Advise on A-To-Z claim
Only selling on Amazon for 2mos, selling 2 items, item#1 is a simple version price at $10, and item#2 is an enhanced version of item#1, priced at ~$30.
Case 1, a customer ordered item#2, a week later after it’s shipped, the customer sent a message requested to cancel the order. We checked the tracking found its stuck in “out-for-delivery” status, and there is an alert of delay. It seems for some reason the package wasn’t delivered. So, we send the customer with full refund plus shipping cost the customer paid for expedited. The customer left a positive feedback.
Case 2, the customer ordered item#2 to send to another person, as soon as delivered the buyer sent us a message “wrong item sent” asking for return. We tried to send emails to the customer asking for info and got no response. We authorized the buyer to return the item. A few days later we received a used item similar to item#1 (a cheaper one than the one we shipped to the customer). Since we don’t have the exact product in stock it’s impossible that we sent this “wrong” item to the customer. We took photos of the return item and compare it with our product to show the difference, and told the customer to return the item we shipped for refund. The buyer filed an a-to-z claim. We represented to Amazon with the information. Later, the buyer did reply and acknowledged the return item in picture, but claimed it was the recipient stated that was the item they received. It is definitely not the one we sent. We just got an email from Amazon about the decision that favor the buyer on the a-to-z claim. The buyer automatically got full refund after using a-to-z claim.
Now after a month on Amazon, our account health is ~5%, 20 orders with 1 defect, our seller account is at risk, and we got lost on Amazon.
Seller_jglZowc8rO988
This is what you SHOULD HAVE done to avoid the A to Z in the future.
How to Handle a damaged/incorrect item return if on the professional seller plan and item returned via automated return label.
Refund 50%. If the customer paid original shipping do not refund it.
File a SAFE-T claim for the 50% you refunded and the return label cost. Be sure to attach photos and state why it is not applicable for return under Amazon policy.
Report the buyer for return Abuse.
This is done this way because by applying Amazon policy for restocking fees thus preventing a refund within 48 hours through the auto refund that Amazon warns us about.
You should still report the abuse and you could fil a saf-t but Its doubtful you will win since this already went to A to Z and you didn’t refund 50%. You never know though, maybe the amazon gods will smile on you.
Seller_kBLtwGFkDRQBb
Thank you for the advise. This is a good info to know. Just to follow up. not sure what the impact of a lost a-z claim, and should we appeal it in our case? Under appeal it states if there is no new info the decision unlikely to be changed. So it’s very discouraging (we have already spent lots of time by communicating with seller supports earlier). Also wonder how long the negative impact will last, a month or 60days if don’t appeal?
As a seller on Amazon we feel very vulnerable. There are a couple of cases we receive return requests as defective and damaged while in reality they are not. Still we have fully refund them just hoping not getting a negative remark. A customer who purchased an item#1 just emailed us he didn’t know there is different in function between item#1 or #2, and he is very disappointed with item#1. He asked for replacing it with item#2, we refused but we said if he is not satisfied he could return it. The customer sent a return request as item damaged/defective. In addition the customer requested for return label. We couldn’t find how to generate a return label so we gave the customer a full refund without his return.
Seller_kBLtwGFkDRQBb
Thanks again for your advise. I found the seller forum is very useful and started spending more time to read other threads to see how others handle the similar situations, which make me still feel something positive on the online marketplace.
Meanwhile, in my own cases, unfortunately I found none of the orders is deemed eligible for safe-t claims. “This order is not eligible for SAFE-T claim. Only VAS orders, Easy Ship orders and MFN Prepaid orders are eligible for SAFE-T claims. Please refer to Amazon SAFE-T Claim Policy for more details.” There were not much info on what "VAS orders, Easy Ship orders and MFN Prepaid orders " mean. After some research I took it because the return is not via automated label.
I still don’t know where to report a buyer abuse of return policy. So far we have always been giving full refund to customers whether they return the products or not, but opened a-z against the seller while trying to scam for a free item is the worst kind.
Seller_kBLtwGFkDRQBb
Ah, thanks.
I went to that route but wasn’t sure if it’s the right place for buyer violation.
