Amazon in £3bn punt on artificial intelligence start-up

By Calum Muirhead

Updated: 03:34 EDT, 26 September 2023

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• Tiffany Moore-McIntos, 34, took to TikTok to explain how she’s been cashing in 
• The mom, from Ohio, said they had been reselling discounted products online
• Other social media users have been left mesmerized by the nifty trick 

By Raven Saunt For Dailymail.Com

Published: 16:57 EDT, 19 September 2023 | Updated: 11:11 EDT, 20 September 2023

Whatever John Boumphrey thought he was taking on when he became Amazon’s UK boss, he almost certainly underestimated it. 

When he was appointed in November 2020, Britain was engulfed in the second major wave of Covid-19 infections and Amazon was seeing a surge in demand as customers who were stuck at home turned to online shopping. 

He was then forced to confront more mayhem last year when the Russian invasion of Ukraine threw global supply chains into chaos, leading to soaring inflation and sparking the cost-of-living crisis. 

But the extent of the company’s growth since the pandemic has shocked even veteran staff – and Boumphrey has seen his British workforce more than double to 75,000 since he started. 

‘It wasn’t easy and there was a lot of learning on the job,’ he admits. ‘I’m looking forward to having a normal year, because I haven’t had one yet.’ 

Boumphrey’s calm and jovial manner contrasts with the frantic hive of activity at our meeting place – the main floor of one of Amazon’s massive warehouses, or as the company calls them, ‘fulfilment depots, near Dartford on the south bank of the Thames.

Behind us, machines and employees are busy picking, packing and shipping thousands of items to waiting customers across Britain in a symphony of whirring conveyor belts, beeping barcode readers and aptly named ‘Slam’ (scan, label, apply and manifest) robots stamping addresses on packages. The warehouse itself, the size of six-and-a-half football pitches, is only slightly younger than Boumphrey’s tenure as UK manager, having opened its doors in 2021. 

And the rapid expansion that he has presided over shows no signs of slowing down. Amazon plans to open two more warehouses before the end of the year, one of which will be based in the West Midlands town of Sutton Coldfield and will create up to 1,400 jobs. 

The company will also keep moving into the bricks-and-mortar world of physical shops with its Amazon Fresh brand.

Boumphrey dismisses recent reports of shop closures in some areas, saying it is part and parcel of running the division.

‘One of my roles as country manager is to champion the UK and make sure we are at the forefront of receiving investment,’ Boumphrey says. 

Amazon launched in Britain in 1998. At that time, it was still primarily an online bookseller headed by founder Jeff Bezos, who appeared to be intent on upending the traditional publishing industry. 

Since then, it has grown into one of the country’s largest private-sector employers and a one-stop-shop for virtually everything that can be bought legally. 

This was emphasised by data released last week showing the top 25 most popular products of all time on Amazon.co.uk. The list, which is topped by Andrex Gentle Clean toilet rolls, also includes the much-derided Crocs shoes, Earth Rated dog poo bags and Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo, alongside more predictable wares such as Harry Potter books, the card game Dobble and the Echo Dot smart speaker.

Boumphrey has witnessed the stark shift in shopping patterns over the past year as the cost-ofliving crisis has piled pressure on household budgets. 

‘We’ve seen people buying more unbranded goods and also changing the sizes of their purchases. They are either buying in bulk to save money or buying items in smaller sizes than they were before.’ 

But one customer the company can seemingly count on is the boss himself, saying he and his family ‘buy everything on Amazon’, including multiple Kindle ebooks to satiate their reading habits. 

Brought up on the Wirral near Liverpool, Boumphrey, 48, has a family legacy in retail. His father worked as a regional manager for US food giant General Foods, now a part of Kraft Heinz. His mother, meanwhile, initially stayed at home before retraining as an adult literacy teacher when he was a teenager. 

