Amazon returns procedure: has anyone had to send a book back?

I ordered a book from Amazon UK - new from Amazon itself, not from Marketplace - which arrived with some big dirty marks on and a kind of water-damaged wiggle to half the pages; nothing so bad I wouldn't keep it for myself, though I'd be a little pissed off, but it's for a Christmas gift and I don't want to give it to anyone in this state.

Anyone else dealt with their returns procedure? Will they actually look at the book long enough to determine that I'm not just being fussy? The worst marks aren't immediately noticeable because they're on the dark grey back cover.

(Also there's a dropdown list for you to select the reason for return, none of which really apply - wasn't "damaged in transit" as nothing else in the package was; "defective/does not work properly" seems more for non-working electrical goods, and, you know, it's a book, you can still read it; the FAQ suggests that any other option doesn't get the postage refunded - and I don't want somebody deciding that since I ticked the wrong option I can't get any money.)

Dullest thread today! New answers much appreciated.

de⋅fec⋅tive   /dɪˈfɛktɪv/

1. having a defect or flaw; faulty; imperfect: a defective machine.

you should be ok with 'defective'. whether you'll just get another one from the same defective batch is another matter...

amazon have been very good in the past about sending replacements for things lost in the post (twice now, about £20's worth each time)

i'm sending something back because crucial information was omitted from the description and the 3rd-party seller says they won't refund the postage because "i don't write the descriptions, amazon does"

amazon's returns page says postage will be returned in "if Amazon made an error"

so that seems pretty clear. Amazon wrote the description so it's Amazon's error, so i'll get the postage back. BUT the seller says they have no idea how i'm supposed to recover the postage, and in any case they won't do it

so i call Amazon and they say: the seller is misleading you, they have control over the description not us, this has been escalated to our Seller Activities Team (or something), they will be in contact with the seller and with you over the next 48 hours, wait to hear from us, we will do everything we can to get your postage back to you

now, i've heard some bad things about Amazon customer service before but this seems like an extraordinarily on-the-ball response. or are they placating me and this is not going to go anywhere?

(i feel a little bad about getting this seller in trouble but if it's true that they have control over the description then i don't feel bad at all)

Amazon customer service is A++ in my experience.

well the customer service is good if you chase it up but the vital returns info is quite hard to find on the site itself. or maybe i'm just dumb.

but yes, i have sold on the marketplace and it's quite clear that you have a space to list the condition of the item (over and above the "like new"/"very good" etc checkboxes you have to tick) i have sold below par or well used/marked items ALWAYS noting the defects in the comment box. it's simple.

totally sounds like the seller is trying to snowjob you.