Hello, reddit. I process returned merchandise that you didn't like. Please, ask me a question and I'll answer it, at least within the best of my ability.

You guys had some great questions last time! Hopefully I have more experience under my belt to better answer more of them. People like you keep us alive, and for that, I'm grateful for my position. That's why I treat every return as if you were speaking to me personally.

I won't lie, sometimes it's hard work, and I can get annoyed with obvious fibbers, but sometimes people honestly received a B.S item and want their money back understandably. As my orientation video stated, we are absolutely obsessed with customers and will do anything in our absolute power to get you your money back in a timely fashion.

There is a person on the other side of your return comments. If I'm processing your return, you can rest assured at least one associate is reading them.

Again, ask away.

EDIT: one thousand apologies to the thread. I had an emergency I had to take care of, and when I started this AMA, I had gotten off an 11 hour shift. I'm up, have a cocktail ready, it's my day off, and I'm going to answer your questions. again. Sorry!

edit: proof http://i.imgur.com/zjS1ra2.jpg

My last AMA was taken down because I didn't provide proof in a reasonable amount of time. Sorry about that. It's open again, and I'm only linking it to show which questions were asked. I was Okay-ed to submit another one, so that way users who might not have seen it can.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2fn77u/iama_amazon_warehouse_returns_associate_i_process/

edit: I don't expect this thread to "boom", just honestly figured I would clear up things. It's fun for me. It has slowed down, so I'm going to play Twilight princess and check the thread periodically. I know it's an old game, but I bought it yesterday and never played it! So if you're reading this, consider this thread open indefinitely. I'll answer your question. I promise.

edit: answering questions still in my inbox! Please give me a chance, I'll get to your question as soon as I can. You guys have some good ones!

Just want to add that my opinions do not reflect that of Amazon. I'm just one worker.

edit: phew, I've been answering questions for a straight hour! I'll keep at it, please don't take it personal if I don't get to yours right away!

Comments: 313 • Responses: 47  • Date: 

superstoreman81 karma

Ever got anything back and thought, "i'm not touching that"? If so, why?

ItShippedBroken111 karma

All the time. Anything that's leaking or has a strong scent gets an "exception" sticker slapped on it.

Knives out of box, tasers, leaky batteries, etc. These are hazmat and must be processed by someone wearing proper protective equipment (PPE)

superstoreman29 karma

Any biohazard type stories?

ItShippedBroken63 karma

hmm, you'd have to ask someone in exceptions. I haven't heard of anyone being injured following guidelines. People who don't usually get hurt due to their own stupidity and are terminated. We really do consider safety paramount.

From what I've heard it's always something dumb like a twisted ankle from a pallet, or not pushing a cart properly and having the stuff come tumbling down.

Sorry for my dull answer!

edit: some worker in some department felt a need to make a print that we were Velicoraptor free for 1,204 days, my GM spotted it, and announced it before stretch time. It's little things like this that make me enjoy my job and the people I work with.

superstoreman16 karma

Not at all. Thanks!

ItShippedBroken19 karma

You're a swell person.

bananahead9 karma

We really do consider safety paramount.

How do you square that with the bad conditions some warehouse workers say they had to endure? Dangerously high heat, long hours, pressure to work through injuries, fighting employees on unemployment, etc.

Links: BBC 2013 investigation, Morning Call 2011 investigation

ItShippedBroken10 karma

How do you square that with the bad conditions some warehouse workers say they had to endure? Dangerously high heat, long hours, pressure to work through injuries, fighting employees on unemployment, etc.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but where I work there are excellent conditions. I can't speak for anywhere else, sorry!

We work 10 hour shifts. Your feet will hurt. This is clearly explained when you apply. We all have fans at our stations and enough water for a small army. We have "Amcare" which is basically an E.R for workers. Working through injuries? Honestly the first I've heard of it. I'm just one processor in one FC and I cannot speak for FC's everywhere. Hopefully the management that was responsible for such conditions has been weeded out.

wmstewart6613 karma

Ok, let's cut to the chase here. We are talking about "personal massagers". Right?

ItShippedBroken17 karma

Yes. For your neck.

Ravenous_Panda63 karma

What's the most commonly returned item?