In his professional life, Boumphrey spent more than seven years as a manager at US consultancy Bain & Company before nearly five years at DIY retailer Homebase. He joined Amazon in 2011. Since then the retail and tech giant’s presence in Britain has exploded, with its workforce surging from around 2,500 staff. 

His ascent to the top of the British arm of the business almost mirrors the dramatic expansion of Amazon UK over the past decade, as well as how the retail landscape has altered drastically. 

He joined as a director of the music and DVD business, both of which have since been subsumed by streaming services such as Spotify, Netflix and Amazon’s own Prime arm. The father of three then steadily moved up the ranks, heading Amazon’s European fashion arm for just over two years before taking over as UK boss in 2020.

The new perspective that his current role has given him on the business environment has raised one area of concern. Surprisingly, it is not about the tax regime – an area where Amazon is frequently criticised for not paying its fair share despite the company’s claims to be one of the top 15 contributors to Revenue and Customs. 

‘I’ve got so much on my plate that I haven’t had time to really think about the UK tax regime,’ Boumphrey says, although he stresses that it is ‘really important that big businesses contribute’ to the nation’s coffers. 

Instead, he voices worries about the state of the UK’s competition regulations, saying there is an ‘opportunity’ for Britain to stand out post-Brexit from its continental counterparts. 

He says firms should have the ability to appeal the substance of decisions made by the watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), rather than the proposed regime, which allows businesses to challenge only the process by which a conclusion is reached. 

‘The CMA has significant power over companies and they can’t challenge the substance of a decision… I think a merits-based appeal approach is what we would be looking for. 

‘The UK does have an opportunity to differentiate itself from the EU. And I think what’s really important is that there are appropriate checks and balances in place.’

He adds: ‘This is an untested regime and I think for companies and the Government, it makes sense that the appeals process is fit for purpose.’ Boumphrey remains tight-lipped about Amazon’s plans in the UK beyond the imminent opening of the two new fulfilment centres, although that could be because some of it may hinge on the choices of his US bosses. 

‘I don’t have a crystal ball, unfortunately,’ he says, but reiterates that Amazon is likely to keep focusing on the very corporate-sounding area of ‘innovation’. Key to this is the rapidly developing area of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly through computer programs such as ChatGPT. 

‘Over the past six to 12 months we’ve seen generative AI really come on in leaps and bounds. And I think every part of the shopping experience is going to be reimagined by that,’ he says. 

Amazon is already working to implement AI, with the technology currently being used in the US to help summarise thousands of customer product reviews. Does he ever find himself coveting the top job at Amazon and becoming the next Jeff Bezos?

Boumphrey laughs, saying he is ‘absolutely delighted’ to be in his current role.

‘It’s a huge privilege to be managing Amazon UK. It’s a big business we’re running and I feel a responsibility to the 75,000 employees we have in Britain.’ 

He also seems uninterested in decamping to the US, where he previously worked for almost three years as Amazon’s head of consumables programmes at its Seattle headquarters. 

‘I’ve had the opportunity to work over there and absolutely loved it. But for personal reasons, I’m really happy to be back in the UK.’

‘Where the skies are so blue,’ the late Ronnie Van Zant sang in the country music classic Sweet Home Alabama, in a southern drawl full of conviction. Looking out from my seafront balcony, he certainly seems to have got that right.

As the beaming sun settles high in the sky above sugar-white sands and crystalline waters, it quickly becomes clear that the catchy tune is spot on about this much-maligned state – so often talked down because of its rural backwaters populated by tough, poor and sometimes rough-around-the-edges communities. Google ‘Alabama’ and ‘redneck’ and you’ll get a lot of hits.

But despite Zant bringing the sunny skies of Alabama to the world’s attention 50 years ago, most first-time visitors to this corner of the States, known as Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, are likely to come away pleasantly surprised.

I, for one, didn’t even know that the 22nd state had a coastline.

