Prime Day 2024: how returns and legal guarantees work on Amazon

The system automatically determines whether our account is eligible for the free usage period by checking the history for any previous Amazon Prime subscriptions and other information.

We can cancel the membership at any time. At the end of the free 30-day usage period, your Amazon Prime membership will automatically renew at the cost indicated on the Amazon Prime Membership Fees help page.

To sign up for Amazon Prime, we need a valid payment card. Virtual cards cannot be used and the subscription may fail if you use a prepaid card.

We can also register for a moment before accessing the offers.

The page that collects all offers in this case is https://www.amazon.it/festaprime. Flocking to the page in a confused hunt for a discount is not a good strategy, however.

We might miss out on the best discounts or pick up something we don't really need, in discount anxiety. Here: let's not get caught up in the fury of performance, but plan ahead, as we always should in the various Amazon or other sites' seasonal promotions.

The tip that many give is something that is still not well known: the Amazon notification system on current promotions. We have to activate notifications on the Amazon app and we will get real-time alerts on offers related to a selection of favourite products. In the app, we go to the main menu and activate the option Offers you are following or Waiting list, then select the desired products. Another useful tool is Alexa: saying the phrase 'Alexa, set a Prime Day reminder' sets up a voice reminder announcing the start of the event.

What if we don't like the product? The law allows you to return it - right of withdrawal - within 14 days, which Amazon extends to 30 days on many products it sells, and for Prime users there are never any return costs. However, one has to read the terms and conditions carefully on the product page for sale. With products sold directly by Amazon the return is really painless, with just a few clicks we do everything.

On the product page, check whether someone other than Amazon is selling it. In this case, the return can be much more difficult. If on the order page we try to click on replace or return items an error message will come up "this item is not eligible for return", "because it is a return-regulated product but in case it arrives damaged or is defective you can request a refund or a replacement product".

Then from the order page we have to click on Contact Seller, explain the problem, attach photos and give him 48 working hours for a reply. After this deadline has passed without a response (or with a negative one), we can click - again from this page - on Request Return. At this point an Amazon complaint will start, which will contact the seller and try to resolve the situation. If it fails, it will assess the case and - usually within seven days, Amazon writes - decide. As a rule, it grants free returns and refunds.

It then happens that the problem - 'conformity defect', it is called - materialises after the period of the right of withdrawal.

We can make use of the legal guarantee by reporting a problem within two years after delivery of the product. In reality, however, it is 26 months, because by rule we have two months to report the problem from the moment we discover it. In other words, in the 26th month we could say that we discovered the problem two months earlier, when there was still a warranty (of 24 months).

There is always the risk that the seller will accuse us of misuse and deny us the warranty - again, the risk is higher if the seller is not Amazon. Be careful, though.

By law, during the first year it will be up to the seller to prove in the dispute that the product was fully compliant, i.e. that the defect complained of by the consumer arose after delivery. If, on the other hand, the defects become apparent after the first year, it is up to the consumer to prove that the defect was present at the time of delivery.

The consumer has the right to require from the seller: in the first instance, repair or replacement of the product (so-called primary remedies), to restore conformity at no cost; if the first two remedies are not applicable, a price reduction or cancellation of the contract i.e. refund (so-called secondary remedies).

Repair or replacement are both free of charge and take place 'within a reasonable time', i.e. without causing considerable inconvenience to the consumer. What is 'reasonable time' and 'significant inconvenience' depends on the nature of the product and the purpose for which it was purchased.

Again, we can use Amazon's intermediation if the third-party seller does not want to pay us what we are entitled to.