<prompt> Human: On December 30th, I purchased a pair of KEF LS50 speakers through a 3rd party store on Amazon. The speakers are 1500 new, but the company was selling them for 1050. They claimed the speakers were brand new, in the box, never opened. I did a brief look into the company They have 99 positive in the last 12 months 91 ratings. I read the first page of reviews there is a bad one there now that wasnt there when I purchased but other then that it seemed legit. The price had me a little concerned 450 off retail for brand new speakers.. so I did some further googling and found some people who also purchased KEF speakers for way under retail cost, some of them said that they received the speakers but the serial numbers were removed from them. Another person explained that sometimes retailers from overseas get the speakers for cheaper, remove the serials and send them to the US to be sold at higher prices. They remove the serial so KEF cant link it back to the original seller. I have no idea if thats true or not, but it seemed reasonable. Either way, I called Amazon up before I purchased the speakers and asked if Amazon would protect the sale if I received the speakers and they were either fakewithout a serial number. The woman I spoke to said yes, absolutely. So I purchased the speakers. On Jan 3rd I received an email that the speakers shipped with this tracking number:1Z145Y7V03914XXXTo be delivered on the 11th... But they never actually shipped. The company created a label but never actually shipped anything on that label. On the 9th I asked them about it: Order ID 107-XXX-XXX: 1 of KEF LS50 Mini Monitor - High Gloss Piano Black Pair Is this still on track to be delivered by the 11th?They responded back on the 9th: Yes.The 11th came and the tracking still showed as nothing being sent. I contacted them again that night: Estimated arrival is today and according to UPS they havent even received the package yet.. am I getting these speakers or should I look elsewhere?They responded: Hello dear buyer, Please see a replacement is being shipped to you ASAP.They created a new shipping labeltracking:1Z145Y7V42987XXXWith estimated delivery of the 18th. This time they actually shipped something on that label though - but they also included a signature requirement. I had the package address changed to my local UPS store, because I wouldnt be home to sign for it. Should also note, the weight of the package changed to 10lbs from 40lbs on the first label - which made me really skeptical. The 18th came and I went to the UPS store to pick up the package. The UPS guy pulled out a 8.5x11 shipping packet. I told him that cant be it - they are giant speakers. He said well this says i4mt3hwin on it Ok. I signed for it which I guess was a huge mistake and brought it home. I figured maybe they sent the wrong the audio item, Id send it back and either ask for a refund or ask for the speakers again. Well I got home and opened it and inside was a piece of cardboard: And thats it. I immediately contacted the seller and requested a refund. I also contacted Amazon, because I felt like no seriousreal company would just send a piece of cardboard as an order. A different audio item? Ok I can buy that - maybe it got mixed up... but no, literally just a piece of cardboard. I also went and did a little more digging.. so remember that 99 positive over 12 months? Well if you go back 2-3 pages on their reviews, almost all of the reviews are from one guy in the span of one month. Clearly there is something fishy going on with this company. And it kind of bothers me that Amazon has no system to prevent that type of abuse.So the 3rd party company gets back to me, they send me an email requesting that I ship back the speakers and they will refund me the money. Thing is I never received speakers, I received a cardboard box. Im not shipping that back to them, Im not wasting money on that. I awaited Amazons response. Well Amazon closed my claim. We have closed your claim for this order because the order is not eligible for coverage. However, the seller has agreed to issue a refund to you after you return the order as per the instructions listed below. The seller is not obliged to refund the return shipping fees. -- Return Address: XXX XXX If you decide to return the order, we recommend following these best practices to be sure that your package arrives and to avoid customs fees. -- Write Return Merchandise and the order number on the package -- Complete any customs forms needed and attach them to the package. -- Insure the package and request signature confirmation delivery service. -- Get a receipt for your return costs from the carrier. Because your order arrived, the order is eligible for coverage only if an item in the order arrives damaged or does not match the sellers description. Our investigation shows that you received the correct item and that it did not arrive damaged.So I called them again and explained again that I did not receive the correct item. I received no item other then a piece of cardboard. So Im not sure what they are expecting for me to ship back to them. So Amazon contacted me again asking for more information: To resolve your claim quickly, we need your help to understand what went wrong with order 107-XXX-50XXX. Within 3 business days, please reply to this email with a description of the differences between the item that you ordered and the item that you received. If we do not hear from you within 3 business days, we will close your claim until we receive your reply. We look forward to hearing from you. -- Date of Claim: January 18, 2017 -- Claim Amount: 1049.99So I send them this: I ordered a pair of 1000 KEF LS50 speakers. I received a small piece of cardboard in a shipping packet. This is what I ordered: This is what I Received: This is what the cardboard came in: Which obviously cant fit 40 pound speakers. On the 23rd I get another email back from Amazon: We have closed your claim for order 107-XXX-XXX because the tracking information below shows that someone at your address signed for the package. This order is not eligible for the A-to-z Guarantee because it arrived at your address.So basically now they are telling me that they cant help because I signedreceived the order. Which is a little ridiculous to me. Like in this case, yeah - like obviously speakers arent fitting into that little package, but at the time I felt the package there was something clearly inside which turned out to be just cardboard I figured they sent the wrong item, so I figured Id send it back to them. But what if they sent a big box with bricks in it? Would I just have been equally