And it’s a lovely one. As I arrive, Alabama’s pristine shores are sparkling, pelicans glide overhead in neat V formations and the empty golden beaches stretch into the distance. It feels remote and tranquil – yet to the east lie Florida’s crowded sands, while 600 miles south across the Gulf of Mexico, Cancun throbs with all-night parties.

Here, it could not be more different. The narrow coast juts out beneath Mobile Bay, a shallow inlet from the sea, and stretches from the Civil War bulwark Fort Morgan in the west to the serene Orange Beach in the east, with so many quiet bays you’ll often find you have the beach all to yourself.

My billet is The Lodge At Gulf State Park, a Hilton hotel. Despite its 350 rooms, the neutral colour palette, laid-back atmosphere and host of wooden screens and panelling make it seem more like an opulent beach shack.

Directly behind lies Gulf State Park, a world of meandering trails, quiet lakes and a key part of one of the most biodiverse regions in the United States: 450 of America’s 1,000 bird species either live or pass through Alabama.

This I learn from my guide, Kelly, during a morning park stroll. She excitedly points out flame-red cardinals and high-hanging turkey vultures. The distant staccato yelps, she says, are those of a cooper’s hawk.

A small crowd gathers around us when Kelly picks up a passing ribbon snake with bulbous eyes. ‘Venomous snakes have thin black eyes, while non-venomous snakes have more rounded pupils,’ she explains. ‘So don’t worry!’

If avoiding serpents appeals then both traditional and e-bikes are available to hire at the park, while the nearby Waterville USA waterpark is ideal for families when the mid-afternoon heat picks up.

Back on the shore at Gulf State Park Pier, the hazy coastal views are magnificent and fishing is a fine way to pass languid mornings. Rods are available to hire for £16 for four hours.

My awkward attempts at casting are almost as risible as the fish’s luck in gobbling on to the shrimp at the end of the hook. I return empty-handed.

For a more successful taste of the deep, some of the Gulf’s finest seafood is found further east, at Orange Beach.

Coastal restaurant is the place to go: its dreamy patio is bathed in the milky orange glow of a Gulf sunset just about every evening and its creamy grouper fish sandwich is deliriously succulent. Don’t miss the magnificently delicate Murder Point oysters, too.

This being America, though, I also spot a trend for grilled oysters doused in melted cheese and fiery hot sauce, something I feel is akin to pouring Irn-Bru into a glass of single malt whisky.

Ready for a change of scene, I drive an hour north towards Five Rivers Delta for a Wild Native kayak tour. Here, the landscape evolves into an evocative scenery of lazy river bayous, often referred to as ‘America’s Amazon’.

As I paddle slowly downstream in my kayak, I notice the dead eyes and dark green snout of an alligator poking through the water near some reeds. It lies there, motionless, like a scaly submerged statue.

‘There’s been only one recorded alligator attack in 48 years in Alabama,’ my chirpy guide, Chris, announces. ‘In Florida they’ve had over 300.’

This fact keeps everyone at ease, alongside his relentless stream of chatter, wildlife facts and jokes.

Speaking of Florida, back at Orange Beach there’s a bar straddling the Florida/Alabama state line, imaginatively titled Flora-Bama. Heading for a drink there, I come to a ramshackle maze of wooden corridors with five stages and live music every night.

On the two-storey main stage, the Justin Johnson Trio belts out Tom Petty covers as a huge stars-and-stripes flag unfurls from the ceiling.

The swinging jazz rhythms of New Orleans are just a three-hour drive away and make for an alluring diversion, but I’m content here with empty beaches, seductive southern rock, otherworldly nature and an endless sun.

Alabama’s a sweet home, indeed.

Class-action style legal proceedings have been brought against Amazon and Apple, alleging the tech giants unlawfully colluded to increase the price of the iPhone maker’s products.

The claim, filed at the competition court in London, seeks redress of at least £500million for the ‘millions of UK consumers who bought Apple and Beats products since October 2018’.

