HORRIBLE TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE
Horrible customer service experience with Insta360. Sharing so no one else has to go through this — unless they fix it first.
Background: I ordered the Insta360 Luna Ultra on June 10th through Buy with Amazon (sold by Insta360, shipped/fulfilled by Amazon Prime), timed to arrive before my honeymoon. Been waiting to use this camera for my honeymoon trip to Dolomites ever since the news spread about the release of Luna Ultra.
The Issue: It didn’t arrive in time — Amazon Prime told me it would be 4 days late, past my departure date. Since it hadn’t even shipped yet, I asked them to cancel. The agent confirmed in writing: “You will see the order being cancelled in next 24 hours and the refund on the cancelled order will reflect in next 7 business days to your original payment method.” And no camera for the honeymoon.
The Bigger Failure: Three weeks later, on July 4th, I got an email from Insta360 saying the order had shipped. And when I checked my bank account, it was never refunded. I’ll be out of town again for a bit over a month, so I cannot return it in time when it gets delivered. My concern was that I won’t be able to get it refunded.
I went back to talk with Amazon, who said there was nothing they could do at this point and told me to contact USPS directly, because they are handling the delivery. USPS’s contact line Amazon provided didn’t work on the holiday weekend, and their “email us” link went nowhere. I circled back to Amazon Prime, who redirected me to Insta360.
Insta360’s opening response was to ask if I was sure I wanted to return their “newest and most powerful product,” lolol then explain that since it was fulfilled through Amazon Prime, I’d need to go back to them — the same loop. The order also included a free gift (a Black Mist Filter) shipped separately from Insta360’s own warehouse. They said returning it required a $12 shipping fee on my end, for a gift I never asked to be shipped, tied to an order I’d cancelled three weeks before it left the warehouse.
I pushed for a full refund of $838.33. I’d already sent proof — a screenshot of the Amazon agent’s cancellation confirmation from June 13th — but was then asked for more screenshots showing that Amazon told me to contact Insta360, which doesn’t exist because I had no reason to think I’d need to preserve a chat log as evidence.
When I asked directly if a full refund was guaranteed, the answer was no; it depended on whether they’d waive the $12 fee??? When I explained I’d be out of town starting July 6th early morning, the response was that they’d try to expedite. But expedite what?
At one point, when I said that I cannot physically receive or return the package, an Insta360 agent asked whether a friend or family member could do it on my behalf… lol
Current Status: This morning, 24 hours before I leave, I was told the package would arrive today instead of tomorrow — which changes nothing, since USPS is closed Sundays and I’ll be gone before they reopen Monday.
But regardless, I wait for the package, hoping that I’ll be able to return the item somehow and get the refund. So I wait, and receive an email from my building’s front desk that I have an Amazon delivery package. And I know it’s THE PACKAGE, because it’s the only package that I have it planned. However, when I go pick it up, the package is not there. When I checked my email, it said the package is held for pickup at carrier location.
When I asked the Amazon agent what happened, his explanation was that USPS may have flagged me as unavailable and routed it back — despite my front desk having already received and logged it in their system.
Insta360’s position is that they never asked the delivery company to wait for me to pick up the package myself, and they can’t do that either. They also mentioned possible “compensation” with no amount or details attached. According to them, they escalated the issue to their superiors, but will have to wait 1-2 days to see what happens.
Neither Amazon nor Insta360 contacted USPS according to them. Then how did USPS know to un-deliver the package? And why did Amazon tell me to contact them in the first place?
TL;DR: I ordered Luna Ultra, does not get delivered in time. I request to cancel the order. I get written promise of a full refund.
Three weeks later, the item gets shipped. I check my bank account, I never got it refunded. But I’ll be out of town for the a bit over a month, so will be missing the 30 day return window after it arrives.
Insta360:
🚩 “Talk to Amazon Prime, not our problem”
🚩 Tried to charge me $12 for shipping to return a product that I canceled three weeks ago
🚩 When I said I’ll be gone for the whole month and no one else could receive it, an Insta360 agent asked if a friend or family member could pick it up on my behalf. Asking me to spend other people’s time and energy fixing their shipping mistake
Amazon Prime:
🚩”Talk to Insta360, we can’t do anything.”
🚩 “Contact USPS yourself to stop the delivery.”
USPS:
🚩Delivers it → un-delivers it → now tells me to go pick it up myself at their facility
⚠️** Warning for All**: If you buy from the Insta360 store and it’s fulfilled through Amazon Prime, be aware that a problem can turn into an indefinite loop between the two, with no one taking ownership.
This isn't customer service at all. It's two companies dumping their shipping/inventory failures directly onto the customer and betting they'll eventually give up from sheer exhaustion. Now I’m the one who has wasted all the time, energy—especially on this holiday weekend right before my trip, and maybe even $838.33 if they don’t refund it back to me.
I was genuinely excited about Insta360’s new camera, but EXTREMELY disappointed with this whole “customer service.” Just get a DJI everyone lol