Hi all,
We are a large business, but we don't do a lot of FBA. We began using FBA for some of the products about a year ago and it's more of the pilot program for us. There were some hick-ups now and then, but, at the end, they were resolved. All issues with FBA were caused by Amazon (for example, receiving inventory in-full, and then lowering the received inventory a couple of weeks later).
Anyway, I ran into the following problem, and the way Amazon FBA support handled it concerns me very much. I noticed a few units were missing. I ran inventory ledger, submitted the cases, and Amazon admitted that they lost them. This was the first time I have ever done this, so this particular area is brand new to me. I asked for the reimbursement and that's where Amazon FBA dropped a big ball. In short: when it comes to lost inventory, Amazon FBA reimburses only about a half or even less than a half of what the product is worth.
For example: where the median price was in the $1,099-1,249, Amazon reimbursed only $499.73. In antoher case the median price was at around $760 and we were reimbursed only $325.39.
I objected, and they referred me to their Reimbursement Policy, which talks about median prices and offers by other sellers. I provided the information for each median price and other seller offers with the numbers, but Amazon FBA support keeps denying any increase in the reimbursement amounts. In one case they don't even say anything, they just keep repeating that they admit that they lost a unit and they they issused the reimbursement, that's all.
The funny thing is that I ran the reimbursement report and found that Amazon already reimbursed us before automatically for some of the lost/damaged units, and those amounts were in full, exactly what we are selling them for. However, when it comes to the lost units that their automatic system misses and where we have to file a manual reimbursement request, they issue a very low reimbursement amount.
Are there any tips/tricks to make Amazon pay what they owe, or is it one of those things that FBA is hoping to get away with, and what's scaring many sellers who would like to try FBA, but decide against it after reading posts like this?
I would love for a Community Manager to chip in here too and to explain why the policy says one thing, but Amazon FBA does not follow it. And why are they making it so hard for sellers? This shouldn't be like a cheap health insurance business where they automatically deny everything and pay only when are threatened to be sued. Are we doing something wrong here in terms of processes? Please advise.
Case IDs (two separate units): 15203206951 and 15203032551.
Thanks.
