Amazon is refunding customers for purchases made years ago

Amazon has begun issuing refunds to some customers for purchases dating back years after a "recent internal review," the company said.

In at least one case, Amazon issued a nearly $1,800 refund for a TV that was returned in 2018. 

Why is Amazon issuing refunds from old purchases? 

What we know:

Amazon said "a very small subset" of its customers have received refunds after an internal review showed some refunds weren’t completed, or no refund was issued. 

What we don't know:

It’s unclear how many customers are impacted by the review, but according to Bloomberg, Amazon’s chief financial officer said on an earnings call that Amazon paid out a one-time charge of about $1.1 billion in the first quarter, in part to resolve "some historical customer returns." The money was also used to stockpile inventory ahead of President Trump’s tariffs. 

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What they're saying:

"Following a recent internal review, we identified a very small subset of returns where we issued a refund without the payment completing, or where we could not verify that the correct item had been sent back to us so no refund was issued," an Amazon spokesperson told LiveNow from FOX. "There is no action required from customers to receive the refunds, and we have fixed the payment issue and made process changes to more promptly contact customers about unresolved returns going forward." 

Leavitt blasts reported Amazon tariff decision

The White House was holding a press briefing Tuesday morning with press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to mark President Trump’s 100th day in office and speak on his economic accomplishments when they were asked about Amazon’s reported decision.

Dig deeper:

Steven Pope, founder of the company My Amazon Guy, shared on LinkedIn that he received a $1,798.81 refund for a TV he returned in 2018. 

RELATED: Amazon tariff price report addressed by White House: ‘Hostile and political’

"I'm probably not the only customer who has experienced this but isn't that crazy!? 7 years to payout a return???" he posted on LinkedIn. 

Class-action lawsuit filed over Amazon refunds

The backstory:

A group of customers filed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon over its advance refund policy in September 2023, and the lawsuit remains pending today. Last month, a federal judge denied Amazon’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.

The customers claim that Amazon was issuing refunds, then reversing some of them and recharging customers’ bank accounts. They allege that Amazon only resolved the issue when it was brought up. Amazon reportedly gave refunds again, but did not explain to customers why they were re-charged for items in the first place. 

Amazon says the refunds issued this year were in response to an internal review, and a spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation. 

Amazon’s return policy does warn that customers could be re-charged for the refunded amount if the customer doesn’t return the item, or if it has missing parts or was the incorrect item.