Amazon official policy for marketplace sellers re: undelivered / denial of receipt
Hi, hope someone can help as I have been searching for a link to a policy page I can bookmark regarding Amazon policy for marketplace sellers if a buyer says item not received?
Quick background: since lockdown we got an increase in orders which have now slowed right down. However throughout we have seen a rise of buyers saying not delivered despite Royal Mail 2d barcode confirmation stating otherwise.
I am trying to find out is there seller protection? The same as on ebay i.e. we post to address provided via an approved courier which states delivered and the marketplace will decide on who funds the refund request.
If a buyer has genuinely not received it of course they need a refund/replacement. I am not disputing this.
I am just trying to find out what is the official way to deal with it via Amazon policy and ideally not keep giving refunds through fear of negative metrics/A-Z.
I have spoken to Amazon support and got conflicting info:
- we are covered only if we use Amazon buy shipping (we do not)
- if there is online delivery confirmation we do not need to refund
I have seen many posts about this issue, sorry for repeating the same subject 
But I would like to know if there is an official policy we can follow instead of a case by case basis.
Thanks in advance,
RP
18 replies
Seller_z3y0OyK7uUdTP
This is a useful and detailed reply from Amazon seller support when I asked them the same question:
Blockquote
Hello from Amazon Selling Partner Support,
We understand that you want to know the official Amazon policy for marketplace sellers when delivery tracking information says "delivered" and buyer says they did not receive the item.
An occasional lost shipment is one of the costs of doing business, and handling the situation requires a business decision that only you can make. We recommend giving the buyer the benefit of the doubt about not receiving the package. Even when a package is signed for, it is possible it was delivered to a wrong address and signed for at that address. Again though, it is up to you to decide how to proceed.
If buyer is not happy with a decision you make and give a negative feedback or A to Z claim, you can contact Amazon for the removal of negative feedback and dispute A to Z claim.
See help pages: Request removal of feedback: https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/GSVLUKGSWX9EEM9N?referral=A2MKP3XMQ01MTK_A3H1WAHYCPDMQ8
A-to-Z Guarantee claims: https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/G27951?referral=A2MKP3XMQ01MTK_A3H1WAHYCPDMQ8
To overcome such situation, Amazon recommend sellers to buy shipping postage through seller central for their orders. With Amazon’s Buy Shipping, you can buy shipping labels individually or in bulk, ship and confirm your orders and track your shipments. It helps safeguard your performance metrics. If you ship on time with tracking via Buy Shipping, and the buyer leaves seller feedback solely related to delayed or undelivered packages, you can request to have the feedback reviewed. If approved, the impact of the feedback is removed from your Order Defect Rate, and the buyer’s comment will be displayed with a strike-through and the statement: The fulfilment issues associated with this order were not due to the seller.
The customer feedback policy ensures sellers are only responsible for shipping their products on time and are not penalised for delays out of their control.
A-to-z Guarantee claims: If you purchase Amazon’s Buy Shipping and ship on time, you are protected against a-to-z claims where a customer reports problems with delivery.
To know more, see the link: https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/help/G200202220?referral=A2MKP3XMQ01MTK_A3H1WAHYCPDMQ8
Blockquote
Seller_TK2OUpwGNKKsN
The rise in buyers claiming is probably due to Amazon sending them emails claiming item may be delayed or lost.
Amazon don’t recognise large letter royal mail tracking codes.
It’s been a problem for two years, currently exacerbated by the fact that many buyers are sending them directly to recipients without including their name.
I’ve tried raising cases on this but it keeps being transferred to a different department without resolution.
Help complain.
I’m getting A-Zs automatically granted when items are shown as delivered.
Seller_IYXiuHdhFSL9u
If that has happened with us, we have made a claim with Royal Mail, who we always use.
If you can buy via Amazon, I would do that, we have decided to do that from now on. It’s shouldn’t cost you any more.
Seller_NoLYurmb006tq
Hi RM have been under big strain and been a nightmare in my oppinion we stopped using them early in the pandemic as within a couple of weeks we had 17 losses and 5 damaged so it was time to switch until things get back to normal when ever that may be.
RM 2d barcodes are not classed as a valid tracking method but it is delivery confirmation but Amazon require tracking such as RM24/48 - depending on what service you use such as 1st & 2nd class you will likely have compensation cover depending on value declared however if you sent using standard 24/48 on the low cost jazz with the 2d its unlikely you will have taken cover.
Seller_xFuxBcOlcwSNY
I’ve the same issue, its an error with Amazon. All of my customers are seeing ‘your delivery is late, claim a refund’ message on their orders within their Amazon account. Despite valid tracking and delivery confirmed weeks prior.
I simply reply to them and say its a technical error with Amazon and so far i’ve no customers take it further than the first ‘chancer’ email.
I’ve contacted Amazon countless times now to report this and the response has been horrendous. Amazon are useless, they’ve told me to get customers to email Amazon technical support themselves, to report customers for fraud or they simply close off the tickets with no response at all.
Seller_ZPjajjMXjCNQH
I have seen a HUGE rise in “non delivery claims” and I am pretty sure that its not all down t royal mail during the peak. even as we slowly come out of it, I am still receiving more non delivery claims than ever
as others say I think its this thing amazon are doing sending emails and encouraging people to make claims, I really dont understand Amazons logic
Seller_nKqNWKHfZWsny
There are issues with Royal Mail, we have orders arriving after 36 days (new record!). BUT I also think that there are a class of people who are furloughed at home and getting a bit lonely/bored are turning to petty crime of online fraud, to pass the time. We ship low order values, and the length of communications on these “non-arrivals” is just not normal, in over 15 years online selling I have never seen such obvious dodgy activity.
Seller_KoyDfkwo4wrtG
I suffered a massive increase in losses during the first three weeks, it was 4 - 5 times worse than any Christmas period I have ever experienced. After a few weeks I switched to Hermes who were brilliant for about 4 - 6 weeks, then some of the parcels started disappearing. I think they became over-loaded with people giving up on Royal Mail. I don’t normally claim from RM but once I tried and realised there is no way for claiming for RM48 post, I switched to BPL. The non-receipts slowed to an absolute trickle and I haven’t had any for about a month. If I do get one I know I can claim back at least for my product and postage loss and it is a quick process once you get used to it. I think the losses were probably due to people seeing the message from Amazon and thinking there was obviously no record of receipt, so why not claim for non-receipt of goods. If you are not VAT registered I recommend using BPL. The tracking on RM48 offers no protection, whether it shows delivery or not. At best, it allows you to defend against a buyer who HAS received the item but is trying it on. However a determined fraudster will just dig in and deny they have received it. Therefore the seller is not protected by that tracking. I have never used Amazon postage. Once you have labelled the post, do you need to drop it off at a post office or can you size permitting put it into a post box? How do the prices compare to Click and Drop?
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
Several threads already on this I’m afraid. Amazon have taken it upon themselves to send buyers an email approximately a week after latest delivery date saying something along the lines of ’ your item is running late, please contact the seller for a refund’
Don’t know why Amazon can’t link the 2d tracking - eBay can !
We get approx 5 emails a day stating haven’t received and want a refund.
We always reply with: ‘please see below delivery confirmation from the courier website’ and then copy and paste from RM site.
So far we’ve had a couple of replies apologising that their husband had put it away etc the rest never respond.
Obviously if it goes to a-z you won’t win as it’s not a fully tracked service
