Falling Victim to a $1,500 Used Camera Lens Scam on Amazon

Megalith

Megalith

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A photographer is sharing his customer service nightmare after getting tricked by a $1,500 Canon lens “sale” via Amazon Marketplace. The implication here is that Amazon only checks whether a parcel was signed for in the same town as the buyer: the address could be completely wrong, yet the company will not look into it just because the zip code matches.

I’ve been ordering used lenses for years and have never had a problem with any purchases. That is, until now. I recently ordered a $1,500 used camera lens from Amazon. The lens never showed up, and Amazon is refusing to return my money because they claim the tracking number shows that it was delivered to my address. Here’s the story of how I fell victim to this used lens scam.
 
MavericK said:
Wow, this is fucked up. Even with a signed letter from USPS they still ignored the fact that it was sent to the wrong address.
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Wow, this is scary. For a ship that's run as tightly as Amazon's how can they ignore that the item was sent to the wrong address and not even the item that was purchased? Hopefully this blog will get Amazon's attention and this this loophole.
 
What the fuck? I've negotiated shipping costs with these people. How is something like this OK by anyone at Amazon?
 
Had this happen with a lawnmower. My mom bought a lawnmower that was 50% less than other sellers. I told her it was an obvious scam but she bought it anyway. The package was shipped to some other city yet Amazon reported it delivered. Took about a month to get her money back.
 
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NickJames said:
Had this happen with a lawnmower. My mom bought a lawnmower that was 50% less than other sellers. I told her it was an obvious scam but she bought it anyway. The package was shipped to some other city yet Amazon reported it delivered. Took about a month to get her money back.
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At least she got her money back, sounds like this guy is basically up shit creek unless he wants to file a civil suit. Hopefully his CC chargeback will work.
 
Ebay seems to do the same thing coming from experience. Ordered a PS4 game, all I got was an empty box. Since there was a tracking number that showed it as delivered Ebay just sided on the seller and that was the end of that.
 
If there was no insurance, take them to small claims court and get back the $1500 plus the court filing fees and a little extra for the trouble. There's no way they would show up for a claim that small and he would win by default. Big deal...
 
Man, reading through that it was very easy to ignore the obvious scammer (not sure why he didn't go that route with Amazon as well, 8oz package for something that should be 3.2 lbs). But this alone

We will not be replying to your mail if the proof provided is insufficient or invalid.
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'Oh hey I feel very wronged here, and I'd like some help... hello? are you not responding because I didn't send proof?"
 
I had the same thing happen.

Luckily I was able to get UPS to cough up the delivery address and some other information, and had my money refunded.

Just found the email.


[commMgrHmdToken:A5H8NIDR0ZXTP]
--- Original message ---

Order ID 116-1978958-6272231:
1 of Alpine PDX-V9, 5-Channel Extreme Power Density Digital Amplifier [ASIN: B007VSXGOQ]

------------- Begin message -------------

Hello,

We've been contacted by a customer regarding the order identified below.

--------------------
Order#: 116-1978958-6272231
Item: Alpine PDX-V9, 5-Channel Extreme Power Density Digital Amplifier

Reason: Where's My Stuff ?

Details: Hello,

We've been contacted by a customer regarding the order identified below.

--------------------
Order#: 116-1978958-6272231
Item: Alpine PDX-V9, 5-Channel Extreme Power Density Digital Amplifier

Reason: Where's My Stuff ?

Details: Hello,
Customer did not receive the package, tracking shows delivered and someone signed on the package. Customer already contacted the carrier of the item, and they told him that the item has been delivered on the wrong address and it was received by someone named DEBORE. We hope that you can help us. Thank you.


The owner of the account ended up reaching out to everyone involved and apologizing. His account had been hacked and used by scammers.

Hi Jon,

First off, my deepest apologies for this whole situation. I just got off the phone with an Amazon rep to resolve this situation.

My account was hacked and many other items were put up for sale in addition to yours. I don't even know what half of the items I was "selling" are. I've only used this account in the past to sell old college books and haven't used it in years.

I see a refund is being processed and I'm hoping that this all comes to a resolution sooner than later. I have 20 other some odd people to write to and explain and also hoping that there's no monetary effects/penalties on my bank account.

Once again, sorry that this happened and happy to update you on any progress as soon as I receive any. Not what I was hoping to be doing on Thanksgiving eve, but I guess it could be worse.

