OTDR protected. What does it mean?
I opened the following case (ID 15842243531):
Orders 114-9722040-9170609 and 113-1270454-9272205 are showing up on my On-Time Delivery Rate report as being late even though I used Amazon Buy Shipping and the order detail states they are OTDR protected. Orders were placed after July 25th.
Why are they showing up on the report as late delivered and why are they figured into the late delivery calculation?
The reply I got was:
Order #114-9722040-9170609
-Order was placed on Tue, Jul 30, 2024, 12:14 PM PDT which was suppose to be delivery on Thu, Aug 1, 2024 PDT to Mon, Aug 5, 2024 PDT but you delivered this order on Aug 7, 2024, which is the reason marked this order as On-Time Delivery rate.
Further I like to inform you that there is no risk to your account as of now. For future, please try to maintain metric as per the targets limits.
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So if using Amazon's Buy Shipping and choosing a OTDR Protected option does not keep a late delivery off the late delivery report and still figures into the on-time delivery percentage then what does OTDR Protected mean?
37 replies
Seller_1mBG7qHG97CrX
Second response from seller support:
"Order #114-9722040-9170609
Order was placed on Tue, Jul 30, 2024, 12:14 PM PDT and actual promising delivery date is 8/6/24 06:59:59 GMT (8/5/24 23:59:59 PDT) but you have purchased the label from Amazon's Buy Shipping and it is listed as "OTDR Protected" you got extension from promising delivery date which is 8/7/24 06:59:59 GMT (8/6/24 23:59:59 PDT) but Actual delivery date is 8/7/24 17:11:00 GMT (8/7/24 10:11:00 PDT) This means that the package was delivered late and hence impacted on time delivery score."
So 2 different seller support reps so far have indicated that there are absolutely NO protections offered under this new "policy". So what is the purpose of "OTDR Protected" designation and what is it protecting us from if not the late delivery designation?
Could a moderator look into this? @KJ_Amazon
Seller_1mBG7qHG97CrX
Third response from seller support:
"Thankyou for contacting us, this is Kaif from Amazon's Account Health Support. I see that you are contacting us regarding your 2 orders impacting On Time Delivery Rate. Let me give you more information on that.
Upon checking, I see that you have buy shipping label from Amazon you have got extension in promised delivery date. But the order delivered after the promised delivery date. Hence the order is impacting on time delivery score.
I would like to inform you that once the information captured not able to update and On Time Delivery Rate metrics 81.16% will refresh after 14 days."
So now 3 different seller support reps have indicated that there are absolutely NO protections offered under this new "policy".
And STILL no one has answered the question: What is the purpose of "OTDR Protected" designation and what is it protecting us from if not the late delivery designation?
Could a moderator look into this? @KJ_Amazon
Seller_1mBG7qHG97CrX
Found another moderator to tag@Jameson_Amazon. I really want to understand this new policy and so far what I'm seeing is that the written policy (as I understand it) is not being followed. And seller support seems to think everything is operating as designed.
Seller_HRcJa1gdGHeov
You have to have Automatic Handling Time enabled, in addition to buy shipping from Amazon, and picking the chosen method. If you do not have automatic handling enabled, you will not be protected.
I do not like the new OTDR policy and do not really see how it enhances the buyer experience; I do see how Amazon can force us to buy the shipping service they want though.
Seller_T04e1Xn1Myjhp
WE Ship Everything with Amazon buy shipping and yes we hit all three matrix to qualify for OTDR
but yet my OTDR shows late deliveries ???
IT IS A HUGE DECEVING LIE that you are protected....
Because you are NOT!
Seller_HRcJa1gdGHeov
IT IS A HUGE DECEVING LIE that you are protected....
Because you are NOT!
Would not be the first time that Amazon promised something and did not follow through. This company does very little right, especially when it comes to 3P sellers.
Seller_ZRl2jImJfnYfJ
Here is what they said regarding my case, same as OP. We only use Amazon shipping.
"Hello from Amazon Selling Partner Support,
This is follow up mail regarding your concern about OTDR issues for the Order ID's ***-9061809-9755451, ***-4814188-1562603, ***-8934833-3728221, ***-8397878-9384263, ***-0091264-5817023.
After further investigation from our internal team, we found that at the time the order was fulfilled Shipping Settings Automation (SSA) was not enabled on the shipping template this SKU was assigned to, or was associated with a Shipping option where SSA does not have Transit Time managed by Amazon (e.g. Free Economy).
Please note, you need to use all three of Amazon’s automated promise and order fulfillment tools that include Automated Handling Time (AHT), Shipping Settings Automation (SSA), and purchase an “OTDR Protected” shipping label through Amazon Buy Shipping to ship a package, then the OTDR metric will not be impacted by late deliveries.
For professional sellers, SSA sets accurate delivery dates from your warehouse to the customer’s location using automated Transit Times calculations of your preferred ship methods.
For more information on "how to enable Shipping Settings Automation" please visit the below link:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G8WRJF2N5B787XKQ
To help us continually improve, we ask that you take a moment to complete our survey below to tell us about your experience with this specific interaction."
Seller_NzEmZKTEdcpPZ
Unfortunately, Amazon changed the OTDR policy recently. It now counts all delays as seller's fault. This used to be only for the SFP program, but now they adopted this policy for everyone. Ignore "protected" notes - that's no longer accurate, even though it's still there. All delays will count against you from now on: carrier's fault, customer is not at home, business is closed on the day of delivery, etc. Amazon counted instances against us even if there was a bad weather (even though they say in the policy they won't count that). The only recent exception that they did was during the Microsoft software fiasko a few weeks ago. And it showed in the metrics anyway (Amazon said they won't pay attention at that week).
One week below the target and you will get a warning.
Two weeks below the target and Amazon will disable premium shipping or SFP program, if you are in it (but you can re-enable it manually).
Three weeks and the premium/SFP will be disabled and you need to start over in terms of earning the right to do premium shipping or re-join the SFP program (90-day trial to re-join the SFP, if I'm not mistaken).
I might be wrong on the premium shipping portion (non-SFP program) because we are mostly SFP. But that's how it is in SFP for sure now.
Seller_HRcJa1gdGHeov
@KJ_Amazon
OP has everything in place for protection under Amazon's new OTDR policy; AHT enabled, bought shipping through Amazon, used method Amazon said was protected, and shipped on time yet they are still getting dinged. You sad you wanted to help, so take a look at the data presented here.
Seller_a84mYtOUSbbKZ
I shipped 2 packages 1 day earlier than the promised shipment date, and they arrived the day they were supposed to but both orders showed up on my OTDR report because although it was delivered the day it was supposed to be, it wasnt delivered by the exact time specified. This is absolute stupidity, punishing sellers for things they have zero control over.
