On-time delivery rate -- W*F?!?!?
First off, per the services agreement, Amazon needs to preannounce policy changes, and did not in this case (or many others). Also, apologies if the search function in the fora is so poor that this is effectively a duplicate of another thread ... the most germane thing I can find is a month ago, when a Mod reiterated old policy shortly before Amazon instituted a new one.
As of today (7/25), OTDR has a new definition, and this at-one-time info-only metric can now kill your account. In this change, Amazon is announcing that they recognize that sometimes stuff -- like hurricanes, riots, state-wide power outages, strikes, etc. -- can happen which will make even Amazon's automated estimate (over which we have no control) of delivery time wrong. When this happens, buyers will be notified, but according to the OTDR page, sellers will not be cut slack. "An OTDR below 90% may result in account deactivation" ... and this metric ("On-time delivery rate without promise extensions") is prior to any extensions. Effectively: if there's a natural disaster in your shipping lane, expect to have your account shuttered. Who comes up with this? Either the description of an unannounced, new-release feature is so poorly written as to be wrong in a way that will make long-time sellers think they'll lose their accounts (ooops! our bad!), or it's accurate and the idea is insane.
Other platforms I can name simply ignore metrics for orders affected by these unavoidable issues. [I bet this doesn't apply to FBA, which is just another anti-trust-worthy measure instituted by Amazon to illegally push people to that platform.]
(p.s. this forum software is also heinous ... making me reload to post, or logging me out mid-screed, and throwing away my work in the process simply doesn't happen in any other forum software I've ever used)
254 replies
Seller_OvL8C4BJWiuS9
Thanks for posting, I just notice it. And the report is wrong! out of the 7 orders they dinged me for, one is s duplicate and 4 were either on time or scheduled with the buyer for the date they wanted it delivered (we sell heavy/bulk items using LTL).
Seller_bzHT6bQ9deVVk
our On-time delivery rate went from 100% to 83% overnight
that's crazy
Seller_OvL8C4BJWiuS9
I am currently arguing with seller support because they obviously didn't vet this new rule. I have VTR exemption, but not OTDR exemption for heavy/bulk template I was invited to use? BS!
Seller_8UYHnTIxJNqVK
Same here too. My packages are forever late due to the carrier. So now if the carrier is late dropping my package I will be dinged for it?? Make it make sense Amazon!!!
Seller_faQOqtScXV7Di
Their response will be "if you buy Amazon Shipping, you won't be dinged," not acknowledging that they hike up shipping costs on some packages in order to lower costs on others. I cannot consistently use Buy Shipping through Amazon, because on half of my packages the costs are $3+ more than my shipping costs through UPS. Why would I pay $3+ more on hundreds of packages a week, just to avoid an occasional ding to a metric?
Seller_hGipGh1oA89Et
Ous dropped to 87.4% due to this order. Can someone explain how it is late?
Order date
7/7/24 23:37:14 GMT (7/7/24 16:37:14 PDT) A Sunday
Delivery est. Wed, Jul 10, 2024 PDT to Fri, Jul 12, 2024 PDT. This does not include a handling day
Shipped 7/8/2024 Media mail
Promised delivery date without a promise extension
7/13/24 06:59:59 GMT (7/12/24 23:59:59 PDT)
USPS needed to deliver by 8am on the 13th
Actual delivery date
7/13/24 21:03:00 GMT (7/13/24 14:03:00 PDT)
Their delivery times are not feasible. They are trying to hold us to delivery times that even Amazon themselves can't reasonable meet, unless we are shipping priority and that is not reasonable if not paid for by customer.
Seller_dkvNFPkFjSVLg
you should happily pay that so that you are indemnified from any and all issues that arise from actual or claimed problems that relate to shipping. Its a very small cost!
Seller_dkvNFPkFjSVLg
you set your delivery windows and select the method.
You could set the window longer for books and you could have shipped via ground advantage.
