For Amazon, I think it depends more on who the actual seller is. If Amazon, returns are easy. If one of their "Marketplace" affiliate partner, it may not be so easy. I currently am having a hassle returning some
Altec Lansing BT earbuds. When I bought mine, they were sold through the Amazon Marketplace affiliate, Reliable Business Partner who is now giving me a runaround. Monday will start week 3 in my effort to return them.
When I first reported the problem through Amazon, I made it clear they were fully charged. I also made it clear the cell phone I was using it with pairs perfectly with my truck and an external speaker, and it pairs just fine with these earbuds. I even made it clear a friend tried these BT earbuds with his iPhone. The problem is, the audio cuts out.
I got an almost instant auto-reply from Amazon that stated it was sold through their Marketplace partner Reliable Business Partner (RBP) and they would forward my return request to them. 5 days later, RBP replied asking if I was sure they were fully charged.
I replied immediately again telling them everything I had done to verify these earbuds where at fault. Another 5 days passed then I got an email asking if I had contacted manufacturer's tech support?
So I did that, but Altec Lansing said because they were still brand new, to contact the reseller. I fired off another note to RBP telling them I was not a happy camper. Still waiting for another reply.
In the meantime, last week Amazon sent me a note asking if my problem had been resolved with their Marketplace partner. I replied with NO! and explained why. When I submitted that explanation, it said they would forward my complaint with the Marketplace partner but again, I've heard nothing since.
I like Amazon prices (most of the time) but if I have to deal with customer service or returns I still prefer Newegg. As for Amazon prices, when it comes to monitors and TVs, I recommend you check out
B&H. I just bought a couple new Samsung monitors and not only did B&H beat everyone else's prices by $5 or more, "expedited" shipping was free. I ordered late Tuesday evening and got them before lunch on Friday! And not only that, they weren't just thrown in a bigger box (as often happens with Amazon). But the monitor boxes were entirely wrapped in bubble wrap then put in a larger box, then the excess space in that larger box was filled with those large air bag thingies. I think it could have fallen off the truck and still not dent the inside monitor boxes.
