I had to file my first safe-t claim last week.
It took several appeals to get it approved despite having very clear pictures of what was sent and what was returned.
Has ANYONE had success filing a safe-t claim on the first try, or is it the same nonsense we usually go through with seller support cases where you have to keep appealing/reopening cases several times to prove you aren’t going to let whatever happened slide?
Yes. With some experience regarding what will and won’t be accepted and what/how to submit the claim, you can have a reasonable success rate. The resolutions are not always consistent, and many no brainer claims require appeals to get them resolved, but they can be done.
just to be clear, you are saying it IS possible to have a claim approved on the FIRST attempt?
The process FELT a lot like FBA inventory reconciliations where for weeks they tell you they counted correct and you are at fault…
It is possible, yes.
Yes and no.
I usually get something back but then have to remind them about the rest.
i.e get back the return shipping but not the restocking fee or original shipping.
My format for this is basically this: (an actual safe-T-Claim)
Return Reason: Wrong item was sent
Buyer Comment: Clip pouch was sent when belt loop depicted ( The default item is belt loop. customer would have had to select the item type form the drop down menu. changing it from belt loop to side clip to select side clip.)Item ordered: Radio/EMT Combo Pouch with Side Clip
Request Date:01/30/2024 57 days ago
The item was returned outside the return window. The return request automatically closed 1 week before the customer returned the item. (3/25/2024)The item was returned without retail packaging, the customer received exactly what they ordered.
We are requesting a 50% restocking fee per Amazon policy of $16.25 and a refund for return shipping of $4.21 for a total of $20.46.
Pictures taken- The unopened package. The item next to the package with label visible (these 2 are very important for some reason) Any more pictures of the item and damage
This is our 6 month total:
Claims Value granted by Amazon
$183.43
Granted claim % : 100 %
Claims granted: 9 of 9.
YES on the first try.
But “different upon return” is not my reasons for filing SAFE-T claims.
When a package does get returned for me, 99% of the time I can change or blame the reason on discretionary returns. “It’s too small” – and my defense is Size is in title,description, and bullet point. Customer failed to measure"
Even color is defensible.
I’m usually only asking for return shipping.
Now damaged items…some I win, some I lose. Sometimes it’s hard to take a picture of the damage when it’s a watermark or an oil mark.
IF I can catch it – I’ll do a restocking fee and attach pictures. SAFE-T claims seem to reimburse a max of 50%
Yes it can be done and I have won almost all of the ones I file for.
Here is a template answer that I give on the NSFE. Take it for what it’s worth but I have had sellers tell me that it has worked for them as well –
For future reference since this will NOT be the last return (unless you quit selling on here a couple months ago) here are things to do/know – It’s a template I use so ignore parts that have been answered already (if any). To be eligible for a SAFE-T claim the refund must be done by AMAZON so do NOT refund yourself – wait for Amazon to refund.
Did you file a Safe-T claim? More importantly, did you include LOTS of pictures?
They have different templates for their forms so, depending on which one you see, their requirements vary on the form. NO consistency on Amazon forms anyplace!
The Safe-T form itself asks for attachments of:
The return package with the return label – so they can see that it is the correct return that you are addressing.
The CONTENTS of the return so they can see if there are issues of broken, incomplete, missing parts, etc.
Any other supporting items.
I take multiple pix of the package and label – front, back, and more if it’s a box.
I take pictures of the returned item ON the return packing slip. I may take three or four of the item if it has been opened, damaged, parts missing, etc.
I take a screen grab of their COMMENTS when they show they lied about the real reason for the return OR if the return is a ‘buyer faulted’ return and THEY are responsible for BOTH the shipping costs.
I include anything that can help with an appeal at all.
If you don’t do any/all of the above you will have very little chance of succeeding in a claim.
Treat Amazon like a three year old – short sentences, small words and bullet points . You will be dealing with people who have SOME English but it is most likely NOT their primary language.
I’d like to hear more about this approach - nearly all our returns are “discretionary”, as we make a niche technical product, and despite extensive warnings and a warning in the title, untrained laymen buy, read the instructions, and then realize that they can’t use it. So they typically pick “Item defective or didn’t work”, as the item did not fulfill their fantasy of avoiding hiring one of the skilled professionals to whom the item is marketed.
So, how exactly do you explain the concept of “discretionary returns” as a customer-faulted choice, and therefore, deserving of both shipping fees being reimbursed. There are no restocking fees any more, so we clearly must spar with Amazon to recover these shipping fees.
