Recent internal reviews at Amazon unleashed a wave of new refunds: Some are getting more than $1,000 back from purchases made up to 7 years ago.\n\nAmazon is issuing unexpected refunds to a small group of customers.\n\nAmazon buyers are reporting an influx of unexpected refunds from products they ordered months or even years ago, with one customer on LinkedIn saying he received a refund of $1,800 for a smart TV bought seven years ago. Others made similar comments about products bought long ago.\n\nAccording to Bloomberg, the new refunds are because of changes Amazon made after an internal review. That review may be related to a 2023 consumer lawsuit by a group of Amazon shoppers who claimed that Amazon had reversed their legitimate return-related refunds.\n\nA representative for Amazon told CNET that only a small number of customers would be affected.\n\n\"Following a recent internal review, we identified a very small subset of returns where we issued a refund without the payment completing, or where we could not verify that the correct item had been sent back to us so no refund was issued,\" an Amazon representative said. \"There is no action required from customers to receive the refunds, and we have fixed the payment issue.\"\n\nIn its latest earnings call, Amazon reported a one-time expense of $1 billion connected to refunds that the company had not yet sent out. These earmarked funds could be responsible for the sudden updates that shoppers are now seeing regarding purchases as far back as 2018.\n\nIf you receive an email about a surprise refund from Amazon orders, it may be related to these changes Amazon has made behind the scenes. You may still want to confirm it's not fraud by logging into your Amazon account or making a quick service call, especially if it's a larger amount like a payment for a TV. Scammers may be taking advantage of this news, too, so be wary of any notification that asks you for financial information, which Amazon should already have.

Why Amazon Is Giving Surprise Refunds for Years-Old Purchases (And If You'll Get One)

Amazon is issuing unexpected refunds to a small group of customers for purchases made up to 7 years ago, linked to an internal review and a 2023 consumer lawsuit. The company reported a $1 billion one-time expense related to these refunds, with some customers receiving refunds of up to $1,800 for items like a smart TV.