Amazon ‘takes cash for purchases that sellers can’t deliver’

AMAZON has been accused of pocketing customers’ cash without telling them their item could not be delivered.

Despairing Scots have pointed the finger at Amazon Marketplace, a platform that allows third parties to sell goods to the online retailer’s vast customer base.

But Amazon does not allow the retailers to display their delivery restrictions on their product page – meaning customers have no idea their item cannot be delivered until after they have paid for it.

Amazon then takes the cash before the order is cancelled.

The revelations come after a Mail investigation exposed how firms were charging at least a million Scots extortionate delivery rates, while many were refusing to deliver to up to half of the country.

The Mail has since been flooded with responses from outraged customers who say they are victims of discriminatory practices.

John Sutherland, 74, from Thurso, told how he twice paid more than £250 for an oven from Amazon, only to be told afterwards that the third parties could not deliver to his address.

He said there had been ‘nothing whatsoever’ on Amazon’s website to suggest his products would not be dispatched. He said: ‘They even gave me a date for delivery between December 8-11.

‘If they are taking money from your account customers should know if delivery is not possible.

‘I would not have bothered in the first place if I had known.’

The third party retailers involved were Ship It Appliances Ltd and AV Lounge.

Hasvadan Shah, buyer at AV Lounge, said Amazon had changed its policy so sellers could no longer inform customers about restrictions until after they had ordered.

He said: ‘Up until seven months ago we had condition notes on our product pages so customers could see our delivery restrictions.

‘Amazon has decided to take those down.

‘We do not take the payment ourselves. Amazon process the order and take payment. They then send us the email saying that the order has gone through. It is only at that point that we have any idea about the order.’

Mr Shah had ‘no idea’ why Amazon had changed its policy.

Nicholas Eaton, sales and marketing manager at Ship It, said Amazon’s policy was ‘ridiculous’ and ‘misleading’.

He said: ‘It took me five minutes to find our delivery information from the product page. To expect a customer to do that... it is just not going to happen.’

Mr Sutherland was fully refunded on both occasions.

Amazon said: ‘Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action, including potential removal of their account.’

The Mail’s investigation has exposed the extent of the delivery rip-off scandal, with many firms charging extortionate rates.

Part-time charity worker Dianne Stevenson, 62, was shocked to find it would cost her £98 to have a sofa delivered to her home in Paisley.

She said: ‘I wanted to order a sofa from Atkin and Thyme. The standard delivery charge was £19.95, but their website said that for some postcodes you would need to phone and check.

‘PA was one of those postcodes, but I’m in PA1, 15 minutes from Glasgow. I was absolutely shocked when they came back with £98.

‘I just thought, “you are not getting my money”.’

Atkin and Thyme said there ‘must have been an error’ and that Miss Stevenson should not have been charged so much – but the firm would not say how much she should have been charged.

Other customers have praised the Mail for exposing the scandal. Retired businessman Peter Randell, 79, who lives on Arran, was told by Currys last week that they would no longer deliver to his address, despite him having used the company for many years.

He said too many people were ‘becoming victims’ of ‘greedy companies’, adding: ‘We are getting discriminated against because of a stretch of water. Why should we be? We are part of the UK.

‘It was the Mail who highlighted this issue and I wish them success in pushing this through the Scottish parliament.

‘Keep up the good work on the postcode pirates – a rip-off is a polite way of describing them.’

Currys said there had been a system error on Mr Randell’s order and that no part of Scotland was excluded from free standard delivery.

‘Postcode pirates’