Hello beautiful peoples!
This post continues a deeply unpleasant and frustrating experience with an Amazon seller operating under the name BigWhiteRabbit.
If you read my blog you would know that in the past Steve from “BigWhiteRabbit” (seller present on both Amazon.ie and Amazon.co.uk), declined to take responsibility for a refund related to a frying pan purchase that had significantly dropped in price shortly after delivery. Despite being contacted with a detailed explanation and supporting evidence, his response was formal, dismissive, and centred around company policy rather than customer resolution. The seller emphasized that they operated independently from Amazon and would not offer any compensation, even though Amazon itself had previously refunded similar cases directly. His lack of empathy and unwillingness to engage meaningfully left the issue unresolved at the seller level. As a result, Amazon stepped in and issued the refund themselves, bypassing the seller entirely. It was a clear instance where Amazon had to intervene to ensure that I as a customer was treated fairly.
On Monday, 30 June, after supper, my wife told me that our Tefal non-stick frying pan – purchased in October 2024 from Amazon.co.uk – was starting to give her trouble for the last couple days.
The non-stick coating seemed to be deteriorating and was no longer performing as expected. She’s incredibly protective of her kitchen gear, especially non-stick cookware, given how much we invested in it. She never overheats the pan and always waits for the pan to cool before gently cleaning it with a soft microfiber cloth. And yet, scrambled eggs were stubbornly sticking to the centre of the pan. She asked me to take a look, and upon inspection, I noticed what appeared to be micro scratches forming on the surface. The pan’s central red heat indicator had also lost its vibrancy – it looked faded and uneven. Overall, the coating appeared dull and showed clear signs of surface fatigue.
There’s nothing wrong with using a non-stick frying pan with heat – after all, that’s precisely what it’s designed for. Of course, extremely high temperatures should be avoided, and Tefal specifies that their pans are safe up to 260 degrees Celsius but many webpages state that prolonged exposure to anything above 200 degrees Celsius may damage the pan. Obviously only barbarian would cook eggs or lets say a chicken breast in such high temperatures, so the surface damage was unexpected and understandably, I was not pleased to discover that this was the second pan needing a replacement this year. Since the previous return had been only a minor inconvenience due to Amazon’s excellent customer service, I contacted Amazon that same evening and requested a return label. Just before that, I made the mistake of purchasing another frying pan from the same seller – a decision I’m far less likely to repeat in the future.
After I got through to the Amazon representative, I was surprised to learn that – unlike last time – they needed to contact BigWhiteRabbit on my behalf to request a free-shipping return label. This wasn’t the case during my previous return of a pan from the same seller as shown on screenshot from the chat below.
I’m not sure what changed, but needless to say, I was feeling noticeably less confident and more frustrated about my decision to purchase another frying pan from this company.
Today, Thursday 3 July, I was starting to feel impatient. I had requested the return label early because I plan to visit the post office on Saturday, 5 July while I’m in town – hoping to kill two birds with one stone. But two days had passed, and no label had arrived. So I joined the Amazon Support chat once again to follow up.
Soon after, I received an email confirming that the return label had been requested from the seller.
Later today, I received an email notifying me that BigWhiteRabbit had sent me a message through Amazon and that I needed to log into my account to read it.
Instead of providing the free-shipping return label, the seller was once again acting the bollocks. I was genuinely tempted to respond with a bit of cheek – “Oh nothing, Tommy. It’s tip-top, just I am not sure about the colour…” – but I held back and since it was a genuine question I made every effort to reply in a polite and professional manner. I informed the Amazon representative of the reason for the return, but it’s possible that this explanation wasn’t passed along clearly in their message to the seller.
As soon as I saw that this seller was involved again, I had a sinking feeling. The email that followed didn’t help – it stated, “seller may choose not to accept the return,” which only intensified my doubts.
At this point, I can already see two possible scenarios, and neither looks promising: either the seller drags things out and sends the return label after Saturday morning, which means I’ll miss my planned trip to the post office, or worse, they refuse to accept the return altogether. I genuinely hope I’m wrong, but let’s just say I’m not holding my breath.
I’ll update this post as soon as I know more. Fingers crossed that common sense wins out.
If this seller refuses to process the return properly, I’ll report the issue to Amazon and leave a negative review for the product. I will also contact Tefal and let them know that I will not be purchasing anymore of their products because of this guy. That’s two frying pans replaced in under two years – and considering it’s not exactly a budget item (roughly €70, depending on the day and the seller’s mood), if here refuses to refund the 2nd one I will have to absorb the cost. And honestly, it stings.
In conclusion, I strongly recommend avoiding third-party sellers on Amazon – especially BigWhiteRabbit – and sticking to products sold and dispatched directly by Amazon. In my experience, Amazon’s own return process is relatively smooth and hassle-free – at least, it used to be.
Catch you on the flip side,
AndrzejL
