Friday, April 25, 2025

I was told that when you request a refund, you're NOT required to return the item??? Is that true? You DO know how that opens up the potential for a TON of abuse, right? (Xpost: r/AliExpress)

 

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I was told that when you request a refund, you're NOT required to return the item??? Is that true? You DO know how that opens up the potential for a TON of abuse, right? (Xpost: r/AliExpress)

Questions ❔

The abusive buyer would just conveniently get a free item by submitting a refund request every time their item arrives to their location, no matter whether they intend to keep the item or not. AliExpress and Temu would stand to lose a butt-ton of revenue that way. You know that, right?

How are those companies adapting to that abusive cheating tactic? Or do they just take that form of refund cheating lying down and continue to keep losing revenue to those refund cheaters?

Xpost at r/AliExpress: r/Aliexpress/s/J17zLbanPW

 

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*** Start Of Original Contents***

I was told that when you request a refund, you're NOT required to return the item??? Is that true? You DO know how that opens up the potential for a TON of abuse, right? (Xpost: r/AliExpress)

The abusive buyer would just conveniently get a free item by submitting a refund request every time their item arrives to their location, no matter whether they intend to keep the item or not. AliExpress and Temu would stand to lose a butt-ton of revenue that way. You know that, right?

How are those companies adapting to that abusive cheating tactic? Or do they just take that form of refund cheating lying down and continue to keep losing revenue to those refund cheaters?

Xpost at r/AliExpress: Since links aren't allowed here, look either at my posting history at the AliExpress sub or search on that sub: "I was told that when you request a refund, you're NOT required to return the item??? Is that true? You DO know how that opens up the potential for a TON of abuse, right? (Xpost: r/Temu)"

*** End Of Original Contents***

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[–]Fuzzy_Inevitable9748 1 point  

I was mainly talking about Amazon, they used to be excellent but now they make it impossible to contact customer service through their website, I have to go and google it to be able to find it. Then they jerk you around and do everything they can to get out of helping you. I get that it looks better on paper but it just pisses me off and now I don’t buy anything from Amazon.

[–]DawnDropkick 4 points  

It’s a toss up. Some items are keep and get refund, some are partial refund, some are return. Not sure how they decide because price is definitely not a factor.

I got a pair of boots that were falsely advertised and they gave me my $31 back with no return needed.

I had a nose ring that didn’t close and they wanted me to mail it back. lol I obviously just tossed it because it would cost $8 to them to mail it as opposed to just saying wherever.

$8 skirt got a refund with no return because the zipper was broken. $4 filters that was advertised to fit my car fountain was a return for refund.

[–]wtshiz 1 point  

I'm not sure what the trigger is- I never returned much (only when what I got was NOT what I purchased or something arrived so damaged it couldn't be used) and it was well under 1% of my spend but I had a big shipped from US item that was a scam merchant who pulled the fraudulent tracking number routine and I do price adjustments all the time and have to send EVERYTHING back anymore.

I actually ate the cost of a destroyed sticker because I couldn't bring myself to ship it across the country to get $0.60 back.

[–]throwawayaccount931A 6 points  

I've read that they are supposed to be putting a stop to this... also, they would (will) probably block you if you're returning an excessive number of items.

I've read that Amazon will do that to chronic returners (again, I've ready that "influencers" tend to buy lots of stuff, review it then return it -- so all of it is anecdotal).

EDIT: I think the return without refund is only on low cost items. I've only bought a few items from Temu and only requested a return once.

[–]wl34⭐✨⭐ Legendary ⭐✨⭐ 3 points  

It's good news that Temu has discontinued the "no need to return" option. I've seen numerous instances in this subreddit of users exploiting their return policy, sometimes seemingly to obtain free items. I value Temu for its affordable offerings, especially considering the impact of US tariffs. It's frustrating to see dishonest customers further harm their business.

I have seen similar abuses with Costco returns and they have tightened returning Electronics to 90 days. Same for Amazon.

[–]Fuzzy_Inevitable9748 3 points  

I wish Costco would crack down on scalpers trying to return stuff, pisses me off when I see someone trying to return a whole cart of the same item. Honestly returns should be percentage based on dollars spent. They could also factor in how long it has been and if it is in perfect salable condition, like I could see taking clothes home to try, but unopened frozen goods, or out of season items, that stuff is a complete loss to Costco.

I want a return process where someone checks and makes sure the returns are valid, companies always start out to lenient and then end up cracking down and screwing over people with valid returns.

[–]variousnewbie 2 points  

I believe this is already done... I thought it was standard?

10 years ago I remember Walmart only gave refunds without questions on items with receipts. If you wanted store credit and lost the receipt, scanning the item verified the item was for sale at Walmart, and what the current price was. They also required ID, and you could only make 3 returns in a 12 month period. I had my boyfriend make a return for me once. With receipt it's like 90 day window.

I tried to return some thermal sets past 90 days, they were pricy but when I brought them back they were on sale. I actually took them back home, waited until the NEXT cold season, and THEN returned them. If I failed I was going to try ebay because they didn't fit me for my needs. (pants were to be under breeches, couldn't be baggy)

And I remember trying to return something before and the specific Walmart I went to actually didn't carry the item. So they couldn't process it as a return, told me I had to go back to the exact Walmart on the receipt. This may have changed since Walmart now processes a ton of online sales through stores, with people bringing online orders back to stores.

[–]throwawayaccount931A 1 point  

They did this at the WM near where I live, but I think they've discontinued the practice. Now I've seen them just refuse returns without receipts.

[–]variousnewbie 2 points  

Hopefully it's only if they have no ID or theyve already returned 3 in the past year. I know it's bad enough doing store credit when you lose it! Though I'm pretty good these days.

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