Amazon bans customers who return too many products, according to The Wall Street Journal. This is a practice that's used by traditional retailers, but Amazon shouldn't act like its brick-and-mortar competitors. 
 
 
 
 Amazon customers speaking to the Journal described being banned for returning all sorts of products, from clothing to cellphones. 
 
 Retailers like Best Buy use outside firms to impose limits on returns, according to the Journal's previous reporting. In my own experience — I purchase and return a lot from Best Buy — I was told by a checkout clerk I'd only get flagged if I didn't keep a majority of my purchases. 
 
 When you walk into an electronics store or a clothing store, you get the chance to see a product and, often, even try it before you walk out the door. You can see how one TV hanging on the wall compares to another, or pick up five pairs of khakis and pick the ones that fit right. You know the drill: You leave the ones that don't fit on the counter as you walk out of the dressing room. 
 
 You don't get that same experience with Amazon. 
 
 Instead, and this is part of Amazon's appeal, consumers can order whatever they like, see if it fits their needs, and then return what doesn't fit. Amazon's customer service has made this experience attractive and it's one of the reasons Amazon's been so successful. 
 
 There are times when I use Amazon to order what I need: a light bulb, food from Amazon Fresh or a pack of batteries. Then there are times when I order what I like but I'm not sure how it will work: an Amazon Echo (turned out great) or polo shirts and shoes that don't always fit properly. 
 
 Worse, Amazon makes it so easy to return products that it's become a part of the service we expect. You can now return products to Kohl's Drop Off locations, for example, or drop them off at a nearby Amazon Locker. In my experience, Amazon even issues a credit back to my account before the product has returned to its facilities. Its return process is enjoyable! 
 
 We don't have an option to go to an Amazon dressing room of sorts. If it is going to ding us, then it should give us proper terms so we know when we're at risk of violating its unspoken policies. 
 
 I dug through Amazon's return policies and didn't find anything clear that suggests someone might get banned for a return. Here's what Amazon's return policy says: 
 
 "Items shipped from Amazon.com, including Amazon Warehouse, can be returned within 30 days of receipt of shipment in most cases. Some products have different policies or requirements associated with them." Amazon even lets you return some products past the 30-day return window, though not for a full refund. 
 
 I asked Amazon for a comment on how it flags accounts — whether it's because of too many returns or a certain value of items. Amazon didn't explain, but said this: ||||| A computer programmer and self-proclaimed Amazon addict named Greg Nelson has been banned from using Amazon UK after returning 37 of the 343 items he has purchased over the course of two years. 
 
 According to TheGuardian, Amazon told the programmer any remaining gift card or credit balances on his account would be lost to him as they can only be used on the website and do not have a transferable value. Nelson insists there was a genuine reason for each and every return he made over the past two years. The products were either damaged, faulty, or did not work as they were described to. 
 
 The programmer claims that his account was closed immediately and he was not allowed to continue buying from the website. In his words, he believes Amazon did not give him a “proper explanation” as to why they suddenly closed his account. 
 
 Nelson has stated that he respects the company’s rights to protect itself, but closing his account was unfair. 
 
 “As a previously fervently loyal fan of Amazon who has been a customer since 2002, I understand that it is trying to protect its business – however I find its actions in this situation totally egregious. I could understand if there were evidence that I had somehow tried to abuse the system, but I haven’t. Of course, Amazon can refuse to serve whom it likes, but surely it cannot legally keep gift card balances and other purchased goods which have already been paid for by the customer – despite what any potentially unfair small print might say?” 
 
 Nelson proceeded to email the company and point out how unfair he felt their actions were in regard to his account. In the email, Nelson told the company it was unfair to close his account based on unpublished return limits. He went on to question whether or not it was even legal for the company to refuse to refund any unspent gift card balances he had lingering on his account. 
 
 While Nelson is the latest customer to have his account closed by Amazon after exercising his right to return goods, he is certainly not the only one. 
 
