I don't think very many people do that, and if they do that very often, don't you think Amazon would freeze their account? Returns are just a function of the number of sales.
I suspect a generous return policy cuts down on angry one-star reviews, so I'm in favor of it, myself. I don't doubt it's misused to a certain extent (the fact that erotic books almost always have a higher rate of return seems to suggest this), but I think it's preferable to giving displeased customers no recourse other than writing scathing reviews.I'm just annoyed by returns in general.
I feel like saying "read the preview, people!" Amazon offers a generous preview of the book and if you can't figure it out from that, the blurb and the cover, then maybe you should be using your local library.
I doubt most people get around to reading that quickly.I really wish that Amazon would reduce the number of days allowed for a return to two,
I assume that serious serial returners are dealt with. It can't possibly be in Amazon's interest to allow people to get away with endless returning.the number of returns per person to just a few (since I have no idea how many returns people get away with now)
People aren't always terribly articulate about what they disliked in a book. I'd hate to start getting emails from Amazon that say, "Four people have told us this book sucks. Fix it."and that people would have to state the reason for the return.
Well, that's a good point. And I supposed if people were required to leave a reason for the return they could just make things up like "It sucks!" to hide the fact that they finished itMegHarris said:I suspect a generous return policy cuts down on angry one-star reviews, so I'm in favor of it, myself.
I'm going to hold on to that thought. It always feels like a bit of a kick in the hiney when I see a return.smreine said:I don't think returns mean as much as writers think they do.
That's not the best policy from a consumer standpoint. I seldom start to read books within thirty minutes of purchase, and there are sometimes problems within the book itself that might make a reader want to return it (bad formatting, awful editing, whatever). I've never returned a book, personally, but I've butted up against that thirty minute return window on Android appstore purchases, and oh man, is it infuriating.TexasGirl said:On some stores for apps you only have 30 minutes to return a digital purchase. I like that system a lot because it allows the accidental purchases to go back, but isn't enough time to read a book (or play a game.)
All of the above, especially "read the preview, people!" I'm sure that there are some returners who treat Amazon as a library thanks to their liberal return policy. I wonder precisely how they police the habitual returners since it's not just the authors who lose money, but Amazon as well.Quiss said:I'm just annoyed by returns in general.
I feel like saying "read the preview, people!" Amazon offers a generous preview of the book and if you can't figure it out from that, the blurb and the cover, then maybe you should be using your local library.
I really wish that Amazon would reduce the number of days allowed for a return to two, the number of returns per person to just a few (since I have no idea how many returns people get away with now) and that people would have to state the reason for the return.
By doing all that we could actually try to figure out exactly what is wrong with the book to make people return them. Right now it's just annoying.
(Can you tell I had one today?)
You say that like it's a bad thing.scoutxx said:The only thing Amazon cares about is the customer, and they will dictate their entire business with them in mind. Because of this, returns will always be honored no matter how many authors complain. Best to just get used to it because it's never going to change.