My honest review of Customer Service by Amazon if you're thinking about using it
I very seldom post anymore on the forums, but I wanted to save some sellers the trouble just in case they are thinking about using CSBA, or Customer Service by Amazon.
I was solicited by them a number of times, and as our volume has substantially grown I finally thought about considering their offer on this program. I decided to try it for a limited time, just so I would know if it was a good deal or not. Here's what I found:
Our positive feedback rate was 98-99% for ten years. That's even with doing 50% of our sales as self fulfillment. I always tried to deal with each customer the best I could and only the most unreasonable ones left a negative.
Cases of clear loss or damage which were fault of Amazon buy shipping carriers were generally successfully handled through A to Z claims, and we didn't eat too much loss in theft and mishandled items. There's always some, but we managed it very well and have gotten great at packing and communicating.
After the month, my feedback rate was the lowest its EVER been in 122 months. Worse, many of the negative feedbacks were from other sellers fulfillment, things we didn't sell, but for some reason amazon rejected almost all appeals of these. Usually they would accept them.
Damage claims skyrocketed, and there was no common sense solutions. Here's an example, a customer would order 3 cases of something, and one or two cans would be dented. Most customers are very reasonable, and when they told me this, I'd say no problem, what do you think about xxxx amount of discount to cover those? I would always be overly fair. Almost everyone would take my resolutions and would leave a positive feedback. With CSBA, you get none of that good interaction, you get a FULL refund on perhaps a $200 sale over a 4 dollar damage which could be easily resolved. Then they'd deny any Safe-T claim.
The amount of SAFE-T claims became insane, almost all were rejected even when they were fully covered in terms of service which I am very familiar with after this long.
Essentially this is my opinion, take it or leave it, but it's designed to help YOU, the amazon seller if you're considering this program. Don't do it. It will hurt your bottom line, reputation, feedback, even your morale as you're blamed for things you didn't do, and have absolutely no recourse or way to fix anything.
Happy selling to you all..
Seller_aUbEyzlSSnsDJ
We used it when it first started left soon after. We do not recommend it either. Hope you are the road to Feedback Recovery
Seller_FYNdoigJ1zzEy
My experience as a buyer - leading to the same conclusion. Bought a case of power supply adapters for a national brand. Seller uploaded a fedex tracking number and marked it as shipped. The tracking number was not active for a week. All I wanted to do was to reach out to the seller and make sure the right tracking number was entered. If not to request the correct one. Did not realize this seller used CSBA. Got an instant response from CSBA with a full refund. I received the order in the next 2 days (a different tracking number on the package). Reached out to customer service, they say refund has already been processed and you can keep the order. Couldn't believe that there was no avenue to contact the seller at all with CSBA.
Seller_b9MTK4QOrYHu2
Using anything wants you to isnt good
Seller_tEZmu9AqcxI7H
The biggest problem I'd expect is they don't know the product...so even if a good effort is made, they won't be able to solve any product-level problems, only shipping related issues. If one screw is missing the whole thing gets sent back etc. If they had an option where the seller could also reply when necessary it could work.
Seller_TvaTXH61RRGLO
Well, as expected I would say. If you are also an Amazon customer you know from the beginning how they deal with problems, plus, they do not know your products they can't judge the amount to refund in different situations.
Seller_mNmXzgB9ZGJCj
We have used the CSBA for almost 3 months, we do not recommend this service either.
Seller_oDXVaydIpi3Hi
Even from a consumer side, Amazons support is insanely bad anymore. I'd proffer *ALMOST* as bad as seller support. Our personal prime account was hacked within minutes of getting a new Echo last week. Still havent gotten it unlocked despite 8 hours on the phone and "it will be sent to a specialized team and they will respond back within 24 hours." I wouldnt trust Amazon with anything anymore. Especially not my "non-amazon" customers.
Seller_NTtgyr4S9sRAA
That is almost word for word what I expected the experience to be like, good to hear it is everything and more. :(
Sorry for your losses.
Seller_WmAt6Nyzkl7Wk
I tend to agree - I have CSBA for free and almost still want to get rid of it because they just hand your money out to customers who complain without a care in the world or even an attempt to solve the issues at hand properly
Seller_VIBYADgmEYg7P
Thank you for taking the time to write this well thought out review. I hope you are able to recover from this and rebound to more successful and happy sales.
