Time scale for customers making A-Z claims

#1

Looking at the info on Amazons’ help pages i find the following in regards to when an A-Z claim can be made:

"Timeframe for Claims

If you haven’t received your order, you must wait 3 days past the maximum estimated delivery date for an order (as indicated in the order details in Your Account) or 30 days from the order date, whichever is sooner, before making an A-to-z claim for an item not received. You can submit an A-to-z claim up to 90 days after the order date.

Please note that if you received a materially different or defective item, you must contact the Seller within 14 days of receipt to request return information. You must do this before you can make an A-to-z claim."

Anyone shed some light on how a customer who made a purchase on 9th October 2013 is able to open an A-Z claim with me today? Its almost 4 months ago now. Just seems mad to me becuase from what i have read in other posts its very likely Amazon will find in the customers favour and if customers can make claims when ever they like whats to protect sellers?

#2

Normally the buyer cannot open a claim themselves after 90 days, but if they contact CS either on live chat, email, or phone then the CS rep has the ability to open an A-Z on the buyers behalf which may have happened in your case, gets shot of the Customer Complaint and leaves the seller with the problem.

Not a lot you can do other than point out the claim is outside the 90 days you advise for making such claims.

I had a buyer make a claim for an item not received 4.5 years (yes years) after ordering, thankfully in my case Amazon did not open an A-Z claim.

#3

Hi Sarah

Yes, it is out of the time frame but is still possible to do so. You need to communicate with your customer and make sure you communicate with Amazon as a matter of urgency.

Is this for an item that is defective or was received damaged? Did you not hear from your customer prior to this claim?

All you can do is communicate as above with your customer and Amazon via the Seller Support link at the bottom of the page. Do this sooner rather than later.

Best wishes
Sue

#4

Ah I didnt realise it could work that way. So if a customer was to call a rep may open a claim. Thats a bit naughty really, treating some customer differently just based on the method of contact is not terribly fair. Thanks to both of you for clearing that up though, learnt something new there!

I had some correspondence with this customer in January. Its not the first return request I have received outside the 30 day mark, was the first I had outside the 90 day mark though! First they claimed item received wasn’t working, now its not of the quality they would like. They don’t want to return it however and they don’t want a replacement. They also threatened to embark on a facebook campaign to ruin my business.

A-Z popped up today. I am generally very flexible with timescales when it comes to any type of return/refund, but contacting me after 3 months was beyond what I deemed sensible and now claiming again after nearly 4 months just seems mad. Any refusal to return goods just stinks to me, no genuine customer would refuse to return goods they want a refund on (and of course I offered to pay postage).

I have conveyed that as politely as I could in the claim, i’m hoping Amazon will stick to their own rules and decline the claim based on the time frame. All this over a DVD!

#5

As others have explained, a customer can contact Amazon after the 90 day limit to ask that an A-Z case be opened. This should not be possible for “item not received”, where there is a clear time limit for making claims. But it can be possible if an item develops a fault after the 90 day period, but is still well within the normal expected lifespan of the item. For Amazon this is a way of ensuring that marketplace transactions abide by the Sale of Goods Act. The key to managing this is communication with the buyer. If you are sure you haven’t had any messages from the buyer (check the messages area of your seller account, rather than relying on email, as messages can get diverted to spam folders), tell Amazon this. And try to start a dialogue with the buyer, firstly to establish what the problem is, and then to agree a way of resolving it to mutual satisfaction.

Paul

#6

I would guess because there was earlier communication on the order between yourself and the buyer, that may be the reason the CS rep decided to allow the A-Z claim after 90 days and yes they can decided to open if contacted by the Customer, a flexibility CS reps have I believe.

I do hope after this time Amazon support you on this and decline the claim, but sometimes they decide you are not at fault, but issue the buyer a refund from their own pocket, so don’t be surprised if this happens.

#7

Amazon were kind enough to refund from my funds because the claim was opened under the heading materially different. Apparently any claims opened under this heading are automaticly found in the customers favour.

“Because you listed a different item/version than the one advertised on the detail page, the item was materially different than described, and the buyer is automatically eligible for the A-to-z Guarantee, whether they return the item or not. We always hope that sellers and buyers are able to work out a transaction before resorting to the Guarantee, but once the Guarantee is filed, we will take appropriate action from our end.”

Of course the item was not different at all, even the customer states item faulty. Feels like a set up now, I could have typed gibberish in the A-Z claim and it still would have been found in the customers favour.

I have appealed so hopefully a human reads the claim notes.

#8

I’m sorry to hear that Sarah, had I have been aware the A-Z was alleged as ‘materially different’ I may have suggested you don’t respond to the claim direct for robots to deal with, but respond via the email you received from Amazon advising of the claim as this route means someone has to read before updating the claim and making a decision.

It’s very rare to hear of Amazon reversing a claim once awarded in the buyers favor, but good luck with your appeal as it’s quite unfair that buyers can select incorrect reasons for the claim and CS don’t appear often to link the header to the previous communication which may clarify the situation.

#9

“I had a buyer make a claim for an item not received 4.5 years (yes years) after ordering”

Wow. I thought I had the longest attempted at 2 years! I dont know how people have the nerve - Id be too embarrassed.

#10

I was amused as the buyer said they could not find the DVD so assumed it must not have been received, I did confirm posting details and sent them a photo of the front cover (Music DVD) to assist him with his search.

I bet RM would also have a laugh at being asked to investigate something posted over 4 years, or even 2 years back that had not arrived in your case.

closed #11