Hello!

I am seeking assistance in removing the A-Z defect from my account after a customer scam attempt.

Order ID: 026-6591864-0317941

The product was shipped on time and on the day of delivery, it had not left the Royal Mail depot in the way to the buyer. The Royal Mail website said that a request had been made for the product not to be delivered to the address on the order and that instructions were awaited.

After 2 days, the customer contacts me via Amazon messaging and tells me that if there is any further delay in delivery, they will request a refund.

I reply asking him to remove the non-delivery request and he will receive his product immediately.

He tells me that he did not make such a request and that the product is not being delivered because we, the sellers, did not pay for the shipping. He also attaches a photo of a Royal Mail card that was allegedly left at his address and through which Royal Mail said that we did not pay for the shipping.

Although he had just sent us proof of attempted scam via Amazon messaging, I politely explained that Royal Mail does not transport products to destination cities expecting them to be paid for later, and they do not even generate shipping labels if they are not paid for.

In the end, the customer requested a refund but did not remove the previously made request for non-delivery of the product so the item was returned to us.

Everything was fine up to this point but, according to Amazon policy, a defect was registered in our account. We appealed but, to our surprise, it was rejected.

Although initially on the Royal Mail page it was said that a request was made for the product not to be delivered to the address in the order, later, on the date of our appeal, its status changed and became "item retention" so we could not show the existence of that request. However, we attached to our appeal the fake photo received from the customer (via Amazon messaging), in which he claimed that Royal Mail had informed him that we had not paid for the shipment and this is the reason why the product is being held in the depot. Evidence that undoubtedly shows attempted fraud, but it seems that this did not matter in analyzing our appeal.

I understand, like many others, the difficulties that Amazon often has in detecting scams, in the context in which there is pressure to respect the rights of buyers. However, from here to punishing sellers for alleged non-compliance with Amazon policies when they do not align with the actions of the scammers, it is a long way. And, incomprehensible. Especially in the context in which there is clear evidence of fraud or attempted fraud.

I hope someone can help me so that this defect is removed from my account.

Thank you!