Refund for Rain Damaged item without return?
A customer is claiming the items they received from us (FBM) were received wet and damaged by the rain. In this case, the items were personalized and are not returnable under Amazon's personalized item policy.
Should we refund the customer directly without a return or should they be encouraged to file and A to z claim?
7 replies
Seller_2azHBWt7FzGTG
If you shipped using buy now shipping and shipped on time, then you would be covered under A-Z and Amazon would cover the cost of the damaged package as it is considered damaged in transit.
Have the customer file A-Z for reason received damaged package.
Seller_yoBaUhzkFJuPI
In my almost 8 years selling Custom on Amazon, I have never heard of a FBM arriving damaged being covered by ABS. And this goes for Custom orders AND non-Custom regular orders. Yes I know the ABS policy says something vague like you're covered for "all delivery related issues".... but nah, that's not really how it works unfortunately. It also does not cover even if it's obviously lost per the tracking while in shipment (and if "ALL" were accurate this would be covered too).
In these cases I take the loss and submit refund (DO NOT send a replacement, because if customer complains you'll get hit with an AtoZ for late delivery and it'll be auto-granted and you lose money AND metrics). But depending on how you packaged it you may be able to file a claim with your shipping carrier.
I would bet money that if you direct the customer to file an AtoZ that you'll likely lose and take a hit on your metrics. But I would love to be wrong! So if you try the AtoZ route please comment and let me know how it went.
Good luck!
Seller_uu4ZOaGQLjB8D
It happens to us occasionally. We ask the customer for pictures, file a damage claim with the shipping carrier, and refund/replace.
Unfortunately it's more difficult to communicate with Amazon customers than on other marketplaces we use. Messages tend to get filtered out or ignored. Occasionally we get A-Z claims and usually lose. Just another extra cost of doing business here I suppose.
Seller_yoBaUhzkFJuPI
@Seller_CYgVk598XM1p3 I came back to ask how it went with the AtoZ 😊
