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 am indeed still looking into this. Keep communicating with my colleague, he is doing all he can to solve this for you. I continue checking in with him.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
Ok, thanks.
Still none of the products have been found/sent to Spain FCs.
I've been in touch with your colleague again and received this response.
"Thank you for your detailed response. I sincerely appreciate your candor and the comprehensive overview of the challenges you've faced.
I acknowledge your points regarding:
- The ongoing delay in returning products to Spain
- The discrepancy between reimbursements and actual losses incurred
- The significant time and effort you've invested in addressing this issue
- The impact on your business operations and cash flow
I understand your frustration, especially given my previous communication about potential compensation. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
While I cannot promise any specific outcomes at this time, I want you to know that your case is receiving high-level attention.
We will continue to closely monitor the progress of your inventory transfer and work diligently to resolve all outstanding issues. I'll keep you updated on any developments.
We value your continued patience and for bringing these important points to our attention."
Since receiving the above message we've been charged yet more long term storage fees for EU Non-authorised warehouses.
This is my reply to your colleague:
"Thanks for your reply. I really hope something can be done about this.
More long term storage fees have now been charged. This was something you were going to stop from happening again, what's the situation with that please?
Also, I'm concerned that I may have just made a big mistake. We have more products at the factory that were to be sent to Spain FC for EFN, which because this issue is still ongoing I didn't know what to do with. However, I decided to take the risk of sending around a quarter of them to Spain FCs anyway in the hope that this situation would be resolved soon. They have already left the factory and it's too late to stop the shipment now. But now I'm getting really worried because if these products go missing on arrival and then we keep getting charged storage fees for them this could create a really serious problem for us.
Also, there are the other three quarters of the products just sitting in the factory. I'm not sure whether to send these to the UK and try Seller Fulfilled orders to the EU from there, or what to do with them.
I realise now that we focussed too much on Amazon and that we should have looked at other sales channels more to spread the risk. However, I didn't do that and now our good reviews for these products are on Amazon, so now would be the time to expand on Amazon if the EFN system was working. But unless something can be done really quickly Amazon has really pulled the rug from under this.
You seem to be suggesting that recompense may still be forthcoming, I really hope it is. We've invested a lot into selling on Amazon and although we've possibly been a little naive in the trust we have placed in Amazon, surely it would be in Amazon's best interest if sellers were treated fairly in a situation such as this, and helped to get through it. This is 100% not our fault, and for over 6 months now I have been trying absolutely everything I can to get this resolved. I really don't know what else I could have done.
Anyway, I realise we are powerless to do anything about this, just have to wait and see what happens, it's quite depressing really when this could be such a good opportunity.
If there is anything at all you can do to help please do it."
Spencer_Amazon
Thank you again for the detailed comments, @Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n.
I know it may not seem like it, but my contact is very much working on this with other teams on high levels of management.
Please hang in there with us and keep communicating on the case.
Regards, Spencer
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
I'm not going to copy everything here, but I have had a reply from your contact that seems fairly positive and gives hope that we could see an outcome whereby we can put this behind us. This is my reply to that:
"Thanks for your reply and the reconciliation amount of 330 EUR. That is a good gesture and is appreciated. However, you say, "while we can't undo the frustration and inconvenience you've experienced... ", but actually Amazon can go some way to undoing this. Although I realise this may not be your decision, if Amazon were to provide us with a good compensation amount, this would mean that we'd know that even if things do go wrong Amazon is essentially on our side. Much of the frustration has been because we've been put in a position whereby we are made to feel that Amazon is working against us and/or is indifferent to us. If we know that if there is a sustained systemic problem with Amazon's system such as this, that Amazon will make sure we are properly recompensed then it will be far less frustrating selling on Amazon, trust can be restored, and we can move forward. I hope whoever makes these decisions within Amazon can see that this is necessary for long term working relationships such as this.
For the inventory transfer you say that some items have been successfully moved. I can't see that anything has arrived in Spain FCs, please could you check again and if I've missed something let me know which units they are, thanks. For all the units that have not yet arrived back Spain FCs surely after all this time, and all the failed attempts to get them there, they should finally be declared as lost? Anyway, please let me know the situation with this."
