Amazon says it will pay up to $1,000 for damage caused by products sold by third-party sellers
Company says it will ‘address the immediate customer concern, bear the cost ourselves, and separately pursue the seller’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Amazon will pay as much as $1,000 to customers who bought items from third-party sellers that caused damage or personal injury following a change in its complaint process for returns.
The online retail giant said on Tuesday that it would go after third-party sellers who are unresponsive or resistant to compensate customers after first handling customer satisfaction issues on its own.
The change in policy will apply to all products sold on Amazon and will take effect on 1 September, CNN reported.
Customers will be able to tell Amazon about an issue with a product, and the company will get in touch with the seller. Amazon said that if the seller doesn’t respond, the company will “address the immediate customer concern, bear the cost ourselves, and separately pursue the seller”.
If a seller denies a customer’s claim of a faulty product, Amazon has said that they may pay out as much as $1,000 to address the issue at hand at no cost to the seller.
Amazon said that its new “A-to-Z Guarantee” is a “streamlined process” that will “save time, money, and effort for both customers and sellers”. The current process involves customers personally contacting third-party sellers about issues with products.
Several products sold on Amazon have angered customers in recent years, such as hoverboards, carbon monoxide detectors, and dog collars.
A lawsuit entitled Oberdorf v Amazon examines if the company can be held liable for damages caused by products sold on its site by third-party sellers.
Amazon has said that it’s not a seller, but instead just a marketplace for other sellers.
“If you purchase any of the products or services offered by these businesses or individuals, you are purchasing directly from those third parties, not from Amazon,” the company’s conditions of use state. “Amazon does not assume any responsibility or liability for the actions, product, and content of all these and any other third parties.”
Amazon is not taking on some of the responsibility to keep customers happy and to prevent sellers from paying out compensation for invalid claims.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments