Amazon India Says Tablets, Laptops, Other Electronics No Longer Eligible for Refunds

Bought a tablet, laptop, desktop PC, monitor, camera, or camera lens on Amazon recently? If you bought it after May 11, then your product is not eligible for a refund; Amazon recently updated its returns policy on these products, and if you're planning to make a purchase on the e-commerce site, you should know that your product will not be eligible for a refund, only a replacement.

A statement on Amazon's website reads: "All tablets, laptops, desktops, monitors, cameras, and camera lenses that are fulfilled by Amazon and purchased on or after 11th May 2016 are eligible for a replacement only policy and will no longer be eligible for refunds. In case you have received a defective or a damaged product, you will be eligible for a free replacement."

Other product categories still allow you to return items for a refund, even if you no longer need the item - for example, if you buy multiple products and decide to keep only one. However, in the case of certain electronic products - mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, monitors, cameras, and camera lenses - the window to return a defective or damaged product is only ten days, and you can't return items you no longer require; all you can get now is a replacement. This is also the case with furniture.

Amazon had enacted this return policy in February, but only for mobile phones.

We checked the return policies for the other major e-commerce sites in India to see what their policies are for mobile phones and other electronics such as laptops and desktops. On Snapdeal's returns page, we saw that you can still return electronics for a refund if the item is damaged, or varies from the description, or is missing parts or accessories, to list a few reasons for return; you can't return the product if you're dissatisfied with the item though.

On Snapdeal, for electronics, you need a document from the brand's service centre confirming that the item is defective, and all original packaging and accessories need to be included in the return.

In the case of Flipkart, according to the help page, refunds are if the seller can not provide a replacement, so this sounds like the experience would be similar to that of shopping on Amazon. Also, Flipkart's help page notes that in the case of defective/ damaged products that are covered under the manufacturer's warranty, it does not provide returns.

Disclosure: Amazon India and other e-commerce websites may be seen as competitors of Gadgets 360's marketplace.