Customer Fraudulent Return - Different Item than was sold
Dear Fellow Amazonian Sellers :-)
We're a small family store, selling proudly on Amazon for 10 years and hardly ever need advice or have any real problems. But this amazingly is the first time something like this has happened. 99 percent of our Amazon customer are excellent people, really!
We sell used higher-end electronics in excellent condition. All serial numbers are photographed and provided in each listing with 6 clear photos.
Today it finally happened. A customer started a return saying the item was defective and wanted to return. Fine, all good. But what we got back was the same make and model, but this item was scratched, beaten up and most importantly the customer tried to remove the serial numbers but it was still visible and does not match ours. It's a unique item that we hardly ever sell, so there's no way to mismatch on our end. So it's clear to us that the customer sent a defective different item back to us and is attempting return fraud.
I'd love some advice from any seller that's gone through this. The item is $1300 in value, so I can't swallow this kind of loss. I have not contacted the customer yet. I just submitted photos and order details and information with proof to seller support. In case there's a moderator that wants to help out, please kindly reference Case ID # 16584455561.
I have researched this issue in other threads, with several different outcomes. Please if anybody has some helpful advice, we'd greatly appreciate it.
Thank you kindly.
1 reply
Quincy_Amazon
Hello @Seller_gN0YMG7yRE6aa
Thank you for posting your inquiry to the Forums.
I came across your thread and wanted to provide this help page that details how to manage seller-fulfilled returns. Specifically, I would like to highlight the section on wrong items returned by buyers:
Sometimes buyers mistakenly return a different item than the one they purchased from you. If this happens, contact the buyer to do the following:
- Let them know that they may have accidentally returned the wrong item.
- Ask them if they would like you to return the item to them.
- Inform them that they can return the correct item for a refund.
If the buyer indicates that they would like the wrong item back, consider sending it back to them.
Please ensure to keep all communication between yourself and the buyer in Buyer-Seller messaging so that it is visible in the event of an A-Z Claim. Please feel free to update this thread if you need additional assistance regarding this order.
Regards,
Quincy_Amazon
