being overcharged on referral fees for 2 years - Amazon support tries to silence me - help needed
Hi,
I opened a claim (20427713161) because I found out that due to Amazon's arbitrary and wrongful category changes (without my approval or even notifying me) I was overcharged thousands of dollars in the last 2 years.
As response, someone named Ian Harold M. answered my case and asked me to generate and download the sales reports, which I did, and then uploaded them. The records include 17000 sales and dozens of ASINs.
Instead of doing their work, the support associate picked 1 single ASIN from 1 single sale and explained to me that the referral fee calculation was flawless. They didn't even tackle my claim that I have been charged 15% referral fees instead of 8% for most of my items because Amazon moved most of electronic and computer components into "Home improvement" - for unknown reason.
Which is even more insane is that the person blocked me from answering to my case. Neither email nor chat is available. My only option is to open a new case and ro refer to the old one.
I guess we all agree that when someone overcharges someone else by mistake, and the mistake came to light, the overcharge has to be refunded. No question asked. Amazon seems to have a different point of view.
I hope one of the support agents is reading this, and getting back to me with something useful.
Thank you.
being overcharged on referral fees for 2 years - Amazon support tries to silence me - help needed
Hi,
I opened a claim (20427713161) because I found out that due to Amazon's arbitrary and wrongful category changes (without my approval or even notifying me) I was overcharged thousands of dollars in the last 2 years.
As response, someone named Ian Harold M. answered my case and asked me to generate and download the sales reports, which I did, and then uploaded them. The records include 17000 sales and dozens of ASINs.
Instead of doing their work, the support associate picked 1 single ASIN from 1 single sale and explained to me that the referral fee calculation was flawless. They didn't even tackle my claim that I have been charged 15% referral fees instead of 8% for most of my items because Amazon moved most of electronic and computer components into "Home improvement" - for unknown reason.
Which is even more insane is that the person blocked me from answering to my case. Neither email nor chat is available. My only option is to open a new case and ro refer to the old one.
I guess we all agree that when someone overcharges someone else by mistake, and the mistake came to light, the overcharge has to be refunded. No question asked. Amazon seems to have a different point of view.
I hope one of the support agents is reading this, and getting back to me with something useful.
Thank you.
6 replies
Seller_OQTPwvIVqfKpB
We uncovered the same thing about 3-4 months ago. We sell automotive pinstriping, and have been dealing with all of our listings being recategorized as Adhesives.
Little did we know that this was changing all of our products to the Home Improvement category (aka 15% instead of 12%) for thousands of listings.
I opened a case and spent weeks discussing it with support and with specialists. The front end and everything visible to us in the listing info all still states Automotive. Theres even a stat that says "this listing is ranked #450 in automotive pinstriping." I asked how we were to know about this, and they said that the "category" the referral fee is based off, is "NOT VISIBLE TO SELLERS".
Every case I have opened has been closed after 2 weeks with a vague response stating "you are being charge 15% referral fee because your item is in the Home Improvement category. This case has been closed"
I have been working on going around the problem and getting individual listings moved back to their correct amazon store category, but it has been slow and have received no resolution.
Ultimately, they have removed major categories from their system, so the AI would recategorize entire stores of listings to a higher referral fee without any seller knowing. Have found no help and no ways around and don't foresee it. If you have any luck getting anything moved correctly let me know.
Once I get a case that works I was planning on creating a support case and trying to get other sellers to check theirs as well to draw visibility, but a little scared about retaliation honestly
Yujiro_Amazon
Hello @Seller_aKjpvLf9GNkXt,
Thank you for sharing the case response. Good news here. Seller Support has confirmed the discrepancy: your ASIN B07GD8BDSH is correctly listed under Electronics > Computers & Accessories > Computer Components > Network Cards, but the referral fee is being charged based on Tools & Home Improvement at 15%. They have offered to submit a reclassification request once you provide the correct browse node ID. The case was auto-closed because no response was received, but you can reopen it and provide the browse node ID they requested. To find the correct browse node, download the Browse Tree Guide (BTG) for the Canada marketplace from Seller Central (Add Products > Download BTG). Look for the node that matches "Computer Components > Network Cards" or the equivalent for your product. Once you have the browse node ID, reopen case 20427713161 and provide it. After the category is corrected, you can then request a retroactive referral fee adjustment for the period the ASIN was incorrectly categorized. If you need help locating the BTG or identifying the correct node, let us know.
Best regards,
Yujiro
Seller_MLHK1rx5DXofu
best thing is to stop selling on amazon, they are a disgrace and do as they wish legal or illegally, sellers should just boycott them in my opinion, just wait till they ban your account and refuse to give you your money!! its coming sir
