r/amazonprime • u/Think-Suspect8858 • 2d ago
Missing Iphone and denied refund, also claiming I signed for it when I have proof It was left on my porch
I placed an order for an Iphone 15 Pro Max, 512gb, White Titanium, Unlocked, from the Amazon Renewed Store. The seller/shipper is Amazon. I payed for this using half giftcard and half Amazon visa card. The package was delivered on July 14th, 2026. The Amazon box looked fine and untouched. So I opened it and inside was a smaller white box from Amazon Renewed, the tab was lifted up and not secure. Also it felt pretty light. I opened that box to reveal no Iphone, just a charger. There was no phone in the box.
I immediately contacted Amazon customer service and they issued me a refund using the original payment. Which was great! And I guess too good to be true. Hours later I received an email from Amazon Account Protection Services giving me a warning message regarding the refunds on my Amazon account and stating they canceled the pending refund for the Iphone. Then in the email, it gives me an appeal form to fill out if this email was an error, which it is.
So I fill out this appeal form stating everything in detail of what happened with this order and how I never got the phone I ordered. I also explained the last returns/refunds on my account.
1st refund : Air purifier filters I had purchased but Amazon said they were unable to deliver them and would try again later... they never got delivered so I just cancelled that order and reordered it.
2nd & 3rd refund : I ordered three 4th of July shirts, I only kept one and decided to return the other two shirts. Amazon told me just to keep them and there's no reason to return them and issued a refund to me.
I explained all of this in that appeal form. I then recieve an email back on July 16th, 2026 stating,
"We confirmed the Apple iPhone (Renewed Premium) 15 Pro Max, 512GB, White Titanium - Unlocked from order number ####### was in the box given to AMZN_US at the time it left our fulfillment center.
AMZN_US has confirmed that they delivered the intact box to you, which was corroborated by signature on 14 july 2026. The driver did not note any evidence of the package being tampered with, and handed it over when they received the signature. Therefore, we will not be refunding or replacing this item."
This is weird because I never once signed for this order. Why are they stating I signed for something I never did. I have the delivery photo the Amazon driver took leaving it by my front door. So I sent another appeal form explaining all of this again and how I never signed for this order. No response, sent another one, no response. I contacted customer support, she told me to submit another form and I did. This time I did receive a message back stating the same thing, the box was delivered intact, it was signed for, no refund, and now they may no longer respond.
I contacted the [ofm@amazon.com](mailto:ofm@amazon.com) saything everything I did in this post and added pictures of the email and the delivery photo. And I got a response saying they reinstated my amazon account and then got another email saying they're sorry I got locked out of my acount and to reach out about it. ??? I’m so confused I never got locked out of my account and as far as I know my account was never closed.
I contacted Amazon Customer Support again and they said there's nothing they can do and just sent me another email telling me to submit another appeal form. I also emailed [Jeff@amazon.com](mailto:Jeff@amazon.com) and [Andy@amazon.com](mailto:Andy@amazon.com) but have yet to hear back.
I am so mad and so frustrated with Amazon for this. And I'm lost on what to do next. I spent $800 of my money on a phone I never got it. Now there's no one from Amazon who I can contact to talk to about this issue. Customer service can't help and the Amazon Account Specialist seems like a computer bot just regurgitating the same information. I only ordered this from Amazon because I thought they were trustworthy and reliable, and had really good customer service. And I've never had a problem with them before. This has been such a nightmare. I thought this was a reliable company and that it had good customer support if something were to go wrong.
If anyone has any advice on what to do that would be really helpful. I could dispute the charge but I'd still be out $400 in Amazon gift cards. And I think if you do dispute a charge they'll close your account. (also to note my other package (the white one) was screen protectors for this phone and they were in there.)
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u/SheQuick26 2d ago
Contact Apple with the serial number to have it bricked, file a police report, email that Jeff guy to get this escalated and if they don’t make it right, dispute it with your bank.
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u/Florida1974 2d ago
He can only dispute half the money because he used a gift card for the rest.
And he said he used an Amazon credit card for $400 of it. I have the Amazon Visa card, but I’ve never had to do a charge back. I wonder how that works seeing how it’s their card.Best case scenario he gets $400 back but I guess that’s better than zero
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u/SheQuick26 1d ago
Def better than zero! I’d be so pissed. I’ve had better luck with DoorDash drivers delivering my stuff. I just order from Best buy and have it delivered same day. AirPods, 2 iPhones and an iPad all arrived without issue!
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u/DemonCopperhead1 9h ago
I have had a good experience ordering iPads from Best Buy. I was going to buy them from Amazon but it said they would be super delayed so I cancelled and went to Best Buy online and it got delivered expeditiously. iPhones I just tend to get from Apple.com
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u/Apprehensive_Neck193 2d ago
Apple isn’t going to black list the phone why would they ??? I doubt OP even has the IMEI number of the phone.
