You might notice a new warning label the next time you go shopping on Amazon.com — it says an item is “frequently returned.”
The shopping site has begun rolling out the new feature to help consumers spot products that may be poorly made or misrepresented, and which often get sent back to the company.
It serves as a caution to carefully read the product description and make sure you’re getting what you think you’re getting, The Verge says, and not, for instance, a similarly named older model, wrong color or size, or something that usually comes as part of a bundle.
The new warning label appears at the bottom of the bullet list of product features. In a yellow bordered box, it says:
“Frequently returned item
Check the product details and customer reviews to learn more about this item.“
This can also be a clue you should be extra skeptical of potentially fake and unreliable reviews, which many of us are terrible at spotting.
Amazon has a fairly generous return policy, usually allowing 30 days to send stuff back and picking up the tab on return shipping.
The new “frequently returned” label is likely to save the company money on such returns, but also save customers from added frustration and hassle. It also puts new pressure on sellers to get things right.
That kind of thinking might be why Amazon gets such high marks for customer service, as we recently noted in “Only This Retailer Beats Amazon for Customer Satisfaction.”