This happens with your returned packages (article is in German, half of it is translated below):

Amazon shreds its returns 08.06.2018June 8, 2018

The “Destroy” shipping method is bringing Amazon into disrepute - is the online retailer really destroying tons of functioning products? The German government is already talking about a “huge scandal” Germany, Pforzheim: Symbolic image of Amazon logistics center The “Destroy shipping method” can also be booked with the logistics service provider

Tons of returns and products in mint condition, including fridges, cell phones, mattresses and furniture, are said to have been destroyed by online retailer Amazon. This was reported by the ZDF magazine Frontal 21 and Wirtschaftswoche. Both media outlets refer to internal product lists, photos and statements from employees. According to these, goods of all kinds are disposed of “on a large scale” in the mail order company’s German logistics warehouses.

Amazon not only destroys unusable products, but also functional and sometimes new items, according to statements from employees. One employee reported that she destroyed goods worth tens of thousands of euros every day.

Clip from 2022, German. Signature quote: “It is not only an occasional [Euro]Palette of Items, it is whole truckloads - in all fulfilment centers, almost day by day.”

I like that the headline sounds like it could be the title of a really shitty movie 😁

The return system uses weight. There is a scam ppl have done where you order something then switch it with the same weight in rocks or sand. Then send as a return to get your money back. So I assume a empty box wouldn’t have the needed weight and would be flagged.

I dont know if this is what you mean, but I once recieved an empty package and it was a struggle to get a replacement. It doesnt fit any categories they recognize. It’s not ‘did not recieve’ ( there was even a delivery pic), there’s nothing to return. I had to chat (IM) with someone multiple times.

Man the title threw me into another one of those enshitifications that you just found out.

They opt not to refund after the return window closes. You will get a generic email that the item was not received in the time alloted.

The package gets weighed before sending and after receiving. There were a lot of articles years ago speaking of people who put stones in the package and sent it back, received the money and someone else got a package with rocks

Try it, then let us know the outcome.

I once Returned three lazy Susans when I was supposed to return four. They caught me and made me return the fourth one.