Customer Abuse with Amazon Return Policy
Subject: Issue with Customer Return Outside Return Policy Period
Order ID: 111-0650154-4744231
Dear Amazon Seller Forum Community,
I hope this message finds you well. I'm writing to seek guidance and advice regarding a recent experience I had with a customer return, and I'm hoping that some of you may have encountered similar situations and can offer insights on how to proceed.
Here's the situation: A customer ordered an item from my store on November 25, 2013. They initiated a return request on December 14, 2023, citing that the wrong item was sent. However, the return process remained dormant until February 8, 2024, when the customer decided to return the item.
My concern arises from the fact that Amazon issued a refund to the customer even though the return was initiated after the standard return policy period had expired. The customer had the item for a total of 76 days, during which time they likely used it, reducing its value significantly.
Notwithstanding the customer also left a negative review in the "Voice of the Customer" which effects my ability to sell on this platform.
I contacted Amazon via phone to inquire about this issue, and the representative informed me that there is no specific return policy timeframe and that customers can return items at any time. This response contradicts my understanding that for orders placed during the holiday period, the return window typically extends until January 31 of the following year.
I've read about other sellers encountering similar situations where Amazon allowed customers to return items after the return period had ended. I'm now seeking advice on what options I have at this point, aside from filing a Safe-T claim.
Any insights, experiences, or suggestions you can share would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Best regards,
Noel
Customer Abuse with Amazon Return Policy
Subject: Issue with Customer Return Outside Return Policy Period
Order ID: 111-0650154-4744231
Dear Amazon Seller Forum Community,
I hope this message finds you well. I'm writing to seek guidance and advice regarding a recent experience I had with a customer return, and I'm hoping that some of you may have encountered similar situations and can offer insights on how to proceed.
Here's the situation: A customer ordered an item from my store on November 25, 2013. They initiated a return request on December 14, 2023, citing that the wrong item was sent. However, the return process remained dormant until February 8, 2024, when the customer decided to return the item.
My concern arises from the fact that Amazon issued a refund to the customer even though the return was initiated after the standard return policy period had expired. The customer had the item for a total of 76 days, during which time they likely used it, reducing its value significantly.
Notwithstanding the customer also left a negative review in the "Voice of the Customer" which effects my ability to sell on this platform.
I contacted Amazon via phone to inquire about this issue, and the representative informed me that there is no specific return policy timeframe and that customers can return items at any time. This response contradicts my understanding that for orders placed during the holiday period, the return window typically extends until January 31 of the following year.
I've read about other sellers encountering similar situations where Amazon allowed customers to return items after the return period had ended. I'm now seeking advice on what options I have at this point, aside from filing a Safe-T claim.
Any insights, experiences, or suggestions you can share would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Best regards,
Noel
Seller_45lz39gJDTfbW
Not defending Amazon here, but once the buyer initiates a return, they have another 60 days to actually return the item (you read that right). With FBA orders, if the buyer does not return the item within 60 days of initiating the return, the seller is reimbursed for the item. In your case, it was less than 60 days from December 14, 2023 until February 8, 2024.
If I remember correctly, it used to be 45 days to actually return the item once the return process was initiated. That was a few years ago, though. (Adding another 15 days to actually make the return "delights the customer.")
Because the buyer purchased the item from you between November 1, 2023 an December 31, 2023, they had until January 31 to start a return. The return didn't have to get back to you or get scanned before January 31st, though, because the return was initiated on December 14th. If they had initiated the return on November 2nd, they would have had to actually return it to you (or have the return scanned?) by ~January 2nd.
Of course, as usual, seller support has no idea what they're talking about, as revealed by them telling you, "that there is no specific return policy timeframe and that customers can return items at any time." That is incorrect.
Finally, never underestimate the Amazon's desire to "delight the customer" with your money instead of theirs.
0 replies
Seller_4zBzdtgCyS9EI
you mean aside from the logical next step? WHY?
Seller_CWVqoa7bcBLFI
Horrible experience. We have our ridiculous return policy stories to tell too.
We are new sellers on Amazon, and hearing these stories is extremely disheartening. Good thing, we are also long time buyers on Amazon and good to know we can return many of our items we purchased long ago and now have decided we do not want anymore.
Seller_Xt914bIpoaB0p
I completely agree with you. The seller suffers a lot of loss due to this. On which Amazon should take action
Seller_D7mNsI9QDpUdP
Welcome to Amazon selling, and the inevitable frustration and losses associated with it. 1.) "voice of the customer". was not, last I checked, a metric that will affect your seller account. Last I checked!) 2.) The refund policies are notoriously unfair to sellers and the usual advice to get help from seller central only adds to the time and effort spent with no better outcome. 3). Sometimes the moderators can ofer some help and occasionally that will see you through to a satisfactory result. I wish you the best.
Seller_hLH0bAcCwYcos
This happens on here all the time. Customers abuse the return process regularly. The proper answer is, the customer had no right to keep your product for two and a half months and then even attempt to return it. The return should have been rejected immediately. Or at least you should have had the right to charge a late return restock fee.
