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
135 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,
I have now followed up on the case with this message:
""Thanks for the update on this. I look forward to seeing the products moved to Spain FBA storage over the next 14 days.
The other part of this issue is the reimbursement for the storage fees and long term storage fees.
In addition to opening this case I have also been communicating with @Spencer_Amazon on the Amazon forums, who last week I sent this message:
"So, about the request for reimbursement. I have now looked at the charges for both storage fees and long term storage fees for the EU FBA warehouses outside Spain (ie, the warehouses that would be covered by the reimbursement), and I find this this issue has been going on much longer than I realised.
For Germany, for example (which I believe also covers the charges for FBA storage in Poland and Czechia, but I'm not sure), there are long term storage fees already being charged for this back as far as 18/07/2022 and storage fees for 08/07/2022 (same for Italy).
It won't allow me to run reports further than 2 years back, but as there are long term storage fees being charged on 18/07/2022 the charges must go back at least several months before that.
These charges are for relatively small amounts, but over the 2 years they add up to £720 for Germany, £232.44 for Italy, and £16.71 for France.
Is it possible could you advise on how I can find what non-Spain EU FBA storage charges were applied more than 2 years ago, so that these amounts can also be included when the reimbursement request is made? Thanks."
This is the Spencer's reply to that message:
"Hello @Silk_Bedding_Direct,
I have contacted our partner team to look into the storage fees across Europe for the whole time they were charged.
I will keep you posted.
Regards, Spencer"
Please can you let me know at what stage you are at for these reimbursements. I have attached 3 Excel sheets here that itemise the charges over the past two years that should be reimbursed. In addition to these there are charges added to our account today, and the charges applied more than 2 years ago as discussed with Spencer above.
If we can get all these charges reimbursed to our account as soon as possible it would be much appreciated. Thank you.""
Please keep me posted Spencer, and thanks again for your help.
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
Please can you look into this. Below is the reply I have received from Seller Support....
"Hello from Amazon Seller Partner Support;
I hope this mail find you well. I understand you would like to know if there's an historic report that you can download that goes back more that 2 years.
I would like to inform you that although there's no report that you can download, you will be able to access the ledger report. When you select the option "exact dates", please go back as much as the calendar allows you to. Once you click on generate report, go back to the calendar again and you will be able to select older dates."
I have included a link here for your reference:
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Obviously they seem to be answering a completely different question. I've now pointed that out to them and asked them to look at this again so they can initiate the reimbursements
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi again Spencer, another reply from Seller Support that in no way relates to the question asked:
"Dear Seller;
Thank you for your response. First and foremost, as per your correspondence I would like to inform you that you are responsible for the storage fees from UK, as you added that marketplace to your account on Jan 22, 2021. Also, Germany was added on Jan 11, 2023.
With regards to your question about a report that will show storage fees prior to two years, we do not have one. The Monthly Storage Fees reports will give details until July 2022.
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/reportcentral/STORAGE_FEE_CHARGES/1"
Please can you help resolve this Spencer.
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer, I'm not going to keep copying Seller Central's responses here, but I've just had yet another reply from them that doesn't address the issue.
This problem completely undermines the EFN system, it really needs to be properly resolved so that Non-EU sellers can sell into the EU using EFN. To make it worse Seller Central don't even seem to understand what the issue is, let alone have a solution.
Please help!
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer, have you any update from the partner team about the reimbursements please?
Spencer_Amazon
Hello @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
I am still working on this, I asked the team to prioritize this.
I will follow up with you tomorrow.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer, do you have the follow up for me? Thanks.
Spencer_Amazon
Not yet @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n,
I have sent them another request for an update.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
I've just had yet another reply from Seller Support that does not address this issue.
Please can you contact them again and try to get this resolved. Thanks.
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?