EFN Problem
Serious problem with EFN, can anyone help? We are a UK own brand seller. We enrolled in the EFN program in the EU some time ago, and our products are stored in FBA warehousing in Spain. Because we are only VAT registered in Spain (not any other EU country), Amazon's rule is that products can only be stored in Spain. They are then distributed to customers both within Spain and in other EU countries. This works fine. However, the problem we are having is that when a customer returns a product that they bought in Germany (for example), this product is then sent back to FBA Germany. So far, also fine, because to abide by their own rules you would think Amazon would then forward the product back to FBA Spain (these are products in sellable condition). But they don't! Not only do they keep them in Germany (and other EU countries), they charge for storage there even though these products are not for sale because they are not in Spain. Also, because they are not in Spain when you go to Manage All Inventory and FBA Inventory, only the products in Spain FBA are listed. So we don't get proper visibility on those and these products outside Spain increase each time there is a return. And we are charged storage fees each month and now long term storage fees too, which are adding up. We have found out that only by doing a full Inventory Ledger report can these products be seen. We have contacted Seller Support and asked them these questions:
1. How do we stop returns being sent to non-Spain EU FBA warehouses?
2. How can we get the products that are already in non-Spain EU warehouse sent back to FBA Spain warehouses?
For number 1 we were initially told that the returns settings had been set up incorrectly but they were correct now, and that this would not happen again. However, it keeps happening.
For number 2 we were told that this is not possible, that they can only be sent to a third party address within the EU. We don't have such an address as we are UK based and rely on Amazon for warehousing.
We then contacted Seller Support again, and asked these questions:
A. Again, how do we stop returns being sent to non-Spain EU FBA warehouses?
B. As we did not request these products to be returned to non-Spain EU FBA warehouses (and this seems to be against Amazon's own policies), please can we be refunded the monies paid for non-Spain EU FBA storage fees?
C. As we don't have any address within the EU, if they cannot be sent back to Spain FBA our only option is to have these products destroyed (even though they are in sellable condition).
For A and B we received no response about this. For C we were sent information about how to send the products to a 3rd party address within the EU (which we don't have), and the question about destroying the products was ignored.
At this point we gave up with Seller Support and I contacted a third party Amazon service provider and asked them for a quote to get these products destroyed. They have now been looking into this for a week and they cannot yet find out how to do this.
Has anyone experienced a similar situation? Or if someone from Amazon would respond and help, even better. In all fairness we should really have the storage costs refunded, and be provided with a way to stop this happening again, otherwise it is a drain on our business and undermines the viability of the EFN program.
@Sakura_Amazon_
@Sarah_Amzn
@Winston_Amazon
@Simon_Amazon
@Julia_Amzn
@Ezra_Amazon
EFN Problem
Serious problem with EFN, can anyone help? We are a UK own brand seller. We enrolled in the EFN program in the EU some time ago, and our products are stored in FBA warehousing in Spain. Because we are only VAT registered in Spain (not any other EU country), Amazon's rule is that products can only be stored in Spain. They are then distributed to customers both within Spain and in other EU countries. This works fine. However, the problem we are having is that when a customer returns a product that they bought in Germany (for example), this product is then sent back to FBA Germany. So far, also fine, because to abide by their own rules you would think Amazon would then forward the product back to FBA Spain (these are products in sellable condition). But they don't! Not only do they keep them in Germany (and other EU countries), they charge for storage there even though these products are not for sale because they are not in Spain. Also, because they are not in Spain when you go to Manage All Inventory and FBA Inventory, only the products in Spain FBA are listed. So we don't get proper visibility on those and these products outside Spain increase each time there is a return. And we are charged storage fees each month and now long term storage fees too, which are adding up. We have found out that only by doing a full Inventory Ledger report can these products be seen. We have contacted Seller Support and asked them these questions:
1. How do we stop returns being sent to non-Spain EU FBA warehouses?
2. How can we get the products that are already in non-Spain EU warehouse sent back to FBA Spain warehouses?
For number 1 we were initially told that the returns settings had been set up incorrectly but they were correct now, and that this would not happen again. However, it keeps happening.