Any consumer in the UK who purchased new Apple or Beats products since October 2018 is an eligible member of the claimant class, unless they opt out.

According to lawyers leading the litigation against the two US tech giants, Amazon restricted sales of popular Apple products by independent merchants on its online marketplace. 

In return, it is alleged, Apple offered Jeff Bezos’s firm preferential wholesale prices on all Apple and Beats products, which it could sell directly to customers via its own retail business.  

The deal, allegedly struck in October 2018, is said to have covered iPhones, iPads, Beats headphones and MacBooks.

The legal action has been filed on behalf of UK consumers by Professor Christine Riefa, a consumer law expert who teaches at the University of Reading. Professor Riefa is being represented by Hausfeld & Co LLP. 

A spokesperson for Amazon told This is Money: ‘This claim is without merit, and we’re confident that this will become clear throughout the process. 

‘As a result of our agreement with Apple, customers can find the latest Apple and Beats products on our store, and they benefit from an expanded range with better deals and faster shipping.’

Apple declined to comment but has previously noted that certain agreements reached in 2018 were aimed at fighting counterfeit and safety concerns on Amazon marketplace. 

Professor Riefa, the proposed class representative in the action, said: ‘Millions of consumers in the UK enjoy the services and products of Apple and Amazon. 

‘They do not suspect that those companies collude to make them pay more for their electronics and reduce their choice. I believe that big businesses like Apple and Amazon should behave fairly and compete on merits, not by using underhand tactics.

‘Each company has an effective stranglehold over its market, and they are misusing that advantage to shut out competition from independent merchants – unlawfully lining their wallets at the expense of consumers. It’s a betrayal of their customers’ loyalty.’

She added: ‘At a time when families are under huge financial pressure from high inflation, mortgage and energy costs, it is more important than ever for consumers to be treated fairly. 

‘I decided to bring the claim because consumers individually would never have been able to and the two Tech giants would have continued to line their pockets with their unlawful behaviours going unchecked.’

Wessen Jazrawi, a partner at Hausfeld & Co LLP, which is leading the litigation, said: ‘Apple and Amazon have worked together to exclude competitors on the Amazon platform and to reduce the availability of discounted products, at their customers’ expense. 

‘We look forward to working with Christine Riefa to return money to those who have lost out and to making these companies accountable for their unlawful conduct.’

In a statement, Hausfeld & Co, added: ‘Because of the market power enjoyed by the two Tech giants, and the drastic reduction of discounted offerings on Amazon’s platform, more than 7million British customers have paid (and continue to pay) higher prices for Apple and Beats products when purchasing them from Amazon. 

‘The claim estimates that the compensation owed to these customers is almost £500million. 

‘The claim also alleges that a further 29million British customers have paid higher prices for Apple and Beats products when purchasing them from other retailers (e.g., Apple, Curry’s, etc.) either online or in-store, with total compensation for such customers to be quantified in due course.’

Earlier this week, a separate legal filing in London accused Apple’s App Store of being an unfair ‘monopoly.’ 

Amazon is considering forcing more ads on Prime Video users, despite customers already paying monthly fees for the steaming service.

The trillion-dollar company has reportedly been exploring options for new ‘ad tiers’ over the last couple of weeks, meaning members may have to sit through monotonous ads while watching TV shows or movies. 

This could look like making all Prime subscribers sit through ads and offering the option to ‘pay more’ for a commercial-free alternative. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the platform has been looking to imitate its competitors, such as Netflix and Disney+, who have introduced cheaper memberships with ads. 

Amazon already has an ad-supported TV service available on Prime Video called Freevee, which is integrated on the Prime home screen, but the commercial content would extend to other areas of the platform. 

On top of that Prime – which features more than 20,000 movies and 2,000 television shows – also hosts content from other networks, some of which include commercials.

Sports fans will already be familiar with the in-talks commercial content, as Sports coverage on Prime is the only area of the platform which currently includes ads. 

