Amazon reportedly plans to charge consumers a fee for returning their orders at UPS stores.
RELATED STORIES: Amazon To Start Flagging “Frequently Returned” Products As A Warning To Customers
The company will start charging customers a $1 fee if they return their items to a UPS store instead of a Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh store, or Kohl’s that is closer to their delivery address. It was previously reported that Amazon wants to limit customers from making too many returns by flagging frequently returned items to discourage customers from purchasing them.
According to CNN, stores like Zara, H&M, J.Crew, Anthropologie, Abercrombie & Fitch, and others are adding fees of up to $7 to return online purchases. Data from the National Retail Federation revealed that customers had returned 17 percent of the total merchandise. Additionally, average retailers incur $165 million in returns for every $1 billion in sales.
RELATED STORIES: Amazon Driver Falls Into A Septic Tank While Making Deliveries, Finished Route After Rescue
Amazon customers react to the latest changes, and some feel they might have to curb their online shopping habits.
Despite the new policy, some customers expressed on Twitter that Amazon and their partners must do a better job shipping damaged packages and issuing refunds. “Returned $1k chair because it was poorly constructed. @amazon sent a 3rd party company to pick up then said they never received it but tracking says returned. This was last summer. Still don’t have a refund. I was def robbed by Amazon!,” one user wrote.
Another said “@amazon allows 3rd party sales. Many items are dollar store quality and sold at regular retail prices. The pictures make them look like normal quality when it’s made with cheap materials. Fix this & there will be fewer returns.”
That would explain 7 bucks to return at UPS but free to return to Kohls…. I get it, free returns for cheap items has to be expensive –
— Mik🛼🟦🪐⚾️ (@STLDarkHumor) April 13, 2023
wellllll they need to get a better distribution process. there’ve been too many times I ordered something and UPS couldn’t deliver it or it was lost. I ordered a gift for my mom at Christmas and it didn’t arrive on time, when I called they told me it was LOST
— Lia🌻 (@IAmLiaJ) April 13, 2023
Then they need to get their sellers in line.
Sellers images don’t always accurately show the product, or the reviews on the page will be for an entirely different product, so you can’t use that as a resource either.
That’s what causes most of my returns.
— TexasTitty (@ToughTexasTitty) April 13, 2023
Amazon in Canada makes alot of these mistakes people are talking about.
I’ve had an order delivered to the wrong building, ( isn’t a return, but will be marked down the same as a loss)
And I’ve had people steal an item.
Delivery people my area at least, don’t even know the area— Steve (@in_the_matrix1) April 13, 2023
Amazon is also attempting to crack down on fake reviews posted by third-party sellers, as it was revealed that sellers were paying customers to leave fake reviews in exchange for free products.