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi again Spencer,
I just want to add that it is fundamental to the Amazon business model that sellers feel it is safe to send products into Amazon. If that trust is lost then it seems to me much of the business model collapses. So if things go wrong when seller's products are under Amazon's care it is absolutely crucial that proper compensation is received. I really hope that Amazon is in agreement with this so that we then can all move forward.
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
Another 3 weeks has passed since you or I posted here. Nothing has moved forward in this time. It's over 7 months now. I have also recently received a very disheartening message from your contact. His message and my reply below.
I hope I'm wrong but I'm now beginning to think that Amazon is using a slash and burn strategy with sellers, rather than trying to work with them properly. In my message copied below, in addition to requesting clarity about the situation and their plan for moving forward, I have asked again for proper reimbursement and recompense for this situation, which I was previously told was already being looked into but has not been received.
Possibly from the reply to that message we will know whether Amazon is genuine about wanting to help sellers through the problems that Amazon itself has created and has repeatedly said it would fix. We'll see. The situation is urgent for us now. We need this putting right financially very soon.
We cannot continue like this, Amazon have put us in a desperate situation. We've communicated regularly in good faith to help get this resolved. 7 month is totally ridiculous. It has to stop and we need proper help now.
Copy of Message From Your Contact in Amazon:
Greetings from Amazon,
Thank you for your patience while we investigated your EFN inventory situation. I want to provide you with a comprehensive update and important information about your account settings.
Current Situation:
We've identified that your account has FBA Export enabled, which allows you to sell to customers across the EU. When international customers return products, these items are received at their local Amazon fulfillment centers, which explains why your inventory is currently stored in various EU locations.
Important Points to Consider:
Account Settings:
Your FBA Export settings allow for international sales and returns
This means returns can be processed at any EU fulfillment center
You currently don't have disposal options enabled for fulfillable inventory
Available Solutions:
We recommend working with a freight forwarder to manage your international returns
You can find approved freight forwarders here: https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/tsba/searchpage/International%20Returns?ref_=sc_spn_hp_irlst&sellFrom=ES&sellIn=DE&sourcePage=HomePage
This will help you maintain better control over your returned inventory
Going Forward: To prevent similar situations, you may want to:
Review your FBA Export settings
Set up relationships with freight forwarders
Consider enabling disposal options for future cases
Establish a clear returns management strategy for international sales
We understand this situation's impact on your business and want to help you implement the most effective solution for your operations. While we continue to explore options for your current inventory, we recommend reviewing the solutions mentioned above to prevent similar situations in the future.
If you would like to proceed with any of these options or need assistance in setting up a freight forwarder relationship, please let us know.
Thank you for selling with Amazon.
My Reply to Your Contact in Amazon:
Thanks for your message. But since reading it, if anything I am now even more concerned than I was before. It seems this is getting really confused now and I think we need to get clarity on the situation. It's also becoming much more urgent from my side as we are now having cash flow problems.
Firstly, this has been going on for over 7 months now and the aim has always been to have inventory in unauthorised EU warehouses moved to Spain FCs.
In your message you say:
"Current Situation:
We've identified that your account has FBA Export enabled, which allows you to sell to customers across the EU. When international customers return products, these items are received at their local Amazon fulfillment centers, which explains why your inventory is currently stored in various EU locations.
Important Points to Consider:
Account Settings:
Your FBA Export settings allow for international sales and returns
This means returns can be processed at any EU fulfillment center
You currently don't have disposal options enabled for fulfillable inventory"
I'm not sure why you have sent this message, because the "Current Situation" and "Important Points to Consider" cannot be something that has just been identified with our account now.
On the contrary the problems we have been having can only exist within the context of our account having FBA Export enabled which allows for international sales and returns.
Because FBA Export is enabled, international customers' returned products to fulfillment centers anywhere within the EU. Everyone involved, both on our side and on Amazon's side, has always been aware of this from the very beginning.
This is the problem you guys have been working on for the past 7 months - how to get them back from these EU FCs to FCs in Spain!