ItShippedBroken197 karma

Absolutely phone cases. I have nightmares where I'm buried in Samsung Galaxy S5 cases.

Ravenous_Panda42 karma

Why do you think that is?

ItShippedBroken136 karma

I've honestly come to the conclusion that some people simply don't read descriptions. I'll get an S5 case and the person complains that it didn't fit their S4 or whatever.

ItShippedBroken58 karma

Credit to mod /u/lula2488 for holding my hand through a second posting. Any questions I had were cleared immediately.

redditrevolution47 karma

What's the worst condition item you've received for return? How bad of a condition can something be In and still have to accept?

ItShippedBroken123 karma

I got a DVD one time, still wrapped and I said to myself:

"Damn, looks like it got run over."

So I go to process it, and when I get to the customer comments the person says:

"Fucking thing looks ran over! Can you replace it or refund me please?"

Made me chuckle, showed the processor next to me and we had a good laugh. It's not funny that he didn't get his item in good shape, just his comment. You know I tend to believe people in situations like these. The package was obviously put under hundreds of pounds of weight in shipping.

tipszics41 karma

What was the weirdest things that was returned, and you had to process it?

ItShippedBroken120 karma

Hmm. I get a lot of "odd" items.

We get a lot of vibrators, etc. But as far as weird things go, I'd have to say, honestly, that nothing surprises me. What would be odd to others, I'm already desensitized to. I get a lot of single, half eaten items.

A co worker got a little over an ounce of cocaine (by the way he described it) and a book filled with $1,400 of cash.

The cash is returned to the cutstomer.

The coke is handed over to authorities.

These were separate occurrences.

Archeia38 karma

Not long ago I ordered a shoulder brace. I no longer have the product box it came in. Can I still return it?

ItShippedBroken47 karma

Of course, just go about how you would return it normally. Something like that could be shipped in a padded manilla envelope.

Archeia54 karma

Awesome thanks! That item cost me an arm!

ItShippedBroken72 karma

danifae17 karma

ItShippedBroken3 karma

Now I'm sad.

CentralHarlem38 karma

Did you get permission to do this AMA, or are you at risk of being fired for answering these questions?

ItShippedBroken56 karma

I'm doing this AMA on my own accord. I don't believe I'm portraying the company in a bad light. It's a great company to work for with great policies. I'm not giving away any mega "secrets". There really are no secrets. We're an open book.

amazongirl052 karma

Hello! Fellow Amazonian here!

I'm pretty sure we're supposed to put in a disclaimer that we are not official Amazon spokespeople, and that our opinions do not reflect the opinions of the company. :)

ItShippedBroken9 karma

Thanks, I'll add that to my title. Good call.

BeATwatAllDay2 karma

[deleted]

ItShippedBroken6 karma

That looks like either pick or stow department. I take issue with this and let me tell you why:

When you apply at amazon this is made crystal clear, your productivity will be tracked and you're expected to maintain a certain number. That "countdown" is moot, as long as you maintain a certain number per hour. What took me over 14 seconds on the last item may only take me less than 5 on the next one. But again they only take your total. This was also in the UK, and I'm not sure how things work over there. Furthermore, I've never heard of this "countdown". That's not how it works in the U.S. Amazon was founded here, in the U.S, in Washington.

El3ctr0G33k33 karma

What is the worst/wierdest excuse for a return, and did you accept it?

ItShippedBroken65 karma

As a processor I really don't make judgment calls. One time someone returned a PS VITA with a busted screen and said in all caps

"IT CAME BROKEN! MONEY BACK PLEASE!"

The serial numbers didn't match what we shipped him. Meh. C for effort..

In this case I escalate the return to a "problem solver", so he can look into it a bit more.

Again, I don't make the calls.

monkeyhandler12 karma

The serial numbers didn't match what we shipped him.

Can you elaborate? You guys have a serial data base of all the PS VITA shipped out? That must be a lot of work...

ItShippedBroken2 karma

Can you elaborate? You guys have a serial data base of all the PS VITA shipped out? That must be a lot of work...

