Amazon is brilliant at providing refunds or replacements for items if it’s within 30 days of purchase. Head to your order list and the option is right there. But here’s how to get a refund or replacement from Amazon after 30 days have passed.
Note this article was last updated at the start of 2022 to reflect Amazon’s slightly changed approach.
Give cards stored in Amazon nicknames
How to get a refund from Amazon after 30 days: Step 1, aka avoiding the Returns page
Log into your account and select Your Account. You’ll see a button that says “Your Orders. Track, return, or buy things again”. Ignore this. It isn’t your friend when it comes to orders over 30 days old.
Instead, hit the button that say “Help”. You’ll then see this selection of options (or similar).
Again, avoid the Returns & Refunds. If more than 30 days have passed since you placed the order, this won’t help you.
Instead, click the Contact Us box.
Click the “Start chatting now” box on the left. You can get help via the phone (see the button below) but chat is easier and quicker on most occasions.
How to get a refund from Amazon after 30 days: Step 2, aka using the Chat service
You will see a pop-up chat window similar to the below:
The keywords it’s looking for are, I suspect, “return”, “refund” and “faulty”. When I typed in “I want to return a faulty item for a refund”, it automatically came up with a list of products I had bought – stretching back years.
I scrolled down to find the TaoTronics speaker that stopped working and selected it, but could just have easily searched for an item in the “Search your items” box.
At this point, the chatbot asks for more information to help “get you to the right place”. You can do that (it’s clever enough to follow the prompts), but you might prefer to hit the tiny icon of a person wearing a headset. That will put you straight through to an associate.
When I chose to speak to an associate, I was connected to Gopinath within a minute.
He already had details of my order and quickly worked out that this item was sold by an independent seller but fulfilled by Amazon. So, he couldn’t organise a direct replacement but could organise a refund.
As you can see, you can opt for a direct refund or a gift card. The latter is quicker, so I went for that.
How to get a refund from Amazon after 30 days: Step 3, return your goods
Within a minute of ending my chat with Gopinath, an email landed in my account explaining how to return the goods. I won’t go through that process in detail as it will vary depending on what you choose, but it should be straightforward.
In my case, I dropped off the item at a local shop that includes a Hermes Drop Off centre. I didn’t even need to print the label, with the shop scanning the QR code sent in the email (it’s also in the app, but I had to dig through my orders to find the relevant item and then select “View return label & instructions”).
Note that you only have one week to return the item, so don’t forget!
So, there you go. Far more difficult than it should be, but the usual Amazon efficiency once you know what you’re doing.
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This worked perfectly. I had a gift that I purchased for my mother for her birthday which it turned out she was unable to use due to health reasons. My father didn’t return it within the 30 day window because of, you know, life…and Amazon worked with me to return the item. Thanks for the article…it helped a ton and saved me a lot of time navigating what could have been a potentially frustrating Amazon experience.
Thanks Patrick. I wrote it precisely because it’s so difficult to find this information, including on Amazon’s own website.
Tim, you are brilliant. I just got a return label from Amazon for an item I bought 4 months ago. It was unopened and still in perfect condition.
I had done so much stuff around the house since my husband had been sick that I felt I could actually become a car mechanic! Failed that test before I even started. Anyway, you walked me thru it and Amazon is taking back the $76 tool I bought. Could not have done it without you. Thank you so much!.
Very kind of you Barbara – glad you found it useful!
Yes, but this hurts Amazon sellers. Many are small businesses and when you return something saying it is defective when it’s not you are damaging somebody’s metrics. Think about it first.
Thank you for the detailed instructions. Worked perfectly for me too. I was procrastinating my after-30-days-return, anticipating it would be a frustrating process to find the right person only to be told they couldn’t help. But within a few minutes, I found my way to the chat box and after explaining why I didn’t return within 30 days I was given the option of a full refund or replacement of the defective item. Very pleased with your help and Amazon’s customer service.
Easy to follow instructions. Refund is on it’s way. Thanks Tim!
No problem!
worked like a charm, thank you Tim!
Thank you Tim for this useful information. I bought a projector 9 months ago, that had developed a fault and I had a feeling that the chances of getting a refund would be slim. With your advise on took about 5 minutes in chat, and a refund was agreed.
Thank you for this advice. I was having a hell of a job trying to return a faulty pressure cooker that was three months old.
Now thanks to you I have received a full refund.
Thank you Tim! This method worked great with an $800 order of drapery and tracks that were a gift for my mother. Three months after the tracks were ordered, and a month and a half after sheers were ordered, we were finally ready to do the installation and found the tracks and sheers were not compatible with the windows in my mother’s new condo. I followed your steps and the Chat customer service rep was very helpful. I think it also helped that I had never asked for a refund beyond the 30-day window before and have been a good customer. Thanks for your clear directions.
