Incorrect Seller Support Advice Led to Reimbursement Loss - Has Anyone Experienced This? (Order ID: 202-1433992-3262734)
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.
0 replies
Seller_Nprc5XWvdLYk9
as you have it on email and not just relying on a phone call that could be disputed.
I would request again for it to be escalated and repeat until it is escalated.
but if one of the forum admin are available they may take a look for you.
@Julia_Amazon @Ezra_Amazon
Seller_lncJ33ORWEySW
1. Seller support information is wrong most of the time, as they take a guess at which copy and paste to reply to you with.
2. Everything Amazon does is designed to disadvantage third-party sellers.
3. I now see their T-Safe claims are being changed, as they had to reimburse too many third-party sellers, so they are changing the rules again to make it much harder to obtain a refund.
Seller_0XWc3TbYeT9US
Has anyone else experienced Seller Support providing advice that, when followed, makes you ineligible for a claim/reimbursement?
- Yes, continually. Exactly this issue. Seller Support have no idea how Safe-T, Invoiced By Amazon, or indeed almost any part of Seller Central works.
How did you manage to get this kind of issue resolved when support agents refuse to acknowledge their own conflicting advice or escalate?
- We didn't; we just stopped doing anything which Seller Support advise us to do.
Are there specific keywords, phrases, or methods that have helped you get an escalation through chat or email in similar situations?
- Not to my knowledge, the only thing that has worked for us in the past is repetition. Jsut keep replying to the cut and paste responses saying "This does not answer the query" or words to that effect.
What was your ultimate resolution, or did you simply have to absorb the loss?
- To my recollection we reported it to head office, where it was duly ignored there too. We took the hit, but you could always go the Small Claims route, if you have the advice in writing.
Separate to the above, what we now do when we get a partial return (or indeed a completely-wrecked-by-the-customer return, etc) is refund 50%. This appears to be the minimum refund which will stop an auto "Returned and not refunded" A-Z payout if a claim is put in, allowing you to dispute the claim accordingly (with a photo of the return, ideally). Hope this helps.
Seller_CSQcl8KrWP4Y7
Dear Fellow Sellers,
Just wanted to provide an update on my frustrating situation, where I was given conflicting advice about refunds and SAFE-T claims.
First, the good news (sort of!): As many of you suggested, I continued to keep the case "live" by persistently responding and repeatedly demanding escalation, despite the resistance and silence I faced in chats.
Finally, my persistence paid off. I received an email acknowledging my request for escalation to their leadership team. The reply stated:
"Hello from Amazon Selling Partner Support,
We've received your request to escalate the refund concern for Order ID: 202-1433992-3262734 to our leadership team.
We acknowledge that this process has taken longer than anticipated.
We will be sure to notify you as soon as there's an update."
So, on one hand, it's a relief to finally get past the initial brick wall of agents refusing to escalate.
However, on the other hand, it's now been three days since that acknowledgment, and every single day I receive the exact same email from Seller Support. It's the very same generic "we've received your request... we'll notify you..." message.
I've unfortunately been through this exact scenario before with a completely different issue. Last time, these identical daily emails continued for weeks, and eventually, they simply stopped altogether without any resolution or further communication.
So, while I'm hoping this time will be different and my case genuinely gets reviewed and resolved, I'm admittedly very wary given past experiences. It feels like a new type of holding pattern.
Just wanted to share this progress (or lack thereof) with everyone who showed interest and provided invaluable feedback. Your support and shared experiences have been a huge help.
Will keep you posted if there are any actual developments!
Seller_CSQcl8KrWP4Y7
Dear Fellow Sellers,
Following up again on my ongoing ordeal with Order ID 202-1433992-3262734. As many of you suggested, I've been diligently keeping the case alive by continuously responding to Seller Support emails and chat, pushing for escalation to a senior staff member.
Unfortunately, I'm still getting absolutely nowhere. Despite my persistent requests, and clearly stating that this isn't just about a single refund but about the incorrect advice provided by their own Seller Support, and the systemic failure to address it, they continue to send generic, unhelpful responses.
Despite explicitly requesting a response from senior management with their full name and designation (to confirm their seniority level), the "Leadership Team" members who respond consistently fail to provide this. It truly feels like the entire Seller Support team has ganged up, preventing any real escalation or accountability. They simply refuse to pass any such information to their seniors or acknowledge the root cause of the problem.
For me, this has moved beyond just the refund amount; it's a matter of principle. They provided wrong information, caused us a loss, and should acknowledge their mistake and take responsibility.
Given the complete brick wall I'm facing through traditional support channels, does anyone know of any effective Amazon social media handles or alternative contacts through which I might be able to bring this to the attention of actual Amazon senior staff? I'm at my wit's end trying to get a fair hearing.
Thanks again for all your support and insights.
Christine_Amazon
Hi @Seller_CSQcl8KrWP4Y7
Can you please share the case ID, where the representative gave you the advice to refund and then submit a safe-t claim?
Christine.
