Back in the fall, I won a contest at work, with the prize being $2500 in Amazon gift cards.

Great I thought. I'll replace my 2009 MBP with the new 14 inch MBP. So I uploaded the cards and ordered the 14 inch MBP just before Thanksgiving.

The next day, I got an email that my account was locked for fraud. That started 2 months of dealing with Amazon's horrible phone support.

They demanded I upload the receipts. Luckily, my company kept the receipts and I uploaded them.
Amazon's security/fraud department would then say that the receipts weren't sufficient. This process repeated itself over the next months.

The horrible thing about the process is the fact you were never able to directly talk to the fraud department. Amazon never called me or my company to confirm that the cards were legitimate.

How do you seize that amount of money without an investigation, without contacting the person or contacting the place where the cards were bought?

Finally, I hired a lawyer in January. Today, at last, Amazon opened my account and I got to order my laptop.

This entire process has soured me on Amazon and as I researched this issue, I found Amazon has seized the gift cards of numerous customers, deeming them fraudulent, despite the fact that customers had the receipts to prove that they bought them.

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Bryan
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Mac Studio 2022
MacBook Pro 14 inch 2021
iPhone 14 Pro
Location: Cincinnati

....ugh, sorry to hear of your ordeal.....but glad you won $2500 in gift cards and finally got a laptop....I think in the beginning their customer service was great as they have gotten large......so has the power and abuse of it.....you were lucky in that your company kept the receipt for purchase of the gift cards, imagine if you didn't have proof of them being purchased.....

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

In a way, it doesn't surprise me as they can be used for money laundering.

That said, they shouldn't sell gift cards in amounts that can't be used.

Fun fact - my mac was once hacked (online, easy and reused password) and my amazon account was loaded with gift cards. I told amazon but they did nothing. I basically tried to give them gift cards and they declined to take them.

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Wow, that sucks! Hope the lawyer wasn't to costly.

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I doesn't surprise me as they can be seized by AMZ for free money, for AMZ.

What percentage of users actually go the distance to get their money back?

I suppose it would be another major battle to go after AMZ for legal fees.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

.....this also has the making for a good country song.....

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

My company directed me to the corporate law office and they recommended a local law office. They gave me a break due to the relationship with my company and only charged me $500. So in essence, I only won $2000, but it was a moral victory and worth it.

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Bryan
______________________________________________________
Mac Studio 2022
MacBook Pro 14 inch 2021
iPhone 14 Pro
Location: Cincinnati

I’d sue Amazon.

That’s obscene.

Wow!

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So get back to work and sweat some more
The sun will sink, and we'll get out the door
It's no good for man to work in cages
Hits the town, he drinks his wages
You're frettin', you're sweatin'
But did you notice you ain't gettin'?

Quote
rz
I’d sue Amazon.

He was going down that road with his lawyer.

I'm in Seattle, so Amazon is local. I would have filed in small claims court in a heartbeat, and would have easily won. Then the fun would begin. I'd put a financial lien on the Spheres for non-payment.

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********************************************
“A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.” Seneca the Younger

The police have no duty to respond. See Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) or Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

Judge Lee wrote that “we cannot jettison our constitutional rights, even if the goal behind a law is laudable." 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

[www.youtube.com]

Quote
Grumpyguy
My company directed me to the corporate law office and they recommended a local law office. They gave me a break due to the relationship with my company and only charged me $500. So in essence, I only won $2000, but it was a moral victory and worth it.

I'd take that to a magistrates (small claims) court to get the $500 back.

Of course, I've been saying that kind of thing for years when I read about outrages and I've never done it. But, still...

Another vote for small claims court.

And, not for you, but a class action suit might be worthwhile.

Curious as to what your lawyer ended up doing to finally get Amazon to listen

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My music blog: [www.auditorymusings.net]


The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Quote
pinkoos
Curious as to what your lawyer ended up doing to finally get Amazon to listen

sometimes just a few letters on the lawyer's letterhead are all it takes.

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********************************************
“A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.” Seneca the Younger

The police have no duty to respond. See Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) or Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

Judge Lee wrote that “we cannot jettison our constitutional rights, even if the goal behind a law is laudable." 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

[www.youtube.com]

Quote
Racer X

Quote
pinkoos
Curious as to what your lawyer ended up doing to finally get Amazon to listen

sometimes just a few letters on the lawyer's letterhead are all it takes.

Yeah, just a basic demand letter asking on what legal basis they are doing something can get almost any business's attention.

Quote
JoeH

Quote
Racer X

Quote
pinkoos
Curious as to what your lawyer ended up doing to finally get Amazon to listen

sometimes just a few letters on the lawyer's letterhead are all it takes.

Yeah, just a basic demand letter asking on what legal basis they are doing something can get almost any business's attention.

So letterhead is all you need? Sounds like a job for copypaste!

Amazon is great at some things and absolutely horrible at others. Sorry for the frustration.

JPK

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