For number 2 we were told that this is not possible, that they can only be sent to a third party address within the EU. We don't have such an address as we are UK based and rely on Amazon for warehousing.
We then contacted Seller Support again, and asked these questions:
A. Again, how do we stop returns being sent to non-Spain EU FBA warehouses?
B. As we did not request these products to be returned to non-Spain EU FBA warehouses (and this seems to be against Amazon's own policies), please can we be refunded the monies paid for non-Spain EU FBA storage fees?
C. As we don't have any address within the EU, if they cannot be sent back to Spain FBA our only option is to have these products destroyed (even though they are in sellable condition).
For A and B we received no response about this. For C we were sent information about how to send the products to a 3rd party address within the EU (which we don't have), and the question about destroying the products was ignored.
At this point we gave up with Seller Support and I contacted a third party Amazon service provider and asked them for a quote to get these products destroyed. They have now been looking into this for a week and they cannot yet find out how to do this.
Has anyone experienced a similar situation? Or if someone from Amazon would respond and help, even better. In all fairness we should really have the storage costs refunded, and be provided with a way to stop this happening again, otherwise it is a drain on our business and undermines the viability of the EFN program.
@Sakura_Amazon_
@Sarah_Amzn
@Winston_Amazon
@Simon_Amazon
@Julia_Amzn
@Ezra_Amazon
Spencer_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
What a situation, I am going to set up a meeting with my contact to find out exactly what is going on and how we can solve it.
I will let you know.
Regards, Spencer
134 replies
Spencer_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
I am Spencer with Amazon.
Have you had a chance to contact seller support on this issue?
Let me know if you need additional help.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer, Seller Support keep giving non relevant replies and then closing the case. I then have to keep reopening the case again.
Now they have sent me this below (which doesn't even make sense....) and closed the case yet again:
"Because the units were in stock markets, the storage charge if applicable, so we can't apply a refund".
As I've said previously, this situation undermines the viability of the EFN program, now the situation is made worse because Seller Support don't seem to even understand the issue yet alone provide a solution for it.
It's been almost a month now and many messages back and forth, and as far as I can see nothing has happened. Is it possible you can get someone higher up in management to intervene and get this resolved?
Spencer_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
I am sorry this is taking so long.
I will continue following up with your case.
Regards, Spencer
Spencer_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
Quick question, I heard from my contact that you mentioned that an Amazon account manager is looking into your case.
Is that in reference to me??
The reason I am asking is that my contact wants to make sure we are not doing duplicate investigations.
Let me know please.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer, yes, the account manager I mentioned is you. It's definitely a good sign that they have been in touch with you. However, I just checked the inventory in the Non-Spain EU warehouses and nothing has been removed and sent to Spain FBA since last time I checked a few weeks ago. In fact 2 more products have been sent there! One to Germany and one to Poland. So it seems during the past month since opening this case nothing at all has been done yet.
I really hope your contact can soon stop products being sent to these incorrect warehouses on-going, get the stock removed from the those warehouses and sent back to Spain, and let us have the reimbursement for all the storages fees we've been charged since when this started happening. I daren't contact Seller Support again in case they send an irrelevant response again and close the case again. Can I leave this to you to resolve please?
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi again Spencer, I've now had another message from somebody else in Seller Support that says this:
"Hello from Amazon Selling Partner Support.
Thank you for contacting us, my name is Carlos and I'm happy to assist you today.
Please be informed we had requested transshipment for the remained units and they will be transfer to ES market.Changes will be visible in 14 days."
This is exactly what I was told about 3 weeks ago but nothing was done. Also no mention of stopping more products going to the unauthorised warehouses, and nothing about the refunds. And they closed the case again too. I've sent another message back to try to keep it open but they always try to shut this down, it's a battle to keep it open. Any help from you much appreciated. Thanks.