There shouldn't be any confusion or any need to clarify this. We have 7 months of messages back and forth confirming and reconfirming this. This is the core of what this case is, and always has been, about.
In your message previous to the one you just sent you said:
"Here's the current status:
Successfully transferred: ASIN B01M22R5XV (1 unit) and ASIN B01LWZPYED (5 units)
Pending transfer: 17 units across various ASINs, still stuck in unauthorized FCs"
For the past 7 months someone on your side (most recently, you) has repeatedly said this (ie, Successfully transferred, and Pending transfer), so this is very definitely what you have been trying to achieve. It goes without saying that everyone dealing with this case already knew that the inventory was in non-authorised EU fulfillment centers because international customers' returned products have been sent there. If that hadn't been know you wouldn't have been aware that it was necessary to try to get them sent to Spain FCs.
In addition to the above, we now all know that for each of the multiple times your system has notified your side of this, not one single item has ever actually arrived in a Spain FC in the entire 7 months. Please now realise that these notifications you are receiving are completely meaningless and should be ignored. The only thing that counts here is if the units actually arrive in Spain, and none ever have. Zero, ever, in the past more than 7 months now.
Your recent message is further confusing when you say:
"Available Solutions:
We recommend working with a freight forwarder to manage your international returns
You can find approved freight forwarders here: https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/tsba/searchpage/International%20Returns?ref_=sc_spn_hp_irlst&sellFrom=ES&sellIn=DE&sourcePage=HomePage
This will help you maintain better control over your returned inventory"
I'm not sure if this is Amazon wanting to tell me that they've now given up trying to get our inventory in non-authorised EU fulfillment centers sent to Spain FCs without actually saying it, or if this is an alternative suggestion for removing inventory. After 7 months of repeatedly being told that this would be achieved I really hope it's the latter. But please answer by being explicit regarding the meaning of this.
But regardless of the answer to that, the fact is that for the products that are in EU unauthorised warehouses many many attempts have now been made to return these, the first attempt now being over 7 months ago. You guys have consistently told us that you doing this will be the solution to the problem. Yet as of today, none of these have been received. So whatever you may now think may be the way forward from here, this is very definitely the situation now.
This has been going on way long enough. Regardless of how we are to proceed from here, please, please, please, now declare these lost and provide a full reimbursement for these products. It is now seriously affecting the cash flow of our business. As I've pointed our previously we've had products that should have been sold and then restocked multiple times over since this issue began, which is possibly over 3 years ago now. The 10, 15 or 20 minutes required each time to correspond about this issue, both here and on the forum, has added up to hours, and then days, of my time over the past now over 7 months. The not knowing how to proceed with business strategy due to the EFN not being fit for purpose, has added further losses and uncertainty.
We need to be treated fairly with this now please, we simply cannot wait any longer. Please, please, please, absolutely prioritise these reimbursements and a fair recompense for the losses we have incurred due to this situation as previously discussed. Whatever the meaning of your recent message, we really need this actioning immediately/within the next few days please. I trust you understand.
Also, as you're aware, more recently a different but related, and potentially even more serious, issue has occurred in that inventory sent into Spain FBA simply disappeared, and we cannot see these anywhere within Seller Central.
This is inventory that has never been purchased by a customer, it was simply sent FBA into Spain FCs and checked in as arrived but then just disappeared. At least some of stock that was sent in (now many weeks ago) and is still missing would have been sold by now, and the remainder be available for customers to purchase, further draining our cash flow and profitability.
About this problem, on 28th November you said:
"Successfully Initiated Transfers:
We're pleased to inform you that transfers have been initiated for 21 units across 10 different ASINs back to Spain FCs. However, please note that these units remain in the transshipment process, which may take an additional 15 days due to the current peak season. We appreciate your patience during this time.
The affected stock is as follows: (list of affected stock was included)"
As of today, none of these have been received in a Spain FC. And we have no visibility whatsoever of these items anywhere in Amazon.
