Amazon wrongly put ODR on my account. And for that I lose all my features buy box.
As an Amazon seller for over 10 years, I believe last year was the hardest for everyone. The economy slowed to a halt, and many sellers experienced an increase in their ODR (Order Defect Rate) simply because they couldn't push more orders.
Our store faced the same challenges. Instead of receiving support from Amazon, they pushed us to the edge and ultimately down the drain.
We had a case ID involving a chargeback from a customer. Despite using and purchasing Amazon’s shipping label/service, which is supposed to come with a guarantee, the customer claimed they never received the package—even though tracking showed it was delivered to the correct address. Somehow, not only did we have to reimburse the customer, but we also received an ODR case. This pushed our ODR from 1% to 1.56%, barely over the threshold.
As a result, we are now sitting on tons of inventory, and every plan we had for selling, discounts, and marketing has been effectively terminated.
As expected, Amazon’s customer service had no clue why this happened. Their system acknowledged that the case ID was mistakenly counted against our ODR and promised to correct it, but the Buy Box feature never returned. Since then, our sales have been stagnant, and our rating has remained unchanged.
This is why, if you sell on Amazon, be aware that their system is highly prone to errors, and the ones left dealing with the losses are always the sellers. Check your A-Z claims daily and fight for every case.
Amazon wrongly put ODR on my account. And for that I lose all my features buy box.
As an Amazon seller for over 10 years, I believe last year was the hardest for everyone. The economy slowed to a halt, and many sellers experienced an increase in their ODR (Order Defect Rate) simply because they couldn't push more orders.
Our store faced the same challenges. Instead of receiving support from Amazon, they pushed us to the edge and ultimately down the drain.
We had a case ID involving a chargeback from a customer. Despite using and purchasing Amazon’s shipping label/service, which is supposed to come with a guarantee, the customer claimed they never received the package—even though tracking showed it was delivered to the correct address. Somehow, not only did we have to reimburse the customer, but we also received an ODR case. This pushed our ODR from 1% to 1.56%, barely over the threshold.
As a result, we are now sitting on tons of inventory, and every plan we had for selling, discounts, and marketing has been effectively terminated.
As expected, Amazon’s customer service had no clue why this happened. Their system acknowledged that the case ID was mistakenly counted against our ODR and promised to correct it, but the Buy Box feature never returned. Since then, our sales have been stagnant, and our rating has remained unchanged.
This is why, if you sell on Amazon, be aware that their system is highly prone to errors, and the ones left dealing with the losses are always the sellers. Check your A-Z claims daily and fight for every case.
14 replies
Seller_OvL8C4BJWiuS9
Always take what Amazon says with a grain of salt. If the shipment didn't follow all the rules associated with buy shipping, then Amazon will not cover it.
Seller_hFzlf81bvje9u
We and many other sellers did great last year. But seriously, if you have been on this platform for 10 years, I would expect you to have a pretty high account health rating -- which 1 chargeback would not greatly affect. So very strange.
We had a case ID involving a chargeback from a customer. Despite using and purchasing Amazon’s shipping label/service, which is supposed to come with a guarantee, the customer claimed they never received the package—even though tracking showed it was delivered to the correct address. Somehow, not only did we have to reimburse the customer, but we also received an ODR case. This pushed our ODR from 1% to 1.56%, barely over the threshold.
Buy shipping via Amazon only protects you from ODR, OTDR AND INR claims IF you have Automated handling rate and transit speed turned on. If you don't have both programs within your shipping template, you are not protected.
What is your current account health? Also, when you receive a chargeback, Amazon gives you ample time for you to defend the chargeback by providing the ship date, shipping method, tracking # and and additional comments box. You need to provide as much information as possible! We have never lost a chargeback, or at least have never had to be held responsible for you.
Either we have:
You are not responsible for this chargeback or its reimbursement. OR
You are not responsible, we successfully defended the chargeback.
