Amazon sent me the wrong water heater! Why can’t I get a refund?

Amazon sends Marshall Haney the wrong water heater. After he returns it, the company won’t refund his money. Where did he go wrong?

Question

I purchased a tankless water heater from Amazon a month ago. They sent the wrong hot water heater — propane instead of natural gas. 

Amazon approved my return, and I sent it back the next week. Amazon received the item but I haven’t received a refund yet. 

I contacted Amazon by chats several times, asking about my refund so I could order a replacement. I’ve talked to 12 different so-called customer service reps — some claimed to be supervisors — without a resolution from any. 

When I check my account, there is now no evidence that I have a return sent, received, or being processed. That information was taken off the site. The item was there before. 

I can’t afford to purchase another heater until they refund my original purchase. To say the least, this situation is now and continues to be intolerable, and their actions indicate they don’t care. Please help me get my $496 back. — Marshall Haney, Lockport, NY

Answer

Amazon should have sent you the correct water heater. But if it couldn’t, it should have sent you an immediate refund after you returned the wrong water heater — along with its apologies. Instead, it pretended you were never a customer. Come on.

Amazon’s return process usually works well. I’ve heard from customers who get their refunds in hours instead of days, which is great. For you, the system didn’t work as it should have. Amazon approved your return, acknowledged it, but then erased all records of your transaction from the system. (Related: Can you help me restore the 654 product reviews Amazon has deleted?)

You know how I like to talk about keeping a paper trail? That also includes screenshots with acknowledgments of product returns. (Related: Amazon price-match problem: Where’s the refund for my keyboard?)

Why? Because this could happen to you. The company could simply delete all of its records, leaving you with no proof that you ever returned a product. Or even ordered a product.

Now, to be sure, you could have cobbled together some forensic evidence from your credit card bill and email correspondence. This shouldn’t be necessary with a sophisticated company like Amazon.

What to do if Amazon sends you the wrong water heater

So what do you do if Amazon messes up your order and you get the wrong water heater? There are steps to take — and you have legal rights.

Steps to take

1. Check your order again — and carefully. Review your order confirmation. Make sure you received what you actually ordered. If the product you got doesn’t match the details on your receipt, you’ve got grounds for a return. (Many customers don’t check their initial order and realize only later that they ordered the wrong product.)
2. Initiate a return. Amazon makes it relatively easy to return items. Log into your account, navigate to “Your Orders,” and select the item you want to return. Follow the prompts to initiate the return process. Amazon usually covers return shipping costs if they sent the wrong item. (Related: Was I “scammed” by Amazon.com’s book seller program?)
3. Take pictures. Take lots of photos of the wrong water heater and keep all correspondence with Amazon. This could come in handy if you face any disputes down the road.
4. Get help. If the return process isn’t going smoothly or if you feel like your rights are being ignored, reach out to Amazon’s customer service. Use their chat function for quicker responses, or call their support line. Be firm but polite; a little courtesy can go a long way. (Here’s our guide to resolving your consumer problem.)
5. Escalate if necessary. If you’re still not getting the help you need, consider escalating the issue. Ask to speak with a supervisor or contact us for help.

Your rights as a consumer

It depends on where you live, but you generally have these rights under Amazon’s terms:

• Right to refund. If you receive the wrong item, you’re entitled to a full refund, including shipping costs.
• Right to a replacement. You can request a replacement item if the wrong one was sent.
• Consumer protection laws. Federal and state laws protect you from deceptive practices, ensuring you receive what you pay for.

Ordering online is convenient, but mistakes can happen. These tips will help you undo the mistake.

What you did right — and wrong

Reviewing your correspondence, I see two issues.

First, all of your messages were in all uppercase. When you’re online, that’s considered yelling. I would maybe ease up on that and disengage your caps lock. Also, it had only been a few weeks since your return, and I think Amazon would have eventually resolved this problem. Since chatting wasn’t really helping, maybe you could have sent a brief, polite email to one of the Amazon customer service executives whose names I publish on this site.

You reached out to my advocacy team, and I contacted Amazon on your behalf. It investigated your return problem and sent you an update a few days later 

“We’ve received the item below and have issued your refund,” it said. “Thank you for sending the item back. Your return is now complete.”

Your $496 has been refunded.