Questioning the Logic Behind Amazon's Refund and Refund Commission Policies
Dear Amazon Seller Forum Members,
As sellers, we strive to maintain high standards of customer satisfaction, ensuring that our products meet the descriptions and quality promised. However, the glaring loopholes in Amazon's refund policies are causing significant frustration and financial loss.
Let’s address a critical question: On what basis does Amazon issue refunds to buyers and then charge sellers a refund commission, even when the return is demonstrably unjustified or fraudulent?
Here are a few examples highlighting the flaws in the current system:
Refunds Without Proper Verification: Refunds are processed the moment the product is picked up, without adequately verifying whether the returned product matches the one originally sent. This policy creates a perfect loophole for misuse by fraudulent buyers or mishandling by third-party courier services.
Seller Penalization Through Refund Commission: In cases where sellers apply for safety claims due to wrong product returns, the refunded amount is often incomplete, and the refund commission charged is conveniently overlooked. Why are sellers penalized for issues that lie beyond their control?
Lack of Accountability: The current policies fail to account for instances where the buyer's return reasons are contradictory, vague, or outright illogical. No effort seems to be made to verify the authenticity of buyer claims before processing refunds.
No Clarity in Buyer Feedback: A significant portion of buyer feedback consists of subjective or baseless comments like "Not useful" or "Quality not good." What is the mechanism Amazon employs to validate such claims before charging sellers?
This system not only undermines seller trust but also encourages misuse by fraudulent buyers. Refund commissions are a further insult, essentially punishing sellers for actions outside their control.
Amazon must address these concerns with urgency:
1)Introduce stricter verification processes before refunding buyers, such as mandatory photo or video evidence.
2)Link buyers' accounts to unique identifiers like Aadhar to reduce fraudulent activities.
3)Revise the refund commission policy to ensure sellers are not penalized unfairly for returns that are later proven invalid.
These loopholes are not just frustrating; they are actively discouraging honest sellers who invest time, money, and effort in building their businesses. If Amazon continues to prioritize buyer satisfaction at the expense of seller protection, it risks losing the trust and cooperation of its seller community.
Let’s collectively push for a more balanced and fair approach. Sellers deserve better. Requesting all sellers raise voices for this unfair policy.
Sincerely,
PMS Team
Questioning the Logic Behind Amazon's Refund and Refund Commission Policies
Dear Amazon Seller Forum Members,
As sellers, we strive to maintain high standards of customer satisfaction, ensuring that our products meet the descriptions and quality promised. However, the glaring loopholes in Amazon's refund policies are causing significant frustration and financial loss.
Let’s address a critical question: On what basis does Amazon issue refunds to buyers and then charge sellers a refund commission, even when the return is demonstrably unjustified or fraudulent?
Here are a few examples highlighting the flaws in the current system:
Refunds Without Proper Verification: Refunds are processed the moment the product is picked up, without adequately verifying whether the returned product matches the one originally sent. This policy creates a perfect loophole for misuse by fraudulent buyers or mishandling by third-party courier services.
Seller Penalization Through Refund Commission: In cases where sellers apply for safety claims due to wrong product returns, the refunded amount is often incomplete, and the refund commission charged is conveniently overlooked. Why are sellers penalized for issues that lie beyond their control?
Lack of Accountability: The current policies fail to account for instances where the buyer's return reasons are contradictory, vague, or outright illogical. No effort seems to be made to verify the authenticity of buyer claims before processing refunds.
No Clarity in Buyer Feedback: A significant portion of buyer feedback consists of subjective or baseless comments like "Not useful" or "Quality not good." What is the mechanism Amazon employs to validate such claims before charging sellers?
This system not only undermines seller trust but also encourages misuse by fraudulent buyers. Refund commissions are a further insult, essentially punishing sellers for actions outside their control.
Amazon must address these concerns with urgency:
1)Introduce stricter verification processes before refunding buyers, such as mandatory photo or video evidence.
2)Link buyers' accounts to unique identifiers like Aadhar to reduce fraudulent activities.
3)Revise the refund commission policy to ensure sellers are not penalized unfairly for returns that are later proven invalid.
