A year or so ago, when Amazon decided to make a bunch of items non-returnable, apparently they didn’t update many other workflows that relied on the returns process. One of these is the fact that in order to file an A-to-Z claim, a return must be requested first. If the item is non returnable, the workflow goes something like this when you try to open an A to Z:
Try to report a problem with seller
Message will show that says it’s not eligible because you must request a return then wait 48 hours
Go through the return workflow
Says not eligible for return, option pops up to “contact us”
Loop back to step 1 with trying to report a problem with seller
You basically need to click something at some point which’ll give you the option to talk to an amazon CS rep who can bypass all the usual requirements and just open an A-to-Z.
Big big big yikes.
I’ve also noticed a big increase in problem sellers in those categories since the no return policy was implemented. It’s also extraordinarily convoluted to get a refund for FBA no return items. If you go through the standard process, even selecting options like you received a damaged item, the first thing that comes up is too bad, no returns, and you need to go through a convoluted process to get a refund for it.
Pretty big yikes all around with how non-returnable items were implemented.
There’s definitely a lot of people who can’t figure how to get a refund, because on the seller side, feedback like “the item came completely destroyed” with no refund issued on the order ID weeks after it was left are not uncommon.
Really? I beg to differ. Our return rate hasn’t budged since before the change. Buyers know how to return if they want to, believe me. The return reasons have just shifted since the return ban. Somehow I doubt that we are special in any way.
My experience is different. For consumables the return rate plummeted, but problem rate skyrocketed.
Do you have data from prior to the return ban being implemented? The return rate would probably be around 1.5-2% instead of .8%
Maybe “a lot” is the wrong word to use here, but there’s definitely some people who leave a negative feedback because they can’t figure out how to get a refund.
Of course we do. You’d be shocked at the data we have archived for every aspect of the business.
Like I noted upthread, return rate has not budged. The 12 month period before the change, our return rate was .85%. Higher yes, but not really. .06% means noting IMO.
Spend tons of money on SAS (strategic account services) and you’ll have a fix for this. LOL PS - still not worth it.
Finally got our customer service / website links attached to our listings / account. It’s been 2 weeks. 4 emails / 1 phone call. The goal in doing this was to do exactly what you said - avoid 1 star reviews / feedback.
Your products are relatively cheap though, a lot of my stuff is in the $30-40 range (eg, a price point where return fraud is worthwhile). We’d get a lot of empty bottles returned back when that was allowed.
I have a few of these and tried to message the buyers to make amends but they never replied. Only on the FBA orders, which has a higher rate of delivery damages. Fortunately because they are FBA it is easy to get the reviews struck through but I do want justice for buyers. On my MF orders I have a very low problem rate but when it occasionally happens I send a replacement ASAP.
Repeat customers are the goal.
I package FBA units exactly the same as I package for MF shipping, and theoretically the boxed FBA units are going into an extra FBA shipping box.
I had to go through a non-returnable refund request myself recently and it was convoluted, I ended up calling buyer support.
If a buyer messages me w/ an issue, I always issue a refund, but since I’m FBA very few buyers message me with issues.
A lot of the times when I see negative feedback, some time has already passed so I don’t want to poke the bear by taking any action besides hitting request removal to have it struck out. At the beginning I did try messaging some buyers, but like you, none got responses. Better just to let it lie.
I have not received any messages from FBA buyers on the non-returnables. Just the removable poor feedback or unfortunately, they post it in the product review instead.
