Amazon will shell out up to $1000 USD to customers who suffer property damage or personal injury from defective products sold on its storefront.
Under its A-to-z Guarantee, the online retail giant will now directly pay customers for claims under $1000 USD (around $1360 AUD) irrespective of who sold the product, and may also pay higher claims if the seller rejects a valid claim or is unresponsive.
“Claims under $1000 account for more than 80% of cases in our store, and Amazon will bear these costs and not seek reimbursement from sellers who abide by our policies and hold valid insurance.
“Sellers will be kept informed at every step so they can continue to ensure their products are safe,” the company said.
According to Amazon, the new guarantee offers benefits to both customers and sellers.
“When a customer files a claim, Amazon will combine our advanced fraud and abuse detection systems with external, independent insurance fraud experts to analyse the claim. We will present valid claims to sellers and deny unsubstantiated, frivolous, or abusive claims.
“By doing this work on behalf of sellers, we save them from having to investigate these claims on their own,” it said.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) last month sued Amazon over hundreds of thousands of dangerous and defective items sold by third-party stores through its platform, including nearly 400,000 hair dryers without immersion protection to prevent electrocution, 24,000 faulty carbon monoxide detectors that fail to go off, and children’s sleepwear containing flammable fabrics.
ChannelNews has contacted Amazon representatives to find out if this policy will also apply in Australia.