These loopholes are not just frustrating; they are actively discouraging honest sellers who invest time, money, and effort in building their businesses. If Amazon continues to prioritize buyer satisfaction at the expense of seller protection, it risks losing the trust and cooperation of its seller community.
Let’s collectively push for a more balanced and fair approach. Sellers deserve better. Requesting all sellers raise voices for this unfair policy.
Sincerely,
PMS Team
17 replies
Seller_qeLqqrKZn5ImR
The order ID is 404-9732582-3685124 in which our seller account faced the wrong penalization as refund commission charge.
Seller_qeLqqrKZn5ImR
@Noor_Amazon_@Adam_Amazon_ @Winston_Amazon Please respond to this thread.
Seller Penalization Through Refund Commission: In cases where sellers apply for safety claims due to wrong product returns, the refunded amount is often incomplete, and the refund commission charged is conveniently overlooked. Why are sellers penalized for issues that lie beyond their control?
Amazon is having very foolish policy in refund commission area part.We want to discuss with the amazon business team who can overlook about this loophole in the refund and refund commission policy.
Seller_9XLpali4TYDkb
This is very serious issue as sellers are wrongly penalized and even lisings are facing suppressions.
There are complaint by buyers for size issues as well. They didn,t read the full discriptions and returned mentioning 'too small or size not as per expectations.
If the size mentioned on website and size of the product sent is same then why seller got punished for that.
Seller_BAeNeJ1TzfSP7
Do you really think Amazon puts thought into all this? Their concept is very basic! Amazon is just a bridge between a customer and a seller! To draw a sale they have to give the customer the best deal! And 7 day no questions asked return policy is what they have come up with! And to prevent Amazon loss, they tend to blame the seller and take money from the seller irrespective of whether the seller is at fault or not! They charge the seller for this!
They give fake hope for sellers like we have Safe-t claim which is limited and also a gamble! There is no guarantee that you will get your amount! And even if you get that's not the amount you deserve! There are 10 orders of mine(Orders received in the month of September) which Amazon says delivered to the customer! Customer says I didn't receive the delivery. Amazon grants the refund to the customer the very next day of marking the order delivered! But I got only 40% of the settlement amount as per the fair policy(after 50 days)! What is my fault here? Amazon delivered the product, but loss faced = Seller! The same thing has happened this month as well, where 2 of my orders were marked delivered, and then customer says I didn't get the delivery. When I contacted seller support they are like sir we tried to get in touch with the customer, but the customer is misleading the associate, so our investigation is closed.
Amazon expects sellers to invest a lot in Ads, and then get orders, you do not get orders organically. And if you get negative ratings then again you will have to spend even more to get orders!
So the best thing is to finish the inventory and close out Amazon as this platform is not for those sellers who have less money in their accounts.
Seller_1jC6Fhwg1hcGi
YOU ARE RIGHT I HAD ALSO FACED SUCH SITUATION ,ORDER GET DELIVER ,BUT BUYER CL AIM NOT RECEIVED ,AMAZON AUTHORIED REFUND ,THEN AFTER 50 DAYS I RECEIVED ONLY 60 % OF MY AMOUNT OF PRODUCT .THEIR POLICY IS ONLY AGAINST OF SELLER..
Seller_Y6efEWNcykEZk
Dear Amazon Seller Forum Members,
As sellers, we strive to maintain high standards of customer satisfaction, ensuring that our products meet the descriptions and quality promised. However, the glaring loopholes in Amazon's refund policies are causing significant frustration and financial loss.
Let’s address a critical question: On what basis does Amazon issue refunds to buyers and then charge sellers a refund commission, even when the return is demonstrably unjustified or fraudulent?
Here are a few examples highlighting the flaws in the current system:
Refunds Without Proper Verification: Refunds are processed the moment the product is picked up, without adequately verifying whether the returned product matches the one originally sent. This policy creates a perfect loophole for misuse by fraudulent buyers or mishandling by third-party courier services.
Seller Penalization Through Refund Commission: In cases where sellers apply for safety claims due to wrong product returns, the refunded amount is often incomplete, and the refund commission charged is conveniently overlooked. Why are sellers penalized for issues that lie beyond their control?
