WHY is Amazon advising customers they can have a refund due to delays? Are they aware we are in the middle of a global pandemic?
Hi,
I know there are several threads on this topic but was hoping to get some specific advice on this particular case.
Thankfully most customers are appreciative of the current situation and are being patient but I have a customer whose order was dispatched on 14/03, chasing me every day.
I politely explained that Royal Mail are backlogged and doing their very best but it is inevitable that there would be delays and kindly asked them to at least wait until Saturday and if parcel does not arrive by then we will issue a full refund.
They’ve come back with this: “Amazon told me I can get a refund due to the delay. I hope you can refund me. Thanks.”
Why are Amazon so out of touch with reality to the point where they are advising customers to claim refunds during such difficult times?
All this does is encourage scammers to order things, knowing that there’s a good chance their order would be delayed and then claim refunds. Order ends up arriving and they get the item for free, leaving us out of pocket.
We dispatch all FBM orders same working day without fail and on top of that, we have upgraded all customers to RM24 (from RM48) and absorbing the cost ourselves so there really isn’t much more that we can do.
What do you guys do in such cases where customers have no patience? Are you refunding? And if you don’t refund, presumably they’ll just raise an A-Z and Amazon would refund them on our behalf anyway? If that’s the case, it makes more sense for me to process the refund myself, thereby reducing the risk of negative feedbacks/reviews.
I have to say eBay are being much more understanding and sympathetic with us sellers.
I’m considering removing all FBM offers for now and leaving only FBA until things start to normalise.
Any advise would be appreciated.
TIYA
11 replies
Seller_nzd3XpaZpr8Gb
Most customers seem fine with an honest explanation of the circumstances and some sort of promise even if it’s just “please wait another week and we will re-dispatch”.
Though to be honest a parcel shipped on March 14th having not arrived by the end of April is pushing it even by current standards. At that point I’d refund, in my experience that’s probably lost.
Seller_NysmiccdL9pVD
Spoke to Royal Mail this morning as I have numerous missing parcels from 14 and 15 April. They tell me that there are delays of 2 weeks and more for 48 parcels. Most customers are understanding but some are just bloody minded. When I have to refund if they wont wait I tell them I will monitor the tracking and send them a label to return when it arrives. That way they know I will know. Such a shame you cant block buyers like you can on ebay.
Seller_GBiGmcTTd9wA0
Its a joke!! I contacted them about my concerns with delivery and did as they advised - popped a note on my listings, in the delivery section etc, but people are still ignoring it and demanding refunds which I refuse. They also told me they can’t stop or alter the automatic emails buyers receive if it has tracking on it and is late either.
I’ve had 5 a-z claims because of their lack of help for us sellers - in the 4 years we’ve been on AH we’ve never had one - not even over Christmas when we had a ridiculous amount of orders after Stacey Solomon featured one of our items.
Even prime items aren’t being dispatched next day - I think some people are in their own little world at the moment.
Seller_p9QYGZcYVmf1W
Shipped an order with Royal Mail to a customer in Spain on 12 March, delivered yesterday (5 May)…
