Customer lying about item not being inside the packet :(
We sent an item worth £14.99 to a customer but he is claiming nothing is inside. We have a strict picking and packing procedure under cctv and management which we have explained but the customer is still lying, he simply wants it for free or another one spare in case since he has asked for this also.
If we challenge him Amazon will accept his claim as usual so we have no choice but to refund or send him another for free. How can we avoid this in future? Thanks for the advice.
54 replies
Seller_qZO3ZCjoBXEeL
The only way this ‘could’ have happened would be if the parcel had been opened/damaged in transit.
Did you send it signed/tracked? If not then yes, you’ll have to refund it. TBH - you’ll probably have to refund it anyway.
Seller_BnqfOH5ahn4zV
We get this from time to time. If the shipment has been weighed before dispatch and your courier has accepted & confirmed the declared weight. Item must have been included.
We haven’t had any buyer yet take it further.
Seller_GGByEa9ThBuw8
I’ve had a few customers claim they received an empty parcel. I appreciate that mistakes can happen so I always double check my current level of stock compared with my last stock count and make adjustments for sales already made to see if an item was actually sent. In addition, I weigh every parcel that’s sent so that’s always a clincher in confirming I’ve done everything right at my end. To date I’m happy I’ve never made a mistake which always leaves 2 possibilities - lost/stolen in transit or the buyer’s trying it on.
The majority of time that I’ve stood my ground and notified the buyer that the actual item was sent by providing the evidence above, I’ve never heard a thing again. I suspect these are the buyers trying it on. However, the minority of buyers that continue to insist they had an empty package always end up being given the benefit of the doubt by me, despite when I hear things like “I can’t provide a picture because I threw the packaging in the bin” or when a customer didn’t mention damage to packaging until the fourth email. I suspect the buyer’s here are ripping me off but there’s simply no way for me to prove otherwise.
Unfortunately, despite your suspicions (and mine), as other’s have said you don’t have much choice but to put a claim in against the courier.
One thing I’m a little confused by though, you’ve said the photo from the customer showed no signs of being opened in transit. So presumably that means the photo shows an unopened parcel. How does the customer know the parcel is empty? Forgive me if I’m being stupid here.
Seller_EJIX7rqDNQJi2
In cases like this, you need to offer the buyer to return the order for a refund and provide the return instructions.
In case of a potential A-Z claim, you should be able to successfully defend it by stating that the item which you shipped was exactly as described in the listing, present in the package and tracking doesn’t indicate that any damage occurred during transit.
Amazon will most likely cover the claim out of their own funds.
Seller_YIuxLB6FPyaGJ
We had this happen and thankfully the courier weighs the package in their depots. We were able to show that the weight the courier verified matched perfectly to the net weight of the item + the weight of the packing which then proves the package could not have been empty.
Tracking is on your side but I’d say it’s a dice roll with Amazon A-Z as we also had a signature from the customer which acts as proof it was accepted by them unopened and in good condition.
I’d be surprised if the courier would accept a claim like this.
While it’s not required to have parcels signed for it seems Amazon imply that if you choose to not have the package signed for then you are essentially saying that you are ok for this to be auto refunded in the event of an issue. That’s the view I take from their policies at least anyway.
Seller_89fLakcUuS4UV
We had the same thing happen to us. Had a customer say he received an envelope with nothing inside, I had sent it Parcelforce. Emailed the customer and told them that we take this very seriously and that we will open an appeal with Parcelforce to look into GPS on when it was delivered so they can determine who the driver was and to ask him about the condition of the envelope when it was delivered- Guess what… the customer found his item at the bottom of a 30cm envelope… strange that
Seller_O5gtp3YtSIDKU
Hi, not sure if you mentioned who you sent the item with but if Royal Mail and it’s an item on their restricted list they sometimes take out the item then send the empty package.
I know this as I once sent a nail polish via Royal Mail, before being aware it was restricted, and the customer received an empty package.
When I checked with Royal Mail it’s what they said and their web site says: “If you send prohibited goods or restricted goods (and you do not comply with the relevant terms and conditions), we may deal with your items as we see fit, including but not limited to, disposing of the parcels concerned (in whole or in part).”
Batteries are on the list too so could be what happened
Seller_ae51e0CJoHqCX
To be fair when a customer claims this you and Amazon are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I had a similar issue with non receipt. They claimed not to have received the item despite me having tracking and then put in an A-z claim which was automatically refunded and granted to the seller. I appealed and it was deleted and still went against me. After weeks of creating and reopening cases Amazon eventually removed the claim but I still could not get a refund.
The problem is that Amazon will always side with the customer no matter what. It gives Amazon complete control over the issue and they can award the customer the costs of the missing item and somebody has to pay and in almost all cases it is the seller that will foot the costs. Even Amazon will get to keep the referral fees so Amazon actually profit from this to.
You have to just suck it up and move on and hope you have a pricing policy that will perhaps cover the costs of these claims which thankfully are rare. I spent many hours trying to deal with these sorts of issues and you just get messed about with it.
I believe there is a way you can report a buyer and you just have to rely on the fact that if a buyer gets reported about this a few times, they will lose their Amazon account and ability to buy.
Seller_1ZDDvn43kLBuv
Sorry but did you say you sent them a battery? If you sent by Royal Mail then you are at fault as it is a prohibited item and they more than likely have removed and disposed of it. Truly you should research what you can sell / post before coming here and blaming your customer.
Seller_ohgoR0FjhqVfH
Sometimes amazon surprise you. I had a similar thing when a customer claimed one item was missing in the parcel. I took a photo of the same items on weighing scales and the proof of postage with the weight and their claim was denied.