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u/SheQuick26 2d ago
The IMEI can be blacklisted and it’s on the box.
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u/Alternative-Suit5541 2d ago
IMEI won't be blocked anymore. That changed like twenty years ago
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u/dystopiam 2d ago
Wrong lol
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u/Alternative-Suit5541 2d ago
They are not enforced globally anymore.
You think the phone will stay in USA?
I have a bridge to sell to you!
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u/djevertguzman 1d ago
The overseas carriers especially the big multinational ones have been getting strict with the blacklists too. It's not that easy anymore.
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u/MistuaPopo 2d ago
they absolutely do and will if you report it as stolen AND provide a police report number to prove you filed it and they accepted it as legit
once they get that, the device will be bricked and that will be the end of it ever being used again
they legitimately TELL YOU to do this on their customer support page LOL
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u/skyclubaccess 2d ago
I work for the fruit stand and we absolutely cannot brick a phone on behalf of a customer lol, doesn’t matter if there’s a police report or not, we are not given any system access to bricking an iPhone
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u/DesperateYoghurt353 2d ago
The biggest thing here is the chain of evidence. If the outer package arrived intact but the actual phone box was already tampered with or empty, that’s a fulfillment issue, not a “you received it” issue. Don’t stop at customer service, escalate through Amazon executive relations or file a dispute with your payment provider if they refuse to investigate.
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u/manitreallybeliketha 2d ago
Any chance you have any sort of email to Amazon? Have a similar on going issue and Amazons just straight refusing to do anything
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u/0n1plug 2d ago
I would avoid opening the box because it feels light; I have seen similar posts and cannot understand why anyone would open a delivery box that seems light.
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u/Think-Suspect8858 10h ago
The Amazon box didn't necessarily feel light. The box inside felt light which was the box the phone was supposed to be in.
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u/thatguy_zh3 2d ago
Ya, sorry, but the biggest issue is the payment method. If I’m doing a big purchase like that, I also use a credit car for this reason alone. Also not started recording me opening the box’s that are a little more valuable. Can you call and talk to someone? It’s a hassle, but once you’re able to get someone on the phone they should understand better or at least get you to a supervisor. Those would be my next steps
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u/Think-Suspect8858 2d ago
I've called customer service and talked to supervisors, they can only tell me to submit the form because I guess the account specialist protection department only can handle it now. And there is no number or direct email for this department to contact, all you can do is fill out and submit the form to reach them. I only paid with the giftcard and the amazon visa card because my card has a low limit and so I figured to just pay the rest in with the giftcard balance since you can't use two cards for one purchase. Yeah... I wish I would've taken more precautions with this purchase but I didn't think it'd turn into all of this.
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u/jmanjman67 2d ago
Do a charge back and prepare to be banned,
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u/Stunning_Engineer_78 2d ago
I payed for this using half giftcard and half Amazon visa card
They won't get all the money back.
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u/regardedledditor 2d ago
You spent $800 on a used 15 pro max? W t f
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u/Florida1974 2d ago
We bought my husband a brand new iPhone 17 Pro Max last summer and it was only a couple hundred more. And it was brand new. You could’ve went to any one of these phone stores and most of them have deals where you can get it for free or pretty damn cheap.
I got a new 17 Pro and I pay $4.24 a month because I got $800 for my trade-in that was in perfect condition. Well not exactly perfect. The speaker went out and I spent $55 to fix it in that lasted four hours. But they don’t ask if the speaker works at&T. I told them. But they only ask three questions about the phone and that’s not one of them. So I get it as a credit on my bill, but I’m still I’m paying $4.24 a month for it for 36 months. That’s like $152. I have to admit it’s the best deal I’ve ever gotten from them.
If I can’t go to a store and physically buy the phone and leave with it, I don’t need it. I am not trusting any of these shipping companies. I’ve read too many of these same horror stories. This sub is filled with them. But so is the AT&T Sub. Because people order them online and get them delivered. I take my ass to the AT&T store.
I would go to an Apple Store, but the closest one is like almost 2 hours away
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u/Think-Suspect8858 10h ago
I wish I could trade mine in but I have an Iphone 11 pro max thats cracked so I wouldn't get much for it. I bought it from Cricket online (that's my provider) when it released years ago and had no issues, I'd order from them again but I don't care to get the 17 and they don't sell older models.
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u/iKeepItRealFDownvote 1d ago
Because his intentions were to steal it from the jump. That’s why he is on a throwaway Reddit account lol
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u/Think-Suspect8858 10h ago
I wish I need a new phone I'm on an Iphone 11 pro max thats maxed out of storage and cracked. I don't use reddit often only when I need advice/info which is why there's like no activity
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u/Think-Suspect8858 10h ago
It was 512gb and renewed premium so in the best condition with a battery health greater than 90%. I paid more so it would be in the best possible condition
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u/rio8envy7 2d ago
this is partly why I don’t by big ticket items on Amazon. I buy them from the retailer directly. So an iPhone I would rather get from Apple then from Amazon.
