Are you considering cancelling a recent Amazon order? Maybe you got a litle overzealous and made some impulse purchases. Or the items looked different online. Or someone beat you to a birthday gift.
Whatever the reason, it happens to all of us! Even savvy Prime shoppers may need to cancel orders from time to time.
Fortunately Amazon makes order cancellation super simple for fast fixes to your recent purchases. Between multiple user-friendly options and lenient policies, you can hastily back out of orders placed in the heat of the moment with no harm done.
In this comprehensive 2500+ word guide, I‘ll walk through everything you need to know on cancelling Amazon orders like a pro – with visual examples from my first-hand testing across devices.
Let‘s start unraveling the ins and outs of quick and painless Amazon order cancellations:
Why You Might Want to Cancel Your Amazon Order
Before jumping into logistics, it helps to first understand common reasons and scenarios that could lead to cancelling an Amazon order. This context will make the subsequent game plan more relatable. A few examples include:
Purchasing the Wrong Item
Amazon sells a staggering array of products which can make accidentally buying the incorrect size, edition or version quite easy amidst all that selection. Grabbing a hardcover instead of softcover novel or getting the prior PlayStation console release year versus the latest – honest mistakes given the pace of 1 Click ordering available. Cancelling to re-purchase the intended item makes total sense here.
Changing Your Mind on an Item
No harm in second guessing yourself after placing an Amazon order. Maybe that fancy gadget seemed cooler at 2am versus 2pm in the light of day. Reviews have you questioning quality claims on a bestselling doodad. The new TV exceeds workable dimensions for your living room layout. Totally fair to just call an audible via cancellation should post-purchase reservations kick in around your Amazon buys.
Catching a Better Deal Elsewhere
Despite competitive pricing, Amazon doesn‘t necessarily have the guaranteed lowest price 100% of the time on every product. If you score a sweeter discount from another retailer soon after a recent Amazon purchase, cancelling to re-buy under the better promo is justified.
Duplicate Gift Buys
When shopping for a gift across extended friends and family circles, you may inadvertently double up if not coordinating closely on who got what. Catching duplicate purchases for the same recipient deserves a cancellation to streamline gifting budgets.
Subscription Service Second Thoughts
Signing up for a digital subscription service then questioning whether you‘ll use it enough monthly to justify the auto-renewing charge? Cancel that recurring order ASAP so you don‘t get dinged down the road!
General Order Errors
With millions of purchases happening daily, the occasional order glitch can strike even Amazon‘s robust systems. Wrong shipping, split up bundled items without notice, other petty yet fixable snafus. Cancelling to re-do the order often makes sense to resolve system order flubs.
As you can see, sound logic abounds around cancelling the occasional Amazon order post-purchase. Don‘t feel guilty! Now let‘s examine how to swiftly accomplish cancellation across platforms.
How to Cancel an Amazon Order on Desktop
Cancelling orders placed on the Amazon.com website is a breeze with just a few clicks using any desktop browser:
Step 1: Log Into Your Amazon Account
Visit Amazon.com and sign into your account:
Ensure you are recognizing as logged in successfully prior to attempting to cancel orders.
Step 2: Navigate to Your Orders Page
You can reach Your Amazon Orders page in two ways:
- Hover over the Accounts & Lists link in the top navigation bar then select Your Orders:
OR
- Directly click Accounts & Lists which surfaces a summary window with Your Orders link front and center:
Either approach lands you on this page displaying orders from the trailing 90 days:
This central hub lets you search orders plus view, track, return or cancel placed items.
Before proceeding, locate the order you wish to cancel within this list. Recent orders appear first chronologically.
Step 3: Click Cancel Items Next to the Order
With your target order identified, click the Cancel items button exposed inline:
Selecting this expands the order details horizontally:
Review the items, delivery address, payment breakdown and current status prior to finalizing cancellation.
Step 4: Check Each Item to Cancel
Place a checkmark next to each item within the order you wish to cancel:
You may cancel the entire order by checking every item or selectively cancel specific items only by toggling fewer lines.
For example to remove just 1 item from a 3 item order, check only that single product checkbox leaving the other two items intact for fulfillment without cancellation.
Once satisfied with your cancellation selections, proceed to finalize.
Step 5: Click Cancel Checked Items
With items earmarked for cancellation checked, click the Cancel checked items button at screen bottom to apply your changes:
A final confirmation appears – click Cancel Items to complete the cancellation:
And done! Order cancellation now processes on Amazon‘s side to remove cancelled items from fulfillment.
For eligible purchases, refunds should hit your original payment method automatically within 3 to 5 business days.
Now that we‘ve covered cancelling via desktop browser let‘s examine the mobile app method.
How to Cancel an Amazon Order on Mobile
You can likewise easily cancel Amazon orders using the Amazon mobile shopping app for iPhone, Android and other devices:
Step 1: Launch the Amazon App & Sign In
Open the Amazon app then sign in with your account credentials if not already logged in:
Confirm you are recognized as logged into your account properly upfront.
