Help! FBA Returns and Refunds to customer who damaged the inventory
NEW SELLER HERE; A customer bought over 30 units which were delivered in different shipments. A week or two later, a customer files for a return with a reason "Item was not received by estimated delivery date" OR "Found better price elsewhere"! Amazon refunded the customer almost right away, which is fair enough but all of my inventory has been updated as "Customer Damaged" and therefore "Unfulfillable"
So essentially, I get $0 from sales and all the inventory is damaged so I can't resell it! Is this normal because i find this to be completely unfair to sellers as buyers can damage the inventory and walk away with no problem? I am still in shock!!! How do I survive from this? How do other sellers make a profit if this is how returns are handled by Amazon?
Help! FBA Returns and Refunds to customer who damaged the inventory
NEW SELLER HERE; A customer bought over 30 units which were delivered in different shipments. A week or two later, a customer files for a return with a reason "Item was not received by estimated delivery date" OR "Found better price elsewhere"! Amazon refunded the customer almost right away, which is fair enough but all of my inventory has been updated as "Customer Damaged" and therefore "Unfulfillable"
So essentially, I get $0 from sales and all the inventory is damaged so I can't resell it! Is this normal because i find this to be completely unfair to sellers as buyers can damage the inventory and walk away with no problem? I am still in shock!!! How do I survive from this? How do other sellers make a profit if this is how returns are handled by Amazon?
5 respuestas
Dominic_Amazon
Hi @Seller_fDB7QRIhegTAo,
Dominic from Amazon here, happy to help. If an item you send to us as part of the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service is lost or damaged at a facility or by a carrier operated by Amazon or on behalf of Amazon, we will replace that item with a new item of the same FNSKU or we will reimburse you for it.
For an item to be eligible under this policy, all of the following must be true:
- The item is registered in FBA at the time it is lost or damaged.
- The item complies with FBA product restrictions and with FBA inventory requirements.
- You have sent us the exact items and quantities stated in your shipping plan.
- The shipment for the item is not in canceled or deleted status.
- The item is not pending disposal or was not disposed of at your request or because we have exercised a right to do so.
- The item is not defective and was not damaged by a customer.
- When a lost or damaged item claim is filed, under review, and during any appeals, the seller’s account must be in normal status.
If your item is eligible under this policy and we haven't already reimbursed you, you can file a reimbursement claim. The process to a file a claim varies depending on where the fulfillment process your item is lost or damaged.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Best,
Dominic
Seller_fDB7QRIhegTAo
Hi Dominic,
Thank you for your reply but I noted in my detailed post that the comment listed in all my returns is "Customer Damaged", I didn't say that it was damaged at the facility or by carrier, so unfortunately, your response is UNHELPFUL.
Please share any guidance regarding returns damaged by the customer? Or do customers damage our goods and get away with it!
Dominic_Amazon
Hi @Seller_fDB7QRIhegTAo,
Amazon does not accept responsibility and will not reimburse you for returned items that are damaged by a customer, are subject to recall, are defective or in violation of Amazon policies, or for other similar reasons. Items that fall into these categories are added to your unfulfillable inventory when they are returned.
You can file a customer return claim no sooner than 60 days and no later than 18 months after the customer refund or replacement.
Sometimes a customer is refunded for your item, but the item isn’t returned to a fulfillment center within 60 days of the refund. When this situation occurs, in most cases we’ll charge the customer and reimburse you.
If a customer returns your item to a fulfillment center within 60 days of the refund, we’ll first determine the condition of the returned item. If the returned item is sellable, we’ll return the item to your inventory and will not reimburse you.
If the returned item is unsellable, we’ll determine who is responsible for the condition. If we find Amazon is responsible for an unsellable return, we’ll reimburse you and will not add the item back to your inventory.
Per our returns policy, there are no reimbursements for refunded items that cannot be returned by customers, unless it is for a reason for which we take responsibility.
Amazon won’t reimburse you for any refund that you issue directly to a customer.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
Dominic
Seller_fDB7QRIhegTAo
Hi Dominic,
Thank you for your detailed response. As I mentioned in my post, the customer's reason for the return was either she found better price elsewhere or item arrived after the estimated delivery date (she bought more than 10 items). Amazon FBA refunded the customer but labeled all the inventory as "customer damaged" and therefore unfulfilable.
Based on your response.; ......."If the returned item is unsellable, we’ll determine who is responsible for the condition. If we find Amazon is responsible for an unsellable return, we’ll reimburse you and will not add the item back to your inventory."..... So in my case, because Amazon FBA noted its "Customer Damaged" then I am going to open a customer customer return claim for the items.
Thank you for your help!
Dominic_Amazon
Hi @Seller_fDB7QRIhegTAo,
Happy to help and yes, I would open a claim for customer return. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Best,
Dominic
