Agreed, tell them that the returns period has expired.
This is a problem customer. As long as you deal with them, you will have problems. The more that you deal with them, the more problems that you will have.
If you give them a partial refund, you have just put a sign on your rear end that says ‘VICTIM’.
This is exactly why my recommendation here in this specific situation is NRN.
The toy was received in June. There’s no good faith engagement from the Buyer here, said as a Seller who has actually sold toys on Amazon myself.
ETA: @rms I agree with you ![]()
Generally I would agree, but the customer has gone through customer service, and CS
requested that the OP handle this within 48 hours. If the OP does nothing, CS might grant the customer’s request. So the OP should probably contact the customer.
( Of course CS never should have let it go this far. They should have mustered the courage to tell the customer that the request was out of policy. )
And if a CSR does do, then OP can pursue a claim for reimbursement and unaffected metrics due to improper refund, and Amazon has a record of the Buyer’s deceptive behavior.
In any category except Toys, I too would send the basic brush-off return response. But Toys is a…special place.
I hadn’t thought about this, but the order date was 6-21-23…I know that ODR hits for negative Feedback, and I believe A2Z too, are Order-Correlated, meaning that if this buyer does either, the 60 day rolling window which would have affected my ODR has already passed, right? ![]()
If an A-Z is opened and the seller has not responded within 48 hours to the request for a return, a bot might choose to refund the buyer in full without a return.
And A-Z claims have been known to occur after the appropriate window.
The question is, whether an order this old would affect my ODR…I’m going to be out $50 in a worthless used toy or $50 in an A2Z if they file, so the difference is the affect on my metrics.
You already received many good advice. Here’s what I do. Usually I don’t accept returns when it already passes 30 days. The only exception is that if the listing of that product is brand new (have less than 10 reviews). In that case, I’ll do anything to prevent a 1 star review and will give customers a full refund to please them.
There is no reason why you can’t win an AtoZ on this order. The buyer admits they have it, so their only reason to claim they deserve a refund is that they returned it and you didn’t refund… but they have no return proof since they can’t even open a return request.
As far as the metrics, keep in mind that the ODR is not always based on the order date. Often it based on other dates such as the end of the deliver period.
Your concerns about the ODR are only justified if you have or will have other defects contributing to the ODR.
Before you become too concerned, a single defect or even an “at risk” message are not an indication of impending doom for most sellers who are honest and reputable.
There is way too much fear in good sellers and not enough in those who should be gone.
Can they even open an A2Z this late? Close to 3 months? I’m pretty sure FB is stopped at 60 days.
It may well have changed, and I’m simply unaware of it, but for many years the cut-off threshold for Seller Feedback was 90 days.
As far as A-to-z Claims are concerned, I’m not aware of any time limit at all being enforced - certainly there have been credible examples, posted in various iterations of the ASF, of these occurring years after a purchase was made.
I marked it as NRN, I’m not going to engage with the customer. The ODR window based on the latest delivery date (6/28 I think) is long since closed, I had 1000+ transactions in that time period and only 1 a2z in mid August…so even if they screwed me with a neg Feedback or claim, that momentary blip that would have put me at .2% is now down to .1% still…
Thanks all for the good advice!
The period for a buyer to leave feedback or open a claim is 90 days. Sometimes a Customer Support rep can open an AtoZ after this period, but that has become less common in the past couple years.
You might be right. I do have the Seller Feedback option on orders from July 11th. But it’s super inconsistent as it’s missing on orders that are 7 days or 3 weeks old.
Csr’s can always open an atoz
OMG this lady (actually CS) has now sent two more messages…
Order was in June. Return window closed in July. First message in Sept, we clicked NRN.
Second response was Dec 1.
I replied to that one “My apologies - This order was delivered in 2 business days, on June 23rd via USPS Priority Mail, and the return window for this order expired back in July. I am unable to initiate a return request for the order at this time.”
CS wrote again this morning:
======== This is Amazon’s Customer Service team. A customer reached out to us with some questions about a purchase they made from you. Here’s a description of the issue:
Product: xxxxxxx
Order number: xxxxxxxx
Return requested: No
Reason for contact: Hello. The customer is requesting for the return label to be sent thru mail on this order since originally it arrived too late. She was requesting for the return for a while already and never got any respond at first. Thank you.
Please respond to this request within 48 hours.
Thanks,
Amazon Customer Service
Should I just click and paste the same message from last time? Or click NRN? Order is 6 months old at this point, A to Z wouldn’t hurt metrics. I don’t to accept the return, the item is guaranteed to be used and trash.
Whatcha think?
Happy Selling folks! ![]()
I would.
Hello,
As per Amazon policies the return period for this item was 30 days from delivery. Unfortunately, no return was requested until… 75 days? 80 days? after delivery. We regret that Amazon has closed this order and it is no longer eligible for a return.
Byeeeeee,
BennyMac.