Hi! Great info! However, i have sort of different reason for 2 late returns…
One is I printed labels and attached to package ready to drop off but put them in my trunk and the deadline was missed to actually drop them off…
That has happened several times now and I have 3-4 packages that Injust missed the deadline AFTER printing and requesting the return.
Also, what if the actual items aren’t actually defective, broken or missing pieces? Several of my returns aren’t even opened? Like brand new in package?
Thank you!
Hi Brooke – there’s a chance to put a personal message explaining why you’re returning something during the process, so I suggest you press ahead and try it! In general, I suspect that Amazon will give a full refund for unopened goods, especially if you’re a long-term customer…
They wouldn’t refund me in similar circumstances!
I just tried it and the Amazon rep told me they could not print a return label after 30 days and that I need to contact the manufacturer (not sure why they will issue a refund since I didn’t buy it from them).
Hi – not sure why that would be, other than a) a confused rep b) exceptional circumstances for your purchase. I’d give it another go if I was you…
Thank you Tim, your guide was totally invaluable go my issue resolved in minutes – once I’d followed your guide.
thank you so much! followed your instructions got my problem resolved and New WD External drive on its way already
Thanks so much. I was trapped in an endless loop till I found your article!
So helpful!! Thanks for the information.
Hello Tim!
I bought a RAM from Amazon and it stopped working like a month after buying it or so, Would I be able to still make a refund?
It passed the 30 days, but not my fault, the item stopped working to close to the date, thanks!
Hi Francisco – sorry for the late reply, I’ve only just seen this. Yes, using this method you should be able to get a refund or replacement. Good luck!
Tim you are a star. I was going round in circles on Amazon’s site trying to find out how to return a product which broke after 5 months.
Thank you so much! It worked!
Also, many thanks from me. This was a great help! I was wondering about in the maze of the Amazon page trying to find out how to return a faulty item that I bought in October. It is now on its way back, having followed your instructions and opened up a chat with Amazon, they replied immediately and sent me a link to print a label. Thanks so much! Happy New Year!
Hi Tim,
really clear info, got me an instant refund on some rechargeable batteries for a cordless drill that died, after 7 months. I’d recommend getting the Amazon Gift Card refund, they’d issued it by the time I finished the chat!
Tim,
you are the best !
ck
Thank you soooop much, this was very helpful. I didn’t click on “item was defective because it wasn’t but clicked on “item not as expected” and I still got a chat option. I was honest and stated I needed a larger size shoe. They said they would still allow a refund even after the 30 days because I was a “valued customer” (meaning we buy a lot!!) It also might have helped that it was just 7 days after the return date had passed.
Very helpful, thank you!
I don’t think Step 1 works any more, you only get the option to chat or have them call you.
Extremely helpful. Thanks for taking the time to write such detailed directions. I was successful in returning a defective product that was outside the 30 minute return window. Without this blog article I wouldn’t have had a clue how to get a return.
This site was very helpful for returning something beyond 30 days from Amazon. After contact us, it was different than you described above (probably new update), but I did get an online chat which was able to assist within 10 minutes so that I could describe the delay for the return. Thank you.
I must have gone around in circles 5 times trying to figure this out before I found your post! Wanted to log a complaint about an item that was discovered to be faulty after the returns period. Worked like a charm, thank you!
Thank you for the Chat address as our faulty item, which had been working great, is less than 6 months old
Another bit that may help if your running out of time for the regular return. Request to return it before you run out of time. You will then get at least an additional month without fuss. UPS may be asking for it but I’ll just ask them for the label and they always give it to me. That they don’t have to be bothered any further and I can just slap on there and they can pick it up on their next visit.
Tried this method with ZERO success. All I received from chat agent was sympathy but a hard line about having no return or refund option available to them and I had to deal with manufacturer. Not sure how everyone else is getting a positive result but chat agent remained adamant there was no return option available.
Item became faulty about 2 months after purchase. Now I just have another thing that will head off to the landfill.
Tim, I was at a loss to know what to do when an item I bought from Amazon Prime stopped working after 3 months and 10 days. I discovered your article and went through the process you described, step by step. The lady from Amazon was great and refunded the money. Well I took the option of the Gift card as you recommended. Without your article I would not have been able to do it.
i bought my item a few months ago would this method still work?
It should do, yes.
Hi Tim,
This worked!!! Once After the chat agent insisted that they window was closed, I expressed that we do not have any need for the item. They decided to accept my return. Thank you for the information!. Extremely helpful!
