Ethical Question

I ordered a Tarot deck from amazon.uk. It was dispatched on November 15, and the estimated date of arrival was November 30. I waited until December 15, and it still had not arrived, so I notified amazon.uk. They refunded my payment immediately and said not to bother returning the deck. It finally arrived yesterday. I feel that maybe I should offer to pay for it anyhow. Opinions?

Yes, of course. You received the item you ordered.

Amazon are a massive company.. They told you not to bother returning the deck if it arrived so I'd just keep it. They can afford to let you have one deck I'm sure and it did arrive late so you're even.

A similar thing happened to me awhile back. I contacted Amazon and asked them to bill me again. They said No, just keep the item.

I've also had a situation where an item seemed to have gone missing, and I opted for a replacement instead of a refund - the original purchase arrived eventually, and I advised Amazon of the situation. Once again, they told me to keep the item (at no further charge).

I think that re-billing for a refunded purchase (or accepting the return of a wayward item, post-refund) creates more complications for them than it's worth in most cases, and they deem it simpler and less costly in the long run to accept the loss.

Thanks to everyone for the responses. I have decided to take the Beatles' advice and just "Let It Be."

Through the years, my experience with amazon has been overwhelmingly positive.

Donate the money to charity or something like that if you have a guilty conscience Richard! I wouldn't feel guilty about Amazon personally in the UK, they get out of a lot of things like their fair share of tax and paying Living Wages to staff which other small UK ethical companies do manage!

I did have an issue similar though with them and was a bit surprised how quickly they just wrote off the cost of the product, they can clearly afford it!

I'm thinking it's probably more expensive in terms of administrative costs to restock a small item than to just let it go. They hire MBAs to figure out the margins, and it's probably more about that than customer satisfaction. I've never had it happen (Amazon is usually excellent) but I know people who have. I'm having more trouble with the Book Depository right now.

Thankfully l have had only exemplary service from Amazon and Book Depository. l agree with Dan, put the pennies towards a charity of your choice. That way Amazon will be at least giving something back albeit through you.

I had similar experiences:

What arrived was not what I had ordered, and Amazon said "Keep it, and we'll refund your charges".

Mind you we're talking about something that is less than $50. I suspect that the administrative costs of doing something more complicated are more expensive than the value of the item. Plus there's an awesome reservoir of good will. being built up

I had this with a seller on eBay, my parcel was late and they gave me a refund. Then it came they hinted for the refund they gave me back (once they offered to give me it if the item hadn't arrived by a certain day.)

I'd suggest contacting Amazon to see what the best situation to do is, if they say keep the money I'd suggest doing something good with it (if you don't need it).

xx