We are a small company, just a team of eight, and I am honestly at my wits' end with some of the nonsense we have to put up with as Amazon sellers. Today’s gem: a customer returned our pre-mixed brick filler, claiming it arrived with missing parts, missing accessories, or incorrect quantities. This simply is not possible. Every batch is hand mix, tubs are hand-filled and double-checked before dispatch. On top of that, the shipping label proves the weight was correct when it left us.

Fast-forward to the return. The seal on the tub is broken, the inner bag is ripped open, and 100g out of a 700g container is missing. Clearly, the product has been used. But because the customer claimed it was short on arrival, I already know how this is likely to go. I have filed a SAFE-T claim, but the odds are stacked against us. Amazon seems to treat every customer claim as gospel, no matter how obvious the abuse.

To make it worse, this is the second SAFE-T claim in two days. The other was another brick filler, returned after half had been used, with the excuse that it did not match the description. We actually won that claim, but only for 40% of the item value. As if we can resell partially used, exposed filler. Once it is opened, it is ruined and has to be thrown away, but we still take the hit because Amazon will only partially reimburse us.

I am just so sick of it. We are not some faceless large multinational company.. These constant losses really hurt us. It is demoralising watching customers get away with what is basically theft, while Amazon shrugs and passes the cost back to us. If you are a small business selling on Amazon, you have my sympathy. Rant over.