Does everyone agree that "refund at first scan" is one of the WORST policies in Amazon history?

Seller_72OsZdYr1MiCV

How does AMAZON propose to know that the buyer IS sending back the item ordered;

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How does Amz know whats in the return at first scan? They don't! They would rather wager the entire price of the order, against the BUYER's honesty, and put the entire transaction funds, INCLUDING AMAZON'S OWN COMMISSION, in the buyer's hands, who likely has less than 10 transactions on here, vs the hands of the seller, who probably has over 1,000 transactions. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

It's like going to a casino, betting on black, and the dealer telling one of the players, "HERE" you hold EVERYONE's money from the table. I trust you. Wouldn't common sense tell you to put the transaction in the hands of the one with the higher transaction history/credibility, AKA, the dealer, or in this case, the seller? What's the point of Amz escrowing the funds if they RELEASE them to the buyer BEFORE WE EVEN GET THE RETURN? RIDICULOUS.

And why doesn't their system AUTOMATICALLY FLAG buyer transactions with a higher return rate than 25%? One seller contacted me last week, completely frustrated, and said one of his buyers returned his LAST SIX transactions (100% return rate), and returned $400 worth of NEW-SEALED items, all broken damaged, or swapped with junk. That same buyer did the same to me before I reported him to Amazon's fraud dept.

The worst part is, we AREN'T SUPPOSED TO defend ourselves. I had a product with a 22-0 record, the most expensive item in our entire store, at $229, and a customer filed a fraudulent return claim, stating "item arrived OPENED, USED RESOLD AS NEW, WITH BROKEN PARTS INSIDE." The only problem with that is, 2 FACTS:

1. Our Dealer Purchase order proving that we purchased EVERY SINGLE SET AS NEW FROM MANUFACTURER, AND SHIPPED THEM to FBA IN DEALER FACTORY CASES, AND
2. The 22 previous sales with ZERO DEFECTSI

So, I contacted buyer, via message system, notified him that we received a potentially fraudulent return claim from him (used, opened, broken set sold as new), that this did NOT match our product, and asked him to STOP buying from us, and stated IF, I repeat, IF an item was returned matching his fraudulent return description, "a used, broken, opened item being resold as new -aka customer product swap, aka customer PRODUCT THEFT", that we WOULD report it to Amazon's Fraud Dept, and if problem persists, we have the right to report theft to the police. Its no different from a shoplifter walking in your store, and stealing a $800 IPhone, and replacing it with a box of crayons. Would you report the theft to the police, or take a $797 loss, and wait for it to happen again, until you finally go bankrupt from customer theft? As has actually HAPPENED to several US retailers who have closed up shop because of customer theft. You'd better believe I would call the cops. Amazon sent me a violation notice stating that the above was "Threatening the customer". I LITERALLY JUST restated Amazon's policy against theft, and the State Police policy against theft. Apparently asking someone to STOP buying from us, and stating that we report theft, because it's a crime that destroys small businesses, is a threat to the crook's livelihood.

Usually a statement like this causes a customer to STOP stealing, and say "wait a minute - this isn't some GIANT company. This is a small mom and pop shop, SMALL ENOUGH TO WHERE my $230 transaction SWAP hurt them bad enough financially where they actually MONITOR individual returns - [ big shocker-we care about staying in business, 21 years and counting ]. I had better STOP stealing/swapping product out on this seller, as they are on to me, and they WILL report this". By the time Amazon's fraud dept STOPS customers like this, with 100% return rates, they have already left a trail of tears to the tune of THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN RETURN THEFT TO MANY SELLERS, AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN LOST COMMISSION TO AMAZON. Just notifying a customer that you are AWARE that their return does not match your product description, and restating that you DO report fraud, and monitor returns very carefully, usually STOPS the theft. Then they steal from Another seller until that seller finally gets fed up and reports them as well. NOT doing so means that customer goes on a stealing spree, pushing every seller they come into contact with, one step closer to bankruptcy, in an already inflation challenged economy, where loan rates have doubled from 9% to 16% and business credit card rates have doubled from 9.99% to 18-25%. Anybody see this as someone attacking the protector in the story? Anybody see this as "hey, good samaritan, today, when you stopped that purse snatcher from robbing me blind, you stepped on their toe. They are sueing you for a crushed toenail. Next time, let them steal the purse, which the little old lady will NEVER EVER see again, and may not be able to buy groceries for a month due to this, and report it quietly to the authorities. They will follow up with it, and likely nothing will happen, but at best, there's a 10% chance they will CATCH the thief, as they are already 2 steps behind. The only way to STOP crime is to catch it as it is happening, AS someone is filing a fraudulent return claim you KNOW doesn't match your product with a 22-0 record.

Letting crime happen without speaking up for yourself on here, is apparently the right thing to do. If you stand up for yourself, and ask a fraudulent customer to STOP, it is a violation of Amazon's Seller Code of Conduct policy.

I had ZERO account defects over the last 6 months, and worked SUPER hard to keep my account health page ALL ZEROS for my tiny company, and now because I have defended both myself, AND amazon against potential fraud, and simply asked a customer to STOP buying from us because their return description does not match our product, and we have the DEALER INVOICES to back it up, I have a violation notice that I have appealed 3 times, and have not been able to remove from my account. My 22-0 product record does not matter. My dealer POs submitted showing customer LIED and tried to defraud both my and Amazon, does not matter. All that matters, is that I stood up for both myself, and Amazon, and said "Hey, That return description does not match the product I shipped to Amazon. That's NOT OK. STOP that. "

It's a sad day in America. Thieves 1, Amazon AND 3rdP Sellers 0. You hurt the fraudulent buyers feelings by restating your policy against fraud, and Amazon's policy against swapping out returns (aka PRODUCT THEFT) and therefore you are in the wrong sir. :(