So I bought a product for €200 on Amazon.com. I am slightly ashamed of doing so but I did, didn’t know where else to find this type of product. So after a few days they told me they would not be sending me the product for whatever reason. So I would be getting a refund. They said if I hadn’t gotten the refund within 5 days I should contact support. So after 5 days I contacted support. And as soon as I did that, they sent me an email claiming that they require me to upload a picture of my “government issued identity document”. They write that if I don’t do that “You may continue shopping on Amazon, but you will no longer be eligible for a refund on the order <order number>”. Surely they have no right to do so right? They claim they’ve noticed some suspicious behavior on my account, but all I did was order a product, pay for it in advance, which they decided not to ever deliver to me. It’s not me who’s being suspicious here.
Anyone else had this experience? This a clear dealbreaker for me. I feel shame for ever having bought something from their store.
I’m not sure how “suspicious behavior” could be relevant to a seller issuing you a refund. Nor do I understand why a government ID would help with that kind of situation. If they are saying it’s because the credit card might be stolen, that doesn’t really make sense for a refund. If they’re saying the account might be hacked, then again, I can see limiting purchases, but not refunds. Are you sure this was a real email from Amazon and not a phishing email? I’d contact them again to verify, first. Then if you can’t resolve it, go to your bank and ask for a reversal of the charge.
Asking for ID is just an abuse. Last time a company asked me that, i send them a false edited one. Guess what? It worked 😉.
“suspicious behavior” is just a BS term used for switching the blame back to the consumer. Kind of like “for your convenience, we are [removing a capability]” or “for your safety, we are [taking away a right.]” You are correct that it makes no sense.