[TheTeacher]

Amazon.in will have the resqme car escape tool (blue color) on sale starting 3:59 pm. I bought the red color one for ~ Rs. 550 before it went off sale a short while ago. Regular price is Rs. 999. Worth having for safety. Wanted to post in a thread describing these devices, can't find it right now and don't have time to search. Please spread the word.

[naveenroy]

My first bad experience with Amazon. Paid for something - netbanking and payment went through. But Amazon sent email asking me to review my payment. But I saw that the amount was deducted from my account and bank also confirmed that it was a successful transaction. But Amazon maintained their stand that they hadn't received the payment and that I would need to make the payment again. Did so. But they still haven't refunded my amount. Anyone had the same problem? How many days did it take to get back the amount?

[TheTeacher]

Weird, the red resqme is available at Rs. 549 till 4 pm.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

My first bad experience with Amazon. Paid for something - netbanking and payment went through. ==== How many days did it take to get back the amount?

Usually it takes anything from 2 to 5 days for the reconciliation to happen. If not mail amazon, they are pretty clear and straight forward. If there is a fault they might give you a gift card also

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

My first bad experience with Amazon.

I had same issue twice last week. Twice payment got deducted but shown as payment decline. Though Amazon rep (when chatted) claimed that problem was at backend. However when I stated mail from my banker including reference code was available with me (all are random words just to cross verify him), they confessed that their gateway usually has many such issues. They return money next day, and usually you get your money back in 4 days.

You can however write to them, so that they can prioritize your refund. Do chat them with first... That way they can't tell you to contact bank. When you write, tell them that you have proof of NEFT transfer from bank-end.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

Amazon.in will have the resqme car escape tool (blue color) on sale starting 3:59 pm. I bought the red color one for ~ Rs. 550 before it went off sale a short while ago. Regular price is Rs. 999.

It is NOT available at 550. They are selling the blue at 799.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

My first bad experience with Amazon.

Has happened a few times to me. In case of credit card, the reversal is quick - within a day. For netbanking, it is usually done within 3 days, though their official stand is refund between 5-7 days I guess.

[TheTeacher]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

It is NOT available at 550. They are selling the blue at 799.

Sorry about that. I bought the red one for 549, and without advance notice, the red came back on sale again at 549. They jacked up the price of the blue. Their deals page earlier showed the red would be on sale at 8 am tomorrow, now it's not showing that (just checked). I think they're actively putting items on sale and taking them off. If you really want this, you'll have to keep checking every hour. It's a PITA, but a good deal. When I bought mine it was only 30% claimed, and nobody's touched the blue yet, so your chances of getting one at 50% off are good.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Usually it takes anything from 2 to 5 days for the reconciliation to happen. If not mail amazon, they are pretty clear and straight forward. If there is a fault they might give you a gift card also

Originally Posted by RaguHolla

I had same issue twice last week. Twice payment got deducted but shown as payment decline.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Has happened a few times to me. In case of credit card, the reversal is quick - within a day. For netbanking, it is usually done within 3 days, though their official stand is refund between 5-7 days I guess.

Thanks for the replies guys. Received the amount back in my account today - took them 4 days but it was done.

[mxh]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Thanks for the replies guys. Received the amount back in my account today - took them 4 days but it was done.

Which net banking are you using? Maybe there's a problem at the bank level itself. Try using a credit card or another bank's net banking next time. Also you probably received the refund earlier- some banks take time to update it in their website.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by mxh

Which net banking are you using? Maybe there's a problem at the bank level itself. Try using a credit card or another bank's net banking next time. Also you probably received the refund earlier- some banks take time to update it in their website.

This was ICICI. The very first attempt itself, I checked on my bank account, the amount was deducted and the transaction number showed up as "successful". Not sure it was an ICICI problem.

[binand]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Thanks for the replies guys. Received the amount back in my account today - took them 4 days but it was done.

I guess something happened in the communication flow between your bank and Amazon which resulted in the "successfully debited" message from the bank not reaching Amazon. Occasionally stuff like that happens. Your second attempt went through.

The refund process is more interesting. Amazon needs to know that an order has been charged twice. Since the first communication was lost (assumption), it has to rely on the second-level of communication, which is their bank statement entry for the actual credit. The thing is, though your account is debited on the same day, the bank holds on to the money overnight and Amazon's account is credited only on the next day. This money the bank lends to other banks and generate some revenue for themselves (Wikipedia: Call Money Market).

So on the day after you made the purchase Amazon gets the money and their systems detect that your order has been charged twice so one of them has to be refunded. They probably have this whole process automated and hence are capable of issuing refund instructions within minutes, so their account is also debited on the same day. But once again, the Call Money Market lending comes into play and the bank credits your account only on the third day.

Remember that banks don't work on bank holidays. In this case there was a bank holiday (Id-ul Fitr) in between, so you actually got the money on the fourth day.

[Fabiaous]

Thanks binand ,nowwhat? & BenjiRoss.
I wrote to Citrus the payment gateway and they first showed reluctance saying payment successful , when I told them they are doing business with a fraud company , they told refund has been initiated by merchant Encube/www.naturebreed.com and got mail from merchant with refund initiation details.

all this took just just 90 mins once i wrote to Citrus. so lessons learnt.

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

In addition to what @binand has suggested, you also have the option of contacting their payment gateway. There are only a few of these in India -- EBS, PayU, CCAvenue -- and while I do not have any experience reversing any charges through them, they do take fraud very seriously. In fact, PayU has an escrow mechanism for less trustworthy sites which requires a cooling-off period or customer input before releasing funds to the merchant. Payment gateways have a lot of leverage with the merchant unlike your bank as they can simply put a hold on all funds due to that merchant until your issue is resolved.

These days with OTP and PIN, banks do not have any liability for merchant fraud and they are usually not bothered since the actual act of charging your card was not fraudulent. However if your bank doesn't respond, you can always take it up with the RBI ombudsman.

If the website is fraudulent, try and fight tooth and nail as it will also help others.

Originally Posted by binand

Poor you. You should research the vendor before placing an order. In this case you can (in increasing order of effort, satisfaction and impact):

(a) move on, after learning the lesson,
(b) file for a chargeback from your credit card issuing bank, or
(c) get cyber police involved.

The site's whois info says it is owned by a Nikith Jain, who is probably the same Niki that Truecaller shows for the number.

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

Of you paid by credit card or a payment wallet you can request a reversal.
If you know anyone in Coimbatore you can request them to check the address.
Google them to see if there are any similar complaints.
Also look at their domain name contact details. Sometimes complaining to the domain name registrar about fraud can be helpful.

[bluevolt]

What if I use a gift card for shopping online and then cancelling the order, how the amount will credited back to me?

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

What if I use a gift card for shopping online and then cancelling the order, how the amount will credited back to me?

it will be credited back as gift amount.