Quick advice - Do you send free replacement before return is tracking?
This is something that fraudsters can take advantage of, so I need to know what everyone else is going.
Situation: customer buys an expensive item and it's delivered to them.
Customer says its defective and opens up a return. Instead of a refund, they want a free replacement.
Amazon places a new order from them with a $0.00 cost. Seller then has to send a replacement.
However, the original return still hasn't been given to the postman. The assigned tracking number on the auto-generated return label indicates that the carrier hasn't yet received the return.
So why does Amazon require you to send the replacement BEFORE the first scan? Even with refunds, Amazon waits until FIRST SCAN before they auto-refund.
And yet, we sellers are supposed to send a free replacement on an expensive item BEFORE the first scan? Makes no sense.
Scammers can abuse this by asking for a free replacement, and then never sending back the original item (or sending it back without all the parts/pieces, etc.
I don't really want to cancel the free replacement order (and take a hit on the metrics), but the item is expensive and it doesn't feel right to send another one (free) without knowing if the original is even going to be returned.
What do you do? @Joey_Amazon? Should we cancel the free replacement and just issue a refund once we get the return? Or do we send the free replacement, and then open a ticket if the original is never given back to us?
Quick advice - Do you send free replacement before return is tracking?
This is something that fraudsters can take advantage of, so I need to know what everyone else is going.
Situation: customer buys an expensive item and it's delivered to them.
Customer says its defective and opens up a return. Instead of a refund, they want a free replacement.
Amazon places a new order from them with a $0.00 cost. Seller then has to send a replacement.
However, the original return still hasn't been given to the postman. The assigned tracking number on the auto-generated return label indicates that the carrier hasn't yet received the return.
So why does Amazon require you to send the replacement BEFORE the first scan? Even with refunds, Amazon waits until FIRST SCAN before they auto-refund.
And yet, we sellers are supposed to send a free replacement on an expensive item BEFORE the first scan? Makes no sense.
Scammers can abuse this by asking for a free replacement, and then never sending back the original item (or sending it back without all the parts/pieces, etc.
I don't really want to cancel the free replacement order (and take a hit on the metrics), but the item is expensive and it doesn't feel right to send another one (free) without knowing if the original is even going to be returned.
What do you do? @Joey_Amazon? Should we cancel the free replacement and just issue a refund once we get the return? Or do we send the free replacement, and then open a ticket if the original is never given back to us?
8 replies
Seller_OvL8C4BJWiuS9
Replacements do not go live until item is scanned.
Seller_bheaXZx5cQzTQ
Yes, the replacement order is in my Unshipped Orders right now, with a Ship By date for tomorrow. It went Live a couple days ago, but since it was the weekend and holiday, I don't have to ship until tomorrow.
I was waiting until the absolute latest to see if the return began tracking. If it would track (in the hands of the USPS), then I was going to ship the replacement.
But if it didn't track by tomorrow, I am unsure how to proceed. That's why I was hoping an Amazon Moderator may chime in and give some input as well.
I don't want to cancel the live, unshipped order.....but I don't want to ship if the sender never returns the original (since it's expensive and it's a scammers way of getting two of the same thing).
Perhaps the answer would be, "Send the replacement, and if you don't get the original back with the original parts/pieces, then file a claim." I just hate putting that into the hands of Seller Support who don't always do the right thing.
Seller_zGoDlPZLneGhF
I had this happen to me a few months ago. The replacement order came through before the original was scanned into the carriers system. I was forced to ship it.
The buyer never returned the original and got the replacement as well. 40 days later I got a random credit from Amazon for the value of the replacement order, they made me whole. It seems Amazon will reimburse you for the replacement if the original is not returned by the 40 day mark.