Lack of Accountability: The current policies fail to account for instances where the buyer's return reasons are contradictory, vague, or outright illogical. No effort seems to be made to verify the authenticity of buyer claims before processing refunds.
No Clarity in Buyer Feedback: A significant portion of buyer feedback consists of subjective or baseless comments like "Not useful" or "Quality not good." What is the mechanism Amazon employs to validate such claims before charging sellers?
This system not only undermines seller trust but also encourages misuse by fraudulent buyers. Refund commissions are a further insult, essentially punishing sellers for actions outside their control.
Amazon must address these concerns with urgency:
1)Introduce stricter verification processes before refunding buyers, such as mandatory photo or video evidence.
2)Link buyers' accounts to unique identifiers like Aadhar to reduce fraudulent activities.
3)Revise the refund commission policy to ensure sellers are not penalized unfairly for returns that are later proven invalid.
These loopholes are not just frustrating; they are actively discouraging honest sellers who invest time, money, and effort in building their businesses. If Amazon continues to prioritize buyer satisfaction at the expense of seller protection, it risks losing the trust and cooperation of its seller community.
Let’s collectively push for a more balanced and fair approach. Sellers deserve better. Requesting all sellers raise voices for this unfair policy.
Sincerely,
Shona's Style Team
Seller_FhYtylmbVKEP1
Agree, these points need to be addressed by Amazon. We need to represent this issue further.
Seller_UxDCryCRKx5l5
We are facing similar issues and are deeply frustrated with Amazon's policies that often seem unfair to sellers. One major problem we’ve noticed is that when customers return the correct product, the pickup personnel or the distribution team at Amazon’s collection points sometimes mishandle, misplace, or even intentionally swap the items. This creates unnecessary losses for us as sellers, but the responsibility always seems to fall back on us rather than being addressed at their end.
Adding to the frustration is the inconsistency in refund amounts. For the exact same product and situation, the refund provided often varies without any clear explanation. It appears to depend on the mood or discretion of the concerned person handling the case, leaving us feeling unsupported and vulnerable to arbitrary decisions. These practices not only harm sellers financially but also damage the trust we place in Amazon to uphold fair and transparent policies. We hope these issues are taken seriously and resolved promptly.
Seller_qeLqqrKZn5ImR
Dear Amazon Seller Forum Members,
It’s disheartening to see the continued silence from Amazon representatives on the critical issue of refund policy loopholes, despite active engagement on other threads. This raises a troubling question: **Is Amazon truly committed to addressing the concerns of its sellers, or is there something deeper at play?
What’s most concerning is the lack of acknowledgment or effort to rectify these glaring issues. **Why is Amazon avoiding this conversation?
When a platform consistently ignores seller concerns, despite multiple escalations and threads like this one, it is only natural for us to question the intent. Is this an oversight, or does Amazon benefit in some way from these loopholes?
While I don’t want to outright accuse Amazon of having internal mechanisms that enable such practices, the persistent silence and inaction suggest a lack of accountability. Sellers are left to speculate whether these policies and their loopholes are deliberately maintained to benefit certain stakeholders at the expense of honest sellers.
This isn't just about monetary losses—it’s about trust. A platform that prides itself on being "customer-obsessed" must also ensure fairness to the very sellers who fuel its marketplace.
**Amazon, it’s time for transparency:**
1. Why are refund claims processed without proper verification of returned goods?
2. What safeguards are in place to prevent misuse of refund policies by buyers or couriers?
3. Why are sellers charged refund commissions even when claims are proven invalid?
4. Most importantly, why is there no active engagement from your team on threads like this, despite numerous seller escalations?
Sellers, we need to stand united in demanding answers. If Amazon continues to ignore these critical issues, we must question whether this platform truly values its sellers or if we’re just seen as expendable.
Amazon, silence is no longer an option. We demand accountability, transparency, and action.
Sincerely,
PMS Team
For this thread , there is no respond from the amazon executives like@Noor_Amazon_ @Adam_Amazon_ Please tag this people too @Sakura_Amazon @Winston_Amazon
Seller_UwPynprPq66aR
amazon should stop or atleast reduce refund charges!!!!!