Thanks for your understanding and enjoy your holiday.

Best,
Paul
 
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Shit, given Amazon's policy it seems this scammer went above and beyond. They could have gotten away with sending a brick in a box to the correct address.

That's fucked up. I hope this guy gets his money back and the scammer gets what's coming to them. Above all I hope Amazon changes it's policy and trains it's people to actually comprehend what is being told to them in these claims.
 
I love the fact that he even sent an e-mail to Jeff Bezos lol...and someone responded on his behalf
 
Amazon used to have the most exceptional return policy as well as quickly solving problems such as that lens zip problem. They are a very different company today and started changing about 2 years ago which is when I stopped buying from Amazon
 
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Everything is scripted and Amazon.com customer service cannot read is the impression I got from reading that article. I had to explain the difference between guaranteed and estimated for delivery.

This was definitely some story. Been burned once by marketplace seller, but did get back a refund to my card.

I hope that dude gets his money back.
 
viper_0307 said:
Everything is scripted and Amazon.com customer service cannot read is the impression I got from reading that article. I had to explain the difference between guaranteed and estimated for delivery.

This was definitely some story. Been burned once by marketplace seller, but did get back a refund to my card.

I hope that dude gets his money back.
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Well English isn't their first language.
 
This is pretty disappointing. Though I always avoid 3rd party sellers or anything that isn't PRIME.
 
I have never had any problems amazon did not take care of. But when you service billions in goods, there are bound to be some bad stories. I think amazon is getting big enough now that they are going to have to start thinking about getting rid of the small time sellers. I know that's kinda sad but they should probably just leave that market to ebay and let them deal with the riff raff. Its kinda like how cell phone companies just leave the bad customers to sprint. Sprint has to constantly fight it and ends up treating a lot of good customers poorly which makes it ever harder for them to get out of the rut they at in. Amazon has lot to deal with and a lot of growth to focus on now that they are so big, I think these tiny flavor of the month sellers and scammers popping up all the time are just too much of a customer service liability.
 
Couldn't he just file a different claim stating that what he received was different from what he ordered?

The item you received was damaged, defective, materially different, or you changed your mind and you returned it in line with Amazon's return policy but you have not been refunded or the refunded was in the wrong amount. You must (1) contact the seller within 30 days from receipt of the item (or by the end of any extended return period, e.g. extended holiday return policy, if later) and (2) postmark the return within 14 days from arranging the return with the seller. The refund amount you are entitled to is included below.

Assuming all communication was done through Amazon, the seller not responding within 30 days seems like it would be a big blow against the seller.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I had a package not show up from Amazon and they refunded my money. The article isn't as cut and dry as they want you to believe. Did he check the seller's history? Would you buy an expensive lens from someone with little to no reviews, especially used? He purchased from a third party not Amazon. These should be red flags. TGTBT. He wanted to believe he was getting a deal and didn't let his brain make the decision.
 
I may be the minority here, but isn't delivering to the right address the responsibility of the courier? This has nothing to do with amazon. So the man should contact the company responsible for shipping.
 
Odd how they just made policies that are supposed to fuck over sellers in favor of buyers then you get a story like this. So guess they will just fuck both parties.


M76 said:
I may be the minority here, but isn't delivering to the right address the responsibility of the courier? This has nothing to do with amazon. So the man should contact the company responsible for shipping.
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Amazon is the middle man collecting the money and making them self the one responsible for returns and refunds. So he is contacting the correct person. Somebody used Amazon to steal $1500 from somebody, they should be fully aware of this to prevent others from being scammed by the same person.
 
M76 said:
I may be the minority here, but isn't delivering to the right address the responsibility of the courier? This has nothing to do with amazon. So the man should contact the company responsible for shipping.
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They did deliver it to the right address. The seller(scammer) found an address online using an obituary online to find someone in the same zip code. They added "or Current Resident” to the end in hopes that someone at the house would sign for it. Amazon apparently just checks the tracking showing the zip code. Since the address is in the same zip code it checks out to them. Sounds like the seller has done this before.
 
swatbat said:
They did deliver it to the right address. The seller(scammer) found an address online using an obituary online to find someone in the same zip code. They added "or Current Resident” to the end in hopes that someone at the house would sign for it. Amazon apparently just checks the tracking showing the zip code. Since the address is in the same zip code it checks out to them. Sounds like the seller has done this before.
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Ah, so they deliberately sent it to a wrong address in the same zip code. Got it. TBH I never trusted in buying used on amazon to even try it. It's one thing to buy brand new stuff online without looking at it, but I'd always want to check the item's condition personally if I buy used.
 
