Extremely High "Order Not Received" Rate on FBM – Possible Scam or Amazon Issue?
Hi fellow sellers,
I have been dealing with an extremely high rate of "order not received" cases on my FBM orders, and I want to see if others are experiencing the same issue.
Since switching some of my products to FBM about six months ago, I have noticed a growing trend of customers reporting that they never received their orders. However, the situation worsened significantly after Thanksgiving, and the issue has remained consistently high for the past three months.
My "order not received" refund rate in the last 30 days is 17.1%, and my year-to-date (YTD) rate is 11.3%, which is far higher than normal.
Customers with different names and addresses are submitting identical refund requests with the exact same wording:
"Friend, what's the matter? Why has my package not been delivered to me for so long? I don't need it now, I want my money back now, please refund."
This only happens on Amazon FBM – we have been selling for over nine years across six different marketplaces, and our "order not received" rate on other platforms is below 1%.
We have tried using multiple shipping carriers (USPS, UPS, FedEx), but the issue persists.
We genuinely care about our account health, customer experience, and Amazon policies, so we usually issue full refunds when buyers send messages claiming non-receipt—before they escalate to an A-to-Z claim. However, this ongoing issue is severely damaging our business.
Has anyone else seen an unusually high "order not received" rate on FBM recently?
Are there any known refund scams that match this pattern?
What is the best way to escalate this to Amazon and get a real investigation?
How can we efficiently handle "order not received" claims without immediately issuing refunds?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Extremely High "Order Not Received" Rate on FBM – Possible Scam or Amazon Issue?
Hi fellow sellers,
I have been dealing with an extremely high rate of "order not received" cases on my FBM orders, and I want to see if others are experiencing the same issue.
Since switching some of my products to FBM about six months ago, I have noticed a growing trend of customers reporting that they never received their orders. However, the situation worsened significantly after Thanksgiving, and the issue has remained consistently high for the past three months.
My "order not received" refund rate in the last 30 days is 17.1%, and my year-to-date (YTD) rate is 11.3%, which is far higher than normal.
Customers with different names and addresses are submitting identical refund requests with the exact same wording:
"Friend, what's the matter? Why has my package not been delivered to me for so long? I don't need it now, I want my money back now, please refund."
This only happens on Amazon FBM – we have been selling for over nine years across six different marketplaces, and our "order not received" rate on other platforms is below 1%.
We have tried using multiple shipping carriers (USPS, UPS, FedEx), but the issue persists.
We genuinely care about our account health, customer experience, and Amazon policies, so we usually issue full refunds when buyers send messages claiming non-receipt—before they escalate to an A-to-Z claim. However, this ongoing issue is severely damaging our business.
Has anyone else seen an unusually high "order not received" rate on FBM recently?
Are there any known refund scams that match this pattern?
What is the best way to escalate this to Amazon and get a real investigation?
How can we efficiently handle "order not received" claims without immediately issuing refunds?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
33 replies
Seller_OvL8C4BJWiuS9
Do you use Amazon's buy shipping for your FBM orders?
Seller_faQOqtScXV7Di
That's someone selling your product on another site, having you fill the order (while they pocket the money) and then getting a refund from Amazon. It's fairly common. Does the recipient's name match the buyer's name? Likely not. And if you contacted the recipient, they would almost assuredly tell you that they did receive their product and purchased it from a site different than Amazon. You should absolutely report it to Amazon. I would have the customer open an A-Z claim and in your response point out the language used in the message. You can search for that phrasing on the forums and will find lots of other people who have been scammed in a similar way. I'm sorry that it's happening to you. Maybe one day Amazon will do something to prevent this type of fraud, but it seems unlikely.
Seller_h4btKGmOmHFLr
Our response is an email to the buyer with the tracking and the delivery information from the carrier and no further information. This gets rid of the buyers who want to see if you just automatically refund. If we get a second email we provide them with the info on filing an A-Z with Amazon. Again, making them do the work. This eliminates another percentage that go away. In the end since we purchase shipping through Amazon, so Amazon takes the hit.
And we do get the occasional scammer who over a short period of time is too lazy to not copy and paste their DNR emails. These are very obvious and we respond with an email denoting this and that we have asked for Amazon to investigate these multiple claims. They crawl back under their rock real fast.
Seller_WGHPuK1SLML2g
Like someone else mentioned, check if the buyer matches shipping address, look back to the product orders and see if they buyer address is the same, they can use their wives cards, or husbands... you know what i mean, then just cancel their orders when you receive them... you will get in trouble but then you talk to amazon in account health and explain what is going on to them.
Seller_lHpcpodl8aCU2
Quick update: I opened a case with Amazon. Both buyers are from different states, and while their first names match the shipping info, they sent me the exact same messages—first claiming non-receipt with:
'Friend, what's the matter, why my package has not been delivered to me for so long, I don't need it now, I want my money back now, please refund.'
Then following up with:
'I still can't find my package. But it was nowhere to be found. In this time span waiting for the package, a considerable amount of time has been spent. I must insist that you begin the refund process immediately.'
This feels highly suspicious. Has anyone else encountered identical refund requests like this?
Seller_zGoDlPZLneGhF
Direct them with the steps on how to open an A - Z claim. If you're shipping on time (carrier scans package by the "ship by" date) and buying the shipping label through Amazon you are covered and Amazon will fund the buyers claim.
Since the new year the amount of fraudulent A-Z claims, switcharoo returns, and buyers opening returns in hopes we will just refund them without getting our items back is off the charts.
Amazon has conditioned customers to act this way, they provide buyers returnless refunds constantly and buyers now expect to get them at every turn. Unfortunatley, it will continue to worsen.
Joey_Amazon
Hello @Seller_lHpcpodl8aCU2,
Thank you for posting here at the forums!
Appreciate you sharing your experience around Order that claim not to be received. I will be sure to share your anecdote with the appropriate team.
Also, I noticed other sellers provided you with some great feedback. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Cheers,
Joey
Seller_CRAHk6FHN1cLe
Use Amazon buy shipping and use a similar e-mail and you will never have this issue again:
Hello , I am sorry to hear that your package is missing. Tracking shows your package was delivered on Feb 28th..
That being said, we use Amazon Shipping and they indemnify us under the contract for all item not received claims. Therefore please file an Amazon A-Z claim and they will refund your order out of their own funds as they are obligated to do so in these events. Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
Seller_lHpcpodl8aCU2
Hi fellow sellers,
We’ve run into another issue that appears to be a clear case of return fraud, and I’m sharing it here to raise awareness and get some advice.
A buyer purchased a 3-piece comforter set from us and later claimed they received the wrong item. They requested a full refund and initiated a return. However, when we received the package, it didn’t contain any bedding at all—instead, it included a small bag of deflated black and green balloons.
We also noticed that the recipient's name is different from the buyer’s name listed on the order.
We’ve submitted a detailed report to Amazon Seller Support with photo evidence and the tracking label, and we're currently waiting on their investigation and decision.
Just wanted to ask:
Has anyone dealt with a similar scam before?
How do you ensure Amazon takes action and protects the seller in these situations?
Any tips to prevent this kind of fraud from happening again?
Thanks in advance for your input—and stay sharp out there!
