That’s actually not true. There is a policy that states this (sort of) - screenshotted below.
Does it really matter though? Not really. When we first got nailed for this, we tossed 50K labels and had custom plates made to redact the standard UV coating that’s on every label in the CPG industry from just the barcode area. Cost of destruction / plates for all of our listings was ~$6K.
We still get hit on occasion. Amazon sends a blurry picture, showing reflectivity that isn’t there and even the blurry picture scans. I have a standard dispute response that works ~75% of the time. It’s so stupid…
We had a coaching call once, where the nice Amazon lady clearly saw things our way and dropped the “charges” against us and told us to quote that case # on future disputes. Works most of the time. She even told us to get whitelisted for this issue but apparently that option is unavailable unless you are an 8-digit+ seller. Checked with SAS on that one.
Thanks for bringing up the custom inspection process. I’ve paid for this custom inspection from time to time but didn’t know the process. I agree that physically it’s possible for the forwarder to open the container at port and dig through the cartons (loosely loaded and not on the pallets) to find my goods. That would delay and disrupt their flow of shipments. I have to pray that they would be willing to do that even if I agree to pay that $3-5k labor fee.
Yes but what are the reflectivity requirements? Printed on plastic is still reflective no matter what you do it in some fashion. “Reflective surface” is extremely broad and can be used for even thermal printer labels as they are not perfectly matte.
You and I both know they have issues at specific warehouses that use reflectivity as an excuse for failed calibration or bad lighting.
Hey, I totally agree with you. It’s the biggest, steaming pile of horse ■■■■ I’ve ever encountered in my career (27 years).
And there’s nothing we can do about it. I’ve had some decent luck with SAS managers on many issues and I’ve tried with all 3 of them, and their boss to take care of this with no luck.
Everyone agrees with us, (INCLUDING THE “COACH”), and yet nothing can be done. We are wrong, Amazon is right, and they can threaten our business for following directions, to the T, with professionally labeled and packed merchandise made here in the good ole USA.
Its only a matter of time till a PO’d seller starts making pagers over this blatant abuse of corporate arbitration BS.
You walk in front of any competent judge and show them 100,000 units through an FC and magically a whole case (not a partial case, but a whole case) is all the sudden subject to reflective fees and we would all be getting checks.
I was told that they do this to be nice to the seller and not violate a complete shipment, which they claim they have every right to do.
I don’t think a seller would have a snowballs chance in hell against Amazon in a situation like this, even though we are right.
Amazon would rather have smudged hand applied labels, that cover up pertinent info on labels, then professionally made labels - reflective or not. That’s how sick this is.
Update: the freight forwarder just got back to me. The US team let her know that in order to intercept the container at ports and devan, the cost would be $3000 per container. For this shipment, Amazon spread it to 5 destinations (hence 5 containers). That’s $15000 total Very expensive. She mentioned that the US team also doesn’t want to do it because it would delay the delivery for other clients. $15000 is a lot of money What do you guys think?
More update. An overweight shipment checked in and has been in “Receiving” status since September 15. See the screenshot below. No Overweight defect so far. I wonder if 15 days (from 9/15 to 9/30) is long enough for them catch the overweight problem. Perhaps the overweight issue is found by human and is not automated by the scale robot.
Here are the summary of shipments with overweight cartons.
Shipment 1. Checked-in 9/8/2024. Overweight reported 9/12/2024
Shipment 2. Checked-in 9/9/2024. Overweight reported 9/15/2024
Shipment 3. Checked-in 9/15/2024. No overweight reported so far.
It seems like Amazon takes about a week or less to catch Overweight issue. I’m praying that the last shipment (checked-in 9/15/2024) would go through without the overweight issue.
Like this one we got today??? 24 units out of 2,160 didn’t scan - RIGHT… lol
@HumbleWarrior - This shipment was checked in on 9-18 - “Problem” reported to us today - 12 days. Hoping for the best for you.
I’d take a chance if I were you, as unnerving as that seems. $15K is a lot of freaking $, no matter how big your account is.
I’m still of the opinion that Amazon will work with you via a coaching call before they lock you out for any period of time. $ means more to Amazon than anything, and if you’re moving pallets or containers in, they will give you a chance. Again, my opinion, you need to make the final call.
How much damage would it cause you if you got a 30 day inbound suspension?
Since it’s basically a roll of the dice as to what the penalty could possibly be, if we say that’s the median outcome, that’s a reasonable point to base your business decision around. In reality the range of outcomes could be anywhere from the problem doesn’t get detected to you get an unappealable FBA suspension. Both of those would be extreme outliers but are possible (though not reasonable to base a business decision around).
I would say if the damage from a 30 day suspension > 15K, I’d lean towards pay the 15K and intercept. If < 15K, I’d lean towards roll the dice @ FBA.
Another possibility is you intercept and correct some of the shipments so you don’t get slammed with 5 violations.
Very expensive. She mentioned that the US team also doesn’t want to do it because it would delay the delivery for other clients. $15000 is a lot of money 
What do you guys think?
24 units out of 2,160 didn’t scan - RIGHT… lol