These are all high value products that we sent into Amazon FBA in good faith and have simply vanished. It's nearly 2 months since you initiated the transfer, and I'm sure you must agree that is certainly more than enough time for them to arrive if they were going to. Taking into consideration that no other inventory has ever successfully arrived I think it's fair to now conclude these will not arrive either. Please, please, now declare these lost and provide a full reimbursement for these products too.
I cannot emphasis enough how urgent this now is and I sincerely request that the reimbursement and recompense are processed very soon. Words are no longer enough, we are reaching the overdraft limit in our bank account, we absolutely must urgently provide cash liquidity. Regardless of how you think we should proceed with this issue from here, please realise that Amazon have put us in an impossible situation and we cannot continue like this. We've lost sales, we've lost products, charges have been added to our account, and we've been left in limbo for over 7 months not knowing how to proceed with our business in regards to selling into the EU on Amazon, which was, and provided we can get this properly resolved, still is, an important aspect of our business strategy.
This is not our fault, Amazon have been aware of the problem for a very long time and it's just gone on and on. We need our cash flow restoring now.
You previously told me that you are committed to restoring our confidence in your services. Please, please, do that now by actioning what has been requested here. Thank you.
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
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
Ok, thanks. I really hope this can finally be solved. It's getting very stressful now. The main thing now is we need the money that's been lost through this, and we need it soon.
I think there may be another before it, but case 9909484102 was opened about this way back on 22nd June 2024. Since then multiple cases has been opened by me and then closed again by Amazon, but the problem has never been resolved. It's actually got worse as the original problem remains and now we have the lost arriving inventory on top of that too.
Whether or not they can get the EFN system / customer returns / arriving inventory, working properly or not remains to be seen, but we cannot be expected to continue to take the financial hit for this while they repeat the same thing over and over again even though it's been clear for a long time that whatever they are doing isn't working.
I've had another email from your contact saying they are looking into this again so I'm trying to remain positive. So long as the finances are properly addressed for us then at least we can continue FBM while they fix everything else. But as you know this has now been going on for a really long time and we can't keep losing money like this. I really hope they are going to treat us fairly now.
Your contact said they would be informing me soon so I'll update that here. I sincerely hope that in my next post I will have reason to have something good to say about Amazon. Let's hope they come good after all we've been put through.
Seller_DJqWlEby6fi8n
Hi Spencer,
This is now partially resolved it seems, it's primarily the recompense that was discussed that is outstanding. I hope Amazon are still going to treat us fairly with this. Sellers should be able to have trust in Amazon when situations become difficult like this, and we really need things to be put right financially.
Your contact asked that I make a small change in the settings, which I did. I have now received this reply.
From Amazon:
I'm pleased to inform you that we have completed the resolution process for your case. Here are the important details:
Your FBA Export settings have been successfully updated to limit returns to UK and Spain only, which will prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.
We have processed reimbursements for all affected inventory: (amounts are displayed)
Please note that these reimbursements may take up to 5 business days to reflect in your account.
Moving forward, with your FBA Export settings now properly configured, you should not experience similar inventory displacement issues.
The limitation to UK and Spain marketplaces will ensure your inventory remains in authorized locations while still allowing you to serve these key markets effectively.
If you notice any discrepancies once the reimbursements are posted, or if you have any questions about your updated FBA Export settings, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your patience throughout this resolution process and for working with us to prevent similar situations in the future.
I will be resolving this case as soon as I can confirm the above concession is reflected on your account's payment dashboard."
My reply to Amazon:
"It is good to have a least some reimbursement. But the reimbursement amounts are only around 50% - 60% of the selling price (one item is even zero reimbursed!), these are very low amounts under the circumstances.
Also, we discussed recompense for all the losses to our business, and the 7 months of problems and having effectively been forced to put our EU business on hold for this period, that you were also looking into. Please can you now move forward with this.
If this is really fixed as you say it is, it is unbelievable that altering the setting in one section has resolved this. How can it possibly have taken over 7 months, numerous people in Amazon, including several weeks at higher management level, to find that there is this very simple solution?!?
We have been put through a lot with this, and have lost out a lot financially. Please can Amazon now fairly recompense us for this."
