Amazon purchase leaves Las Vegas senior couple in refund limbo, company responds

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — It was an early Christmas gift purchased online.

LaRae Obenauf, 81, saw the age begin to show in her husband’s living room chair and decided to get him a new recliner, but the Amazon purchase turned into a nightmare for the Las Vegas couple when their calls for help went unanswered.

On Oct. 3, the Jonpony reclining chair arrived at the doorstep of the Obenauf’s home. Their caretaker brought the box in and helped them assemble the recliner, but there was a problem.

“He couldn't use the apparatus that they wanted him to use to lift the legs, and it was missing an arm,” Obenauf said. “I called Amazon, and they said to send it back.”

The chair was carefully disassembled in the small living room while Obenauf communicated with Amazon customer service. The retail giant notified her a $615 shipping fee would need to be paid—nearly double the cost of the purchase.

“That's over half of my social security check,” she said. “That means that I didn't have money for food.”

Begrudgingly, Obenauf agreed to pay the shipping fee, but only because Amazon guaranteed a refund.

“We sent it by freight to Kentucky, and we know they got it because we followed it [online], and saw it had been signed for,” she said.

A few days later Jonpony refunded the elderly couple for the chair, but the costly shipping fee from Amazon didn’t come through. Obenauf, who is going blind, called the company’s customer service line for weeks hoping to get an answer or a resolution for her case.

“I tried so many times. We had to send a copy of the receipt [sic] for the freight documents. We sent and sent and sent,” she said. “Then finally, after a month, they told me 'invalid receipt.' That's what they said. Invalid receipt. Case closed.”

Two months after the initial purchase, Obenauf called Nexstar's KLAS asking for help with resolving the shipping fee and with the hope of preventing a similar problem from happening to other elderly customers.

“If this happened to me, it's had to have happened to other people,” she said. “If we had the money returned that would give us Christmas, that would give us Thanksgiving, that would give us breathing room. I have nothing.”

KLAS contacted Amazon, submitted records related to Obenauf’s purchase and relayed the issues. The company confirmed over email a team would investigate the issue, following the request and later reopened the case.

“We thank CBS8 (KLAS) for bringing this to our attention,” an Amazon spokesperson wrote. “We have worked directly with the customers to resolve this matter.”

An Amazon spokesperson noted their team routinely works with customers one-on-one to understand and resolve specific requests. The company pointed to its customer service hub as a place for customers to relay concerns and request assistance.

The Obenaufs confirmed to KLAS they received a call from Amazon and also received their shipping fee refund in full.

“We didn’t know if anyone heard us,” Obenauf said. “But we will have Thanksgiving this year.”