Step 2: Navigate to Account Your Orders
Tap the profile icon from the bottom toolbar then select Your Orders under your email address:
You‘ll then see your order history just like the desktop view:
Identify the target order to cancel from this screen.
Step 3: Select Order & Tap Cancel Order
Tap to open your chosen order. Then scroll down and tap Cancel order between the Track Package and Buy Again options:
Review details before proceeding.
Step 4: Select Items within Order to Cancel
Place checkmarks next to any items in the order you wish to cancel:
Same ability on mobile to cancel entire order or specific line items only.
Step 5: Confirm Cancellation
Tap Cancel Order to finalize and remove selected items from fulfillment:
And that‘s it! Just a handful of taps within the Amazon mobile app can swiftly handle cancellations just like desktop.
Now that you‘ve seen both methods, next let‘s cover some common cancellation questions that arise.
Frequently Asked Questions on Canceling Amazon Orders
Here‘s expert perspective on addressing top concerns around the order cancellation process for Amazon:
How Long Do I Have to Cancel an Amazon Order?
Amazon enables self-service cancellations for roughly 30 minutes after placing an order.
Beyond that window, fulfilment systems may automatically progress orders to shipping pipelines whereby cancellation requires additional exceptions or return processing.
But for around half an hour you maintain autonomy to instantly cancel items yourself if second-guessing purchases or spotting issues. Monitoring the order page will display current cut-off times counting down should you reconsider.
Can I Cancel Just Part of an Order?
You‘re not locked into all-or-nothing order cancellations! Yes absolutely you may cancel a portion of an order while retaining other items for fulfillment.
The individual line item checkbox shown earlier allows custom tailoring cancellations down to omitting just 1 product from a multi-item order. No need to scrap everything because of one errant purchase.
Will I Be Charged a Cancellation Fee?
Amazon does not impose cancellation fees or otherwise penalize shoppers for self-initiated order changes pre-shipping. As long as items remain in pre-fulfillment phase, cancelling induces no financial downsides.
You recoup 100% of any amounts already charged on cancelled goods – money refunded to original payment method typically within 3 to 5 weekdays.
Why Won‘t Amazon Let Me Cancel an Order?
The majority of cancellation difficulty ties back to orders aging beyond that 30 minute self-service cutoff window. Once advanced to shipping or later cycles, orders require more complex interventions to halt or reverse.
If order tools display an error when attempting to cancel, the order has likely progressed past the point of automated user cancellation into fulfillment pipelines. Still raise this for customer support to formally review eligibility based on the specific situation.
While rare, order processing fluke or technical issues could also block cancellation functions unexpectedly so always worth a second look by an agent.
What if a Cancelled Item Still Ships?
Despite best efforts, cancelled items may sporadically ship if orders flag time-of-cancellation issues or warehouse timing variances. Don‘t panic! Simply keep the delivered item unopened then navigate to Your Orders page and request an immediate return once it shows as delivered.
Returns prove just as effortless for refunding mistaken ships with money credited back typically faster than new orders. Let the standard returns process correct any cancellation misses automatically upon receiving unwarranted items.
How Do I Get a Refund After Cancelling an Amazon Digital Order?
For wholly digital purchases like movies, ebooks and music where no physical product ships, seek an immediate refund instead of standard cancellation once processed.
Navigate Your Orders to the digital product order and select Return for Refund from the available options list. Provided the request occurs within 7 calendar days of placing the digital order, Amazon issues prompt refunds on eligible digital returns just like physical cancellations.
Allow 3 to 5 weekdays for funds to credit back to your original payment method.
Can I Cancel Just Part of a Book Order?
Print books represent an exception! Even when consolidated into a larger order through Amazon directly, you may cancel specific individual book items pre-shipment based on their unique ISBN identifiers in Amazon‘s systems.
So if unsure on one title from an order with 4 different books, remove just that singular book volume leaving the rest still on track for delivery.
Handy for tweaking literature list second thoughts or minimizing sunk costs should that latest bestseller not resonate after a few initial chapters.
What Steps Should I Take to Cancel an Order?
- Login to your Amazon account through website or mobile app
- Navigate to Your Orders page and select the order with items to cancel
- Identify items within order you wish to cancel
- Checkbox each item you want removed and taken off delivery
- Confirm cancellation for checked items
Pretty painless overall! Just retrace those steps above.
Recap of Key Takeaways
Let‘s do a quick recap of Need-to-Know details when cancelling Amazon purchases:
- You typically have 30 minutes post order to easily self-initiate cancellation
- Both desktop and mobile offer swift paths to cancelling
- Eligible orders refund in 3 to 5 days after successful cancellation
- No penalties, fees or catches – you recoup 100% of any cancellation amounts
- Selective itemised cancellations feasible from larger combined orders
Hopefully this gives clarity into swiftly cancelling Amazon orders before fulfillment processes take over! Mistakes happen to all of us so don‘t hesitate leveraging cancellation capabilities should you have second thoughts or spot issues on placed purchases.
Now go enjoy Amazon shopping equipped to handle any self-corrected changes of heart that emerge! Just retrace these simple steps.
