Is It Possible to Make an Amazon Return After 30 Days?

Updated March 27, 2024 by Kyle James
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I’ve written about the Amazon Return Policy in detail so I won’t reinvent the wheel with this post, but rather I want to talk about a clever Amazon return policy hack that I think you will find useful. It has to do with trying to return something after 30 days. If you’ve ever tried to do this on their website, you’ve noticed that items become “unreturnable” 30 days after the date of delivery. But alas, I have a clever workaround and here are the details to make it work for you…

Is It Possible to Make an Amazon Return After 30 Days?

How I Made It Happen

I just started a Live Chat session with Amazon and asked if I could make a return even if it was after 30 days.

Make sure to go through the automated chat first then ask to chat to an actual human.

Pretty simple, right?

I told them that I was a few days over 30 and asked if there was any way they could make an exception especially since I’ve been a loyal Prime customer for years.

The live chat operator verified if the return window had indeed closed, then immediately got back to me and APPROVED the “beyond 30-day” return.

Amazon Live Chat

Will It Work For All Prime Members?

I think so, YES.

You literally have nothing to lose so you might as well try it.

If for some reason they won’t let you return something after 30 days, selling the item on eBay is always a good fall-back option.

See Also: Buyer Beware: Avoid this Amazon Bait & Switch Price Trick

How Often Can I Do This?

I’m thinking this has something to do with how often you order from Amazon.

My family places a few Amazon orders every week and spends quite a bit of money in a calendar year.

It would make sense that Amazon is much more likely to take back a return after 30 days if you’re a frequent shopper as they want to keep you a “happy” customer.

Let me know in the comments if you have any evidence to backup or refute my claim.

BONUS: You Might Even Be Able To Keep the Item

Amazon calls it a “Returnless Refund” and it means they don’t want the item back for one reason or another.

I was surprised that Amazon not only let me return something after 30 days, but they told me to keep it as well.

I’d call that a win-win dealio for sure.

Ask the Reader: Have you ever asked for an Amazon return after your 30-day return window was closed? How did it work out?


By Kyle James

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Micah

Thank you so much for this- I didn’t even know Amazon had a live chat. I had to go through an automated chat first but then asked to chat with a real human. I was then allowed to return my item that was 17 days past the return window for a refund minus a 20% restocking fee. The fee was a bummer as it was a $400 item, but better than keeping something I didn’t need. Thanks for the help!

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Lynn H

Thanks so much for this information. I never knew about the Chat feature and like the other person said I had to go through the automated chat first to get to a live chat representative. I explained I had missed the window by literally a few hours and after checking my account (I too am a very very frequent Amazon shopper, use subscribe & save and have spent a fortune with them) and when she returned to the chat she said she had issued me new return labels for my three items and I got an extra week! So thanks so much for your advice!!

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L. Anthony

Tried it and it worked! 1 month past refund window. Thanks!

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Kyle James

Cool, glad it worked for ya!

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Robin

I just followed your advice and it worked. It was a very expensive item and they did not even want it returned. I was 10 days beyond return date and found out item could not be used in Massachusetts. Now I have to figure how to dispose of it.

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Kyle James

Sell it on eBay!

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Mirela

I was curious to know if I could get a refund 4 days past the return window. I saw your post and decided to give it a try. Welp, it worked! The agent gave me one more week from the day I contacted customer service to return my item. I didn’t think it would work!

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Kyle James

Yee of little faith….glad it worked!

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Susan

Thank you so much! I was more than 30 days over an item and the chat wouldn’t allow the return. I asked to speak with a rep and I got the ‘one time courtesy’ return! They don’t want the item but I got my money returned! I’ve already spent a fortune on my niece’s wedding, I had trouble finding a dress and wasn’t thrilled with the one I got, but had no other choice. Fortunately my friend came through with a better one I can borrow, so I’m quite relieved!

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Kay

Thank you so much. It worked for me as well. The hubcaps I ordered didn’t fit my car. I ordered a replacement thinking I would get around to the return…later finding out that 30 day rule. I ordered these in August so I am way past the 30 day rule mid December! They gave me a refund and told me I didn’t need to return them…of course I gave them my order number to show that I had gotten the correct size from them as well and that might have helped.

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Taj

I have two boxes that are packed with the return label already affixed. I found them behind some items in my garage. I am only a few days past the return window BUT definitely past the “use this return sku within 14 days” clause.

If Amazon doesnt accept the return due to expired SKU; will they send me the items back without refund? Or will they throw it in a corner and refuse refund?

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Smita

Worked for me. 2 items, one was 1.5 months out of shipping window. They let me keep both the items. I wouldn’t do it too often though, only when really necessary. All good features disappear when people start misusing it. Thanks for the very useful post.

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Jo mcg

I ordered a $150 knee roller product when I had leg surgery and it was very noisy rolling around. I contacted Amazon via chat and stated that it was defective. They refunded me and told me to keep it! Not the first time I’ve been refunded and kept the product. I am however a weekly Amazon shopper.

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Yan

Amazon will actually allow refund without any specific cut off. The default is 30 days. You can ask for a return label for even an item purchased 1 year ago. It depends on why. Customer severixe will usually authorize you up to 90 days. Anything beyond this. You need to contact executive customer service team at [email protected] if you wish to get an exception as to why you waited months and months to request return. Executive CS will usually reply in under 24 hours and they have the ability to do ANYTHING. For example

I had a CANADA amazon prime account and got a kindle. I wanted to buy books in USD so I signed up on kindle usa.

By doing this. For some reason. Alexa thinks I’m in the usa. And refuses to attach to amazon CANADA. Rendering her pretty much useless. Nothing I could do on my end. The only thing. Was to create a new amazon account (which goes against amazon policies as it’s ONE PER HOUSEHOLD and you can easily be permanently banned if caught with more than one account) so CS made me a new account. Should be good ? Nope. Cuz now my prime membership is on the wrong account. Asked CS to refund or pro rate me back. They could not. They suggested I keep using old account until it expires and just use new account for everything else… but what I wanted was Alexa to tell me my deliveries.

So I wrote to executive CS. And they refunded me 10 months. And I went and purchased a 12 month. And everyone is happy. While I was at it I mentioned I had an item I could not return because I never opened it until now. But it was so past the return policy. Apparently 1 year ago. I wanted to exchange it. They ended up ordering me a new one. And told me to keep the old defective one.

Not bad for customer service right?

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JaneB

I was able to return an item easily last year on a return that didn’t show the accessible return button by doing what you did in chat. But this year, 2022, is a different story. They have not allowed a simple return after 30 days. We accumulated a few items for a remodel.

The contractor was not starting until everything was here. Because of the supply chain delays we were not able to start and select the items we actually wanted in the new space until two months later. So we are now trying to get a return on two unused “grab bars.” No luck.

Right now I am being rejected with this remark from amazon.com’s Dave: I really hope I had the option to make exception earlier, unfortunately our system won’t allow us to do so.

So it’s “our system.” I have started to use amazon.com less and less and going back to other suppliers. It’s hard to disengage yourself from them after all these years!

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Heidi

They accepted my return 6 days past window, but did not need me to return the item. Bonus. I called a # 1-888-280-1072 because I could not find smart chat or whatever.

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Laurice

Thank you so much! This worked – 2 weeks past return window. Will be credited nearly $700! You’re a godsend!

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Naomi

This worked! Thank you so much! My return request was 3 months passed the return window! I had bought a cable that I thought I’d need right away, but didn’t end up using. When I went to finally use it, it didn’t work. I found Amazon’s chat feature and used it and was able to chat with a human right away. Amazon has a phone number option as well.

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