Can someone link me a thread about what to do when you get a scam return? We are dealing with one now.
Did you use Amazon Buy Shipping, did the order get auto refunded on first scan?
- file a Safe T Claim.
If you did not use Buy Shipping you cannot file a Safe t Claim and would need to open a case.
Definitely report the buyer.
I suggest creating a new topic or having this moved, it might not gain a lot of views on this older [WSJ] thread for the help you need.
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Yes, we used Amazon Buy Shipping, and the order wasnāt refunded. I would very much like to report the buyer.
Thanks for the ideas!
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Unfortunately @CloudCapJewelry is in the Handmade Category which does not get RFS nor eligible for Safe-t claims.
More information is needed to provide the correct advice but to report a buyer go to the Help menu to create a support ticket
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Iām sorry I did not realize you were in Handmade so my advice was of no use to you. Hopefully you will get better results than what we get from Safe T Claims.
Good luck fighting the scam.
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Iām sorry, I didnāt realize that Handmade was different on these type of orders. I appreciate your taking the time to respond, Primetime!
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Thank you for the help, Wade! I tremble at the idea of interacting with seller support on purpose. The last time I contacted them they sent me information for a whole different topic and then told me that I needed to open a new ticket if I wanted to discuss something else when I repeated my original request.
I have a theory that seller support agents have secret competitions between themselves to see who can most dismally mislead a seller, with extra points given for non sequiturs. However, itās unlikely that Iāll ever be able to prove it, since I only have a lot of cold, hard facts to back it up. 
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I sent this: āA customer has returned an item we donāt sell and is demanding a refund.ā along with the order number.
The customer has just now left us a new message and has involved (quiver) Amazon Customer Service, also.
The customer added this: āI already returned this item. I am waiting for a refund and itās been over three weeks. When will I receive my refund please and thank you.ā
What they returned was a single earring that is not ours, and they have kept the pair of earrings that we made. I imagine that they lost one of their own earrings and decided to gift themselves a similar pair of earrings at our expense. The nerve and coolness of this customer takes my breath away!
I have taken pictures of everything. Is there anything else that I can do?
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Including the package they mailed it back in, with the mailing label?
Did you message them that they did not return what you sent them? Amazon looks at messages when evaluating A-Z Claims. Can buyers file A-Z Claims on Homemade orders?
If they can, the fact that this buyer did not file a claim yet adds to their suspicious behavior.
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Yes, I did get pics of the package and the mailing label, and get this, the customer said that the packaging was destroyed and the product had missing parts, but they sent the single incorrect earring back in our (undestroyed) jewelry box and retaped padded mailer.
Buyers can file A-Z claims for handmade. Why is it suspicious that they havenāt filed one?
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Oh, and yes, I did tell the customer that they must have mistakenly returned the wrong product.
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They might be afraid they are on Amazonās radar from prior return frauds and donāt want to attract attention. They can get away with the ādestroyedā lies on FBA orders because no one is watching, so they try it on merchant fulfilled orders. Spoiled by Amazon.
Iād send them the picture of the un-destroyed box and re-taped mailer via Amazon message system, to let the buyer know you are aware they are lying but donāt make accusations, just include those pics with the pic of the one earring you donāt sell and tell them you have not refunded because they have not returned the items you sent them); this will document it for Amazon when they look into it.
Just the facts, no emotion.
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Thank you for the information. I had already followed Wadeās advice and contacted support, and they say that the customer has requested a refund and so I have to at least give a partial refund or the system with automatically grant a refund in 48 hours.
This may be where Handmade is like the rest of the system, because support says that I can file a Safe T Claim once that is done. They also said that I can process a partial refund, but I donāt see anywhere to do that. There is only a place to mark that the return was materially different and to choose percentages of restocking fees (up to 100%).
Have you had any experience with that?
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Thank you for the reminder, I am trying. I am amazed at their brass faced nerve!
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No but I would charge the max on the restocking fee, or maybe 99.98%; but I am not experienced there.
I donāt believe that you will be able to file a Safe T Claim, those are only for auto refund at first scan returns, unless something has changed?? Letās see if anyone more experienced chimes in here.
Unfortunately what seller support says canāt always be trusted.
I would still document it with a message to the buyer that you will provide a refund when they return what you sent them (and the photos). Should do that before triggering a partial refund .001% or whatever you decide. With Safe T Claims we cannot charge more than 50% restocking fee, so I hope you can charge more like support said.
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Truer words were never spoken! 
Okay, Iāll send the buyer the pics and see if they back down at all. If they donāt, Iāll muddle through.
Iāve had buyers do things like this before, but couldnāt really prove that they were being scammy. This one seems like it should be obvious.
Thanks again for the help, I really appreciate it!
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I donāt think this is the first time that buyer tried to get away with this. I predict they will disappear. But do be sure to take whatever action necessary to prevent Amazon from refunding.
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Iāll do my best, thank you! I hope that I at least find the place where I can report the buyer so that they get some kind of mark against their account.
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The primary policy page for SAFE-T Claims, for non SFP (āSeller Fulfilled Primeā)
orders, remains the SHCās oft-renamed (āSeller Help Contentā) Reimbursement policy for prepaid return labels in the seller-fulfilled network (link) (there exists a separate page for the SFP Program, and yet another for the Service Provider Program - citational reference available upon request).
For many years, the SAFE-T Claims Team has been all over the map in its decisions - hence the āsole discretion/no noticeā disclaimer there - but one thing that has remained fairly consistent is that the eligibility criteria hinges upon Amazon itself issuing the refund, whether it is RFS (āRefund at First SCAM Scan,ā or not).
Things have gotten even more out of hand recently, prompting SEAmod to make this 20Apr24 post over in the NSFE:
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So, if Cloud Cap waits for Amazon to refund they will issue a full refund, and Cloud Cap might be able to file a Safe T Claim for 50%.
Or maybe they can refund a minuscule percent (or that might not be true and that too would be limited to 50% ??); and let the buyer file an A-Z.
Which seems to be the safer path?
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