That is not Amazon's fault.
Seller_bISqy3UGgtzho
Are you aware you can link your account and receive your negotiated rates? I receive the same price though Amazon or my own UPS account. Just an FYI.
Seller_AR5i4Yb3HlQfn
You can add your UPS as your buy shipping carrier.
Seller_XQgyqVkc3BLJO
We were dinged for packages that arrived on time!
Seller_bzHT6bQ9deVVk
here is a way how to be protected
"""" For OTDR Protection: If you purchase a shipping label with the "OTDR Protected" badge in Amazon Buy Shipping and used Automated Handling Time (AHT) and Shipping Settings Automation (SSA), your OTDR will not be negatively impacted by late deliveries.""""
Seller_QjYfjZwWH8D0l
@Quincy_Amazon
Same here. I went from 100% on time to 96.44% overnight. I downloaded the report. It showed that the carrier scanned all the "late" shipments on time. We use Amazon Buy Shipping, so I thought I was protected from late shipment hits as long as the carrier scanned on time.
I called Account Health support, which was, as usual, a waste of time. The agent answered, "Ship on time, and everything will be okay." I explained to her that all the shipments in the report were shipped on time, but I still got dinged for late deliveries. She then told me to call Seller Support because there was nothing else she could do.
Seller_0vK0FOuRXFwld
Promised delivery date without a promise extension: 7/18/24 06:59:59 GMT, Actual delivery date: 7/18/24 22:03:00 GMT
For this order, we shipped 1 day earlier and the package was delayed because of the weather, but since we sent it a day before, it should have been fine. Guess what? This was marked late... how and why.... Do sellers have to consider the delivery time now?? This is mind-blowing..
Seller_OvL8C4BJWiuS9
Also, this:
What is Amazon’s policy for on-time delivery without promise extensions?
Effective September 25, 2024, you must maintain a minimum 90% on-time delivery rate (OTDR) without promise extensions to have seller-fulfilled products listed on Amazon.com. An OTDR below 90% can result in restriction of your ability to have seller-fulfilled products listed. For a great customer experience, we recommend that you maintain a 95% or greater OTDR for all seller-fulfilled orders.
What is changing?
Our updated policy requires a minimum 90% OTDR without promise extensions to have seller-fulfilled products listed on Amazon.com. An OTDR below 90% can result in restriction of your ability to have seller-fulfilled products listed. To help provide a positive customer experience, we recommend that you maintain a 95% or greater OTDR for all seller-fulfilled orders.
We are also changing the way we measure OTDR to now measure the percentage of your tracked seller-fulfilled items that were delivered on or before the seller-promised "Deliver by" date prior to promise extensions being added. Before this change, OTDR was measured after promise extensions were added. Promise extensions are additional days that we may add to the delivery date to account for logistical factors that may delay a delivery such as extreme weather, transportation network constraints, or recent history of a seller delivering shipments after their set delivery date. This policy does not apply to offers using the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service because sellers are not responsible for on-time delivery promises for FBA orders.
Note: We will communicate as we roll out the OTDR policy, and any changes from the policy as it stands today, that may affect you.
It's not Sept 25th, and there were no announcements!!!
Seller_rroWYWFgu113Q
We need answers on this, Amazon. Our account went from around 99% on time delivery to 85%. And I don't understand how this is possible. We ship almost all shipments through Amazon Buy Shipping or Amazon Shipping Ground (the carrier) and have SSA automated shipping templates. Our late shipment rate is 0%.
In our "fulfillment insights dashboard," our promised delivery time is 5.7 days, and actual delivery time is 4.2 days.
Our handling time promise: 1 day. Actual: .9 days.
Transit time promise: 3.6 days. Actual: 3.2 days.
And somehow this all equates to a 85% ODR? What's almost funny is a massive portion of our dinged shipments are with Amazon Ground Shipping... their own carrier. How do we not have protection when using their own carrier?