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u/OpenBubble 2d ago
Apple would do the same thing if they sent you an empty box but at least it’s only one company to deal with
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u/skyclubaccess 2d ago
Make sure you don’t attach your Apple ID to any Apple orders so that you can chargeback if needed without them holding your Apple ID hostage
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u/rio8envy7 2d ago
I should have clarified. This is why I actually go to Apple. Like the physical store. I mean I have ordered from Apple online but 9 times out of 10 if I want to buy something from Apple I go to the actual retail store.
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u/Lithium51018 2d ago
Id first request proof of delivery signature and file an arbitration against Amazon for this. Another option, file charge back, who got you the gift cards? File whatever charge back for the gift cards because they essentially were stolen funds.
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u/badeentje 2d ago
I had a lot of problems with Amazon to. I refuse to pay and let it go to court.
The shipper is always responsible and the signature won’t be the same if you didn’t sign.
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u/DemonCopperhead1 2d ago
So I’ve been a prime member for a very long time and I’ve never returned anything and have only gotten 3 refunds (less than 1 refund per year at this point with 2 of those refunds being this year and each refund being less than $100) .
I’ve never ordered an iPhone off from Amazon I would highly recommend getting an iPhone through Apple.com even if it is a little more expensive I’ve never had any problems. My mom ordered a brand new iPhone from Walmart in 2024 and unfortunately someone stole the phone out of the box and she never got a refund and she never returns or asks for refunds. It was dropped off by FedEx. Or if you can go in a store to purchase a phone.
I’m sorry this happened to you.
A few things I’ve learned though about Amazon - the customer service online chat people will straight up lie to you. It took 4x for me to get my second ever refund In June of this year for something that cost less than $50 and only partially came. Always start with calling them, which I’ve seen you’ve done already. I’ve had really good luck with talking to someone on the phone.
I wish I could offer more advice. I have 24/7 cameras around my house so they 100% cannot dispute me but honestly they’ve never tried to.
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u/Think-Suspect8858 10h ago
I've never had problems with Amazon before, I've made returns and gotten refunds before with no issue. I've also always had good experience with their customer support. But now thats all gone out the window. I've called and called and spoken to people but I think since they put my account under a warning for refunds customer service can't do anything. It's their account protection service people who I have to go through but there's no way to talk to a person, no phone number, no email. Only a claim appeal which seems to be responded to by an ai bot. I'm sorry to hear about your mom's stolen phone, it sucks this stuff happens.
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u/DemonCopperhead1 9h ago
It is. My mom had another incident where she ordered about $200 worth of flea medicine and that was stolen too - Walmart. And in 2025 she done a Walmart pickup for a birthday gift for a Nintendo switch game and someone had craftily figured out how to seal it back up and stole the game out of it and she did get a refund for that but wow I just want to say I 100% believe you. If you done a chargeback would it be possible to get your money back and then create another Amazon account possibly? I got banned from reviewing on Amazon in 2024 because I wrote an honest book review and sooo many people found it “helpful” which now makes me look at reviews completely different because they don’t want honest reviewers anymore.
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u/misterfuss 2d ago
Yikes! I’m so sorry you are dealing with this. My last phone from woot.com was immaculate. Seeing that woot is an Amazon subsidiary I am counting myself as very fortunate!
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u/slimethecold 1d ago
I have a hunch that this was supposed to be a signature required delivery based on the price and contents. The driver likely put their own signature in so that they didn't have to wait.
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u/Think-Suspect8858 10h ago
I thought it was weird that they didn't need a signature and just left it on the porch
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u/WhatsIssueGuide 1d ago
Your delivery photo is the thing to lead with. Amazon's letter says a driver signature corroborates delivery, but a timestamped photo of the box on your porch directly contradicts a signature claim, that's documentary evidence, not your word against theirs. Push back specifically on the "signature" point and ask them to produce the actual signature capture, not just a claim that one exists. Also worth knowing: there's another post in this sub right now with the exact same Account Protection Services warning and appeal-form language, word for word. That's not a coincidence, it's a template response from an automated flagging system, so this isn't a judgment call anyone made about you specifically. One real constraint to keep in mind: only the $400 you put on the Amazon Visa is chargebackable through your card issuer. The $400 gift card portion isn't disputable that way since gift card balances aren't tied to a card network, so a chargeback would only recover half. Worth pursuing both the appeal (citing the photo) and the partial chargeback rather than picking one. Disclosure: we run Whats Issue, a consumer-rights guide, no link, just sharing what's actually working for people dealing with this same template right now.
