Amazon currently faces allegations that several of its warehouses in the U.K and France is trashing unsold merchandises.
Amazon slammed
According to media reports, one facility is discarding 293,000 unused products during a nine-month period.
Britain’s Daily Mail reported that a group of journalists posed as Amazon workers. They secretly filmed workers of the Internet behemoth loading brand new items like flat-screen TV’s, kitchen equipment and toys for transportation to a dumpsite they called the “destruction zone.”
When one of the journalists asked what happens to unused products, a manager of a warehouse in the Midlands responded: “Some are returned but some are also destroyed.”
From warehouses in France alone, the reporters estimated that more than 3 million goods are being destroyed annually.
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Amazon explained
When asked to comment about the allegations, a company’s spokesperson said they work with charities to donate unused merchandises. She did not, however, refute claims that a lot of its goods wind up in dumps.
“For unsold products we partner with a number of charities including In Kind Direct, which works with non-profit organizations to distribute goods to charities across the U.K.”
Unused merchandizes are usually thrashed since it costs business owners to store them in a warehouse.
A British business owner who has Amazon fulfill their orders explained that Amazon originally charged them around $30 per meter of space in their warehouse. The price significantly jumped to almost $550 in just six months and to a ridiculous $1100 after a year. That is 36 times over than the original price.
Retailers who wish to have their items shipped back to them need to pay the shopping titan over $20 per item. Otherwise, their goods are destroyed for only less than 25 cents.
U.K. Pensions Minister Guy Opperman expressed dismay over the report.
“Amazon should be completely ashamed of themselves. This is not proper business practice and I would encourage them to review the commercial arrangements they have with their suppliers.”
