Seller Seeks Advice on Amazon Delivery Claims

by: Snapped

"We do not require signature confirmation (too many complaints from buyers..."

For an item so prone to 'theft' and based on it's inherent value, and given the rise in bogus (or not, doesn't matter in the end) INR claims, along with Amazon reluctance to adhere to it's own policy, perhaps it's time to add a note to your delivery terms stating why you WILL now require a signature confirmation for these items.  

It's not just for the seller's benefit.  The buyer can then also be 'assured' of a confirmed delivery, despite the 'inconvenience'.  Unless of course they would rather have the doors left open (from the start) to make a claim....

by: pace306

Ive gone through the same issue - and as mentioned (so well by Snapped) - I just eat the Signature required cost - since Amazon wont honor their own words.

I dont sell phones, I sell other electronic items - all of which are highly fraud prone.

by: iheartjacksparrow

I agree 100% with Snapped. In your listings I would add a note along the lines of: "Due to the seller experiencing high incidences of losses in transit, we require that all iPhones be shipped with signature confirmation." If any of your buyers complain, you can offer to mail the phone to a business address, or to one of the Amazon lockers.

On my items, I require signature confirmation for any item (or multiple items that are shipped together) that are valued at $200 or above as I've sold online for too long and know that there are a lot of dishonest people who buy online.  

by: BobNJ

Last item we bought on Amazon was actually delivered by a local Amazon delivery service and they just threw the package in our front lawn. No where near the front door.

by: Moonwishes

I find I get far more 'didn't arrive' complaints from Amazon buyers than eCrater ones. Somehow buyers have gotten the idea that they can get their items for free by claiming it didn't arrive even though delivery said it did. I suspect that as they are pouring into Amazon at this point, Amazon doesn't want to stick to their policy, but they can't officially reverse themselves as many of us would stop using their shipping which would cost them money. But paying for these claims has gone over budget I'm sure.

by: spooky

same issue with my street but I know the cause - the Amazon contract van delivery drivers often don't care which house the item gets delivered to. I see tracking showing an item is delivered but several times I have to walk my street and check neighbor's porches for MY package.

by: TomH

I believe Moonwishes is correct. Just about every week I am in fight with Amazon to uphold their stated policy on this issue.

Amazon's overseas seller support sucks about as much as eBay's. You have to almost always try to escalate until you find a US base support person with English as the first language and who, much more important, actually understands their companies' own written policy.

by: etailer

@Snapped:  Signature Confirmation is highly recommended, regardless of customers complaints, if you wish to remain compliant and be covered by Amazon. If you do not follow the recommended practices, you lose the right to complain!

For orders valued higher than $75 (this used to be the Amazon recommended order value amount - may have changed), use Signature Confirmation.

For orders less than $75, use Priority Mail without Signature Confirmation - it provides automatic insurance coverage - in case USPS site does not display Delivery Confirmation, you are covered by USPS.  It does not cover you for fraudulent claims - however, Amazon has access to internal USPS data that displays geo-location of where the parcel was delivered along with date and timestamp. If geo-location data shows delivered, Amazon will typically decline the claim made by a buyer.  On occasion the buyer may win their claim - you can be assured that the fault was with the delivering post office or the mail carrier - open a case with USPS OR call the Delivery post office and insist that they manually update the tracking site with factual information.

Recommendation: Stamp EACH shipping label with ''Delivery Confirmation Required'' - Use a rubber stamp with red ink (costs less than $5.00).  This will not prevent claims from fraudulent buyers - but will reduce the delivery of packages by dumb/ ignorant postal employees without the crucial and final Delivery Confirmation scan.

by: mcposty

Amazon are as much criminals as ebay.

My advice is to not sell there at all

by: RKTOYS

@Moonwishes
That's what pushed me off Amazon.  They want to take 20% of every sale and then summarily rule against you for not spending another $5 out of pocket for signature.  For toys, usually well under $100, that's absurd.  Appeals are a joke too - "nope, you're still wrong kthxbye."

@mcposty
Sound advice.  One Amazon-sponsored theft wiped out an entire year's profits on the platform.  Pretty sad on multiple levels.  If your inventory isn't dirt cheap or didn't "fall off a truck," Amazon is really not worth the effort.  When they start stealing from you, forget about it.

by: iheartjacksparrow

@etailer - I buy stickers on a roll from an eBay seller. They are neon green, and read: "Don't Lose Me, USPS Tracking, Please Scan & Deliver." I started putting these on every package a few years ago when one Christmastime I had a few packages with tracking numbers that were never scanned as delivered. Luckily, the recipients were not scammers, or I would have been out a chunk of money.