Amazon will Compensate customers up to $1,000 Property damage or personal injury caused by defective products sold by third-party merchants on Amazon.com.
Amazon said that the threshold will cover more than 80% of cases, adding that “if the seller does not respond or reject a claim that we believe is valid, it may step in to pay a higher amount of the claim.”
Amazon’s policy expansion comes as a series of court rulings threaten the company’s greater legal liability for products sold on its platform.
“Starting from September 1st, for products sold through Amazon.com, Amazon will facilitate the settlement of property damage and personal injury claims among customers, sellers and their insurance companies,” the company said Said in the blog post.
It added: “Customers can contact Amazon customer service, and we will notify the seller and help them resolve the claim. If the seller does not respond to the claim, Amazon will intervene to directly solve the customer’s immediate problem, bear the cost, and pursue the seller separately.”
Amazon stated that it will not seek reimbursement of less than $1,000 from sellers who comply with its policies and have valid insurance. The company offers a plan to help sellers find insurance.
This is an extension “Amazon Mall Transaction Guarantee” This covers returns of products sold by third parties on Amazon.com.
Consumer advocates have been calling on the company to further identify and combat problematic products sold on its platform.
Amazon has a series of procedures and technologies to identify counterfeit and fraudulent products, and said it will expand these systems and expand the work of its team as part of the new policy.
“When a customer makes a claim, Amazon will combine our advanced fraud and abuse detection system with an external independent insurance fraud expert to analyze the claim,” the company said. “We will make valid claims against sellers and reject unproven, indiscreet or abusive claims. By carrying out this work on behalf of sellers, we can save them from investigating these claims on their own.”