Amazon seems to assume that if any item is returned at all, that we should eat the shipping fees, the referral fees, and the costs of fulfillment.
So in my SAFE-T claim…
When the customer says “Item defective, doesn’t work”
Item returned in perfect condition and nothing is broken.
Customer claims Item didn’t work is a reference to size. Size is in title, description, and bullet points.
Customer failed to measure before placing an order. This is a discretionary return
Please reimburse return shipping.
When the customer says anything about size:
Size is in title, description, and bullet points.
Customer failed to measure before placing an order. This is a discretionary return
Please reimburse return shipping
Color:
Customer claims Item color is WHATEVER.
Customer failed to review all availabe photos. Photos accurately show color of the item. This is a discretionary return
Please reimburse return shipping
When we get the defective/did not work ones that come back to us in perfect condition…we say the item was returned in perfect and unused condition thus the buyer would have no way of knowing whether the product was defective or didn’t work because they never used it.
That works, too…
I think some buyers choose didn’t work meaning that it didn’t work for their purpose, not necessarily that it wasn’t functioning. They have to choose from the reason options that Amazon pre-populates. However that circumstance would be buyer faulted if the detail page adequately describes the product and they fail to read it…
It may not always be chosen for the free label but because none of the other reasons are true.
agree – doesn’t work “on my table because of whatever”
I used to get mad…but my skin is getting thicker
As an aside, when a sale is made, a referral fee is charged by Amazon, and the outbound shipping is paid either “Amazon Buy Shipping” or elsewhere.
If the return label is charged to the customer by Amazon up front, can I get back the outbound shipping I paid and the referral fee for a clear “customer-faulted” return?
I am not familiar with this, and only engaged in FBM last year when Amazon lost 1300 units, and never found any, and this year, when they started charging the extra “low inventory fee” due to their own slow inbound process. (So, I let FBA inventory go to zero, and will not send them any product, and instead will do FBM until the “busy season” ends.)
But I am not clear on what the baseline “reimbursement” is when a “return” happens, and it seems that one must wait weeks to see Amazon’s “credits”. Can one track by order number, and see the treatment on an order-by-order basis, or must one infer from “subtotals” under the catch-all “other” category?
Partial answer here.
You can get the outbound back ONLY if two things happen. First you had to actually charge shipping and not offer ‘free shipping.’
If that happened then you must WAIT for Amazon to refund either with RFS or by waiting for the refund clock to run out and they refund it.
If you refund yourself then you can’t claim anything!
Totally agree.
Let Amazon do their “refund upon first scan” if it’s a return where you want your shipping back and can’t do a restocking fee due to damage
Outbound shipping costs I think are hard to recover so I do free shipping also because the customers used to have a filter on the left side of their screen where they could filter for free shipping at the beginning of their search. So I didn’t want to be eliminated in their search with the first click. Second click was Amazon Prime…and well, I don’t do FBA. or Seller Fulfilled Prime either.
It’s the return shipping that I’m after AND a hope and prayer that Amazon is keeping track of this somehow.
On the transaction report (details not summary), in the type column
| date/time | settlement id | type | order id |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26-Jan-24 | ….84231 | SAFE-T reimbursement | 113-2197276-…. |
You can also go to Payments - Transaction View and search the order ID.
All transactions related to the order will be shown, including safe-t reimbursements.
This is correct. I started doing "free shipping’ to capture all those sheep that don’t understand everything has a cost. I raised my prices about 50 cents above the estimated shipping costs to cover scammers.
I do have some I have not converted yet so when I did charge shipping the only thing that you can hope for is they lie about the return reason and put the REAL reason in the comment section!
In those cases I take screen grabs of the reason given and the contrasting real reason. I attach that to the Safe-T with the comment that the buyer claims “X” but clearly states the REAL reason is “Y” so I am owed $x.xx for the shipping charge. I win about 95% of those!
I have some items I would rather buyer pays shipping, but I think my Free Shipping setting is a default for all offers. Or can I have a ‘buyer pays’ template too?
I have about half a dozen templates set up for different items due to sizes and weights.
For some reason when I started something like 15 years ago Amazon had ‘populated’ a slew of shipping templates.
I just change them now to fit my needs! Give each one a new name. My most used one is currently “free shipping gone nuts” referring to the decision to offer free shipping!
