Dear Fellow Sellers,

I am reaching out to the community today feeling incredibly frustrated and hoping to hear if anyone has experienced a similar situation or can offer advice. I'm currently stuck in a loop with Seller Support over a reimbursement issue for a customer return, and the conflicting advice is costing me money.

Here's the scenario:

1. Original Issue: For Order ID 202-1433992-3262734, a customer initiated a return for 3 units, but only returned 2 of those units. They still expected a full refund.

2. My First Contact with Seller Support - I contacted Amazon Seller Support via email (on July 14, 2025) to ask how to handle the refund, as a unit was missing. The representative, explicitly advised me: "If the buyer fails to return the complete items, kindly process a full refund to the customer and file a Safe T claim."

3. My Action: Trusting this direct instruction, I proceeded to issue a full refund to the customer for the order.

Attempting SAFE-T Claim: Immediately after issuing the refund, I went to file a SAFE-T claim for the missing third unit, as instructed. However, the system presented this message: "This order is not eligible for a SAFE-T claim because you have issued a refund to the customer. Only refunds issued to customers by Amazon, on behalf of sellers, are eligible for reimbursement."

4. Subsequent Contact with Seller Support (email & chat, multiple times): I then contacted Seller Support again, explaining the direct contradiction between their initial advice and the system's response. I've sent emails and engaged in two separate chat sessions (16th & 17th of July). In all these interactions:

They repeatedly explain the policy that I issued a Standard Refund, making it ineligible for SAFE-T.

They consistently refuse to acknowledge that their own previous advice directly led me to issue that "Standard Refund."

They have point-blank refused to escalate my case to a supervisor, often pausing the chat indefinitely or simply repeating policy. It feels as though they are actively avoiding taking responsibility or escalating.

5. The Problem: I followed specific instructions from Seller Support, which directly led me to a situation where I am now ineligible for reimbursement for a missing item. I am out the cost of one unit due to conflicting and, frankly, incorrect guidance from Amazon's own support staff. The current support staff are refusing to acknowledge the prior advice or escalate the issue.

My Questions to the Community:

Has anyone else experienced Seller Support providing advice that, when followed, makes you ineligible for a claim/reimbursement?

How did you manage to get this kind of issue resolved when support agents refuse to acknowledge their own conflicting advice or escalate?

Are there specific keywords, phrases, or methods that have helped you get an escalation through chat or email in similar situations?

What was your ultimate resolution, or did you simply have to absorb the loss?

This is incredibly frustrating, especially when trying to operate in good faith. Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.