La Jolla woman locked out of Amazon after refund dispute gets help

A La Jolla woman said an Amazon refund dispute over damaged luggage led to her account being locked — until NBC 7 Responds helped resolve the issue.

Sunny Kleo said she ordered two motorized, rideable suitcases that arrived damaged at her home.

After months of trying to resolve the issue with Amazon customer service, she said the situation escalated, leaving her without access to her account and without a refund she was promised.

Damaged deliveries

Kleo said the first suitcase arrived scratched, dented and missing parts.

“Missing like half the handle, there’s wires poking out, and I just thought, ‘OK, this is crap, but it’s a mistake,’ ” Kleo said, acknowledging that the vast majority of purchases she buys online arrive in good condition.

Kleo returned the item but said the second suitcase arrived days later in a similar condition.

“And it’s also, like, scuffed and damaged, and broken up in a different way,” Kleo said. “And I’m kind of bemused because it’s unusual to have this happen twice.”

Kleo added that a week later, the replacement suitcases also arrived damaged, adding to her frustration. Eventually, she said, Amazon told her she would receive a refund and would not need to return the damaged items.

“I’m not one to just let it go … I was really mad,” Kleo said, explaining that, while she had her money back, she was still frustrated with how she kept getting unusable items over and over again.

Kleo said a friend finally convinced her to move on from the experience.

“It’s not the end of the world, like, I accept it, fine, whatever,” Kleo said.

Issue resolved (or so she thought)

Kleo said she accepted the resolution at the time, but weeks later — while on a cruise with her parents celebrating her father’s 70th birthday — she received an unexpected email.

“I have an email from Amazon saying that they’re charging me again for the suitcases, the refund has been rescinded, and the recharge is more than I initially paid,” Kleo said, explaining that the recharge was done to her U.K. credit card, which incurred additional international fees.

Kleo recalled how she spent weeks exchanging messages with customer service representatives, trying to reverse the charge. She ultimately lost access to her account while it was under review.

“I assumed it meant that they were reading my evidence,” Kleo said. “I’d been told they’d get back to me within 24 hours. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. Weeks go by, three weeks, and no access to my account.”

NBC 7 Responds gets involved

Frustrated, Kleo reached out to the NBC 7 Responds team after a friend suggested it might help.

“And she was like, ‘Well, there’s no harm in trying,’ and I didn’t even think I’d get a response, so I was so glad, Sergio, when you replied to me,” Kleo said.

After NBC 7 Responds contacted Amazon, the issue was resolved in less than a week. Kleo said her account access was restored, and her refund was returned.

In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said:

“We appreciate NBC 7 San Diego for bringing this matter to our attention. Our team has resolved the matter directly with the customer and have apologized for any inconvenience caused.”

Kleo said the resolution allowed her to move forward and enjoy the memories from her trip with her parents without the baggage of the luggage experience weighing her down.

“You managed to cut through the chaos,” Kleo said. “I was just so grateful and really impressed of how fast it all happened, honestly,” Kleo said.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.