Need guidance - Amazon refund not processed for 4.5 months

Back in 2013-2014, we have received paper cheques as refubds of the then COD orders, based on the same automated system as the North America site.
That system was… to trigger the request to the banker… as per the ‘name on the account’.
But smart Alecs in our households had kept names lime ‘Amitabh Bachchan’ ‘Jeffrey Bezos’ ‘Amazon Customer’.
Maybe we still have those cheques as souvenirs.


Back then, we used to plead with the real escalations (Amazon’s In-house L3/L4 staff used to be part of the IN-SNR team) to rather give us refunds as ‘Gifts and Credits’.. but they would have same ‘technical limitations’ in issuing the refund as Pay balance.


They cannot sodomise the customer thus ‘keeping on extending the resolution timelines’.
They still do have the same ways to tske a token indemnity from you.. that ypu are accepting a different payout mode as full settlement of the refund… and thereafter issue you a paper cheque or electronic funds transfer to bank account “of your choice”.

Say , your I.T. file might be under the random set of ‘scrutiny’ cases by the Taxmann. Then No Amazon or Flipkart can force you to take unexplainable credits.
We gave indemnities with some random (expired or no longer valid) voter ID or Passport copy as photo ID with the indemnity .doc file I think.
One cheque got cancelled and the new one came in the name of our cousin grandmother, as requested by us.
Got deposited in some cooperative bank account.

If any old timer, direct ADCPL (and not third party call centre) employee or ECR person raises tbe correct requests to the commercial, promotions, payments, seller support teams… then even the refund can be diverted away from “back to source” …. to cheque/NEFT/ “Gifts and Crexits”.


The irksome issue is… even those (CSAgents) who do know how to raise these requests internally.. msy shy away from taking it upon their shoulders to do so.

Because such contra adjustments need cross approvals and tangential authorisations outside the standard operating procedures… involving N different teams (who may or may not be i sync with each other. #Corporate #culture | #office #politics )

Unforrunately… ECR positions off late got filled as a way to do “ego massage”.
People who were made ‘managers’ in xyz positions, could not be demoted outright after those processes got outsourced to Daksh-IBM, Intelenet BPO.

They were often retsined by giving the lollipop if ‘now you work as part if ECR".

But ill-formed human habits snd the ’chalta hai’ (casual) desi psyche do not changed easily.

Many (alleged ECR agents) neither posses the empathy, nor the zest or the intellect to ideally justify being in the shoes of legacy colleagues before them.

So just ‘gsuge’ them first.. in whatever way one can


One standard way I use … is to throw them off-track.
▪︎ request callbacks only from a vernacular (Hindi) speaking agent.
▪︎ calls only between daylight hours (as I have eyesight issues reading under artificial light. Blah blah).

If a moron robotically calls me at 2030 hours or even as late as 9pm at times…
It gives me an idea. Mistly s/he is a newbie ECR and got stupid pressure to resolve as many contacts as they can.
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Since most verbiage/ scripts are made in English..
Makibg tgem speak in Hindi or non English.. again makes me gain a slight upper hand.. in “slowing” the other person down.
Else they parrot the script and thing they are off the hook.. irrespective of whether the issue gets addressed wholistically.

You can tell ECR.. that ECR are not being approached for a measly refund. BUT RATHER ABOUT the massive phuck up in a 26 years old tech behemoth not having the basic systems to address or rectify the systemic flaws.

Then.. see if the ECR person still oy talks of the refund.. without ever using terms like “deep dive” “i will eaise so and so concern to our management” “i will remain connected to you” in the oncoming days/weeks..
… like if the associate is a sensible ‘pro’.. they would rake ‘ownership’.
And would let the contact remain locked to them and open (not tesloved).. till it actually gets addressed to your advantage.

Hooe you get a decent agent to help you out.

Good to know🙂

Unless it was about dot CA or dot COM site or your order or account was somehow having the non Indian address is default billing address with a linked payment method..
It is unlikely that the NA (North America) CSD assisted you.
If the order was at the DOT IN site, you mostly got a call from Hyderabad… if it was an ECR person.


Happy for you that you’ve some respite.
Although everyone might be keen to know, the actions or steps you might have taken… to get the ad-interim response.

If you feel okay sharing, some day.

Yes I get overly critical at times, but I too do understand they are human. And usually the socio economically disenfranchised lot😔 only end up in Customer care (even if it is ECR).

If it is ECR handling your case, then I apologise.. that I missed out on giving you the heads up.
That if any of the sensible primary or newbie escalations folks see ANY specialist team annotations on any issue.. then they turn frigid. And refuse to assist “because your case is slready being looked into/ lock to our Higher🙄 team/ specialist team”.

And sadly for you and me, there is no direct way to reach ECR by voice or chat.

Now, do take everything in writing .. in summary emails.. of what and why happened.

ECR people can tend to not write emails.. except sending vague blurbs (blurbs in Amazon = the predrafted/canned messages).
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So if ever you need to show or prove why you got the 1₹ or ₹100000 gift credits in account.
Get it in writing NOW.
If the agent so much as burped or farted on the call and that burb or fart has material impact on your account.. ask the (ECR) person to acknowledge it over summary email.
That I Sukanya/ Sukumar let out a small fart💨, in tesponse to so and so.
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No GC added to the account can be un-added in the Amazon software.
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Three plus years back.. I dragged things to the ECR for an excess amount added to our then main account.
15% cashback on ₹545 order was added just after return window expired. Whereas we had to return the item due to Cloudtail and Amazon’s incompetance in providing an invoice with the serial number on it.
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15% of 545₹ is what they saw.
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A major blunder and a phuck-up of the famed Amazon’s ststems is what i saw.
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ECR just kept us dangling.. till finally.. one day the agent called up to say.. the commercial and promotion teams had given the NOC for blah blah blah.
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And in 24 hours.. the back end people eould “lock out” the unused GC.
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The lock out too could only be effected if the added GC remains completely unused/ not redeemed at all.
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But it is 2021. Amazon is in a mad rush to juat bulldoze ahead.
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So no one would even file any relevant escslations even to reverse mistskes.
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Your ₹9000 goodwill GC is not even a mistake.
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It shsll remain.
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But like others above properly helped you. Do keep the chsse/heat on for chsrgebacks or whatever it is.
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And in case of anyone (Income Yax Dept. of FinMin of GOI …. or the CAP team of TRMS) ever needing justifications.
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Have the CSAgents or ECR agents scknowledge the case, the crefits.. in writing.. over hand drafted emails. (Rewuest them.. please do not send us blurbs)
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Sorry.. I only ever had a credit card in my life for 4 months in 2003-2004 .. that too to oblige someone young man’s quarterly sales targets.
I do not know what or how this chargeback thing works.
I was younger and nsive. And HSBC people where I had other banking relationships too.. kind of kept diverting me on closure request.
I just shredded the card. Wrote emails to their CC with their VP, AVP in Cc.. and forgot about it.
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But the refund of order is 100% a seperate thing thsn the Goodwill GC… unless they categorically state that THIS.. IS IT!.
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Then ofcourse they aren’t going to reopen the same loops internally with their 10 different teams which get involved in such adjustments.

Rs 25634 has been refunded but 9000rs and 3355rs still not refunded.