What to do if you have a lost or delayed FBA Shipment
Questions surrounding lost or delayed inbound shipments are some of the most frequent forums posts. Fulfillment centers see delays when there is a large volume of arriving shipments at once, particularly during peak times like the holiday season. So, what can you do if you have a lost FBA shipment?
The first thing to note is that the receiving process takes time. The shipment events tab allows you to follow along with updates on your shipment’s journey from shipment creation to it's addition to your inventory. Your shipment will need to be delivered, checked in, and received which will take at least six days, but often longer. To ensure quick and accurate receiving, ensure that you have followed all packing, labeling, and shipping requirements.
After we have confirmed receipt of all units, or your shipment has been open for more than 90 days, the status will change to “closed.” Around this time, if there were any quantity discrepancies, you can request investigation and reconcile your shipment. On the help page linked, you can check if your shipment is eligible for investigation. This is also available on the Contents tab of the Shipment summary page.
If your shipment is not eligible for investigation, it may still be processing at the fulfillment center. If it is eligible, you will need to provide a couple of documents to launch an investigation.
Proof of inventory ownership including the date of purchase/packing, product names, and quantity such as
- a signed packing slip if you are the manufacturer with the shipment or purchase order ID
- an invoice from a supplier including the full name and address of the invoice issuer and of the purchaser
Proof of delivery, which, for LTL or FTL shipments, will be the bill of lading showing
- the number of boxes in the shipment
- the total weight when picked up by the carrier
- an Amazon stamp confirming the shipment was received and signed for at the fulfillment center
If you believe your shipment has been lost on it's way to the Fulfillment Center, provide the drop-off receipt or proof of pick-up from the carrier.
After you have submitted your request, a case with Seller Support will be created. You can view updates and communicate with the team via your case log. We know that lost and delayed shipments can cause frustrations and strains on your business. If you have any questions about the process or run into any issues, please feel free to comment below or start a new thread here in the forums with the details.
Seller_pF4OOz8BJARoQ
Hello @TaylorR_Amazon
Amazon is not making this clear, what of shipments that receipt was confirmed, counted, and received by Amazon warehouse employees, and got lost while being transferred to another FC for the fulfillment process, shouldn't that be an automatic reimbursement from Amazon, why always make sellers pass through the stressful processes to get their money back?
Seller_otJsqd9s3YofJ
Hi @TaylorR_Amazon,
What happens if it shows that your shipment was delivered but it hast been checked in for 25 days?
Even tho the Shipment events tab it says it should take 4 days to go from Received to checked in?
Also we've sent other shipments to SFD8 after this one and they were received checked in and made available for sale.
My concern is the longer it takes for someone to address this the more likely our inventory is never going to be found again
Seller_jUDsGl5lhGkQI
no help at all.
04:14 AM10/09/2023Hello from Amazon Selling Partner Support,
Thank you for your response. Amazon has no evidence the units were received by our fulfillment center and will not issue a reimbursement for these items at this time.
The signature on the bill of lading (BOL) is a confirmation that the shipment described by the carrier has been delivered to Amazon. The contents of the shipment are not inspected at the time of the signature. Therefore, it is not a representation of the quantity or condition of the units contained within the shipment.
We have conducted a search to locate the inventory across our network and did not find excess inventory for your SKU, nor in similar SKUs or quantities. If the shipment is received at a later date, and there are quantity issues identified within the shipment, you may contact us for a resolution.
Thank you for selling with Amazon,
Amazon.com Seller Support
Seller_Ha6JyVvDK6Ybs
Proof of inventory ownership including the date of purchase, product names, and quantity such asa signed packing slip if you are the manufactureran invoice from a supplier including the full name and address of the invoice issuer and of the purchaser........
YET MY INVOICES DO NOT MATCH AMAZON WORDING ON LISTINGS AND WHOEVER OR WHATEVER BOT LOOKS AT IS TO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND THEN WHAT?
My items are shipped in mixed case assortments and you deny invoices yet you also order form same manufacture and you get same invoices so freakin stupid. Again sellers should not sent any item FBA that has any value that you are not prepared to loose!
