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Have you ever received the wrong item when ordering from Amazon?
We understand that it can be a confusing situation to be in but luckily, there are things that you can do about it.
The amount of time you take to raise the alarm about receiving the wrong item will greatly impact how Amazon treats your case. Hence, it’s important to act quickly.
Quick Summary
In this post, we’ll detail what you can do if you’ve sent the wrong item on Amazon and how you can make a claim to return it or get it exchanged.
What to Do if You Receive the Wrong Item from Amazon (Step-by-Step Guide)
When you receive the wrong item on Amazon, it’s important not to panic.
Your money has not gone to waste on the wrong product, you can easily get it refunded or get the wrong item replaced with the item you want.
The very first thing you should do once you receive the wrong item from Amazon is to try and track your package.
This may not make sense to you at first but the reason you’re doing this is to determine whether
- You have received somebody else’s order and your actual Amazon package has not been delivered to you yet
- Or Amazon sent you a product as part of a delivery that you requested but it is the wrong item.
In the former case, all you’ll have to do is return the delivery to Amazon and wait for your package.
In the latter case, you can:
- Contact Amazon
- Return the item
- Request a refund
- Submit a claim
Tracking Your Amazon Package
You can track your Amazon package by following these simple steps:
Step 1: Log in to your Amazon account.
Step 2: Go to the orders section by hovering your cursor over your account in the top-right part of the screen and then, clicking on ‘Orders’ as shown below:
Step 3: Click on the statuses of your pending orders.
Step 4: If none of your pending orders say “Delivered”, that means you have simply received somebody else’s order.
If the status of one or more of your deliveries says “delivered” and you haven’t received that particular product, then it’s time for.
Reporting a Problem with Your Amazon Delivery
There are mainly 2 ways through which you can report a problem with the Amazon delivery that you received.
Via Phone
You can dial +001 1206-922-0880 which is Amazon Customer Service Center’s hotline.
Their team works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so you can contact them through this number and report your issue any time you want.
Your issue will be handled by a sales representative so be sure to be as detailed about your issue as possible in order to get it resolved quickly.
Via Their Website
If you don’t want to talk on the phone to someone, then you can also simply report your issue through Amazon’s Contact Us page.
Here’s how you do it:
Step 1: Go to Amazon’s Contact Us page and click on “Start chatting now” as shown:
Step 2: Click on “Question about a charge” and then, explain your situation to the chatbot.
Returning the Wrong Item You Received from Amazon
The important thing to note about this process is the fact that you have 30 days since your reception of the item to return it.
If you send it back after 30 days, then you’ll have to pay for both the replacement item as well as the original wrong one that you received.
In order to request a replacement for the wrong item that you received, follow these steps:
Step 1: Log in to your Amazon account.
Step 2: Navigate to the Orders section by hovering your cursor over your account in the top-right part of the screen and then, clicking on Orders as shown below:
Step 3: Navigate to the problematic order in question and click on “Return or Replace Items”.
Step 4: Select the wrong item you want to place a return requisition for by selecting it and then selecting the option from the “Reason for return” menu.
Step 5: Choose how you want your return request to be processed. You can issue a money refund for it or you can request a replacement.
Click your choice and click on “Submit return request”.
Step 6: Select your preferred return method.
Step 7: Receive your return label and print it along with your return authorization.
Your return label is what identifies the details of how a specific return to Amazon needs to be handled.
To ensure that you receive the correct refund or replacement, make sure to include items from multiple orders or shipments in the same return box.
Step 8: Add your return label to your box and pack the item(s) that you wish to send back for a refund or a replacement. Pack them securely and follow any instructions that may have been sent to you when you requested them to be returned.
How Long Does it Take Amazon to Process Refund Requests?
Once you have submitted a refund request to Amazon, you will be provided a return label and return authorization which you will then use to ship the wrong item back to Amazon.
In most cases, the shipping costs for the return shipment will be covered by Amazon.
Your return shipment to Amazon can take up to 25 days.
It can sometimes be even longer during the holiday season.
Once Amazon receives the wrong item from you, it will take them 2 business days to process your refund.
After the refund has been processed, you’ll have to wait 3 – 5 days for the refund amount to show up in your linked bank account.
This would be the bank account that you have provided as part of your financial information in your Amazon account.
When Can You File an A-Z Guarantee Claim?
