One of the things that Amazon is best known for is their customer service.
If packages are arriving extremely late, appear lost, or otherwise never arrive, you can usually contact Amazon for a full refund.
However, what if the package ultimately ends up arriving later? Will they charge you, do you need to return it, or can you simply keep the product and the refund?
In this article, we’ll cover everything that you need to know.
What To Do When An Amazon Package Arrives, But You’ve Already Received A Refund
Amazon has already processed a refund, and you’ve confirmed that the funds have arrived back to your card. A few days later, the package finally shows up. What are your next steps?
If Amazon has already processed a full refund for the order, you are not required to mail the item back, or take any further steps. Amazon shouldn’t automatically charge you for the item, even if tracking ends up showing the item as delivered.
However, the right thing to do is to contact Amazon customer service and see what they suggest.
Most of the time, they will simply tell you to keep the item. This is particularly common if your order wasn’t that expensive, and was shipped by Amazon directly rather than from a third-party seller.
In some cases, we have heard of Amazon reversing the refund, or asking that you mail the item back to them.
In the event that Amazon requests a return, they will always provide a prepaid shipping label for you to mail the item back. This means you will not incur any extra fees for your return – it has already been paid for by Amazon.
Based on our research after talking with other people this has happened to, it seems like requests to return the item are rare, and reversing the refund is even more rare.
The overwhelming majority of the time, Amazon will just suggest that you keep the item. One of Amazon’s main priorities is customer service, and this act of goodwill can make up for the fact that you had to go through this situation in the first place.
By taking the time to reach out to their customer support, you can keep the item without a guilty conscious.
If Amazon Refunded For A Late Package, Will You Still Receive The Package?
Let’s look at a slightly different scenario. Let’s say you just received a refund for an item that’s running late, and may be lost. Will the package still arrive, or will Amazon attempt to reroute it back to one of their order fulfillment centers?
If the package is in transit, it may still arrive at your house within the next few days or weeks. Even if the order is refunded, Amazon usually won’t interfere with the delivery once it’s in the courier’s hands. The company shipping it (be it UPS, Fedex, USPS, or another company entirely) will still attempt to deliver it to your address.
In fact, this is why people commonly continue to receive packages even after receiving a refund.
The only exception to this may be if the package was scheduled to be delivered using Amazon’s own shipping service, Amazon Logistics.
Because Amazon has far more control over the shipping process when using their own logistics network, they may prevent delivery for cancelled orders if the order is shipped using their own shipping company.
Will Amazon Automatically Charge Me Again When The Item Is Delivered?
If you’ve received a refund for a package that hasn’t arrived, Amazon won’t attempt to charge you again even if the item is delivered.
Refunds are only reversed if you specifically reach out to Amazon about this issue, and even then they rarely charge you a second time.
In the event that you are charged, you are still protected by Amazon’s generous return policy. This means that you can return the item in exchange for a full refund.
Because the item arrived late, you also will not be liable for any form of return shipping costs.
This means that regardless of what happens, you will be able to get your money back if you want it.
Conclusion
No further steps are necessary when your Amazon package arrives, even if you’ve already received a refund for the order.
However, if you choose to reach out to Amazon’s customer service and explain the situation, they will be able to provide you next steps. Most of the time, they simply allow you to keep the item that you’ve received.
I hope that you’ve found this article helpful. If you have any other questions about shopping on Amazon, please ask them using the comment form below.
Thank you for reading,
– James McAllister