Consumer Protection BC has ordered Amazon Canada to refund a customer and pay a $10,000 penalty after ruling the company violated provincial consumer protection laws by failing to refund a buyer who never received their online order.
In a decision issued October 14, 2025, Vice-President Shahid Noorani found that Amazon breached section 50 of the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act by not issuing a refund within 15 days after a cancelled order for non-delivery.
The case involved a Vancouver customer who ordered $582.75 worth of electronics from Amazon.ca in August 2024. Although Amazon’s tracking system said the package was “handed to resident,” the buyer said no one at the home received it and later filed a police report for theft. The customer formally cancelled the order and requested a refund, but Amazon responded, “We are sorry that you feel the need to contact consumer court in relation to your account closure. We will not be able to comment further on this issue.”
Amazon told investigators that GPS data showed the delivery had been completed and claimed the customer had a “pattern of return abuse.” The company also argued that under its terms, “risk of loss and title” passed to the buyer once the goods were handed to a carrier.
Noorani rejected that defence, writing that goods must be delivered directly to the consumer, not just to an address or another person, unless the buyer agreed otherwise. “Allowing a supplier to leave goods with an unauthorized person … would materially weaken these consumer protections,” he wrote.
The decision also ruled that Amazon’s contract clause shifting risk to customers was void because “any waiver … of the person’s rights … under this Act is void.”
Consumer Protection BC ordered Amazon to refund $511.27 to the customer, representing the portion of the payment made with a gift card, as the credit-card payment had already been returned. The company must also reimburse $9,369 in investigation and legal costs in addition to the $10,000 administrative penalty.
“It is not good enough for an online retailer to simply drop packages at the door or hand them to another person if the consumer has not agreed to this,” said Louise Hartland, CPBC spokesperson in a statement, to CBC News.
The decision warned that Amazon Canada’s delivery terms could be thrown out if they weaken consumer protections—and told the company to fix its contracts to comply with B.C. law.
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