If the item that you wrongfully received is in relation to an order that is directly handled by Amazon, then you don’t need to worry much about the returning process.
In the case of items directly sold by Amazon, customers have rarely reported their refund requests not being fulfilled correctly.
In most cases, you will have your money refunded or your item replaced if you’ve been sent the wrong item.
Even if you do run into issues, you can contact Amazon customer support via phone or email as explained above to get them resolved.
In case your order is being handled by third-party sellers on Amazon, you could run into some issues.
When you submit a return request regarding an item that’s handled by a third-party seller, they will review your request before sending you a refund or a replacement.
If you don’t receive a response from the third-party seller within 2 business days, you can submit an A-Z Guarantee claim via Amazon.
A-Z claims were a process that was introduced by Amazon for exactly this reason: When you don’t receive rightful compensation for an order that was not fulfilled by a seller properly.
In order to file an A-Z claim on an item, follow these steps:
Step 1: Log into your Amazon account.
Step 2: Go to Your Orders by clicking on your account on the top-right and then, clicking on “Orders” as shown:
Step 3: Navigate to the order that contains the wrongfully-shipped item and select “Problem with order”.
Step 4: Select the most appropriate problem from the list.
Step 5: Click on “Request refund”.
Step 6: In the Comments box, be as detailed as possible about your situation. Try to give a full timeline of when you received the wrong item and how you have been wrongfully compensated for the error.
Step 7: Click on “Submit”.
Please note that it can take Amazon up to a week to process A-Z claims so you may have to wait a bit before you get fully refunded or before your incorrect item gets replaced.
Once your A-Z claim has been processed, you will receive an email regarding its status with instructions on how to proceed forward.
What if I Want to Keep the Wrongfully Sent Product?
This may happen in some cases.
You get sent the wrong item by Amazon and it’s not exactly what you ordered but you end up liking it anyway and want to keep it.
The question is: Can you legally do so?
Luckily for you, you can.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, all retailers across the United States are the ones who are responsible for any wrong actions that they make. These include accidents.
So, if a retailer sends you extra items or the wrong items (that may cost more than what you paid) by mistake, then they don’t have the right to demand any extra payment for you.
Hence, you have the right to keep any goods or products that Amazon sends you by mistake and you also, don’t have to pay any extra money for it either.
Can I Return a Gift?
If someone sent you a gift through Amazon but you ended up receiving the wrong item as part of the order, you can still dispute it through Amazon just like any other order.
The process for filing a return request for a gift follows the same procedure that any normal order would.
Simply follow the process for filing a return request that we have described above for your gift on Amazon.
In this case, you may be asked more questions regarding your return such as whether you’re choosing to return the gift because you don’t like it or if you’ve simply received the wrong item you intended to receive as a gift, etc.
It’s important to note that in the case of gift orders, the money that will be refunded to you may vary by a lot depending on the condition of the item at the time of the return.
The person who sent you the gift will also be contacted by Amazon in order to verify that it was indeed a gift that they sent to you.
Buyers are usually asked about the order number, shipping address, and other important information about the order.
Once Amazon has verified that it was indeed a gift and you have just cause to return it, they will start processing your return request.
Does Amazon Handle Shipping Costs in All Item Return Cases?
We mentioned above briefly how Amazon takes care of shipping costs for most return cases.
So, how do you determine whether or not Amazon will pay for your return shipping or not?
Well, if the product was fulfilled by Amazon (Amazon FBA), then Amazon will most likely pay the shipping fees.
This is because you were sent the wrong item due to Amazon’s error and thus, they will make up for it by paying for shipping.
However, if the order was fulfilled directly by a merchant (Amazon FBM) on Amazon, then it’s unsure.
It will depend entirely on the seller. Some sellers are generous and will pay the shipping fees for your return item. Other sellers may not and remember, they do have the right to do so.
Thus, in this case, you’ll have to contact the seller and come to an agreement about who’ll be paying the shipping fees.
Your shipping fees will also differ depending on which method you choose to return the item.
Wrapping Things Up…
This brings us to the end of our post of what you should do if you are sent the wrong item by Amazon.
We hope we’ve demystified the process and now you have a better understanding of what your rights are and what actions you can take when Amazon sends you the wrong product(s).
Do you have any stories regarding wrong items being sent to your address by Amazon? Let us know in the comments below.
