Shipment Returned to Sender – Customer Requesting Full Refund
A customer placed five separate orders totaling approximately $1,200. The shipping address they provided turned out to be a construction site, so UPS was unable to deliver directly. Instead, the packages were held at a nearby CVS store (less than a mile from the delivery address) for pickup.
We proactively contacted the customer to explain the situation and provided details about where to pick up the packages. However, the customer never responded and did not retrieve the packages. As a result, all shipments are now being returned to us.
We shipped to the address provided by the customer, and we did notify them of the pickup location in a timely manner. Shipping the orders cost us around $200, and the return shipments will cost approximately another $200 — totaling $400 in shipping fees that we will not recover. Once the returns are processed, Amazon will automatically issue a full refund to the customer.
Questions:
Who is responsible in this situation?
Given we fulfilled our part, is there any way to prevent a full refund or recover shipping costs?
What action, if any, can we take to avoid similar issues in the future?
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Shipment Returned to Sender – Customer Requesting Full Refund
A customer placed five separate orders totaling approximately $1,200. The shipping address they provided turned out to be a construction site, so UPS was unable to deliver directly. Instead, the packages were held at a nearby CVS store (less than a mile from the delivery address) for pickup.
We proactively contacted the customer to explain the situation and provided details about where to pick up the packages. However, the customer never responded and did not retrieve the packages. As a result, all shipments are now being returned to us.
We shipped to the address provided by the customer, and we did notify them of the pickup location in a timely manner. Shipping the orders cost us around $200, and the return shipments will cost approximately another $200 — totaling $400 in shipping fees that we will not recover. Once the returns are processed, Amazon will automatically issue a full refund to the customer.
Questions:
Who is responsible in this situation?
Given we fulfilled our part, is there any way to prevent a full refund or recover shipping costs?
What action, if any, can we take to avoid similar issues in the future?
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
5 replies
Seller_XSqPquQH4FvW1
If the customer did not use an Amazon return label, you should not have to issue an automatic refund for shipping. Tell the customer you will issue a refund when you receive the items. You need to tell Amazon this also. At that time, you can issue a refund for the item price w/o shipping, using "undeliverable address" as the reason.
Seller_XSqPquQH4FvW1
Actually, it sounds like you are FBA, in which case I have no advice.