We log serials on items that are returned. The brand new box he returned the VITA in didn't match the serial on the actual VITA.

bastard_thought5 karma

[deleted]

ItShippedBroken2 karma

In a sense, but I'd say more of a detective. They are really good at what they do. They figure out where the heck something came from. I wouldn't mind this position. I feel I would be well suited for it.

ac9130 karma

I returned a book recently and when I submitted the request I was told that I'd be refunded even without sending the book back. Why would this happen? I'm a relatively frequent customer (and I have Prime) so was it some sort of thank you for customer loyalty?

ItShippedBroken49 karma

To be honest, the book may automatically be destroyed, even if you did send it back. It could be outdated, or returned one too many times. I don't know the exact answer, but probably one of those.

ac9112 karma

Huh. It was a recent paperback in relatively good shape so I thought it was either customer loyalty or maybe the cost of paying for return shipping made it not worth it.

ItShippedBroken26 karma

Huh. It was a recent paperback in relatively good shape so I thought it was either customer loyalty or maybe the cost of paying for return shipping made it not worth it.

I'm going to have to look into that!

I've had brand new books that I've had to send to the destroy bin. I'd like to find out why that is. I'm just as curious as you.

jsreid10 karma

Do these books really get destroyed? Why wouldn't they donate them to a school or library?

ItShippedBroken20 karma

Do these books really get destroyed? Why wouldn't they donate them to a school or library?

It's only a destroy bin. I don't think they really get destroyed. I'm pretty positive we have something in place to get these items new homes.

Whether they are recycled, donated, or sent back to the publisher, I don't think they are actually destroyed.

icrapoften7 karma

Processing costs out weigh profits.

ItShippedBroken10 karma

Processing costs out weigh profits.

I honestly don't think this is the case. I've processed books that are in terrible condition, but they were marked as used and ultimately resold. If we can resell it, it would certainly bring in way more profit than processing costs.

icrapoften8 karma

Edit: I sounded like a dick.

ItShippedBroken5 karma

Edit: I sounded like a dick.

No it's cool. What I'm saying is that we'll avoid a loss wherever possible :)

tipszics22 karma

Do you only get things back from the US? Or do you process the items returned from abroad?

ItShippedBroken29 karma

I'm just in one fullfilment center. I've never seen an international return. Possibly elsewhere, though.

tipszics11 karma

It was kind of a stupid question, but thanks for still answering it!

ItShippedBroken18 karma

It was kind of a stupid question,

No such thing! I'm here to clear up anything that I can.

LemurianLemurLad13 karma

No such thing!

Challenge accepted!

What type of laundry detergent is best used as a replacement for jet fuel in a 1972 Colecovision gaming console?

ItShippedBroken17 karma

yes

shaisheep22 karma

What happens to items that get returned in excellent condition? Do they get sold as new?

ItShippedBroken25 karma

If the manufacturer seal is broken, no. If there is an issue with the item it'll be graded and sold reduced. If it is new and in excellent condition like you said, then I believe the manufacturer takes it back and repackages it, but I'm not totally sure.

seoulscience19 karma

Do you get to restock items with a drone?

ItShippedBroken21 karma

ha. Not yet. I'll put in a request with management. Stow would love that.

CUNTBAG_THUNDERCOCK14 karma

Classic Stow.

ZadePKTR14 karma

Why is it that when it comes to shipping products overseas (I am in Okinawa atm) it takes a long time to get here or a product I want to be delivered here is not allowed?

ItShippedBroken11 karma

I'm not totally sure, but I know certain things are simply not allowed. Possibly due to certain companies lobbying for it, etc. As for time, I think that can simply be answered by the sheer distance and when packages have to hop on trucks from here to there, etc. We'd like o have your package immediately on a flight, but there are probably trucks in the mix as well.

I don't work in logistics, sorry!

djlewis121529 karma

What type of education/degree did you obtain to get to the career where you are now?

ItShippedBroken30 karma

My position is honestly an entry one. Simply a high school diploma and computer literacy will get you in. Amazon uses linux.

friardon8 karma

Ubuntu? Mint? SUSE? Come on man, these are the important questions!

ItShippedBroken25 karma

Ubuntu? Mint? SUSE? Come on man, these are the important questions!

Ubuntu. Very user friendly. In any case, we are all trained to use it. As someone who was brought up with Windows, I gotta say linux is pretty sweet.

