Amazon Nixes Courtesy Post-Sale Price Match Refunds, Says It’s Protecting Customer Security
Nobody likes buying something only to find out that it's been marked down a few days later. Some stores, both online and brick-and-mortar, have price match policies in place that allow you to receive a refund for the difference when that happens. Amazon was one of them, but has quietly scrapped post-sale refunds on everything except televisions.
The change in policy comes as startup services such as Earny that track online purchases and automatically request refunds on behalf of its users grow in popularity. There are a few mobile services that do this, including ones that don't necessarily automate the refund process but at the very least sends the user an alert.
Amazon's updated policy is to only price match televisions that drop in price after the fact.
"If you find a lower price on another qualifying retailer's website within 30 days after your purchase date, let us know and we'll refund you on an Amazon.com gift card, taking any differences in shipping and promotions into account. If we lower our own price within 30 days after your purchase, let us know and we'll refund you the difference as well," Amazon states in it customer service section.
A spokeswoman for Amazon told Recode that its price match policy never extended to items beyond televisions, and that customers who received partial refunds on other items were granted an "exception." The spokeswoman also explained that the updated policy is for the security of its users, as these third-party services required that users share their login credentials.
"We take customer security very seriously and want to remind them not to share their Amazon account credentials with anyone," Amazon said.
While the Amazon spokeswoman says the policy always applied only to television, emails to users in the past never made any such stipulation. Prior to the policy update, Amazon would give users 7 days to request a partial refund for an item that dropped in price, no matter what the item was.
The change in policy comes as startup services such as Earny that track online purchases and automatically request refunds on behalf of its users grow in popularity. There are a few mobile services that do this, including ones that don't necessarily automate the refund process but at the very least sends the user an alert.
Amazon's updated policy is to only price match televisions that drop in price after the fact.
"If you find a lower price on another qualifying retailer's website within 30 days after your purchase date, let us know and we'll refund you on an Amazon.com gift card, taking any differences in shipping and promotions into account. If we lower our own price within 30 days after your purchase, let us know and we'll refund you the difference as well," Amazon states in it customer service section.
A spokeswoman for Amazon told Recode that its price match policy never extended to items beyond televisions, and that customers who received partial refunds on other items were granted an "exception." The spokeswoman also explained that the updated policy is for the security of its users, as these third-party services required that users share their login credentials.
"We take customer security very seriously and want to remind them not to share their Amazon account credentials with anyone," Amazon said.
While the Amazon spokeswoman says the policy always applied only to television, emails to users in the past never made any such stipulation. Prior to the policy update, Amazon would give users 7 days to request a partial refund for an item that dropped in price, no matter what the item was.