The Practical answer is, this customer abused Amazon's return policy. The best bet is to hope that you don't get more like them, lest you go out of business. And accept the return, report them to Amazon for abusing the return policy. Especially if the product is returned used and nothing is wrong with it. And lastly, Salvage what you can of the product value and resell it used for a huge discount. You'll prob make no profit but hopefully you'll get your money back. You kind of have to lick your wounds on here when customers abuse this policy. Until Amazon puts something forth to protect sellers such as the ability to block customers who blatantly abuse their return policy, we are helpless in this regard. Reselling the product at Salvage, reporting the customer for abuse of returns, and moving on are your best moves. Sorry you're going through this. Hopefully it won't be a regular thing. God bless, Lee
Seller_4K7eqIN4GuF2E
Obviously the Amazon rep is 100% wrong but its not Amazon's money so Amazon does not care.
Filing a case and escalating will get the same result as banging your head against the wall - a severe headache.
My advice is do NOT put all your eggs into Amazon's basket. Sell on multiple platforms and limit what you list here. Having more listings does not mean that Amazon appreciates you more. We stock more than 20,000 different items but list less than 400 on Amazon (and none with a retail price more than $50.00 to limit losses).
And when Amazon gives us a problem with an item, we zero out the quantity so when someone looks for our item Amazon tells them that its "out of stock and Amazon does not know when it will be back in stock".
When Amazon "removes" a detail page we remove our listing completely.
Seller_45lz39gJDTfbW
Not defending Amazon here, but once the buyer initiates a return, they have another 60 days to actually return the item (you read that right). With FBA orders, if the buyer does not return the item within 60 days of initiating the return, the seller is reimbursed for the item. In your case, it was less than 60 days from December 14, 2023 until February 8, 2024.
If I remember correctly, it used to be 45 days to actually return the item once the return process was initiated. That was a few years ago, though. (Adding another 15 days to actually make the return "delights the customer.")
Because the buyer purchased the item from you between November 1, 2023 an December 31, 2023, they had until January 31 to start a return. The return didn't have to get back to you or get scanned before January 31st, though, because the return was initiated on December 14th. If they had initiated the return on November 2nd, they would have had to actually return it to you (or have the return scanned?) by ~January 2nd.
Of course, as usual, seller support has no idea what they're talking about, as revealed by them telling you, "that there is no specific return policy timeframe and that customers can return items at any time." That is incorrect.
Finally, never underestimate the Amazon's desire to "delight the customer" with your money instead of theirs.
Seller_hWNFOM4zkbej8
Welcome to the world of Amazon refunding any and everything. On many of my returns now, Amazon is refunding orders before they even get returned to me. I asked Amazon about this, and their response was; "We show the item has a tracking number and should be heading back to you."
I am selling more units now than a year ago, but never see my profit increase. hmmm wonder why
Seller_9Uf78DYSZ2lcW
Exploring alternative avenues allows for a comprehensive approach to problem-solving and may uncover potential solutions or mitigations that could resolve the issue more effectively or efficiently. Additionally, considering various options ensures that no potential recourse is overlooked, thereby maximizing the chances of achieving a satisfactory resolution.
In the context of your situation, while filing a Safe-T claim may ultimately be necessary, it's prudent to explore other possibilities first, such as engaging with Amazon's support team, seeking advice from fellow sellers, or reviewing any applicable policies or guidelines.
So, I see nothing wrong with opening a discussion here on the Topic Just for people to share relevant information.
However, the Assumption that "engaging with Amazon's Support Team" will provide you with appropriate solutions should be addressed. Saddly, most of Amazon's Seller Support Teams that you might have direct access to reach upon requesting a call back or sending an e-mail case to seller support, 1-have no real power or authority to do or confirm anything for you. 2-are rarely trained to do much more than copy/paste or read the script that the AI generated for them which as we all know often has little or nothing to do with the actual problem. 3-if you actually need to get Seller Support to take a particular action, you usually need to know what that action is, be able to give them the right keyword to get them to find the correct instructions to follow, provide them with case numbers of similar past cases that actually did get handled correctly as examples, and know which team to request escalation to. AND THEN you may also need to provide the case number in the Seller Forum and tag a Mod to have them look/escalate the case to the appropriate team since so much of the Actual Seller Support work is done by AI, this seems to be the primary way to get an actual person to read and maybe understand the case and hopefully direct it to the appropriate place.
Seller_TyNPnzv9SaYa3
Amazon is hands down the worst since they penalize sellers brutally for getting a neg feedback, which means many sellers especially just had to take the abuse.
According the industry the trend is to force sellers to give a partial refund even if an item is trashed or the buyer engages in outright fraud.
Shady drop shippers are learning how to abuse by ordering 2 items off amazon to fill an order on ebay, give one item to their customer, engage in some return fraud with the other item so make get a bigger ROI.
There are forums devoted to gaming returns because there is almost zero risk as long the scammers keep to total value below $1,000,000.
One company locally that made inverters closed up (sold out foreign buyer) because they where losing money hand over fist from people using Amazon to free rent inverters for camping trips. Been told it is a huge problem with many recreational products like snowboards, camping equip, etc.
I used to rail against people/sites that encouraged this, but now I think the only way this will get fixed is for the fraud to get so bad that it starts to hurt companies that have lobbyists.
