Customer returned old shoes
Good Afternoon all
This is the first time i’ve had this issue and could do with some guidance. I sell amongst other things some fairly high value trainers (via FBA) as the above says, i’ve got a chancer on my hands…
Customer bought a pair of trainers 25/06 and returned them on the 27/07 as outlined below. Product went back to FC and went into my unfulfillable inventory, I create removal order and they arrive at my warehouse today. This wonderful customer has quite clearly either
a) worn the trainers for a month and decided to send them back absolutely battered
b) put his old pair in the box and sent them back
I launch a case with SS and get the usual drivel
Anyone had experience with this? If so, your support would be greatly appreciated! @NEil, @The_Little_Shop, @Demel, @Dedez (bringing in some of the regulars for support) 
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
Honestly, if it’s FBA, then your on a hiding to nothing.
Effectively, when you sell FBA, Amazon get the end say as to what happens with refunds and so on.
You give them permission to do so.
I’ve had all sorts back, though not clothes as I don’t sell them. I do challenge, but rarely get very far with them.
I even had a refund a little while back for a fridge that I sold almost 2 years previously.
If you want the ability to challenge these kind of things, then your only real option is to send them yourself, outside of Prime delivery.
That way you can make a reduction on a return etc.
37 replies
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
Honestly, if it’s FBA, then your on a hiding to nothing.
Effectively, when you sell FBA, Amazon get the end say as to what happens with refunds and so on.
You give them permission to do so.
I’ve had all sorts back, though not clothes as I don’t sell them. I do challenge, but rarely get very far with them.
I even had a refund a little while back for a fridge that I sold almost 2 years previously.
If you want the ability to challenge these kind of things, then your only real option is to send them yourself, outside of Prime delivery.
That way you can make a reduction on a return etc.
Seller_ExkX6IN03C3IM
Even with FBM something similar happened two years ago amidst the COVID return extensions with a pair of shoes. Return requested after 3 months, reason “arrived damaged”, requested pictures so we could decide if worth returning or just issue a refund, pictures clearly showed they had worn them out, they had actually worn them for the whole period of winter, they were Love Moschino low-rise sneakers. Needless to say lost the A-Z when we denied the return.
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
Can’t help I’m afraid, only offer my sympathy.
I used to sell clothes, and have to say I was lucky and no-one tried these “swaps” on, any items I got back were mine, and were unworn except for the standard trying on (though sometimes I wish they’d removed their makeup first and put their aftershave on afterwards 
Seller_KjHQOlTKYaPEw
a while ago I sold a jar of expensive face cream (RRP £70) over on the Bay
I smelt a rat straight away when the buyer sent a message saying
“the cream is broke” (her words)
she was a newbie with zero feedback
I accepted a return, she sent back a broken (high end) jar substituted with cheap Nivea (RRP £5) cream
Nivea is white & the scent from it is very distinctive.
The cream I sold her was pale pink and the fragrance is NOT like Nivea!
The broken jar she returned was not the jar I sold her, as the batch codes on the base were different.
(my posted photo included this in the listing)
I took photos of what she sent back & forward to eBay who ruled in my favour.
I have a 21 year selling history supported by 60,000 pos feedback
eBay tends to side with the seller on such occasions (thank goodness)
Seller_lljyzgTxr5fgI
This is one of those cases of “taking your eyes out…and coming back for the sockets”. Some people have absolutely no shame and I feel for you. I suspect however, we might see a lot more of this in the coming months because people are feeling the squeeze and the “less scrupulous” ones will take any advantage they can.
Seller_saK5Ah2SaNYjL
We’ve been reimbursed a couple of times when we were able to prove that the customer returned something that wasn’t the item we sold (FBA). It can be a lot of work, but satisfying. Of course you never know if Amazon reversed the refund on an FBA item. Hopefully it puts a black mark on the buyer’s account.
Seller_v1BIk1w3sWpYQ
Welcome to the world of Amazon returns. We see this quite a lot nowadays.
Seller_YpGZNzOJC6Bme
Something similar happens to us most weeks with Lighting returns! People swap their bulbs out and send us their old ones back! We take pictures send them to the customer and refuse to refund. The buyer complains to Amazon gets their money back any way and then we open an A - Z Claim and about 50% of the time we get our money back off Amazon!
We have also started reporting EVERY customer that does this or tries to scam us in the hope that other sellers are doing the same! And hopefully if enough sellers do it then the fraudsters will lose their Amazon Accounts!
Seller_3u63TG7fpfnG6
I feel your pain, I sell FBA they get an instant refund then send any rubbish back if at all, the latest is in the USA which hopefully I changed my shipping settings to never happen again as I am out of pocket for the item the shipping costs plus they gave a negative [all lies] to justify their refund
Amazon is a scammers paradise, there are many your tube videos on how to get your money back so it’s only going to get worse
Seller_xUKHc5xSYJmI4
I am kind of confused with the policy. According to the Amazon returns policy as below
Please note that you must return each item in the same condition in which you received it. This means that new items must be returned unused and undamaged . Used items must not have any additional signs of use or damage.
So the FBA policy is they can wear the product for a month and then decide don’t want it there’s is no defect and return it? Looking at the images the customer is possibly expecting the trainers to last longer than a month? Looking at the images looks like he looks like he has been running in the gym 300 miles an hour 
