Reader John is upset because, after someone stole an expensive watch from his Amazon.com shipment, the company refused to help him until he filed a police report. Should he have to do this?
John writes:
I ordered a Tag Heuer watch from Amazon Thursday night at 7pm and overnighted the watch to my office for the next day. I received the package at 10.30 the next morning. I was shocked to find that the watch box was empty.
There was a manual, but no watch. Amazon, who I have been generally pleased with in the past, told me that their jewelry customer service department would have to handle the situation rather than their normal cust. service and that the jewelry cust. service dept. only communicated via email.
Furthermore, it would be 2-3 business days before they could respond to me. I have made many purchases from Amazon over the years, but none for this amount of money.
I am insulted that they cannot offer better service to someone who paid $1500 plus $20 overnight fee to receive an empty box. They recommend I file a police report before they can help me. I will never buy from Amazon again.
Well, we usually recommend that people contact their credit card company in this situation — but filing a police report certainly couldn’t hurt. It’s probably a good idea.
The real question is whether or not Amazon should be more considerate to someone who just paid $1500 for an empty box and who is probably sort of freaking out about it.
Our advice to you, John, is to remain calm and document everything. Photos are always good. Call your credit card company and ask them for their advice.
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There’s some information missing here… Was the shipping carton tampered with? If so, Amazon needs to contact the carrier to collect on the insurance. If not, a stainless steel watch is heavy enough that there would have been a discrepancy in the shipping weight of the carton. I run into this issue every once in a while at work (eCommerce company) and this is always how we prove or disprove the inclusion of an item of significant value. The shipping label is going to be listed in whole pounds, but I guarantee that internally Amazon has it, at a minimum, down to the ounce, if not smaller (we keep down to 0.01lb for = 3lbs).
The only time I’d say a missing item warranted a police report would be if Amazon refuses to do anything and the credit card issuer wouldn’t help either. In that case, it should be a lead up to a court case against Amazon.
Was something stolen? Then tell the authorities.
In a perfectly sealed box that arrives in the mail? Yes, I would have contacted Amazon first. If no love (it IS a lot of money) then I don’t have a problem with a police report. I didn’t like the voting options, so no real choice there.
A not so cheap vendor would probably ask the same thing for a 4 figure jewelry purchase.
Nope. Unless the box appeared to be opened in transit, this is not a crime. So requiring this makes no sense.
This is a packaging mistake, plain and simple.
I’m not saying the OP shouldn’t have to file a police report here – he definitely should. But shouldn’t Amazon be at least willing to take his phone calls, too? And is a 2-3 day turnaround on an email really acceptable when we’re talking about a valuable item?
Neither poll option is helpful: There was a theft, you file a police report. This is standard procedure for lots of places to avoid scammers.
Without a police report no insurance company in the free world will pay off the claim. I’m appalled that wasn’t this boneheads FIRST course of action.
p.s. – The two choices on the poll are inane.
This is what the TAG Heuer website says about internet purchases:
“Only the authorized TAG Heuer retailers may offer the TAG Heuer range of Watches & Chronographs and can guarantee that your watch is authentic.
Buying your TAG Heuer watch from an authorized TAG Heuer retailer ensures that you get the full value for your investment. TAG Heuer does not sell authentic TAG Heuer watches on the Web. Therefore, a watch purchased on the Web from any other retailer may be counterfeit, damaged, tampered with, or contain inferior parts.”
Unfortunately, buying this type of merchandise online can result in a huge loss, or at least a huge hassle. I have customers tell me how much they saved by buying online, until something like this happens.
I once misplaced a phone – I thought it was lost. Assurion told me I had to file a police report before they would send me a replacement. I did. I found it two years later near the edge of a wall between two boxes (I probably dropped it and it bounced just right to go there where I would never see it until I was cleaning).
I don’t quite know what you mean by “empty box” – nothing was in the Amazon package, it had a sealed product box but that was empty, it had one that obviously looked ripped open…?
Basically filing a false police report is usually a felony, so this will insure that you aren’t trying to scam them – I suspect it happens.
If you file the report AND then they don’t fix it, you have a cause.
That survey is really loaded. Amazon.com is trying to help the guy out, and the Consumerist makes a poke at them. I don’t get it.
File a police report. It’s 1500 dollars. Sheesh. At that point they can probably help you more than they can now.
Amazon has always had great customer service, and I thankfully have only needed to contact them once in the 4+ years I’ve been ordering from them. I ordered a book and a video game that never arrived at my apartment. I called them, they apologized, and sent out the same items with two day shipping. The total cost was maybe about $50, well under the $1500 here.
See, the thing is when it’s 60 bucks or 100 bucks (or far less) like when Amazon usually eats the cost, that’s one thing. That’s the price of doing business, and sometimes shit happens. But when it’s a case like this, where the package is delivered (rather than lost/stolen from the doorstep) but empty, and they determine it wasn’t an error on their part – that means someone actually stole it. Lost packages happen. 1500 watches don’t just not arrive in their boxes. Someone stole it, and so the police need to be involved. (and most people won’t file a police report if they’re the ones that took it – the last thing they want is the police investigating them trying to defraud a company. NOT that I think the OP is doing this, just that it’s an easy way to eliminate the possibility)
Not sure the OP can file a police report. At what point does it become his property and not Amazon’s?. Since he may not be the actual owner he has no standing in the matter. Similar to you trying to report a shipment missing with UPS or FedEX if you didn’t mail it you can’t file a claim.
