Any idea of what the policy is on return labels for better price found?
When it’s free shipping aka shipping included, the better price reason really is unfair.
I find it confusing to figure out when the buyer has been charged on this page. Would it be black or positive if the buyer is charged, and red/negative when I am?
In this view, ‘other’ in the top section is the return postage charge. Because it is red, I have been charged?
Better Price Found is buyer faulted, the buyer should pay for return shipping.
I believe so, red should be debited from your account.
Thank you! I didn’t want to file a claim on an amount I wasn’t charged. My last Safe T Claim was initially going to be for 2 reasons, return shipping was one of them. A day after I started looking at it I saw that the return shipping was credited to me so I think there might be a delay for that. Have you noticed a delay on return shipping credits? Perhaps I should wait a day.
For future reference, when I get one of those (they don’t happen often) I send a message through the Amazon system letting them know that they WILL be charged for the return shipping since it is buyer faulted.
I tell them if the cost difference is not more than the label cost (most of my items are low enough priced it is almost never the case) they are just wasting money on a return. Most never come back!
Since Amazon never lets us know the cost I use an ‘estimate’ of $5 to $10 depending on USPS or UPS for the labels.
Good advice. The item is a set of 2 items, packaged together by the manufacturer. The buyer claimed better price at Dollar General. I stopped in one and found they have one of the items, slightly different and packaged singly by the same brand (I was surprised to see that brand there). So their claim is not really true, it’s not the same set for a better price. So I don’t feel bad that they will be charged.
Claim filed, awaiting response. Thanks to all for the help!
I was looking under Safe-T Claim reasons for my answer, didn’t think to look at the Return Reason fault list 
We have denied your refund request for order 111-8398514-4228267.
Why is this happening?
The issue you reported is not covered by the Prepaid Returns for Seller Fulfilled Order program.
So I get a change in status email from donotreply@amazon with a link to the claims page. The linked page has language says to reply to this email (but it’s not an email, it’s an Amazon page??) The actual email has a do not reply address. Do they have a think tank that comes up with hoops for sellers to navigate?
Please critique my reply email appeal draft and recommend best attachments to send.
Claim denial is wrong: “The issue you reported is not covered by the Prepaid Returns for Seller Fulfilled Order program.”
Policy states:
Amazon prepaid return labels“For returns using Amazon prepaid labels, return shipping costs are charged automatically to the buyer or seller depending on the return reason that the buyer selected.”
The buyer is responsible for prepaid return label cost. The cost was not automatically charged to the buyer as it should have been.
RETURN REASON: Better price available
FAULT: Customer
.
.
I attached these screenshots to the initial claim:
Is this too confusing to use as my appeal?
What attachments are recommended? See above post for initial claim attachments.
You got screwed on this for some reason. I have a “Better Price Available” return but I didn’t pay for the return shipping. They initially charge you but then credit it back in another entry. Your 2nd line for the refund in your exhibit should have a + 4.80 under the other column. Then they show the return shipping for -$4.80 on the next line. I think it may take a day or two for the refund to show the +4.80 along with the return amount and the Amazon fees you got back. Mine was also a auto authorized and prior refund applied when I went in to make sure everything was done properly. Go back and look at your report and see if you now have a +4.80 on the line with the refund.
I did wait a day because I have seen a delay on the credit recently. There is still no credit as of today.
It is concerning that my initial claim was denied when it is clearly within policy for the buyer to be charged.
Anyone got a message like this before? This is the second such denial of a pretty straight forward safe-t claim I’ve received with this exact messaging. Thoughts on how best to respond (this was for a book, btw)?
"We have denied your reimbursement request for the order 111-9327158-xxxxx.
Why did this happen?
The ASIN of the items for which you requested a reimbursement of the cost of the return label is eligible for free returns. By offering free returns, the seller is responsible for the cost of the return shipping regardless of the return reason. Furthermore, Amazon requires you to offer free returns for soft-line and fashion items, such as apparel, shoes, watches, or jewelry. You will be enrolled into free returns for such items automatically.
If no prepaid return label was offered and the buyer has shipped the item back, you are required to refund the return shipping amount to the buyer."
I did not get this explanation on my denial - but this is the reason. Even though my item is not clothing, it is in a sub-category of clothing. IMO it should not be but that is Amazon’s screwy logic I’m stuck with.
I’ve seen this templated response from Seller Support posted many times over the years, including many situations where the seller had the “I want to offer Free Returns for none of my items” setting enabled on their Returns Settings Dashboard (link); quite a few of those reports wound up revealing that the rep. had used a template inappropriate to the SAFE-T Claim’s situation.
The last year or so has seen a remarkably steep rise in the number of posts about this; they are a significant portion of an equally-stark rise in the number of complains about the SAFE-T Claim Team failing to follow published policy, requiring multiple appeals (and/or Support Cases w/ SeSu) to gain a resolution.
Given Amazon’s long-demonstrated fondness for the Defective By Design model of provisioning Customer Service, it’s not unreasonable to conclude that most of these instances of failing to follow procedure are attributable to simply that - but there can also be another situation, where Amazon has overridden the seller’s return settings by placing the Free Returns badge on the ASINs PDP.
With that possibility in mind, I’d probably be inclined to check the PDP as it currently appears, and determine whether or not any of the Offer-Listings showed that badge, before I began formulating an appeal.
To which we wonder if these quick template replies are the result of an AI bot taking over the initial review of the Safe-T Claim process?
The denial was accurate unfortunately, due to the category’s free returns requirement. 
The rejection to my claim did not include the verbiage that @UserID posted, which is a policy change I forgot about since this is a seasonal problem. I would not have begun crafting an appeal, or bothered all of you, if my memory had functioned properly. The memory is not defective, it is just overwhelmed (at least that is what I like to believe).
I am quite sure this is the case, given the speed of the initial response.
Well, I just won my appeal after an initial Safe-T denial. My winning response was:
BlockquoteAn ASIN being “eligible” for free returns does not mean my specific offering under that ASIN allowed free returns. I am a 3rd party seller and my listing for this ASIN did not allow for free returns. Furthermore, the ASIN is for a book, not for a fashion item, as mentioned in your previous reply. Please understand your own policy on this. This item was returned using the wrong reason code. It is a buyer-faulted return (as shown by my previously attached pictures showing it matched the listing exactly). As such the return shipping should be credited back to my account. Thank you.
Blockquote
Side note: ’ $25.73 reimbursed for a friggin return label. I cannot believe how much UPS is allowed to gouge sellers and Amazon on returns.
$25.73 for a book!? Is it all going to UPS or is there a markup.
Congratulations on your win, that you should not have had to fight for. How many sellers just let it go, how much lost $ does that add up to.
Unfortunately for me, mine is categorized as clothing even though it is a subcategory that ‘fit’ does not apply to.
I’m sure it was all return costs. The turd buyer returned a textbook in a 30”x14”x8” box. No voidfill 
