If you returned something to Amazon years ago and never got your money back, check your account — the refund might finally be on its way.
Amazon confirmed this week that it is issuing refunds to a “very small subset” of customers for items returned as far back as 2018. The decision follows an internal review that uncovered payment processing failures and unresolved return issues.
Why customers are receiving old refunds
According to a company statement, some returns never triggered a refund due to verification problems or technical errors.
“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,” Amazon spokesperson Maxine Tagay said.
To resolve the issue, Amazon is now issuing full refunds for affected orders — no action is required from customers.
A billion-dollar accounting fix
While Amazon has not disclosed the number of impacted shoppers, executives told Business Insider that the company took a $1.1 billion charge in the first quarter of 2025, in part due to these “historical customer returns.”
Emails reviewed by Bloomberg confirmed Amazon’s updated policy: “Given the time elapsed, we’ve decided to err on the side of customers and just complete refunds for these returns.”
One LinkedIn user shared that he received nearly $1,800 for a return made seven years ago.
What customers need to know
- You don’t need to do anything. Refunds will be issued automatically.
- No exact total has been released, but the payouts could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Amazon says the issue is resolved, and new systems are in place to contact customers more promptly about unresolved returns.
What happens next
The refund move may improve goodwill, but it also highlights the scale and complexity of Amazon’s global logistics systems. As e-commerce continues to scale, customers and regulators alike will be watching how retailers handle accountability — even years later.
Amazon has not said whether customers will receive a notification when their refund is processed, so users are encouraged to monitor their accounts over the coming weeks.
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