Says who? Are you a lawyer or just thinking out loud perhaps?
if so please let us know which statute you’re referring to.
Why do you need to wear a $1500 watch?
I dont think this is out of line. It cuts down on people claiming that they did not receive something that they did actually receive. It is also probably necessary for their insurance problem. If he already had the watch in his possession and it was stolen he would have to file a police report before his insurance would do anything.
Well, if Amazon tells you to, I would do it. I’m sure that they’ll be more than happy to refund you. In fact, just earlier this year, I ordered some books that never arrived at my dorm’s service desk. I checked several times per week after the arrive by date (it was signed for). They were more than happy to expedite me a new copy of the items even though I eventually found it a few weeks later.
Before you accuse me of defrauding Amazon, the shipping label misspelled my name (the receipt inside had the correct spelling) so the school never forwarded it to me until I went to the head of the area.
This is just as bad as Wal-Mart trying to check your receipt. I will never shop with Amazon again because they treat their best customers like criminals.
….people complain about everything.
well, if its theft, whats he supposed to do ?
start that paper trail
from their point of view, he could’ve just claimed/alleged it was received as such
I used to work at Amazon, and yes, it sucks that they don’t have a phone number for the jewelry department, but Amazon also doesn’t want their $10 an hour CS reps handling issues related to items of this value.
That said, the 2-3 days is a worst-case scenario time frame, and usually you will be contacted in less time. Having the phone rep collect your contact info & a brief description of the issue also lets them prioritize which issues are more urgent. The OP’s issue is more important than the person who is pissed off that they can’t return something they got engraved or resized.
was the box tampered with? or did they just not send it?
I am more astonished someone brought a 1500$ watch!!! OMG my cell phone cost like 200$ and it can tell me time, go on internet, send messages and call people not to mention the apps >> even with a monthly phone bill i do not go over the 1500$ a year at all >
How does Amazon know that you didnt pocket the watch? Filing a police report doesnt ensure that you didnt, but many people would be afraid to call the police, if they stole the watch.
I had a similar but worse situation. An employee quit and stole an iPhone4 the day she quit. We called ATT gave them the EMEI (serial number of the phone) and confirmed that the phone had been assigned to a different account. Even after filing a police report and have the police call Amazon, they refused to do anything unless I received a warrant. The cops said that would be difficult to obtain, he said/she said. Very sad.
Yes, this complainer should absolutely file a police report. He will probably need one for the credit card company anyway, so why is he complaining about Amazon? File the ^%$! report! GOSH.
File the report. Is Amazon just supposed to cough up $1500 everytime someone claims something is stolen?
I’ve had nothing but AMAZING customer service from amazon. if/ When they screw up they always compensate you. Often times generously
I once recieved a %30 discount off a cellphone I purchased because in the description it said it had an FM transmitter, and it really didn’t. I emailed them, and they offered to give me 30% of $250 phone back, or refund the item.
Amazon actually handled that the right way.
What are they supposed to do? Fill out the report for you? You’re accusing someone (unknown at this moment) of Grand Larceny (or its equivalent for a physical product if Grand Larceny is just for cash…not educated in the terminoligy, nor do I ever want to be). Pretty big deal.
Also…I like the survey. It’s why Amazon is cheap. This isn’t American Express Customer Service, or Nordstroms. You get the level of customer service you pay for.
File the damn report. Unless you’ve got something to hide, which is the only reason I can think of why you’d be up in arms for having to file a police report. Even if your local PD charges a fee to file it- well, you just paid $1500 for a damn WRISTWATCH so I’m gonna assume you’ll be able to afford it.
Neither. If something is stolen it is not Amazon’s fault. You file a police report that it was stolen, alert the carrier, and then contact Amazon.
Just an update that is is now Tuesday afternoon and I still have not received any communication from the mysterious “jewelry customer service” department that apparently doesn’t have a phone. Police report was filed and faxed.
If the shipping box was tampered with, it would indicate that the item was stolen in transit and one should file the police report as well as file a claim with the shipping carrier.
If the box was not tampered, then filing a police report is irrelevant because the item was never in his posession. Something must be transacted for a theft to occur and the police department probably has other priorities that would supersede this. If the theft occurred at Amazon’s DC shipping dock, in their storage warehouse, or it was missing when delivered there from distributor or manufacturer, it is actually Amazon’s problem and Amazon should file the police report.
Since the item never made it into the consumers hand, I would cancel the charge under the context that the service was never provided. At the bare minimum, it would get Amazon’s attention and force them to address the issue without communication barriers and delays.
Well, depending on whether it looks like someone broke into the box or not it might be legitimate for Amazon to request that you file a police report, so that there’s some legal documentation that something was missing/stolen. Otherwise it wouldn’t be covered by whatever insurance policies they have with the shipper or otherwise. It’s such an expensive item that I don’t think it’s unreasonable for Amazon to ask for a police report-they don’t take that long to fill out anyways and in some places the cops can come to you to help you fill one out (call and ask how it works where you live-might not be quite as convenient where you live).