Amazon has not officially confirmed the rumours, but industry insiders have said that Prime subscribers would have the option to pay extra for ad-free shows and films if plans do go ahead. The MailOnline has contacted Amazon for comment. 

Ross Benes, Insider Intelligence principle analyst, said: ‘In recent years, Prime Video has gotten more aggressive about running promos prior to its show and including ad-filled sports broadcasts.

‘Officially putting ads into Prime Video allows Amazon to centralise its audience and be more consistent with branding.’ 

The rumours have not been received well by Amazon users, and frustrated customers have taken to  social media to complain about the service. 

One Twitter user said: ‘Why am I paying for Amazon prime if when I put a film on they slap 300 metaverse adverts in it?’ 

Another claimed that the introduction of ads ‘would result in me cancelling.’ 

An Amazon Prime membership – which includes free shipping on the retail site – is currently priced at £8.99.

But Amazon Prime is not the only offender. A host of other major streaming services including Netflix and HBO Max now offer plans which include adverts.

Typically these services are cheaper without ads, as a Netflix subscription starts at £4.99 but can climb to £15.99 a commercial-free plan. 

A Disney+ plan also starts cheaper than the Amazon package at £7.99 per month.

It comes as streaming services grapple with financial losses across the board, as shares of Paramount Global fell six per cent in trading. 

Netflix has suffered a volatile few years, which has seen its stock plummet by as much as 47 per cent at times. 

In the last quarter of 2022, the streaming giant saw its subscription base grow by a paltry 4 percent from the same period a year earlier. 

The hinder in membership has been sparked by a crackdown on account sharing this year. 

According to Netflix’s rules, people who do not live in the same household cannot stream from the same account. 

While this was always a rule, the streaming platform is bringing in a new device verification feature which makes viewers prove where they are viewing from. 

The new feature is yet to be implemented in the US after a roll-out in Spain and Canada prompted a drop in subscriptions. 

Yet account sharing is expected to be banned in the next three months- although no official date has been given.  

Amazon could run out of new people to hire by 2024, with the company burning through its entire warehouse workforce annually thanks to grueling shifts, a leaked internal document reveals.  

The document, first reported by Recode, includes the words: ‘If we continue business as usual, Amazon will deplete the available labor supply in the US network by 2024.’ 

The document was published internally in 2021. According to Recode, an Amazon spokesperson did not refute its authenticity.

The areas where employees are expected to be most scarce include the Inland Empire, California, an hour and a half east of Los Angeles. The region is around two hour drive from 20 million potential Amazon customers. 

The document said that Amazon could run out of new workers in the Inland Empire by the end of 2021 or in 2022, although warehouses in Inland Empire continue to operate, and its unclear what, if any, staffing issues they currently face. 

Mesa in Arizona could also run dry of staff very soon, as statistics shows that Amazon – famed for the punishing, tightly-controlled working conditions imposed on warehouse staff – loses more workers than it hires every year. 

Wilmington, Delaware and Memphis, Tennessee are also at risk of running out of staff, the report showed. 

According to Amazon’s own data, the company had an attritional rate of 123 per cent last year. 

That means that over the course of the year, the number of workers who left the firm was equivalent to the entire number working there at the start of the year – with an additional 23 per cent on top.

Many workers at Amazon do stay longer, particularly those in more senior roles. But others come and go within the course of a year, inflating the attrition figure.

Amazon employs around a million people in the US, including head office workers, making it the second biggest private employer, behind the 2.3 million-strong Walmart ‘family.’ 

Its attrition rate is far above the national average for the most common jobs at Amazon, in warehouse work and transportation. 

The national average for warehouse and transportation attrition was 46% in 2019 and 59% in 2020. 

While for retail work, the average in 2019 was 58% and in 2020 it was 70%. 

In 2020, for every 100 Amazon workers, six were injured, according to the Washington Post. 