In this game, volume is king. Last 60 days in account health, we have done 4611 orders and have 4 "order defects" during that time. Our ODR as a result is 0.0009%. As a matter of fact, mathematically, we would need to receive 461 negative seller feedbacks in a given period of 60 days to be affected (1% ODR threshold), which is highly unlikely -- and if we did, we totally deserve it.
Seller_7F5NkPdsBpVEc
If someone from Amazon could drop by and do internal check formy case it would be greatfull @Glenn_Amazon
Seller_DBzTQPDCouH9d
It's unbelievable. This company apparently has A LOT of inept employees with no clue of how anything has happened. Does Amazon not train them?
Seller_qMgi7qxvEo7f1
I got like 3 CC chargebacks in the past 12 years.
1 chargeback, because a scammer didn't want to pay
2 chargebacks, because the customers' credit cards were stolen and their banks did the chargebacks even on legit purchases
How is a seller at fault? I was found at fault for all 3 chargebacks. Even though for the 2, the customers told me their situation.
It was pretty sad getting punished for the chargebacks. I think 1 guy re-ordered the product, it was nice of him.
Seller_oDXVaydIpi3Hi
INR does NOT require AHT
Buy shipping via Amazon only protects you from ODR, OTDR AND INR claims IF you have Automated handling rate and transit speed turned on. If you don't have both programs within your shipping template, you are not protected.
Seller_4mtlGtoHN5tIN
We are in the same boat and we are below the 1% threshold. From what I can see that 1% does not matter, you have to have a complete clean slate at 0%. Our sales dropped 99% after the ridiculous item not received charge-back which as you also mention Amazon should cover under the Buy Shipping protection which we also used.
This marketplace is done in my opinion, Amazon is not making money from sales. They are making money buy scamming and screwing all third party sellers on the platform. A class action lawsuit is much needed.
Seller_BsdBs9W9X7AKY
We blindly refund back everyone. It cost us like 1% or so of our gross profits to do this and it keeps our account clear of violations and "most" issues around shipping, chargebacks, etc. We just build that into our overall cost which again, is not much. But I feel your pain! Its hard to work with CS sometimes when they simply cut/paste replies back that have nothing to do with your issue. Do you not have an account executive? You should. Even one of my new clients got one after only selling like 3 items. It does help to have a live person you can talk to whenever you need to and then they can escalate the issue to the right team. Its a small process but well worth it if you can get an account exec to work with you. Good luck!!
Seller_WtOwWhtSrFjva
If you lost the case it is because you did not ship on time.
Or you refunded instead of having the customer file an A to Z claim.
I have never lost a case if we shipped on time.
Seller_TTc5Vo48AaOHg
If I am understanding your chain of events correctly.
The buyer filed and AZ claim for an item not received, but withdrew it and then filed a chargeback? If that's accurate, then the reason the chargeback affected your ODR can likely be found by reviewing the following hoops that had to be jumped. If that's accurate, then those are 2 different events and one has nothing to do with the other. If I read the correspondence correctly and understood the chain of events, then it looks like Amazon did not count the AZ Claim against your ODR, but did count the chargeback.
When the charge back was filed did you respond by the deadline and provide the tracking information and quote the buy shipping policy?
Does the label have a 'protected badge"?
Did you ship by a covered service level? (Not all service levels are covered). The lowest cost options often have have a 'may arrive late' warning. Those are not covered.
Was this a Seller Fullfilled Prime Order? I ask because premium shipping is not covered.
Did the carrier scan the package in as 'accepted' (not a scan sheet or the odd way Amazon says 'package left the facility' which really just means the label was printed) before midnight of the ship by date?
Did the delivery scan happen before midnight of the last day of the estimated delivery window provided by Amazon?
If any of those hoops were missed, then that's the reason. If all were jumped then just keep appealing and asking for help. Maybe a Moderator will see this and check for you.
These things that are beyond our control are frustrating and demoralizing, and I am sorry to read about what happened to your sales as a result. Fortunately, the ODR will reset soon and hopefully your sales will then return to normal.
