Amazon has a horrible record with selling shoddy products or re-selling products that have been returned because they're faulty. The old phrase, cheap chinese crap comes to mind with a lot of their stuff....

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Amazon creates new claims process as it faces US complaint over third-party sales.

Jon Brodkin - 8/10/2021

Amazon today announced a new policy in which it will pay customers up to nearly $1,000 when a third-party product causes property damage or personal injury. Payments of any amount less than $1,000 will be made at no cost to sellers who hold valid insurance, but Amazon said it will also pay customers more than that when a seller refuses a valid claim.

When "a defective product sold through Amazon.com causes property damage or personal injury, Amazon will directly pay customers for claims under $1,000—which account for more than 80 percent of cases—at no cost to sellers, and may step in to pay claims for higher amounts if the seller is unresponsive or rejects a claim we believe to be valid," Amazon's announcement said.

Today's announcement came less than a month after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) filed a complaint against Amazon over the sale of hundreds of thousands of hazardous products, including carbon monoxide detectors that fail to detect carbon monoxide, hair dryers without required protection from shock and electrocution, and flammable sleepwear meant for children. The CPSC wants Amazon to take more responsibility for dangerous products offered by third parties under the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) program, in which Amazon stores products in its warehouses and ships them to customers while taking a cut of the proceeds. As the CPSC noted, people "who purchase FBA consumer products on amazon.com may reasonably believe they are purchasing the products from Amazon."

The updated claims process seems to apply both to FBA products and those shipped by third-party sellers. Amazon said the guarantee holds "regardless of who sells" the product causing damage or injury.
Technically, payments can go up to $1 million

The change to Amazon's "A-to-z Guarantee" will take effect on September 1. The claims process terms and conditions, which were updated today, don't currently mention the $1,000 amount but say that compensation for property damage or personal injury "will be limited to (a) the purchase price of the product; and (b) compensation of up to $1 million for medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage proximately caused by a defective product."

Amazon urges sellers to buy insurance and said it has "worked with an insurance broker to create Amazon Insurance Accelerator," which will let "sellers buy insurance at competitive rates from trusted providers." Sellers who buy insurance, whether through Amazon or elsewhere, won't have to reimburse the company for small claims paid to consumers. For claims under $1,000, "Amazon will bear these costs and not seek reimbursement from sellers who abide by our policies and hold valid insurance," the company said.

"The Amazon website, and especially the FBA program, enables manufacturers and sellers who have little presence in the United States to sell products to customers here... The dilemma for an injured plaintiff is illustrated by this litigation, where two defendants have been served and failed to appear, and a third defendant can only be served in China. Other plaintiffs have encountered similar obstacles," the court order said.

The exploding-battery case led Amazon to permanently block Lenoge's account, block sales of the product, and warn customers to stop using the battery because of the fire hazard.