By Danilo Gladow
Ordered an expensive cell phone – received worthless accessories: A fraud trap that more and more Amazon customers are falling victim to. Consumer advice centers warn.
The victim: retired police inspector Maik Wegner (55). He ordered a new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 for around 1,720 euros from the shipping giant Amazon.
When he opened the package, he was stunned: there was no trace of the phone he had ordered – but there was cheap electronic stuff from China: a cell phone holder, a digital parking disc, an audio plug.
“I could not believe it. I searched the package several times. The cell phone wasn’t there,” says Wegner. What follows: a return and hours in agonizing customer chats.
“They isolate themselves. “You just can’t get anywhere there,” says Wegner, who lost his son Maurice to cancer three years ago after a long battle.
Instead of a Samsung cell phone, Wegner received a cell phone holder, a digital parking disc and an audio plug Photo: private
According to the Berlin consumer advice center, so-called mail-order purchases generally have the potential for complications because packages have to go through many stations and pass through the hands of many people. But: “If anything goes wrong during the transport of the package, the seller is liable.”
And further: “It is important that a consumer can prove that there was actually an incorrect delivery.” To do this, it makes sense to make a video of the first time it was opened and have a witness with you.
How can these frauds be curbed? According to Amazon, “additional control mechanisms have been introduced that make it even more difficult for actors with bad intentions to defraud customers, sales partners and Amazon.” They are also in contact with authorities and consumer protection centers.
After BZ asked Amazon, Maik Wegner got his money refunded a short time later. In the apology letter to him, Amazon speaks of one-time goodwill – that’s not how you gain customer trust.