In September, the company’s CEO Andy Jassy said in an interview on CNBC: ‘For us, employee safety is priority number one for us in our fulfillment centers.’  

Jassy assumed the role of CEO from founder Jeff Bezos in July 2021. 

In the years before Covid-19, Amazon lost workers at a rate of 3% per week coupled with a 150% turnover annually, reports the New York Times. 

Among the many reasons for the potential shortfall of workers is Amazon’s controversial employment practices and worker health and safety

One anecdote relayed in the Recode article mentions an Amazon supervisor from The Bronx in New York. 

Jose Pagan, 35, who supported his wife and children on his Amazon salary,  said that he was fired electronically after missing work to treat an infected tooth. 

Pagan said that he did not have enough notice to use vacation days and didn’t have enough unpaid time off left which is what led to his termination.

He went on to say that even though he had a doctor’s note, the company didn’t care. 

Pagan worked for a full week following his health issues and found out that he was fired when he showed up for work one night and found that his keycard didn’t work. 

He was then told that he no longer worked at the company. 

Pagan went to a HR representative who told him that the company would welcome him back in 90 days and in the mean time he should try and get some work as a driver with Uber or Grubhub. 

At the time of his firing Pagan was on the verge of being promoted. 

Despite multiple reports of casual firings, one former manager at Amazon’s Phoenix plant, told Recode, that now the culture is more geared toward keeping workers due to the high attrition rates. 

Michael Garrigan said: ‘They were so concerned about attrition and losing people that they rolled back all the policies that us as managers had to enforce.’

Garrigan said that managers joked about not bothering to write up workers with citations because HR would ‘exempt it.’

He said: ‘It was almost impossible to get fired as a worker.’  

Jassy, said in an internal memo to employees in April 2022 that there is no ‘silver bullet’ to make Amazon facilities magically safer, reports CBS News. 

Jassy said in part: ‘We don’t seek to be average. We want to be best in class. We still have a ways to go.’   

While in December 2021, six Amazon employees were killed in Edwardsville, Illinois, when a tornado struck the facility. 

Workers who survived the tornado later filed a lawsuit against the construction company who built the facility. In it, the plaintiffs said that there was no proper sheltering available inside, reported KMOV in May 2022. 

Following the tornado, Amazon denied claims from employees at the Edwardsville center that the company banned them from using their cell phones at work, reports Business Insider. 

According of the activist group, More Perfect Union, two workers died at the company’s Bessemer, Alabama, facility within 24 hours of each other.

The group said that one of the deceased men had his request to go home denied by HR. Hours later he suffered a fatal stroke on the job. 

The group alleges that a total of six people died at the Bessemer facility in 2021 and that Amazon has covered up the deaths. 

Amazon denies these allegations. 

In April 2022, Amazon was accused of illegally attempting to influence a defeated vote to unionize in the Bessemer facility, reports CNBC.  

Amazon Web Services (AWS) are back online following a four-hour outage that impacted hundreds of websites that use the company’s cloud hosting service, including Delta Airlines, TikTok and IMDB.

DownDetector monitors online outages and showed hundreds of thousands of issue reports from users worldwide who were unable to access AWS or websites that use that platform.

AWS provides cloud computing services to individuals, universities, governments and companies worldwide, such as servers, storage, networking, remote computing, email, mobile development and security. 

The problems, which hit at 2:49 pm ET, stemmed from a subsystem responsible for capacity management for AWS Lambda at a data center in Virginia.

AWS Lambda lets customers run code for different types of applications. 

The platform’s Health Dashboard states, ‘ as of 6:37 pm, the backlog was fully processed… and all AWS Services are operating normally.’

The incident at Amazon Web Services disrupted everything from airline reservations and auto dealerships to payment apps and video streaming services to Amazon’s own massive e-commerce operation.

That included The Associated Press, whose publishing system was inoperable for much of the day – the outlets said the blackout happened as Donald Trump was in court today.