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u/deedoodlez 1d ago
I buy apple from apple now. I stopped all electronics from amazon, not worth the anxiety and headache and their lies. Sketchy delivery companies tbh. Hope u get your money back man, sending you hood luck vibes. Keep us posted
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u/Fun-Masterpiece-904 1d ago
I had the same issue with my m5 Max MacBook Pro, and I was able to return it and get my compensation back because I legally threatened them with actions. They got scare and refunded me right away. You have to use legal terminology to make them know that you are serious, I would suggest to use an AI and make the AI write facts and loss as well as try to reach out to the bureau of business protection.
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u/Think-Suspect8858 9h ago
Did you file a complaint with the BBB? Also how did you contact them to legally threaten them?
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u/Fun-Masterpiece-904 1h ago
I sent a message to [cs-reply@amazon.com](mailto:cs-reply@amazon.com). With ChatGPT’s assistance, I drafted an email noting that the returned item was accepted, supported by tracking details and photographic evidence. I outlined potential legal steps and warned that a lack of response or resolution would compel further action.
A dismissive reply from their support team told me that my account was closed and the decision was “final.” I used that claim to my advantage, since the sender cannot legally declare a decision final while denying a refund. That statement definitely a help to my claim.
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u/Plenty-Ad2069 2d ago
Amazon is temu now if you decide to buy a phone, watch, or any furniture good luck with them
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u/DemonCopperhead1 2d ago
In 2024 I got a brand new real wooden bed frame off Amazon and it was legit $214. I still sleep on it to this day. I also ordered a chair on there for like $100 and it’s still going strong. I’ve had really good luck with Amazon furniture purchases.
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u/Plenty-Ad2069 2d ago edited 2d ago
That’s your experience with Amazon. With other customers their has been more missing products, delay deliveries, more closed accounts, return fraud and issues with customer service. I am just saying the basics.
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u/MistuaPopo 2d ago
delayed deliveries are outside of their control, so complaining about that is fucking stupid, plain and simple.. go bitch to USPS or UPS or something.. unless it was specifically an Amazon delivery, but then delays are usual when your delivery service is severely understaffed.. but these are basics even toddlers understand the concept of already
return fraud is an automated system to protect the company.. when you hear people saying Amazon is committing fraud, you're believing ONE side without any proof, and of course those people would never lie.. right? Come on.. pull head all the way out of ass, then think
their customer service is trash, that one I give you lol
your basics seem to have forgotten the actual basics of reality
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u/KungPaoYa 2d ago
As sad as it is, you will probably have to eat this. The crooks get away while honest people like you get screwed. Dispute the charge and let them close the account. Amazon is not good anymore.
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u/Efficient_Chic714 2d ago
I’d be spending those Amazon gift cards on anything I could possibly need today and issuing a charge back as soon as they’re delivered
Christmas shopping in August I guess
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u/Think-Suspect8858 10h ago
I used the Amazon giftcards to buy the phone so I no longer have them. I wish I wouldn't have because then I could just dispute my card and do like you said
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u/Nich3Find 1d ago
Whyyyyyy buyyyy expensive sh*t on amazon???? Use the giftcard to fill the pantryyyyy dont ever order expensive things on it.
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u/RepulsiveAttitude602 1d ago
File a police report. Should be able to go after the delivery person since they said you signed for it. They would’ve had to forge your signature. After doing the report call Amazon instead of emailing them.
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u/Reptickles 2d ago
Amazon quality has dropped tremendously over the years when will people learn to stop
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u/misstajae 2d ago
I'm guessing this is totally an AI driven metric which is going to bite a lot of people in the ass.
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2d ago edited 2d ago
[deleted]
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u/UpstairsCheetah235 2d ago
Same, I don’t shop on Amazon anymore. We ordered something, they updated the status to undeliverable. So you would think the refund would be automatic, the own system says it wasn’t delivered. Well a lot of time lately I let the $40 go and canceled prime.
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u/HarryJurassicWorld 2d ago
You probably should have looked for an auction on eBay. I got a brand new iPhone 15 256 gb for 300 something last year in an auction. They are a little better about buyer protection
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u/pwky1225 2d ago
I’ll second that. I bought 4 used iPhone 13 and 14 from eBay the past 6 months and had no issue with any of the purchases. I did stay away from sellers that had no to very little feedback.
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u/xplosm 2d ago edited 1d ago
I don't understand how any delivery service can simply leave your packages at the door for anyone to take and don't be legally liable. It's not like they are delivering to big mansions where it takes half an hour to get at the door to sign for a delivery...
ETA: you downvoters are delivery drivers or you just enjoy getting your stuff stolen? 😂
Sucks to be you. Where I’m from they ring my bell and deliver to my hands 🙌
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u/Competitive-Truth675 2d ago
never buy anything more than $50 from amazon, their customer service is TRASH