I recently ordered a television and the entire experience has been a nightmare from start to finish. The TV arrived on April 11th with a clearly damaged box. Despite this, I carefully set it up, only to find that the screen itself was also significantly damaged. As instructed, the final packaging was only removed after the TV was in its final position, so the damage was not immediately apparent.Immediately after discovering the damage shortly after delivery, I called customer service. I explained the situation and that I would now be without a working TV until a replacement was received. I also explained that I needed the refund promptly to purchase the replacement TV. As the earliest collection date for the damaged TV would be Tuesday 15 April, the customer service representative said a refund would be issued within 2-3 hours as he appreciated that I would be without a TV for a week if the refund was issued after the TV was received back by Amazon. He appreciated that the damage was beyond my control, as was the inability to get an earlier return date and that I required the funds to purchase a replacement.Later that same day, having not received the promised refund, I made a second phone call. I was then informed that the refund was "pending" and should be processed very soon, allowing me to order a replacement that day. She also advised that she would escalate the refund, in case there were any issues with it.Frustrated by the lack of a refund after 8 hours since it was promised and 5 hours since I last chased it, I attempted to contact customer service via chat. During this interaction, I was shockingly informed that both previous phone representatives had provided incorrect information, as a refund couldn't be issued until the television was returned! I was actually advised that the previous representatives of Amazon had both lied to me. This representative then abruptly ended the chat without resolving the issue.I then initiated another chat session, which had technical issues with the chat service and it failed.The following day, I made a third phone call to your customer service. On this occasion, I was again informed that the previous representatives were indeed incorrect and that a refund could not be processed in advance of the return. In my initial phone call, I specifically requested that the refund be credited to my Amazon account as gift vouchers, so I could use them on the replacement TV purchase. I would never have agreed to this had I been told that the refund would not occur until after the TV was returned. As I wanted to buy a TV that day, if I did this from my bank, it would have meant I had nearly £400 in gift vouchers after the refund, which makes no sense at all. I only agreed to gift vouchers as I thought they would come in the 2-3 hours I was advised and I would use them immediately.Because I do not want nearly £400 gift vouchers sat in my Amazon account after I have already purchased a replacement TV, I asked the final phone representative to change the refund method back to my original payment card instead of a gift voucher.Upon concluding this call, I received a new return confirmation email stating that the collection date had been changed to Wednesday or Thursday of the following week. This change in collection date was never mentioned during my phone call, and it has caused further significant inconvenience. I had already arranged to take time off work for the originally scheduled Tuesday collection. Now, I am forced to rearrange this time off to accommodate the new, unspecified Wednesday or Thursday collection window. Furthermore, this delay means I will not receive my refund for an additional day or two.The level of customer service I have experienced has been appalling from start to finish. Not a single person I spoke to provided accurate information or was genuinely helpful. I have been deliberately lied to, given misleading information, had promises broken, and experienced a complete lack of professionalism.Since writing my initial complaint, Amazon has replied and offered a derisory £50 in compensation. This offer is completely unacceptable given the level of inconvenience, wasted time, and frankly, the deceitful customer service I have endured. Furthermore, Amazon has again refused to issue an immediate refund. They have stated that they will continue to hold my money until their logistics are finally able to collect their broken TV, a full five days after I initially requested the return.As a result of this unacceptable service and delay, I demand a full refund to my original payment method immediately. The fact that Amazon continues to hold my money for their faulty product and their logistical inefficiencies is outrageous.
