A mother who was grieving the loss of her child was deeply upset by Amazon when a laptop she purchased to plan for her child’s funeral went missing in a suspected scam. This occurred even though the website promised to safeguard the purchase with a one-time password.
Clare Buchanan ordered the £800 MacBook Air the day after the death of her 11-year-old son Oliver from a brain tumour, and had planned to use it to write his funeral service at the hospice where he died.
Upon the laptop’s arrival, the courier declined to release the package, citing an issue with the unique six-digit code provided by Amazon, known as the “one-time password” (OTP), used to confirm deliveries for customers. Despite being recorded as delivered, Amazon did not approve a refund due to tracking showing the laptop had been successfully handed over.
Buchanan explained, “I had requested for it to be shipped to my parents’ house, where we were staying during the final days of Oliver’s life. I have a busy funeral to organize and a eulogy to compose, so I needed a portable laptop that I could use while spending time with him at the children’s hospice before his burial.”
“I provided the one-time password to my father while I was at the hospice for the afternoon. Shortly after, I received a message confirming that the laptop had been delivered.”
When she went back to her parents’ house, she realized that she had not received anything. “My father had given the OTP to the driver, but then he said his scanner wasn’t working and he had to take the package back,” she explained.
The driver appears to have utilized the OTP to initiate the ‘delivered’ notification. This has only intensified my father’s distress and made him feel worse.
Buchanan claimed that Amazon declined to look into her complaint.
According to her, she contacted customer services, tweeted them, and messaged them through the chatbot. The response she received was that the item had been delivered and there was no further action they could take. It seems to be a common scam, but Amazon does not seem to be taking any measures to protect their customers or fix the faulty procedure.
After Guardian Money intervened, Amazon provided a refund and assured an inquiry.
Amazon introduced OTPs to increase security for important purchases. The company is the sole delivery service utilizing this system, which is typically employed by financial institutions for validating internet transactions.
Unfortunately, a study conducted by the organization Which? discovered that the system was not effective in stopping theft. Many customers reported instances where their orders were either stolen or replaced after they had entered their OTP.
Which? reported that many customers who did not receive their orders were denied refunds by Amazon because the “delivered” notification had been triggered by their OTP.
Other customers who have encountered similar issues have reached out to Guardian Money for assistance.
A reader reported that the £470 Xbox he purchased for Christmas was replaced with a box of Snickers. Despite requesting a refund from Amazon, they contested the chargeback claim with his bank. Another individual shared that they entered the OTP for a £799 iPhone but received a pull-along duck instead. However, both individuals were eventually refunded after reaching out to Guardian Money.
Lisa Webb, a consumer law expert from Which?, expressed concern about instances where couriers may be misusing OTPs. She stated that it is the responsibility of Amazon to investigate and address any reported cases and ensure that customers receive their items. In cases where items go missing during transit, retailers should either provide a refund or redeliver the item. Failure to do so could potentially violate consumer law.
According to Guardian Money, Amazon spent $1.2 billion in the previous year to safeguard its customers, sellers, and business from misconduct. The company also assured that it thoroughly looked into each complaint.
Source: theguardian.com
