I bought Lisa a 20 GB iPod for Christmas, but failed to notice she had put the 20 GB iPod (Win) version on her wish list, when she actually needed a 20 GB (Mac). This meant the iPod had to be returned.

I shipped the iPod back to Amazon on Dec 26th. That's where the problems began:

Jan 8, 2003 2:17 P.M. LEXINGTON, KY, US DELIVERY
Jan 6, 2003 5:51 P.M. HODGKINS, IL, US ARRIVAL SCAN
Dec 31, 2002 4:15 A.M. REDMOND, WA, US DEPARTURE SCAN
Dec 26, 2002 10:52 P.M. US BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

I realize the traffic generally sucks in the area around Seattle, but does it really take that long to get from Vashon Island to Redmond? I could walk there faster than that.

I dutifully tracked the package until I saw that it had arrived in Lexington as promised, but I have yet to receive the e-mail Amazon is supposed to send me me when I have been given a refund.

Tonight, I checked the status of my order and saw that I have been credited for the return, but the amount I was refunded is not the same as what I originally paid. I paid $499.00, but I was only given a credit for $492.98.

It appears that instead of giving me a credit for the amount I paid, Amazon gave me a credit for the current price of an iPod. But no, that can't be true because the current price of a 20 GB iPod is $493.99.

Has Amazon returned to their widely renounced policy of variable pricing?

There is one other interesting discrepency in my order: I bought a DVD and the iPod in the same order. The total price for the DVD, including shiping, handling, and taxes was $17.37 and the total price for the iPod was $554.85. 17.37 + 554.85 = 572.22, but Amazon charged me $572.23. What's the deal with that? I really doubt it is a rounding error. Is Amazon so desperate to make a profit that they need to steal the extra penny here and there?

Update: I sent a polite complaint to Amazon. After a few days, I got a response in which they apologized and offered me a credit for a different amount. This time I got a credit for the original price I paid for the iPod minus the return shipping. But wait, the return shipping was $1.98 and the amount deducted from my credit was $11.97. $11.97 is the amount of the original shipping charge of both the iPod and the DVD plus Washington State sales tax on the shipping. Even stranger, there was a 3 cent discrepency in Amazon's favor for the credited amount.

So, I sent yet another polite complaint, in which I expressed my continuing confusion over the amount of my refund. I even suggested what I thought my refund should be.

Enough time went by that I feared I would never find out what my refund should actually be, but then I got another reply which again apologized for the mistake and offered me a refund for the total amount I had paid, including the iPod, the DVD, the shipping, and the sales tax.

Even though I still do not understand what exactly Amazon's return policy is, I decided it is time to give up even though they never addressed the 1 cent and 3 cent discrepencies.

I'd love to clear 4 cents on every transaction I make.