I avoid Amazon marketplace for this exact reason. It is not as much of a scammers hub as Ebay but it does happen.
We have actually had more crap from Walmart than anything.
I remember one Christmas my son wanted some expensive lego thing and the wife picked it up at walmart.
When he opened it was a bunch of old dusty VHS tapes. Wife was furious. Walmart refunded our money but they didn't give a crap about the fraud.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
I remember one Christmas my son wanted some expensive lego thing and the wife picked it up at walmart.
When he opened it was a bunch of old dusty VHS tapes. Wife was furious. Walmart refunded our money but they didn't give a crap about the fraud.
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Poor kid.. I bet your wife is now more cognizant of signs that a product's packaging has been previously "enjoyed." I never risk buying a product at a brick & mortar store if there's clear evidence that it's been repackaged and/or if the clear circle stickers show that they've been peeled (usually turn opaque).
 
Customer bought a $1500 item from a 3rd party and gets mad when Amazon doesn't step in to help. Plus that is a $10,000 lens, $1500 sale price smells trouble.
 
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in some cases, it would just be easier to sue amazon in small claims court. They'll probably refund you just to make it go away
 
rive22 said:
Customer bought a $1500 item from a 3rd party and gets mad when Amazon doesn't step in to help.
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Your point? It's on Amazon's marketplace. Why wouldn't they hold responsibility? Especially considering this a is an obvious scammer.
 
M76 said:
Ah, so they deliberately sent it to a wrong address in the same zip code. Got it. TBH I never trusted in buying used on amazon to even try it. It's one thing to buy brand new stuff online without looking at it, but I'd always want to check the item's condition personally if I buy used.
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Yea they did that, shipped it to a name they found in the paper of someone who died and put "or Current Resident". They then threw crap in the box where the shipping weight doesn't even come close to what the lens itself ways. It is a clear case of fraud that amazon is ignoring(at least from the posters claims) because all they care about is that it shows delivered in the same zip code.

Dr. Righteous said:
I avoid Amazon marketplace for this exact reason. It is not as much of a scammers hub as Ebay but it does happen.
We have actually had more crap from Walmart than anything.
I remember one Christmas my son wanted some expensive lego thing and the wife picked it up at walmart.
When he opened it was a bunch of old dusty VHS tapes. Wife was furious. Walmart refunded our money but they didn't give a crap about the fraud.
Click to expand...

You get it everywhere but yea I've had it happen at walmart too. I remember years ago(I want to say Christmas 06) I bought my like 8 year old brother a nintendo ds lite which had been out for like 5 or 6 months but was hard to find because of the season(I was like right out of college or something then). Box didn't looked tampered with but had a smashed dirty ds lite in it. He had an older gameboy of mine and was upset that he couldn't play his new one. Walmart gave me a refund without issue, took me a few days to find another in stock though. I wish they had actually checked the serial when they did the return originally and not put it back out.

I've had similar issues with them after but screwing up a young kids Christmas was the worst. I remember how happy I was back in the 80's getting an original gameboy for christmas when it was the hot item to have. I carried mine through at least 5 or 6 countries. It sucks seeing a kid get all happy then get crushed. He has had bad luck with games at christmas though. I remember my parents getting him a few xbox 360 games that he wanted one year and his xbox's dvd drive wouldn't read them right as it was going bad. It was a 60gb fat 360 I had bought him like 2 years earlier. I took the system as I was going to see what dvd drive it had and get a replacement and decided I was too busy and just bought him a new elite slim one(I had replaced dvd drives in the older ones a few times and they never seemed to last). I didn't buy that elite from walmart though.....
 
Amazon really needs to check their returns better.

I just received what was supposed to be a 480 GB Intel Server level SSD.
Label was correct on the box and the seal was intact.
However, when I opened the box, it contained a 60GB consumer level SSD in an opened anti-static bag.
Looks like the previous buyer had opened the side of the box, swapped the drives and then glued the box closed.

I would hope that Amazon tracks their products enough to go after the person who returned this (there is a serial number on the box), but I doubt it.
 
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