 Amazon closed my account, just renewed Prime on 2/16 https://t.co/vcyellSdYg — David Ellis (@DavidEl96566078) March 10, 2016 
 
 @amazon closed my account due to "unreasonable amount of returns" Of my 236 orders I placed this year, I returned 27 pic.twitter.com/06c4cVSgdf — James C. L. (@James_C_L) March 5, 2016 
 
 Like 2 weeks ago I added $20 gift card to my Amazon account, right after that my account for closed. They never opened my account back up — Wersh (@Wersh) February 17, 2016 
 
 In January 2016, a customer named Katy Kilmarton reported that Amazon closed her account after she returned 30 of the 112 items she purchased. In closing her account, she lost a gift card balance of £170, which is about $246, as well as the remaining months of her Prime membership. Kilmarton claimed that her remaining gift balance was a refund for a previous purchase that the company gave back to her as a gift card instead of refunding her debit card. Kilmarton stated that she understood the company had the right to close her account, but felt the company should refund her the remaining gift card balance as she didn’t understand how taking it could be legal. 
 
 Understanding the Return Policy 
 
 A representative from TheGuardian attempted to reach out to a spokesperson from Amazon only to be told the company would not discuss the customer’s case other than confirm they would not be reopening his account. 
 
 “Our goal is to deliver the best experience for the millions of customers who shop with us. In a tiny fraction of cases we are forced to close accounts where we identify extreme account abuse. This decision is only taken after we have reviewed the account carefully and tried to work with the customer over an extended time period to resolve any issues.” 
 
 According to Amazon’s website, customers are allowed to return most new and unopened products for a full refund within 30 days of their delivery date. The website goes on to say the company will even pay any return shipping costs if the reason for the return is the fault of the company. 
 
 What Happens to Kindle Library and Digital Purchases? 
 
 While the banning of an Amazon account does not block a customer from viewing his or her Kindle library and/or digital purchases, it does make things more challenging. After an Amazon customer account is closed, the customer will be told not to contact customer service anymore. 
 
 “Please do not make contact through the standard customer service channels again, as they will no longer be able to assist you.” 
 
 This means that while you will be able to access your Kindle library and your digital purchases, you will not be able to contact Amazon’s customer service should a problem with your library or your digital purchases arise as they will not help you without an active account. 
 
 When Amazon closes an account, the customer account also loses access to Amazon Prime streaming services. This means the money paid for the subscription is lost. The DVD-sending service LoveFilm, popular book talking service Audible, and Comixology will also be limited. Customers will be able to keep anything they have already downloaded. However, they will not be able to download anything else. 
 
 TechWalls advises Amazon customers to keep their return rates under 10 percent of total purchases to avoid their account being closed for abusing the return policy. 
 
 Making a new Amazon customer account, however, remains a simple task. A lot of individuals will just use a spouse or family member’s account after their account is closed. Customers just need to keep in mind that closing an account means losing everything via Amazon that is connected to that account but has not been downloaded to a device. 
 
 [Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]
– Amazon has a reputation for making returns easy—but many users have complained that the retail giant has banned them because they returned too many of their purchases from the site. People have been talking about such experiences for years, but a new Wall Street Journal article brings new attention to the issue—and reports that dozens of users have told stories online of their accounts being canceled without warning and Amazon informing them they will not be allowed to open a new one. Sometimes no explanation is given; sometimes Amazon cites too many returns as the reason. Though Amazon doesn't have an official limit on returns, its conditions of use state that it has the right to terminate accounts at its discretion. An Amazon rep tells the Journal, "We want everyone to be able to use Amazon, but there are rare occasions where someone abuses our service over an extended period of time." Former Amazon managers tell the paper that human employees typically evaluate cases after algorithms identify users with questionable activity, including too many returns, sending the wrong items back, receiving compensation for reviews, or marking an "atypical" reason for returns. "If your behavior is consistently outside the norm, you’re not really the kind of customer they want," says one former Amazon manager. The Journal spoke to a few people whose accounts were canceled, some of whom were able to get reinstated after much back-and-forth with Amazon and others of whom weren't so lucky. At CNBC, Todd Haselton notes that traditional retailers also flag customers who return items too frequently, but he argues Amazon shouldn't act like a brick-and-mortar store in this regard. "When you walk into an electronics store or a clothing store, you get the chance to see a product and, often, even try it before you walk out the door," he writes. "You don't get that same experience with Amazon."