Refund of Amazon Import Fees Deposit

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lchiu7

6476 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#240467 9-Sep-2018 15:10

I recently bought an item from Amazon using their free shipping to NZ option. The shipping was free but they also charged some $30 for what they noted as Import Fees Deposit.

The item arrived and was under the GST limit so nothing was charged. An initial call to Amazon and they said wait a bit and the charge would be reversed.

It wasn't so I called again and they happily refunded the import fees deposit. Since I am sure I will be buying again I just told them to add it to my gift certificate balance rather than have it put back on my credit card and wear exchange rate differences.

Interestingly though the credit was shown as two separate transactions

- a refund on an item I had purchased and had not returned!

- a $5 credit for an item I had purchased but the text said damaged in transit!

I was initially confused but the sum of the two credits added up to the import fees deposit so maybe that's how their CSR's process things?

Anybody else experienced something similar to this?

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

Pumpedd

1759 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2086681 10-Sep-2018 08:48

Sadly I just paid it and decided not to buy from them again. I decided that it was way to expensive now.

Bung

6487 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2086696 10-Sep-2018 09:38

At the end of 2016 my Amazon acct was used to buy a Samsung tablet. At the time there was a $114 fee charge that was later refunded without having to contact Amazon.

Nil Einne

469 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2086722 10-Sep-2018 10:21

Same here, my Black Friday order last year was refunded without contacting them. Think it took a month or so though. IIRC I've read before such waits or longer are common.

lchiu7

6476 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2086782 10-Sep-2018 11:33

Well this is the first time I've done this and so I had no expectation when the refund might come through. But having it go on as an Amazon gift certificate balance was more useful to me than a refund back to my credit card.

This way I'm protected against fluctuating currency changes and I know I will be buying stuff again.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.