'Wild!': Amazon is refunding some customers for purchases made as far back as 2018
Some Amazon shoppers will soon be getting long-awaited refunds.
The online retailer is issuing refunds to a small collection of U.S. customers who had issues with returns in the past. At least one customer's return apparently dated back to 2018.
'Following a recent internal review, we identified a very small subset of returns where we issued a refund without the payment completing, or where we could not verify that the correct item had been sent back to us so no refund was issued," Amazon spokesperson Maxine Tagay said in a statement sent to USA TODAY.
"There is no action required from customers to receive the refunds, and we have fixed the payment issue and made process changes to more promptly contact customers about unresolved returns going forward.'
Big Lots: More than 70 stores to reopen on June 5: Is your store on the list?
Amazon hasn't detailed how many customers are getting refunds or the total amount of the refunds.
However, during its first quarter earnings call on May 1, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky told investment analysts that the company took a one-time charge of about $1.1 billion, Bloomberg reported. The charge included 'some historical customer returns' that were unresolved, as well as the cost of stockpiling inventory in anticipation of tariffs, Olsavsky said, according to Bloomberg.
One consumer, Steven Pope, posted on LinkedIn that he got a refund of nearly $1,800 on May 20 for a TV set he had purchased in 2018, The Verge reported.
"WILD - Amazon just refunded me finally for a return in 2018!" he posted on the networking site. "$1,798.81 is being credited to me today in 2025 after 7 years."
Amazon's note to Pope read, according to his LinkedIn post: "We are contacting you about an unresolved product return that you initiated on Amazon."
Pope, founder of My Amazon Guy, a company to help sellers on Amazon, was among consumers whose return hadn't been resolved, Amazon's note said. "Given the time elapsed, we've decided to err on the side of customers and just complete refunds for these returns."
Amazon returns are also the focus of a potential class-action lawsuit in which several consumers say they were recharged for an item after they had returned it. Amazon has argued that it may re-charge a customer and reverse their refund if they did not send back the item, sent it back in bad condition or sent back an incorrect item.
A federal judge in Seattle on April 29 denied Amazon's request to dismiss the case, which is currently in the discovery process.
Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY's Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com
What's everyone talking about? Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amazon refunds: Some customers are now getting money years later. Why?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Safeway, Albertsons employees vote to strike as King Soopers negotiations stagnate
DENVER (KDVR) — Another grocery worker strike is in the works after UFCW Local 7 workers at Safeway and Albertsons Companies voted overwhelmingly in favor of the action — some stores voting unanimously in favor of the strike. No strike date has been set, although workers at stores along the Front Range and across Colorado have authorized the union action. The union is alleging unfair labor practices, and says that Safeway and Albertsons is 'holding hands' with King Soopers to try and cut workers' healthcare benefits. Former head trader of Denver-based investing company pleads guilty to insider trading 'Ontop of the concessionary proposals at the negotiating table, Safeway and Albertsons have gone back on their agreements,' said UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova in a press release on Friday. The union says the stores are understaffed and that the company is backtracking on an agreement for retroactive pay and benefit increases, which the labor union cited as an unfair labor practice. Bargaining between the union and the company began months ago, but on Sunday, the union said the two grocery giants are working together despite a failed merger that the two companies had proposed. In May, Albertsons provided FOX31 with a statement about its ongoing negotiations with the union. 'At Albertsons Companies, we are committed to productive discussions with UFCW Local 7. We respect the rights of workers to engage in collective bargaining and are negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that is fair to our employees, good for our customers and allows our company to remain competitive,' the company stated. FOX31 reached out to Safeway and Albertsons for further comment after the strike votes confirmed the impending union action, but has not gotten a response. Earlier this year, workers at King Soopers went on strike for unfair labor practices. In a Facebook post on Sunday, the union noted that its negotiations with the company have not resulted in any new agreements, and the previous peaceful relations agreement that ended the strike in February will expire at midnight. The agreement's end was noted in a bargaining update posted to Facebook. 'More importantly, the Company is continuing to hold hands with Safeway/Albertsons to crush workers at both Safeway/Albertsons and King Soopers/City Market,' the union said in its post. 'These two grocery giants are colluding to ensure workers at both companies are left behind. These mega corporations are in the process of giving away over $9.5 billion to Wall Street fat cats, but are proposing low-cost contracts to workers in Colorado.' The union said it is pressuring both Safeway/Albertsons and King Soopers to address chronic understaffing, remove two-tier discrimination on vacation from the contract and address the night premium, which the union says has fallen below the rest of the Colorado job market. Union accuses King Soopers in lawsuit of violating agreement ending strike 'Safeway/Albertsons sat on the sidelines during the February King Soopers strike, but enough is enough,' the union wrote in its release published Sunday evening. 'If King Soopers and City Market and refusing to move because of Safeway and Albertsons, then workers at Safeway/Albertsons have no choice but to be a tag team partner with you and jump in to the fight!' The union replied to a comment on its Facebook page, asking if both camps of grocery store workers would be able to strike at the same time, clarifying that a strike of both groups of grocery store workers would be possible at the same time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Travel Weekly
37 minutes ago
- Travel Weekly
Sea Life Park puts its inventory on FareHarbor
Sea Life Park, Hawaii's marine park located on the island of Oahu, has upgraded its reservations system to the ticketing platform FareHarbor. It gives travel agencies access to live inventory. "It's an incredible step forward in growing our partnership with affiliates across the U.S. mainland to now be able to easily book our animal encounters or general admission for their clients," said Steven Sayas, general manager for Sea Life Park. The park's live inventory on FareHarbor includes general admission tickets, dolphin interactive programs and the shark snorkeling program. Commission starts at 15%. "We're very excited to begin our partnership with Sea Life Park. This collaboration has been years in the making, and it's incredibly rewarding to see it come together," said Mauricio Abreu, general manager for FareHarbor. "Our team is thrilled to work alongside the amazing crew at Sea Life Park, and our partners are equally enthusiastic — this partnership will streamline how they connect with the park and help them better serve their customers."
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Renault in talks with France over making drones in Ukraine, Bloomberg says
Renault (RNLSY) has held discussions with the French defense ministry over producing drones in Ukraine, Ania Nussbaum of Bloomberg reports. A spokesperson for the company said the carmaker was contacted by the French defense ministry and, while discussions have taken place, no decision has been taken at this stage. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>>
