Customer received £500 refund without returning item
Yep, it’s finally happened to me.
Customer bought an item priced at £499.95. After receiving it, they opened a return under “incompatible use”, despite the title clearly stating compatibility.
They used the pre-paid return label automatically generated by Amazon (Evri), and the parcel was lost in transit. Amazon then approved an A-to-Z Guarantee claim and refunded the customer in full. No return, no product, £500 gone.
To make matters worse, I can’t even file a SAFE-T claim because A-to-Z has already processed the refund. My only option now is to chase Evri for a £20 compensation claim, which doesn’t even cover a fraction of the loss.
Here’s where it becomes even more confusing. The customer’s own messages in the return thread confirm that they had already sent the item back. Yet, in Amazon’s final A-to-Z verdict email, they wrote:
“In this case, the customer claimed an issue with the delivery and tracking information that you provided was either insufficient or the order was not actually received by the customer.”
That is factually incorrect. The original delivery was made using Amazon’s internal pre-paid Royal Mail Signed For service, chosen because it offered extra protection. The tracking clearly shows it was delivered and signed for by the named recipient. The customer received it, returned it through Amazon’s Evri label, and that return was lost.
Despite this, Amazon refunded the customer in full under the reason that the order was not received.
Here’s where it becomes outrageous:
- Sellers are automatically enrolled into Amazon’s pre-paid return label scheme with no real choice of courier or insurance cover. I might be mistaken, but I’m unaware of any way to change this or opt out.
- Amazon decides the courier, sets the insurance cap, and then washes their hands when that courier loses a high-value parcel.
- Despite the buyer’s contractual obligation to return the goods, Amazon still issues a full refund when the item isn’t actually returned.
So legally and practically speaking, Amazon is allowing the buyer to breach the terms and conditions, and then rewarding them for it. Meanwhile, sellers remain bound by those same terms, carrying the entire financial burden for a decision we had no control over.
In plain terms, Amazon cuts all liability and openly favours the buyer, even when the buyer has failed to fulfil their legal obligation. It is effectively discrimination against sellers, especially given we are the ones funding these “guarantees” through lost stock and unpaid reimbursements.
And to top it off, we still pay for the original delivery of the now-lost item. You could not make it up.
Has anyone here managed to challenge an A-to-Z decision like this or get Amazon to reimburse when the buyer never actually returns the item?
Customer received £500 refund without returning item
Yep, it’s finally happened to me.
Customer bought an item priced at £499.95. After receiving it, they opened a return under “incompatible use”, despite the title clearly stating compatibility.
They used the pre-paid return label automatically generated by Amazon (Evri), and the parcel was lost in transit. Amazon then approved an A-to-Z Guarantee claim and refunded the customer in full. No return, no product, £500 gone.
To make matters worse, I can’t even file a SAFE-T claim because A-to-Z has already processed the refund. My only option now is to chase Evri for a £20 compensation claim, which doesn’t even cover a fraction of the loss.
Here’s where it becomes even more confusing. The customer’s own messages in the return thread confirm that they had already sent the item back. Yet, in Amazon’s final A-to-Z verdict email, they wrote:
“In this case, the customer claimed an issue with the delivery and tracking information that you provided was either insufficient or the order was not actually received by the customer.”
That is factually incorrect. The original delivery was made using Amazon’s internal pre-paid Royal Mail Signed For service, chosen because it offered extra protection. The tracking clearly shows it was delivered and signed for by the named recipient. The customer received it, returned it through Amazon’s Evri label, and that return was lost.
Despite this, Amazon refunded the customer in full under the reason that the order was not received.
Here’s where it becomes outrageous:
- Sellers are automatically enrolled into Amazon’s pre-paid return label scheme with no real choice of courier or insurance cover. I might be mistaken, but I’m unaware of any way to change this or opt out.
- Amazon decides the courier, sets the insurance cap, and then washes their hands when that courier loses a high-value parcel.
- Despite the buyer’s contractual obligation to return the goods, Amazon still issues a full refund when the item isn’t actually returned.
So legally and practically speaking, Amazon is allowing the buyer to breach the terms and conditions, and then rewarding them for it. Meanwhile, sellers remain bound by those same terms, carrying the entire financial burden for a decision we had no control over.
In plain terms, Amazon cuts all liability and openly favours the buyer, even when the buyer has failed to fulfil their legal obligation. It is effectively discrimination against sellers, especially given we are the ones funding these “guarantees” through lost stock and unpaid reimbursements.
And to top it off, we still pay for the original delivery of the now-lost item. You could not make it up.
Has anyone here managed to challenge an A-to-Z decision like this or get Amazon to reimburse when the buyer never actually returns the item?
11 replies
Seller_ZVAz3d5lZuGid
I'm not sure, but I believe you CAN opt out of the automatic return/refund for expensive items. Not sure how, but use the search box above to find the relevant info.
Seller_DTrNv5POp8UZl
Id open a case - Not sure why you cant open a SAFET as you can if you dont get your item back / or wrong item sent back - I have had a SAFET failed against me but when I opened a case it was reversed and I was refunded
Seller_76AUwmqvSyRIM
Sorry to hear this.
Make sure you exclude items over £100 or heavy items from the automatic refund at first scan or simply opt out of this system altogether it it suits you.
For the former, look it up on search, it's such a long time since I did mine. For the latter, contact Seller Support and ask them to opt you out.
Seller_z5anIOsgWGpAV
It's a shame that we manually need to do this, rather than just being able to opt out, but you can make a SKU exempt from the pitiful Royal Mail / Evri return insurance by exempting items than are over £100.
https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/help/hub/reference/G202072200
https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/help/hub/reference/G200708210#mnd_2jc_jcb-2
It's a pain when you have changing SKUs and always have to keep on top of this. You can opt out:
What if I want to opt out of APRL?
If you do not want to offer APRL, you can opt out any time from November 1, 2022, by contacting Selling Partner Support. This change will need up to three days to take effect. By opting out, you are still required to adhere to the new returns policy which means that, if you have a default return address in the UK, for all automatically authorised return requests within Amazon’s returns policy we request you either issue your own pre-paid return labels to customers or offer a returnless refund.
Seller_B1ACPItaAiHWQ
was it a hoover or a woman by chance looks like that mums net scam again file a claim with whoever the post was with should be insured if it that god awful evri it will turn up one day
Seller_2Htw9xCla3oOQ
Open a case and ask for reimbursement.
Customer will getaway with this. But at least you should be able to get your money back from Amazon.
Seller_kh77A9MtOsq7P
Amazon is not the place to sell high value items, the risk is too high. Open a case, if that does not work, then I would send a notice of action letter prior to small claims court. I feel your pain.
Seller_76AUwmqvSyRIM
I fail to see why you believe that the seller was scammed or that they should take the customer to the small claims court.
The customer did return the item but it got lost in transit.
The issue here is that the seller did not exempt this expensive item from the automatic returns procedure and also another serious issue is that Evri only covers us for losses up to £20 but we cannot exclude items less than £100 in retail value. The £20 would barely cover the sourcing cost of the item.
The customer is not at fault.
Joey_Amazon
Hello @Seller_Uaucc1Fq2cIiD,
Appreciate you taking the time to post here at the Seller Forums.
I am sorry this has been your experience. I would like to review all details associated and determine what options you might have to proceed. Please share the Order or Claim ID associated with this issue.
- Joey