Spencer_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
I will discuss everything that is going on later today with the team.
I will keep you updated.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Ok Spencer. If you could get them to prioritise the reimbursements at least we would have that back in the bank towards buying more stock. Thanks for your help.
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer, did you get to discuss this with the team, and if so what is the situation now please?
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer, now Seller Support have closed the case again, I'm trying to get it reopened. I really need your help with this. Seller Support provide contradictory information and make nonsensical replies. This case has been going on for well over a month now and has already taken up a considerable amount of time.
Anything I receive from Seller Support now is meaningless, because there is no way to know if what they are saying is correct or not, and/or if they will say something completely different or even opposite in their next message. And there's no way to know if the reply is coming from an AI or a person.
As things stand now, the EFN system for selling into the EU is not fit for purpose. Every month the storage charges for products that Amazon has sent to unauthorised warehouses are increasing. If it continues indefinitely then as some point these charges will be more that the monies for the EU Amazon sales coming in.
You are the only person that provides coherent, consistent and helpful feedback. Please can you dig into this deeper and maybe get higher management involved so that it can finally be resolved.
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi again Spencer, I've received another reply from Seller Support which says some of the products are now going to be sent from the unauthorised warehouses to FBA warehouses in Spain. This lists the products and is the most coherent message that I've received from Seller Support so far with this case, so I'm hopeful it might actually happen this time. I think it's possibly your help that is driving this forward, if so thank you.
There is still the issue of the other products that need returning and the reimbursements that have not been addressed yet though. I have replied with the message below. Please can you continue to help in pushing this forward.
My Reply to Seller Support:
Thanks very much for your reply. If the products that you list are being sent to Spain FBA that is good news.
Attached is an updated of list that includes those products and also the products that still need shipping to Spain. Please can you provide an update on when those products will arrive in Spain too.
Also, previously in this case (about 4 weeks ago), I asked this question:
"As we did not request these products to be returned to non-Spain EU FBA warehouses, please can we be refunded the monies paid for non-Spain EU FBA storage fees?"
And received this reply from Seller Support:
"Yes, seller may request an reimbursement for the storage fees."
But so far nothing has happened about this. I have attached the storage fees that we have been charged for the unauthorised warehouses (Germany, France and Italy) for the past 2 years. I believe you are in touch with Spencer and in addition to these 2 years, are looking into charges that were applied before this time that do not show on the reports so that those fees can be reimbursed too.
Thank you and please keep me updated as soon as you can.""
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi again Spencer,
I've had another reply from Seller Support. This time the logical conclusion of what they are saying that it is ok for them to send returned products to EU warehouses outside Spain and keep them there for over 2 years while charging us storage fees and long term storage fees each month! So we cannot be reimbursed for these fees! Literally unbelievable.
This is what they have said this time:
"Based on the information provided you contacted us in regards of a reimbursement request for storage fees over the last 2 years.
According to our records the inventory authorization was enabled on September 2022 and was not disabled after that hence no reimbursement will be applied since Amazon was authorized to store the inventory outside of ES. "
In the reply from Seller Support less than 3 hours before that, they said this:
"The system works by returning units to the closest fulfilment center, and once there, we automatically send units to another warehouse within your allowed countries for storage. It might happen some times, that the transshipment to the final destination is delayed so you see these units stored outside ES."
And, as you know, they have already agreed to reimburse the storage fees across Europe for the whole time they were charged. Under these conditions any business under the EFN system could be slowly drained of money, it seems obvious they they need to make things right financially.
I will reply and will probably then get a completely different response, but please can you keep chasing this from your side. As I'm sure you agree, this needs to be fixed, not only for our sake but for the sake of Amazon too as they are still wanting to attract sellers onto the EFN program.
Is this ok Spencer, can you stay on this case until everything is resolved?
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
I've requested an urgent update on the situation from the new person at seller support. I will update here when I receive a reply.
You're tagged, so I guess you are still following this, yes?