screwed for signing for it? Either way, I contacted Amazon get - this time I spoke to a manager and I explained everything. Not only did she agree with me that I should get my money back, but she agreed that the reviews on the company seemed strange and she wanted to push that through and re-escalate my A-Z Claim. Well today I got another response from the claims: While we understand your concern, we are unable to assist you with this purchase. As previously stated for your order 107-XXX-XXX because the tracking information below shows that someone at your address signed for the package. This order is not eligible for the A-to-z Guarantee because it arrived at your address.Again I called Amazon - this time I spoke to a different manager who said I shouldnt have signed for the package, Amazon cant help me essentially. So Im sitting here wondering now, what am I supposed to do? I paid for the speakers on my Chase Card and I contacted them. They have to file a dispute which can take 7-10 days to even start it. In the long run Im going to continue pursuing that - but Ive read stories of peoples Amazon accounts being closed for disputing large purchases. I buy tons of stuff through Amazon Prime Member and I would be really annoyed if they closed my account over this. That being said, I want my money back and I feel like its ridiculous that Amazon wont cover me because I signed for the package despite nothing being inside of it. Is there anything else I can do or someone I can contact? The 3rd party store no longer responds to my emails so thats out of the question. TLDR: Bought speakers through 3rd party store on Amazon. They shipped me a piece of cardboard instead of speakers. Contacted Amazon who told me several times that they cant help me get my money back because I signed for the package. ---Edit 1: I contacted Amazon again, this is the response I got back: Hello Kevin, Im writing to followup regarding the A-to-z claim in Order ID: After further research, this order is not eligible for the A-to-z Guarantee so we wont be able to honor a refund. I realize youre disappointed because this is not the outcome you were hoping for, and I regret weve been unable to address your concerns to your satisfaction. However, we wont be able to offer any additional insight or action until this time has passed, and any further inquiries on this matter wont receive a response.This is like the biggest issue I have with this entire thing. We wont be able to offer any additional insight or action until this time has passed Why not? Why cant I get a real explanation why its being denied. They also sent this again: While we understand your concern, we are unable to assist you with this purchase. As previously stated for your order because the tracking information below shows that someone at your address signed for the package. This order is not eligible for the A-to-z Guarantee because it arrived at your address. To learn more about coverage, visit our A-to-z Guarantee Help page on our Amazon.com site For help finding your package, we recommend that you contact the carrier.For help finding your package, we recommend that you contact the carrier.Why are they telling me this? It makes it sound like I didnt receive the package. I did receive the package. I sent them this picture of it:Frustrating.___Edit 2: Executive Customer Relations reached out to me, they are going to investigate - so well see what happens. Thanks again for the helpsuggestions. Ill keep updating the thread for anyone curious. ___Edit 3: Success! Hello, My name is XXX, and I am a member of the Amazon.com A-to-Z Guarantee Claims department. Jeff Bezos received your email, and I am responding on his behalf. Upon review of the A-to-z Guarantee claim you filed on 1182017 for order 107-XXX-XXX, we have refunded 1049.99 to the payment method you used to place this order. You can check the status of your refund on the Your Orders page in the Your Account section of our website If the order was paid by credit card, it may take several business days for the refund to appear on your credit card account. Please check with your issuing bank to confirm that it has been posted. If the order was paid by gift certificate, these funds should be available now for use as payment on a future order. Sincerely, --- XXX Account Specialist A-to-z Guarantee ProgramI want to thank everyone again for the advice and discussions. Going to buy the speakers this time directly from KEFs store on Amazon no more 3rd party for me Ill be sure to check the box before I sign lolAssistant: Something smells fishy.I have had this happen before, Amazon fixed this very very quickly for me. Show them photos and proof and as long as youre a long time customer with no goofy things in your account they will refund that money very very quickly.Dispute on your credit card as well.Human: In some of the other comments its pointed out that he just sent them a picture of the cardboard, not of the shipping label on the package.Honestly, Ive dealt with Amazon customer service a lot over the years, and it sounds like this guy is getting too emotional over the situation and not presenting his case to amazon properly. A simple picture of the envelope with the tracking number that matches whats on file with amazon should have this cleared right up, as obviously a manila envelope doesnt have bigass speakers in it.Assistant: I will admit that my communication with Amazon has been rough. The problem is you dont get a lot of space to write out the issue - and the times Ive tried to explain it clearly, it gets lost between Customer Service and A-Z Claims. For example, I think the third time I called after my dispute was denied and I explained the problem to CS, I received this email: -- Order Number: 107-5584621-5027431 -- Claim Reason: You received an item that did not match its description Your Comments: Item does not meet customer expectations, customer receive a poor quality box and item so Mr Kevin wants a refund.Which I immediately called Amazon back again and explained that that isnt correct at all. I didnt receive a poor quality box and item - I didnt receive any item but a slice of cardboard.Also, for the record, I did send them a picture of the tracking labelweight and package when they requested more info. I just didnt want to post it to reddit because it contains my address, the sellers and the UPS redirect address which is like down the street from me. I guess I could post it and paintphotoshop the info out but yeah.  <response>: Mentioning the cardboard at all is probably just confusing the issue. Say you received an envelope but it did not contain your item 