Amazon is reportedly banning some of its customers who return items that they ordered from the e-commerce giant too often, and they have taken to social media platforms to complain, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Dozens have protested on Twitter and Facebook about being banned on Amazon, charging that the company gave them no warning or explanation, the newspaper noted.
Shira Golan, 23, told the Journal that after spending thousands on Amazon from everything from clothes to groceries and toiletries, she was booted recently after asking for refunds in the past on clothing and shoe orders that were damaged or the wrong items.
"I didn't think it was so significant especially considering how much I buy," Golan told the newspaper.
The Journal reported that Amazon had created a customer-friendly atmosphere where shoppers can send back items easily if they don't want them, which has pressured other stores to change their return policies.
"We want everyone to be able to use Amazon, but there are rare occasions where someone abuses our service over an extended period of time," an Amazon representative told the Journal. "We never take these decisions lightly, but with over 300 million customers around the world, we take action when appropriate to protect the experience for all our customers."
The Wall Street Journal reported that retailers lose billions on a yearly basis because of customers abusing return policies and fraud. That activity includes customers demanding refunds for items that are used, stolen or bought somewhere else.
A 2013 report published by The Retail Equation with the National Retail Federation put the loss at $270 billion that year, according to the website Racked. Over the holiday season the federation estimates that nearly one in three gift recipients would return at least one item, totaling $60 billion in lost sales, Racked reported.
Big box stores such as Best Buy and department stores like J.C. Penney have hired Retail Equation to create a "risk score" for each customer to better police returns.
Customers and sellers responded to Amazon's get-tough banning of high-return customers.
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