Thanks! I didn’t get some of the options you talked about but I did figure out how to get to call a human and they refunded my items minus a ‘restocking’ fee.
It still worked (mine was 61 days late) although I don’t know if they will do it each time so hopefully you don’t get into this dilemma again. I had to explain why I wasn’t able to return it in time and why I wanted to return it. You have to pack the items separately per seller if you order it from different sellers and have them ready for pick up or drop off with UPS. They will want you to get it done by the next day unless you figure out a way to schedule the pickup on a different day. Refund will be received within 7 days from receipt of their product.
Thank you! My website looked a little different but found help via: At bottom of site under “Let Us Help You” > Help > Browse Help Topics > Need More Help> Contact Us. Your instructions were super helpful with the chat conversation. They issued me a return label and my replacement item should be here tomorrow. Wahoo!
Just did this today and it worked! Thanks for the tips y’all.
Doing this hurts sellers, who many are independent small businesses. This hurts there metrics and they loose even more money because you are teaching people a sneaky way of getting around of 30 day return policy. People don’t even realize that. Why not acknowledge that you made a mistake, didn’t return on time or ordered wrong measurements and take the loss instead of hurting the seller with your “defective” excuses?! SO LAME!
Not doing this when a seller is providing a sub-standard product is harming the consumer. I don’t care how small a business they are, they shpould be providing goods of good quality.
If the seller made a mistake or sells cheap crap then the loss is on the seller. Bur if your buying a item that you know costs more but your paying a cheap price for it, of course that tells you the item is crap. Either way, if you want a full refund for your mistake, then the seller shouldn’t have to pay for that. That’s what I am trying to point out here. And this post is teaching people to abuse the system whether it was the sellers fault or not. People give all sorts of excuses just not to pay return shipping or get money back.
I bought an item as a Christmas present some months prior to the event and the item was found to be faulty within 2 days.. Are you saying that I should be penalised for being organised and shopping early?
PS. Do you mean ” This hurts THEIR metrics and they LOSE even more money
I’m talking about when the consumer made a mistake on his end, not when the seller made a mistake. If the seller made a mistake in shipping a faulty item or wrong item, it is on the seller. But the buyer has 30 days to return even if wrong or faulty item was sent. So return items in correct time, even if you were organized and shopped early, you still have 30 days to return. And 30 days is plenty of time to return an item.
This is a brilliant article. Online chat worked a dream with Amazon. I’ll return my leaking walking shoes through Hermes, QR code supplied by Amazon for a full refund.
If Amazon agrees that you can return an item after 30 days, don’t they refund only a partial amount that you purchased the product for?
This step by step guide was really useful. It is not obvious at all how to get a replacement / refund after 30 days without this type of help. I had a chat with an Amazon customer services person who was very helpful and arranged for a replacement Cuisinart kettle to be dispatched today. Return label was emailed to me too. I can keep the old kettle until the new one arrives. Although it has a 3 year guarantee, I thought it might be a laborious process getting it replaced. A pleasant surprise. Thanks.
Tim, many thanks. Your formula worked perfectly for me just today (March 2022).
Didn’t work for me… I ordered a hub for the truck August 2021 it has 1 yr warenty and I’ve been trying to get that for over a month with no cooperation from anyone the hub is defective and until I get a warenty replacement I have no automobile to drive. Blown away at Amazon for not backing up a customer after I purchased from them bc of Amazon’s reputation.
I am a disabled individual and live on a limited income of social security and purchase this product because of the 1 yr warenty. I was also cut off by chat after being told the 30 day window was closed and that it was up to manufacturer. Manufacturer has no phone contac and must be contacted by websit. I’ve dont that twice giving all the purchase info and haven’t heard a word.Again this is for an automobile which is now inactive no thanks to amazon.
If you have any further advice about this I would certainly appriciate it. I thought I could count on amazon and actually thought amazon backed items sold on site.
100 many thanks I found the chat button and succeeded in getting a full refund. I had spent a long time on this. Amazon obviously don’t want to get involved in refunds over 30 days.
Thanks for this article. I had a motherboard that was about 6 weeks past the returns date because I’d been busy doing other stuff and didn’t get round to installing it and when I did a few days ago, it turns out it wouldn’t POST (tried different RAM, GPU, CPU etc). Gah! The interface on Amazon has now changed and you click the “Something else” button instead and then you’re back on track and can click the “Contact Us” button. I’ve just been told they’re sending me a returns label by email later today (at their suggestion) and the whole chat process took less than 5 minutes once I was in the right place. Great stuff Tim, it’s removed a worry and made my day better. Thank you. 🙂
I’ll try it, thanks!