I'm kinda ticked off at the programmers, though. It's like they didn't even test the New user interface. It's absolutely riddled with errors. I joke that they should have employed someone from reddit's popular tech subs.

TraderRager8 karma

Do you get first pick of discounted second-hand items?

ItShippedBroken21 karma

ha, absolutely not. We do however get a 10% discount if we choose to shop within the company.

alwin_winnets4 karma

nice one mate.. is there an are within amazon where we can find these discounted products?

JayStavy7 karma

I once returned something that said "RECEIVED BY CAVE" after being received back by Amazon; what does that mean? What is the cave?

ItShippedBroken34 karma

The "cave" is actually a secret place where Amazonians gather and perform blood sacrifice to appease the book gods.

I'm just playing with you. I have no idea what that is. I'm going to have to ask a problem solver. They would most definitely know.

I will get back to you with the answer.

JayStavy3 karma

Nice, thanks for the answer. Ive always wonder what the heck the cave was. Ive returned things before and they've never said that when I tracked them except for that one instance. Looking forward to seeing what your coworker has to say about it.

ItShippedBroken8 karma

Ive always wonder what the heck the cave was.

Honestly this is the first I've heard of it. I'm curious as well.

sourmilksmell7 karma

Once something has been returned, how easy is it to be put back into distribution?

I had an electrical item I purchased as new, that was obviously used & abused. It didn't work at all. The screws on it were stripped, with gouges in the chassis from someone digging at the screws. The manufacturer container was torn-up (not to be confused with the shipping container).

Are the returns and distribution centers in two different places? When I got to thinking how something so badly pre-damaged got to me, I could only guess that somebody at Amazon grabbed a brand new one from inventory and kept it, and sent me the busted one from returns.

ItShippedBroken8 karma

Once something has been returned, how easy is it to be put back into distribution?

Usually very simple, provided the processor his doing his job and inspecting everything thoroughly.

Are the returns and distribution centers in two different places?

Where I work, no. Everything is done in the same warehouse.

When I got to thinking how something so badly pre-damaged got to me, I could only guess that somebody at Amazon grabbed a brand new one from inventory and kept it, and sent me the busted one from returns.

It seems to me whomever processed the return previously did a half assed job, to be totally honest. We're supposed to inspect mounting points specifically on items, and anything like a stripped screw should have been damaged out, or at the very least sent to warehouse deals. I'm sorry you received something in that condition from us.

GooseZen5 karma

Ok, so here's a weird scenario that I'm surprised worked out, and I'm wondering if you could shed some light on it.

Both my wife and my brother ended up getting me the same Blu-ray for Xmas. My wife said she'd return mine and get me something else. What she ended up doing was looking up the returns address, stuck the blu-ray in an envelope, and shipped it back. The next day she said she did that, and I ask how she printed the return slip (we don't have a printer at home, usually I print the 1 page per year we need printed at work). Then a bunch of "oh shit" ensued because she didn't include anything. She literally wrote Amazon's address on an envelope, threw in a blu-ray with no paperwork, and sent it off. She doesn't even remember putting a proper return address on it.

This time I walk her through the returns process on the website, hoping we get this in before Amazon gets the envelope. Surprisingly enough, a couple weeks later, we see the credit from Amazon on our credit card, so clearly it got returned successfully.

So, seriously, how in the hell did you guys succeed at this? You get a blu-ray in the mail with no paperwork or return address, and manage to figure out we actually returned something and give us our money back? Explain this wizardry!

ItShippedBroken9 karma

So, seriously, how in the hell did you guys succeed at this? You get a blu-ray in the mail with no paperwork or return address, and manage to figure out we actually returned something and give us our money back? Explain this wizardry!

Mind freak!

With the time frame, UPC and the postal stamp, I can do a reverse logistics look up. Most I'll get would usually be <5 results. From there I'll enter your shipment ID and get you your money back. It's a bit more work and the RMA is more convenient, but we can get it done. I highly prefer an RMA, though :)

BrainBurrito5 karma

Recently, we had a lot of problems getting the wrong books shipped to us. Amazon was great about it and facilitated refunds, shipping discounts, etc. We are trying to collect a set of reference books which all look the same but have many different volumes & subsets, so I think that's why the sellers keep mixing them up. I was wondering, does amazon get alerted to our high number of returns and begin to view us with suspicion? I was so worried about it that I've completely stopped trying to order those books because we get the wrong ones more often than not. Do you know of a good strategy to ensure I get the seller to send the correct books in the first place?

