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
133 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
Spencer_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
I will follow up on the case.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
I've now been told that the products that were in the non-authorised EU FCs have been disposed of and that the Inventory Ledger that says they are still in the FCs is incorrect. I guess I need to wait to see if we get charged any more long term storage fees before I know if this is correct or not.
But the other really confusing issue is that I have also been told that to remove or dispose of inventory in the non-authorised EU FCs we can simply set up automated removal / disposal requests for each of the unauthorised EU countries (ie, all countries other than Spain) - ie, manually uploading flat files for every removal / disposal is not required. This is difficult to believe seeing as this case has been going on for nearly 4 months now, and if it was as simple as that I'm sure someone would have told us about it by now. It's also unclear exactly where these automated removal / disposal requests can be set up (if they actually can be).
I had expected everything to be resolved about this by now and had ordered more products to be made at the factory in China to be sent to Spain FCs. But until this is resolved I think it is too high risk to send any more products to Spain for EFN, so I have cancelled that for now, we will do some FBM into the EU from the UK for now and see how that goes.
In theory the EFN system should work though, and if there is a system that works to get any returns removed or disposed of then we definitely want to do it. I really don't want to give up on this, but it's already taken so long, and taken up so much time. Is there some way you can find an understandable working solution without our side having to spend any more time and effort on this?
Spencer_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
I am continuing to loop our partner teams in. As this is a different issue than our original cases, I have requested another look into this situation.
I also hope this will be solved soon.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Ok, thanks Spencer. Please let me know when you hear something.
Although this is a different issue it is an issue within the same problem, the EFN Problem. Amazon closed the cases because they said it was a different issue, which is understandable as they have to have some sort of bureaucratic system in place. But instead of transferring it to a new case for the new issue they just shut everything down and gave up on solving the actual problem altogether. Surely there should be something in place that sees the bigger picture so that problems actually get solved instead of just boxes getting ticked. I'm hoping that's you in this case. Anyway all I can do now is wait and see what happens.
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
More long term storage fees have been charged for Italy again, so it seems the Inventory Ledger was correct and the products have not been disposed of.
PLEASE, PLEASE, can something be done about this urgently!!!!
This is now not a different issue, it is exactly the same issue that I opened this thread with 4 months ago. This is what I wrote at that time:
"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."
Spencer_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
I have contacted our partner team and asked them to prioritize this.
I will keep you posted.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Thanks Spencer. Yes, please do keep me updated here, as all cases have now been closed. These posts here are the only way left to move this forward and hopefully eventually solve the problem.
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
We've now been charged more long term storage fees for Germany too. Please can you ask that any storage fees that we're being charged now are refunded back to us. We've already been trying to sort this out for over 4 months. As nobody has been able to resolve the problem by now then I think we have to begin to accept that they may never be able to and that the EFN system cannot be used due to this.
Unfortunately, although I have cancelled the next stock that was to be made at the factory, I have been unable to stop the current stock going into Spain for EFN. This will arrive in Spain FCs soon. If it does turn out that this problem cannot be fixed, and therefore the EFN system cannot be used without storage fees and long term storage fees increasing month on month with no way of stopping them, please can I have some reassurances that I will be reimbursed for any losses. This is not my fault, I flagged this problem over 4 months ago and since then have done everything i have been asked in all attempts to resolve this. I had no reason to think it would not be solved by now and went ahead and shipped more stock to Spain FCs to be used within the EFN system on that basis.
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi again Spencer,
I have now been contacted by someone else at Amazon who has opened another case to look into this. This is my reply to them:
"Thanks for your message. It's good to hear that someone else is going to have another go at resolving this. Obviously if the issue can be resolved that would be good, but as I've already been through this several times I don't want to get my hopes up or make any plans regarding that. From my side there's no way for me to know what the chances of this being resolved are, as the only thing I have to go on is that nobody has been able to solve it yet even though several people have tried over an extended period of time. But maybe (and hopefully) you have a much better insight into this, so I'm trying to be as optimistic as possible under the circumstances.
But whether it can be resolved or not, please can you draw a line under what has happened so far and prioritise us being recompensed for this. We have received reimbursements for some of the period (which, at the time I was told was provided as a "goodwill gesture" and that these previous storage fees charged were "valid"....!! - we all of course now know that neither Amazon, or us following Amazon's advice, can find any way to stop these storage charges, so they certainly can't be called valid). But there are now storage and long term storage charges charged since then, and there were storage and long term storage charges charged previous to that. I've been told Amazon no longer has the data on the charges for the previous period but I'm sure this could be estimated in some way even if it's not totally accurate. I've also personally spent somewhere in the region of 2 full working days trying to get this case resolved by both doing what various people at Amazon have asked and providing feedback on the situation in an effort to reach a resolution. As you know, so far this has been an almost entirely wasted effort. I hope you agree that it would be a good gesture on the part of Amazon, and show that even if there are serious issues like this, sellers are still looked after in some way and don't have to take the hit for issues not caused by them. Anyway, I'd be grateful if you could please look into that and let me know."
Besides what I have said in the case log above, in order to sell though the EFN system we have also needed to get VAT registered in an EU country (in our case Spain), pay an accountancy company to do that, and pay the accountancy company quarterly fees for the VAT filings. If this issue does not get resolved and we cannot continue to sell through EFN we will also need to pay the accountants to deregister the VAT. There is also all the time and planning that was involved in setting this up, and the fact that we have now had to change our sales and marketing plans for selling into the EU due to this (then, if it does get resolved, change them back again). We only started selling through the EFN system in the first place because Amazon contacted us and encouraged us to sell in more marketplaces. This is not to mention that even if this is successfully resolved it is in the most part high value items in sellable condition that will be destroyed, so even that is not ideal, but a least there won't be charges added on every month that we cannot control or stop.
Really all we want to do is sell into the EU through Amazon using the EFN system. We have followed and abided by everything we have been told by Amazon, yet this is the situation we find ourselves in. So, now I'm requesting a resolution for recompense for what has happened so far, that most people would consider fair under the circumstances, regardless of whether or not the issue can finally be resolved so that the EFN system can be used. As previously, anything you can do to assist in this regard would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Spencer_Amazon
Thank you @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
Please keep me posted, I will also continue to monitor it.
Regards, Spencer