Seller_Q7nIjL66mqZzj
Amazon loves to just recycle it's same ToS jargon in the hopes that they look like they care, or to get you to eventually give up and go away. I have several lost shipments that I don't get reimbursed for. After the 6 months passes they pretty much give me the finger saying the window has closed and shipments aren't eligible for investigation. I have one from July right now that I've been fighting with that they refuse to reimburse after they mistakenly scanned it with a different ASIN in my catalog that was in a different box. Monkey's just scanned the same box as the previous ASIN and began scanning product labels allocating the wrong inventory. SO I'm sure I'll lose that $5000.
Got another shipment right now that is in the forever ineligible investigation window. It'll sit for 90 days until they auto close it without investigation giving me only 90 days to fight it before I get screwed yet again. First it say eligible for investigation by Oct. 3rd, 2023. Then it said Oct. 17th, 2023. Then it said Oct. 18th, 2023. Now it says Oct. 30th, 2023. 6 shipments this year gone missing. You know what they all have in common? When using Amazon's "Partnered Carrier", all of them have "A Carrier Delay has Occurred". Even if the delay occurred on the same day and then delivered to an FC at 9:00 AM. So essentially, no delay even occurred but the Amazon bot somehow caused the shipment to never get checked in. EVERY SHIPMENT HAS THIS SAME ISSUE AND AMAZON WON'T FIX IT! Amazon is nothing more than a cash farm operation that has grown so large that it has no idea what goes on in it's FC. Rather than be an ethical company that does the right thing, they won't admit fault or give a dime away for their own incompetence which is tantamount to thievery. And they'll keep doing it until the FTC tells them to stop (God willing) or their investors pull out and take all their money back. Until then, they'll keep milking this cow for all they can.
Seller_guXPaguO7kTKh
AMazon response copy and paste standard guideline. It a business loss write off.
Seller_5x445YEo2V6NS
Hello @TaylorR_Amazon
I appreciate your attention to this issue I've also encountered recently.
I lost two shipments in Amazon warehouse IGQ1. Both were picked up by the Amazon freighter on Jun 16 and sent to IGQ1 due to IND9, the original assigned warehouse, being at full capacity during that period. Unfortunately, both shipments cannot be located anymore.
Despite opening two cases for investigation, my interactions with Seller Support have been unproductive, with cases repeatedly closed without resolution. Recently, I received a call from the Amazon reimbursement department, acknowledging the loss of the smaller shipment valued at $6000, but citing time constraints in addressing the larger one valued at $40,000.
Both shipments were picked up simultaneously, on the same truck, bound for the same fulfillment center, and shared the same signature on the Bill of Lading. It seems perplexing that Amazon acknowledges the loss of the smaller shipment but hesitates to do so for the larger one.
After 4 months, my case continues to be closed repeatedly by Seller Support. Their explanation that they don't inspect shipments when signing the BOL appears puzzling and raises questions about accountability.
I appreciate any guidance or assistance you can provide in navigating this situation.
Seller_z1JDNz6de1lqc
You pray to your favorite God that is all you got..... In reality it should be tracking shows delivered and Amazon looses or fails to check in that is on them and they should instantly credit for all lost sales of that box no matter what the error is on their side and they would force us to cover if situation was reverse!
Seller_Ii6WbM1GE0oWE
In my case, I've got 3 units scheduled to be reimbursed. Two units will be reimbursed in "cash" and 1 in "inventory". I don't understand what the "reimbursement in inventory" is and how it can be tracked. We're the only seller of our brand in the world. Inventory ledger also does not show a column like a "inventory reimbursement". what is the difference between cash reimbursement and inventory reimbursement?
Seller_7RaoLrdtXFBnH
Is anyone having a similar issue to this?:
Sent 80 individually boxed items per pallet, multiple pallets, (case pack of 1 because product doesn't have UPC on it so we box it to add a UPC sticker b/c it includes installation clips) Standard process no big deal and the items are all the same essentially but different color variation or size variations. All boxes labeled with a clear UPC code and FBA 4x6 casepack label. The last 3 pallets received were all wrong---all items were scanned in or received as only 1 or 2 of the SKUs and the rest were marked as unreceived. (i.e. 3 of each x 12 skus received as 35 of 1 SKU and 1 of another ,etc) How would that even happen? I audited our warehouse so I know we didn't mistakenly mislabel and ship up 400 products wrong across 36 SKUs and 3 FBA orders and several destinations. Also have warehouse camera footage to confirm. Th
ey've probably relabeled the products wrong by now too. Any advice (that's kind)?
