Customer cancels an order, how do you deal with it?
Sometimes we have a customer message through AZ and say they want to cancel an order.
We duly cancel the order (by choosing the customer has cancelled option) and answer the message, saying we have done this.
Each time it affects our account health and we end up with a warning email from AZ saying our cancellation rate is too high! They don’t answer us when we explain it was a customer, not even a bot answer.
Should we be handling it another way?
35 replies
Seller_ejwc84JNL5Uk6
It will ALWAYS go against your metrics unless the customer themselves cancel the order officially - quoting the order number.
Bit puzzled about raising an A-Z for an order not yet dispatched though - is this possible??
Seller_JVTfjuLs0moo6
Customer cancellations do not count against your cancellation rate.
But the customer has to raise the cancellation through Amazon, not as a message. If they are just messaging you and saying ‘cancel this’, and you are, that is classed as a seller cancellation.
You need to tell the customer to raise a cancellation request through Amazon. These count as a buyer cancellation and do not affect your metrics.
Seller_AFC8oZfIXDfLr
We have had customers message us requesting to cancel an order. I have told them to do it officially through Amazon by clicking the request cancellation button and they always reply saying that the request cancellation button just forwards them to a generic ‘message the seller’ page.
I would expect a message from Amazon to come through, similar to when a returns request is opened, stating that buyer has requested cancellation, but I’ve never received one.
I have only had to cancel a handful or orders and none of them have hit my metrics.
Seller_ASN07uGpMByjt
Any SFP order cancelled by seller after 30 minutes of order will affect your metrics, there is no way round this, even with using Buyer cancelled. The official response from Amazon is to send the customer to Amazon Customer Support who will cancel the order. Being a Prime order Amazon want all comms to go through them. I have done this on many occasions but never actually had one cancelled by Customer Support as far as I am aware, also take care if you are using order fulfilment software that it picks up cancellations from Amazon. The safest choice is to dispatch the order regardless, so protecting your metrics, after all the customer ordered it, you are not obligated to cancel it. You and the customer then have options on what to do next, depending on the time of day, how close I am from collection I usually contact the customer asking them what they wish me to do, worse case they can return the item under returns policy or they can refuse the delivery saving return postage.
Seller_JVTfjuLs0moo6
MAybe edit your OP to state that you’re talking about SFP. Otherwise you’ll get many helpful people helping, when it’s not helpful 
Seller_58y2FhNkywdyp
you could mark it as despatched and they refund before posting it out.
Seller_ASN07uGpMByjt
As “hosiery-direct-uk1” says long as label is cancelled in Buy shipping or integration in Buy Shipping it wont affect your metrics. As a side issue I spent a long time fighting and getting emotional about the rights and wrongs of Amazon. What it comes down to is that people buy from Amazon because of the benefits it offers, as a seller you benefit with higher sales because of these benefits. These benefits cost money and you need to budget for it. If someone cancels (and you have no other choices without damaging you metrics and rights to sell on Amazon) and it costs you 2 x Prime postage, thats the business you sign up to, my advice is have a proper budget for it. Remember the other 20 that don’t cost you money - you’ll sleep better at night. Hope a bit of personal advice is OK on these forums
Seller_Rds42gzScDQFa
Don’t cancel an order unless the subject of the message is:
Order cancellation request from Amazon customer (Name Name)(Order: 202-xxxxxx-xxxxxxxx)
If you cancel when a customer requests cancellation other other way and you do cancel your metrics will take a hit.
Seller_LVJaidBR9PT5Z
Mark the order as dispatched and then cancel the order it then doesn’t go against your order cancellation defect rate.
Seller_BWtUtFkidVDX4
Try ‘confirming shipment’ then refund, it may work.