ItShippedBroken4 karma

If the processor was correctly doing their job, they should look at the book closely and see if it matches the description. Your comments help, believe it or not. I don't believe you'd be flagged. I'd suggest calling a rep, and trying again.

I'm sorry you didn't get the proper book to add to your reference collection. Right now, we are getting tons of books and making sure it's the proper one is stressed during start of shift announcements.

macbatchelor5 karma

I returned two things in one box last week - have I pissed someone in returns off by doing that or is that ok?

ItShippedBroken2 karma

I encourage you to do this. just make sure they are obviously separate. For example, try to avoid putting two items in one product box, not to be confused with the shipping container. I could take a quick peek and not realize there is another item within. You'd only be refunded for one immediately, and processing quality could be hurt.

barre_chord_reality4 karma

How much easier is your life made by lazy people like myself who are too lazy to return items?

ItShippedBroken13 karma

How much easier is your life made by lazy people like myself who are too lazy to return items?

You give me job security. Please, keep returning crap.

edit: sorry, I misread your question, get off your lazy ass and start returning stuff!

njst3 karma

Has Lasership ever actually completed a delivery? Because anytime Amazon uses Lasership I don't get my items. Amazon always hooks up the refunds though.

ItShippedBroken2 karma

Again, sorry, but I can't really answer that. I have not the slightest inkling. I can't even begin to give you an answer on that. I'm sorry. I'll ask tomorrow when I go back in.

alpacastare3 karma

What are your thoughts about articles like these?

*Worse than Wal-Mart

*Abusive Work Conditions

*Amazon was a prison

You paint a very different picture than these types of articles.

ItShippedBroken5 karma

I'm not a shill, if that's what you're asking. I can only speak about where I work, and quite frankly, it's a nice place to work.

redstarr013 karma

If a person were to order items with the intention of sending some of them back in pristine condition, does it make them an a-hole or does nobody mind? Like if I were interested in a shirt, and I wasn't sure which size was going to be the best fit on my body, so I ordered a large and an extra large and when they arrived I tried them both on and decided to keep the large and return the extra large. Or I liked two shower curtains but wasn't sure which one would be the closest match to my bathroom paint and wanted to see them both in person, so I ordered them both and held them up to my painted wall and sent the one I liked least immediately back? I've kind of wanted to do this a few times, when there were things I wanted, but wanted to see or feel or try on or compare live instead of just online. A friend of mine suggested just going ahead and ordering and returning the unwanted items and said Amazon kind of plans for that to happen and it's totally no big deal, that you'd rather have the sale from the one I keep and deal with the hassle of the return on the one I don't than let that sale get away entirely. But I didn't want to be a Scumbag Stacy for doing it if she's wrong about that.

ItShippedBroken7 karma

It's usually cool. The shower curtain, unfortunately if opened would be sent to liquidation. it's just kind of a hygienic thing, you know? Clothes and such are usually washed by people in general so it's not a huge deal, besides undergarments.But what you said is common. I'll see a large and Extra large on packing lists, and will get one or the other shipped back.

If you can, for that shower curtain situation, try to hold it up to your wall in the package sealed. I understand if you need to take it out, but if you could leave something sealed we wouldn't lose money and it would make my job so much easier as a processor! Again, your call.

trashboy2 karma

[deleted]

ItShippedBroken8 karma

I requested a return for an item that arrived from a marketplace seller that arrived DOA. I got busy and didn't get a chance to mail it in within the time frame, but it looks like the label is still available. What are the chances of still mailing it in for a refund?

I do not know much about this, specifically, but if everything looks ok on paper, I see no issue with returning the item. If you couldn't, the return interface would probably tell you so. again, I really don't know too much on that end, so I apologize for the open ended response.

I suggest you call a rep and see what they say.

abcdefghijklmnopq3370 karma

Hello, my name is Paul, What kind of Amazon products do you have?

ItShippedBroken3 karma

Hello, Paul. We carry anything you can imagine.