I’ve tried to write this posting several times. Two things are at play here. First, the reMarkable tablet is something I’ve been aware of for several years and have wanted to try. Second is the frustration at a drawn out and semi opaque return/refund process.
In my previous posting I talked about why the reMarkable Paper Pro wasn’t right for me. The device itself is superb, the niche it fills isn’t one I need filled. For nearly $800 it needs to fit better into my lifestyle. Having desired it for so long, only to find out that it really isn’t what I need, was a letdown.
Returning it for a refund started out easily enough. reMarkable sent me a label, and I was able to put the tablet, marker, and folio case back into their original boxes, and fit those boxes back into the outer shipping box it was delivered in. The nearest DHL location was about 25 minutes drive away. It only took four days for the package to return to Hong Kong.
The returns section of the reMarkable website claims a 10-15 business day turn around for the refund. They say that credit card refunds may take longer, all other forms of payment are immediate refunds. It took 21 calendar days (16 business days) for the package to be reviewed by reMarkable, so the 10-15 business day refund clock only started yesterday.
There is a status page, but, until yesterday, it showed the package as scanned, but not delivered. Yesterday I finally got an email indicating that a refund had been issued, and that “It can take approximately 10 days to appear on your statement”. Amazon has not only spoiled us with overnight or two-day delivery, but it speedy refunds for returns. All the returns to Amazon have been credited to my card the same day I drop off the package. Waiting three weeks for the refund to even be issued, seems like an overly long time.
While I was disappointed that the reMarkable didn’t suit my purposes, I wasn’t unhappy. The frustrations caused by the lengthy return process have somewhat soured me on reMarkable. Whether they are doing the shipping and returns themselves, or (as I suspect) they have a third-party fulfillment center doing the shipping and initial return acceptance, if they want to work in the global market, they will need to up their game.