Along with commerce sites, video games like Fornite, PUBG Battlegrounds and Dead by Daylight were also offline.

AWS’ service health dashboard showed ‘degradation’ among four services: AWS CloudFormation, AWS Lambda, Amazon API Gateway and Amazon Connect.

When AWS goes down, so do other websites that use its services, which is an embarrassing blow to the Amazon-owned platform – these companies, universities, individuals and governments pay to use the services.

AWS did not acknowledge the outage on its social media platforms but provided this message on the health dashboard: ‘We continue to experience increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 Region. 

‘We have identified the root cause as an issue with AWS Lambda and are actively working toward resolution.’

However, AWS Support responded to a frustrated user on Twitter who tweeted that AWS console was down.

‘Sorry for the trouble & any concerns this has caused, Gabriel. I can confirm we’re currently investigating the increased error rates and latencies. Feel free to refer to the AWS Health Dashboard to view further,’ the reply tweet reads.

A similar out hit AWS in 2021 – but this incident lasted for eight hours and disrupted Amazon’s shipping operations just weeks before Christmas.

The December outage shut down communications between the e-commerce giant and the fleet of thousands of drivers it relies on, preventing drivers from getting route assignments or packages.

Issues hit the app Amazon uses to communicate with the network of independent contractors who carry out much of its last-mile shipping, leaving vans that were supposed to be on the road idle, sources told Bloomberg.

Amazon Web Services was formerly run by Andy Jassy, who succeeded founder Jeff Bezos as Amazon CEO in July.

The cloud-service operation is a huge profit center for Amazon. It holds roughly a third of the $152 billion market for cloud services, according to a report by Synergy Research – a larger share than its closest rivals, Microsoft and Google, combined.

Four indigenous children who went missing for six weeks in the Colombian Amazon jungle after a plane crash have reportedly been found alive. 

The brothers, aged one, four, nine and 13, had been travelling in a light aircraft on May 1 when the plane is believed to have failed. 

The crash killed the children’s mother Magdalena Mucutui Valencia, as well as the pilot and an indigenous leader. 

There were no signs of the youngsters when the aircraft’s wreckage was recovered by the Colombian military – igniting a massive search operation in the southeast of the country to find them.

Now the children have been found alive, according to military sources quoted by the Columbian press. 

They are said to be dehydrated and have insect bites, but are otherwise in good condition, according to BNO News. 

Sources from the Military Forces allegedly confirmed to news site EL TIEMPO that the children lost since May 1 have all survived. 

President of Colombia Gustavo Petro also shared the good news on Twitter, writing a message which translates to: ‘A joy for the whole country! 

‘The 4 children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle appeared alive.’

Satellite images previously revealed a path the children took from the plane wreck, and rescuers came across some of their belongings – a pair of shoes and a nappy – as well as a makeshift shelter and a half-eaten fruit.  

Their reported discovery comes after Colombia’s president came under fire when he tweeted that the children had been found but later deleted it, saying the information could not be confirmed.

Leaders from the Huitoto indigenous group expressed hope that the children’s knowledge of fruits and jungle survival skills should give them better odds of being found alive.

On the morning of May 1, a Cessna 206 airplane left a jungle area known as Araracuara heading for the town of San Jose del Guaviare in the Colombian Amazon.

Minutes after starting the 350km (217-mile) journey, the pilot reported problems with the engine and the plane disappeared from radars.

Between May 15 and 16, soldiers found the bodies of the three adults and the debris of the plane, which was wedged vertically in the thick vegetation, its nose destroyed.

But the children – Lesly, 13, Soleiny, nine, Tien Noriel, four, and baby Cristin – were missing.

Members of the indigenous community held traditional ceremonies ‘speaking to the jungle’ and asking it to give up the children, according to the government.

Amazon sells nearly everything under the sun, but the e-commerce giant has strict rules on what items customers can return.

The policy’s fine print shows that software downloads, video games and gift cards cannot be returned for a refund.

