You know you ordered at least one thing from Amazon this year. It’s impossible to avoid that orange smile saying, “You know we have what you need.” It’s like being assimilated into the Borg; it’s only painful at first, then you learn to love the new Amazon loving you.

Unfortunately, your family members might not feel the same way and will need to return their cool Amazon gift for something more useful.

Returning any gift from an online supplier is a little more difficult than returning one to the store. Standard Amazon policy says you can return a product within 30 days of delivery. However, they have extended their return policy for the holidays. Items fulfilled and shipped by Amazon between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 can be returned for a full refund until Jan. 31.

These are the steps you need to take to return an item to Amazon.

If you can ask the gifter for the packing slip, that would save you a world of trouble; however, Amazon knows that Aunt Lucy is a pretty forgetful and if you don’t have the receipt or invoice that is ok too.

1.    Go to the Amazon Returns Center
2.    Insert the order number if you have the invoice.
3.    If you don’t have the order number you need to contact customer support.
4.    Be prepared with the gift Sender’s name, email address, phone number and the address where the gift was shipped.
5.    Once connected to the Amazon representative you can explain your gift situation and they will help you return, or exchange your present.

There is a snag if your loved one purchased your gift through an Amazon third-party seller like Amazon Merchants or in the Marketplace. Since Amazon does not fulfill these orders you have to contact the third-party seller directly for a refund or exchange.

Go to our Walmart, Target, Kmart return policy blog.

Go to our Best Buy, Circuit City return policy blog.

Tags: amazon return policy, amazon returns, Amazon.com, amazon.com returns

This entry was posted on Friday, December 26th, 2008 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Holiday Resources, return policies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.