Major Concerns Over A-to-Z Claims Abuses – Amazon Paying Buyers Without Consulting Sellers
Hi everyone,
I've been working with Amazon for nearly 7 years, and I’ve never seen anything like what’s been happening over the past five months.
Recently, Amazon has begun granting A-to-z Guarantee claims automatically for nearly every customer return request — without first contacting us sellers or reviewing our responses. In many of these cases, the customer selects a vague return reason such as “Incompatible or not useful.” We promptly accept the return and begin the return process according to Amazon’s policy, yet Amazon still opens an A-to-z claim and issues a full refund to the customer without even giving us a chance to respond or investigate.
This is happening daily, and we are suffering serious financial losses. What’s worse — appeals are not being accepted in most cases, and Seller Support provides no meaningful assistance or clarity. This undermines fair resolution procedures and puts all the burden on the seller, even when we fully comply with Amazon's return policy and timelines.
We’re being penalized and losing money even when:
We respond to return requests within 24 hours.
Items are returned in used condition or not returned at all.
No buyer-seller communication is allowed before the refund is issued.
We have valid tracking and fulfillment confirmation.
This not only violates the principles outlined in Amazon’s own A-to-z policy, but also makes continuing to sell here increasingly unprofitable and unsustainable.
Is anyone else facing this? Have you found any effective way to escalate these cases or get meaningful support?
Would love to hear your experiences and if you’ve found any workaround to protect your account and margins from this type of claim abuse.
Thanks in advance,
Major Concerns Over A-to-Z Claims Abuses – Amazon Paying Buyers Without Consulting Sellers
Hi everyone,
I've been working with Amazon for nearly 7 years, and I’ve never seen anything like what’s been happening over the past five months.
Recently, Amazon has begun granting A-to-z Guarantee claims automatically for nearly every customer return request — without first contacting us sellers or reviewing our responses. In many of these cases, the customer selects a vague return reason such as “Incompatible or not useful.” We promptly accept the return and begin the return process according to Amazon’s policy, yet Amazon still opens an A-to-z claim and issues a full refund to the customer without even giving us a chance to respond or investigate.
This is happening daily, and we are suffering serious financial losses. What’s worse — appeals are not being accepted in most cases, and Seller Support provides no meaningful assistance or clarity. This undermines fair resolution procedures and puts all the burden on the seller, even when we fully comply with Amazon's return policy and timelines.
We’re being penalized and losing money even when:
We respond to return requests within 24 hours.
Items are returned in used condition or not returned at all.
No buyer-seller communication is allowed before the refund is issued.
We have valid tracking and fulfillment confirmation.
This not only violates the principles outlined in Amazon’s own A-to-z policy, but also makes continuing to sell here increasingly unprofitable and unsustainable.
Is anyone else facing this? Have you found any effective way to escalate these cases or get meaningful support?
Would love to hear your experiences and if you’ve found any workaround to protect your account and margins from this type of claim abuse.
Thanks in advance,
0 replies
Christine_Amazon
Hi @Seller_O1sercNdI6WK4
Christine here from Amazon Forums.
I can take a look on the orders, I just need the Order ID.
I will be waiting for your reply.
Also we recently post about this topic.
If you would like to have more information about the claims and how to submit your appeal, click in the link below.
A Friendly Guide to A-to-z Guarantee Claims for Amazon Canada Sellers
Christine
Seller_O1sercNdI6WK4
Hi Cristine,
Unfortunately, I can provide multiple order examples that reflect what we believe to be unfair decisions.
First, regarding order 702-1343799-9665848, the claim was granted to the customer without the item being returned. Neither the customer nor Amazon contacted us before issuing the refund, even though we accepted the return request in less than 24 hours.
Secondly, we just received another claim on a different order(701-1166847-2283454). We had already accepted the return and were simply waiting for the item to be returned. Despite this, Amazon still granted the A-to-z claim to the customer and increased our Order Defect Rate (ODR).
I can provide many more examples where Amazon opened A-to-z claims and granted refunds while the return process was still ongoing. In most of these cases, we acted promptly and followed Amazon’s return policies.
My main concern is: why is Amazon not contacting sellers or at least allowing the customer to connect with us before granting a claim? Previously, it was not this easy to misuse the A-to-z Guarantee process.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Ella
