimmick, most of the deals are. If you missed a deal when the timer runs out don't fret. The deal will loop again.
Also, did anyone else noticed? The so-called "Lighting Deals" going on nowadays is just a gimmick, most of the deals are. If you missed a deal when the timer runs out don't fret. The deal will loop again.
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Refund should've been done on the 14th Feb but it still hasn't showed in the bank account used. But i have received the gift card (which was used in the order). Contacted Amazon and they are asking for a screenshot of the bank statement. It was my mother's account. Now how do i get the bank statement for this? Is it hassle-free? Remember, i'm not in a position to do it online. I actually have never done it.
raja_mastana
Level F
Looks like amazon has started shipping by AIR. Noticed two such cases recently
Delhi to Kochi - parcel travelled in 8 hrs
Chennai to Mumbai - parcel travelled in 11 hrs
Delhi to Kochi - parcel travelled in 8 hrs
Chennai to Mumbai - parcel travelled in 11 hrs
In all honesty, Amazon's service is quite okay. As a buyer I haven't had much problems. However I do prefer Flipkart and other local marketplaces over them. Always go local! 
My feedback as a seller: They should honestly stop advertising 'Easy Returns' and stuff like that to consumers. They are only creating more problems for us by inflating buyers' expectations. We face so many cases where a buyer wants to return the product (books in my case) after like almost a month or even after that, claiming they don't want it or that the 'quality is not upto the mark'.
And in some of such cases we have to accept the returns with no fault of ours. Some buyers are so fussy to even accept deduction of shipping charges from the refund amount that they file a claim.
What's worse, in case of orders being shipped from Amazon Transportation Services, if the buyer rejects the delivery, we still have to bear all the shipping charges. This is not the case with Flipkart though.
It is very frustrating really! But then again, like USA and EU, they have managed to kill most of the offline retail book trade here. So we have to bend to some extent to survive.
My feedback as a seller: They should honestly stop advertising 'Easy Returns' and stuff like that to consumers. They are only creating more problems for us by inflating buyers' expectations. We face so many cases where a buyer wants to return the product (books in my case) after like almost a month or even after that, claiming they don't want it or that the 'quality is not upto the mark'.
And in some of such cases we have to accept the returns with no fault of ours. Some buyers are so fussy to even accept deduction of shipping charges from the refund amount that they file a claim.
What's worse, in case of orders being shipped from Amazon Transportation Services, if the buyer rejects the delivery, we still have to bear all the shipping charges. This is not the case with Flipkart though.
It is very frustrating really! But then again, like USA and EU, they have managed to kill most of the offline retail book trade here. So we have to bend to some extent to survive.
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Amazon recently changed their Returns Policy mainly because of the rampant abuse of that system. Hurts genuine customers like myself. :/
Regarding the books, often the books really are not how sellers described. For example, they put an image of the original cover but ships a book with a different cover or a book printed locally. Sellers here may have tried to fool the system into their favor saying customers have posted positive feedback and that buyers were at fault. Send an original book to many customers and then a fake to a few unlucky customers. This is why i think that the feedback is really diverse/different from one buyer to another.
I know of a few instances where Flipkart has refused returns in such cases. Don't know about Amazon as I have bought only educational class books.
See. This is the misconception buyers have. It is not the sellers who post the photos and list the items in 99% of the book listings. It is the publisher who puts up the images and listing information. Some listings don't even have proper photos.
And yes, there is a difference in an educational book being sold for around Rs. 400 and the same one being sold at Rs. 5000 always. Yes, they are locally printed. The content is same and so is the cover most of the times. The difference is obviously in the quality. They are basically the Indian reprint of the original US editions. So that 'original' book that we talk about when we pay a mere few hundred bucks will certainly be of lower quality.
Also, I don't think it should take a month for a buyer to realize that they don't want the book or that it is not upto the quality. 7-10 days is understandable.
I am not saying that all sellers are genuine or that all buyers wanting a refund have bad intentions. But the way the system is made, it is definitely unfair to sellers out there.
I can't say about other categories. But books certainly don't have any margins to play with now. When Amazon alone takes a 12% cut as referral commission on a Rs. 300 book, how much do you think any seller can earn after paying shipping costs as well as storage, packing etc? And then having to restock them without getting a penny compensated on returns... It is really harsh!
don't you have any way to add extra info regarding the item you are selling? or your control is limited to pricing only?
indians need to understand this concept. otherwise it's very difficult to buy costly books of foreign publishers/authors. and it's a legitimate business as long as it's coming from a known press.
Sellers can add images. But then again, that is an unreliable source of information. Besides the photo quality will obviously never be upto the mark since they haven't actually designed the book cover. Also, unlike other categories where it is very important to maintain all the information in a listing, book sellers don't exactly put in that much of an effort for it is a market with perfect competition. You don't create any demand even by advertising.
As for other information, it is somewhat restricted again. Amazon has an Advantage program specifically for Book publishers to create the listings.
Indeed! A lot of the return requests we receive from buyers is when they buy the Indian reprints and are unsatisfied with the paper quality or printing.
Then when we link them to the listing of the Original US/International edition and mention the price they are selling at, they withdraw their return request almost immediately.
Piracy is obviously there in books. But you won't find someone selling a pirated book in a listing where the book is listed at Rs. 300 obviously.
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I'll admit i didn't know that publishers did that. As a seller isn't there anything which you can do about this? Its kind of misleading you know. I backed out of a few good deals on Snapdeal after reading the customer reviews.
Most of the books which i mentioned are by Indian authors and Indian publishers so I've never had any problem with any. The Indian reprints which I know of are western novels and books which are very rare or not available. Won't it be misleading/fraud if sellers ship Indian reprints while using the original cover and information?
Very limited help we can do. We, sellers obviously don't have the original designed, high-res photos of the covers as it wasn't designed by us. So even if someone puts a photo, it will be like those low-quality phone clicked photos. And then also it may be unreliable, and probably disapproved by Amazon/Flipkart or any other marketplace for that matter.
Yes, I am speaking of the western books only, where the buyers expect high quality books paying only a few hundred rupees. If you go through the listings, and try searching the site for similar listings of that book, you will know that the cheaper one is most likely the Indian reprint.
Any seller that lists the cheap local version in a listing of a US edition will obviously be punished when a buyer reports them.
Hmm, maybe i'm lucky but i've had good experiences with all sellers [Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and eBay]
I think your location matters a lot with regards to the delivery services. For example, in Gurgaon and Bangalore i've always had items delivered without any issue and almost always before expected delivery date.
I think your location matters a lot with regards to the delivery services. For example, in Gurgaon and Bangalore i've always had items delivered without any issue and almost always before expected delivery date.
Regarding the packages how I wish they don't use XXL-size packages for very small items like memory card, pendrive etc. :/ some of them are alright though. Btw i recycle all of the packages including the bubblewrap. I've still got many of them stored away for future use.