A frustrated Amazon customer has been left without a phone and out of pocket after the retail giant told them to return an item it had already admitted was likely lost in transit.
The Lost Phone and the Refund Loop
The shopper ordered a mobile phone worth £544 from Amazon, paying via monthly instalments. After placing the order, they received a tracking update stating the package "may be lost" and advising them to request a refund. Upon selecting the refund option, they were directed to customer service, which insisted they wait a further week before making a claim.
A week later, the customer was instructed to file an official incident report from the email address linked to their Amazon account. However, when they complied, the report was automatically rejected. Amazon's system claimed the email address "didn’t meet certain security standards".
A Customer Service Paradox
This created an impossible situation for the consumer. They explained that using the email associated with their account triggered a security rejection, but using a different address was invalid as it wasn't the one on file. To compound the issue, their order page then showed a message stating they had requested to return the item—which they had not—and that a refund would be issued once the return was completed.
"I can’t return it, as I never received it," the customer pointed out. Despite the parcel being lost, Amazon had already taken the first two monthly payments of £108 each, leaving the individual £216 down and without the product they paid for.
Resolution After Media Intervention
The situation was only resolved after the national newspaper, the Guardian, contacted Amazon on the customer's behalf. Within four hours of the enquiry, Amazon issued a full refund. The company also provided the shopper with a £50 voucher as what it described as "an additional gesture of goodwill."
In a statement, Amazon said: "We are sorry for the inconvenience our mistake has caused." The company's standard returns policy allows many items bought on Amazon.co.uk to be sent back via its Online Returns Centre. For the 2025 holiday season, most purchases made between November 1 and December 25, 2025, could be returned until January 31, 2026.
This case highlights the potential pitfalls consumers can face with automated customer service systems and the importance of persisting with a complaint when a delivery goes wrong.