While these sound reasonable, Amazon also clarifies that it will not take back live cockroaches, pet food and theme park tickets – so be sure you are committed to these purchases.

DailyMail.com has compiled a list of 10 products on Amazon that cannot be returned. 

Software downloads 

You bought new photo editing software but never opened the box. Good news: You can return it within 30 days of purchase. 

If you bought a downloadable software package, opened the box on physical software or activated an online subscription, no such luck. 

Amazon states that ‘returned software or video games that are activated, used or missing parts will incur up to a 100% restocking fee.’ 

Ouch. Before you buy a downloadable program on Amazon, read the reviews to check for any red flags or missing features. Once it’s yours, there’s no going back.

Video games

Just like software, once you open, play, activate or register it, that game is yours. 

Change your mind? Your best bet is to try to sell it to a buddy because Amazon won’t take it back. 

Tech devices

Amazon won’t take back certain devices like laptops, desktops, and Kindles more than 30 days after delivery. For some, that deadline is 90 days. 

Check the product page for details on how long you have to return it. 

Note that if you return tech used, damaged or ‘materially different,’ you may receive a partial or no refund.

‘Renewed’ products professionally inspected by Amazon are backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee. 

Gift and pre-paid game cards

An Amazon gift card, or any other gift card you buy on Amazon.com, is not eligible for return. 

Amazon says it’ll only take back gift cards when required by law. 

The laws vary by state and don’t apply to all types of gift cards. 

In other words, it isn’t very clear.

This category includes prepaid game cards like World of Warcraft, Xbox 360 Live and Wii Points.

Live creepy crawlies

Did you know that Amazon sells insects? An order of 100 medium-sized (3/8′ to 3/4′) Dubia Cockroaches costs $24.95. A pack of 2,000 live mealworms is a bargain at $26.50. You can pick live harvester ants, ladybugs, caterpillars, or whatever floats your boat.

Caterpillars are sold in a pack of 10 as a ‘Butterfly Kit Refill.’ No kidding. One reviewer says it’s a ‘very fun and interesting project for the whole family.’ Another says the caterpillars took about two weeks to ‘reach their final form.’

Tickets

Yes, Amazon sells tickets to theme parks. No, you cannot return them if your trip is canceled or something else happens.

Personal health items

Amazon offers myriad health, beauty, and personal care items. Just be careful before you buy. Not all of them are eligible for returns. The returns customer service page is vague and says they won’t take back ‘some health and personal care orders.’

Before you check out, look for the ‘ Returns ‘ line on the product page. It’s under the Add to Cart and Buy Now buttons. 

‘Eligible for Refund or Replacement’ means you’re out of luck if you change your mind or don’t like it — but ‘if the item arrives damaged or defective, you may request a refund or replacement.’

Groceries

 It’s convenient to get groceries from Amazon Fresh, but if you decide you don’t need something you bought, there’s no returning it. 

Amazon does, however, issue refunds if something arrived spilled, damaged, or unusable. 

‘If you aren’t satisfied with the condition of a grocery product that you receive from us, we’ll issue a refund up to 30 days from the delivery date.’ Amazon says.

Pet food 

Just like people’s food, pet food is also ineligible for returns. 

That said, if it arrives damaged or defective somehow, Amazon will likely refund you or replace it.

Anything you customize 

This product type makes sense, but still, a bummer if you shelled out money for a custom product that doesn’t live up to what you expected. Sellers aren’t required to accept returns on anything with an inscription or that’s been embroidered, printed on, engraved or otherwise customized.

Other handcrafted items can be returned if you have all the packaging and original tags.

There may be exceptions 

It’s also important to note most sellers want happy customers. 

Even if you bought something that’s not eligible for a return, it’s worth reaching out if your order’s a major issue. 

We saw lots of reviews from people who bought bugs and got money back or a new order when many of them, unfortunately, died on the journey.