The Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee: Between Sales Genius and Return Madness
Have you ever made a wrong purchase? Pants with a terrible pattern? Or maybe a connection cable with the wrong type of connector? Those who have shopped in brick-and-mortar retail can go back to the store and hopefully exchange the item. However, those who have shopped online cannot simply stop by the store again. The same applies to a warranty claim. That’s why Amazon offers its customers a comprehensive buyer protection with the A-to-Z Guarantee when there are problems with an order from a Marketplace seller, such as defective goods. This way, customers do not have to contact the Amazon seller directly, but receive their refund directly from Amazon.
The Amazon warranty in the form of the A-to-Z Guarantee also applies when goods are not received. For customers, this has the advantage that they can rely on Amazon in the event of a warranty case, instead of having to resolve the matter alone with the seller. However, for you as a seller, the A-to-Z Guarantee means that Amazon decides on the warranty case – unilaterally and usually without involving the actual seller. To make matters worse, Amazon also considers a warranty claim when calculating seller performance, putting additional pressure on sellers from this side.
But first, we want to clarify what conditions Amazon sets for the A-to-Z Guarantee, which cases the buyer protection covers, and how the customer can make use of this Amazon guarantee.
Complaint at Amazon: What is the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee?
Shopping online always involves a small risk for customers: Is the product as described? Is the seller reputable? Will I perhaps receive defective or damaged items? All of these are uncertainties that can be easily resolved in brick-and-mortar retail – in e-commerce, this is naturally more difficult.
To alleviate such concerns for customers and create a trusting basis, Amazon has introduced the free A-to-Z Guarantee. This guarantees the customer that the online giant will intervene under certain conditions if there are problems with an order and refund the purchase price. The customer can therefore be assured that by making a claim, they will get their money back, even if the marketplace seller may be less accommodating. From the perspective of the e-commerce giant, a clever move: Customer trust increases, sales rise.
Occasionally, the A-to-Z Guarantee is also referred to as “Amazon A to Z” or “Amazon AtoZ.” However, it is the same thing. In this article, we will consistently use the German term.
When does the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee apply?
When can one submit their complaint to Amazon? What requirements are necessary for a customer to file a warranty claim with Amazon? In principle, the customer must have purchased a physical product through the Amazon website from a third-party seller or used the payment service Amazon Payments to acquire goods from a third-party seller. Additionally, at least one of the following conditions must be met for the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee:
Additionally, the customer must give the seller the opportunity to resolve the matter before they can file a claim. To do this, it is necessary for the customer to contact the seller through “My Account” and give them two business days* to respond. The actual warranty claim must be submitted to Amazon no later than 90 days after the order date.
On this corporate help page, two calendar days are mentioned for delivery and two business days for a response. However, the help pages for the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee specify three days each. Sellers should therefore respond to the customer as quickly as possible, just to be safe.
Which cases are excluded from the A-to-Z Guarantee through Amazon?
Buyers can rely on the A-to-Z Guarantee for an order through Amazon – in most cases. However, there are some exclusion criteria where the e-commerce giant does not provide a refund. This primarily concerns non-physical items such as payments for services, digital products, and monetary payment methods like gift cards.
Therefore, anyone who wants to file a warranty claim with Amazon related to an e-book or a music download has no entitlement. The same applies if the respective bank has revoked the debit for payments made by credit card or direct debit. Customers also have no right to the Amazon Guarantee if the defective item was not reported to the seller within 14 days or if it concerns opened products from the health or beauty sector.
Of course, all cases of the Amazon product guarantee are also excluded that do not meet the requirements. This may be the case, for example, if the item did match the description on the product detail page or if the shipment was properly delivered and the seller could prove this.
However, it may also happen that the claim for the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee is denied because the buyer, for example, did not return the item or wanted to make a claim with Amazon only because they regretted the purchase.
Can the Amazon customer withdraw the A-to-Z Guarantee claim?
For Amazon to review the warranty claim, it takes some time. In the meantime, it may naturally happen that the matter resolves itself, for example, because the seller and customer have found a mutual solution. As long as the claim for the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee is still being reviewed, sellers have the option to ask the customer to withdraw the claim. The buyer can do this by contacting customer service or by replying to the confirmation email of the claim submission.
If sellers and buyers reach an agreement even after the guarantee has been granted, the customer should also contact customer service to trigger a new charge to their account for this order and to close the warranty case.
What are the effects of an A-to-Z Guarantee claim at Amazon for the seller?
In principle, the rules for the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee sound reasonable: it applies, for example, in cases of defective goods or shortcomings by the seller, who must be given a certain amount of time to resolve the issues before a warranty claim can be filed. Additionally, the customer must cooperate by providing information and returning the goods.
However, practice seems to be different. Numerous sellers report in threads in the relevant forums about their experiences and the massive problems with the guarantee for products sold on Amazon.de. There are repeated mentions of missing returns by customers, invalid justifications, fraud, or difficult communication with the digital giant. Often, Amazon, for example, makes the decision to approve the warranty case and refunds the amount without having received a return from the customer. Therefore, for the Amazon seller, the A-to-Z Guarantee often means both the loss of the purchase price as well as the goods. This is particularly frustrating for sellers when it becomes evident that some customers have deliberately exploited the A-Z Guarantee to keep the goods and reclaim the purchase price.
UPDATE May 2020: The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has ruled that Amazon sellers are not bound by the A-to-Z Guarantee (Az. VIII ZR 18/19). The judges criticized that the standard for reviewing the guarantee remains unclear and saw no possibility of reaching a solution that considers the interests of both parties, as the seller cannot contest Amazon’s decision. Sellers can therefore demand money refunded by Amazon directly from the customer if they believe that a product was delivered intact, even if the customer claims otherwise. In case of doubt, the seller can file a lawsuit against the customer.
What to do if the customer keeps the goods?
Typically, buyers return the products when they make use of the Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee. However, sometimes this does not happen – which is doubly frustrating for the seller, as they have neither seen the money nor received the item back. Since Amazon is responsible for FBA transactions, the shipping giant now owes the seller a refund. Such discrepancies appear in the FBA reports but can only be detected manually with a lot of effort.
FBA sellers should therefore definitely make use of a service that uncovers such FBA errors. SELLERLOGIC Lost & Found Full-Service is not only capable of identifying all FBA errors that occur with your products, but the software solution also automatically analyzes all FBA transactions. What does this mean for you exactly? After setting up SELLERLOGIC Lost & Found Full-Service, you no longer have to worry about…
SELLERLOGIC Lost and Found Full-Service fully retrieves the money that you are entitled to from FBA errors on the part of Amazon.
If you do not use a service like the one from SELLERLOGIC, the aforementioned case can become not only frustrating but also time-consuming for you as an online seller. Finding the correct reports is just the first part of the process. After that, you must approach Amazon’s customer support with the reports and their meaningful evidence. From experience, we can tell you that this exchange of messages can usually take more time than most sellers would like.
Effects on seller performance due to the Amazon “A-to-Z” Guarantee
For online sellers, the A-to-Z Guarantee has further implications: First, seller performance plays a crucial role in the battle for the Buy Box, and second, there is also an impact on the ranking within search results for private label products. If Amazon has taken over the guarantee for an order, this is considered a deficiency in the order against the seller and is accordingly factored into the overall assessment of seller performance.
The rate of order deficiencies refers to the last 60 days and must not exceed 1%; otherwise, the seller account is at risk of suspension. To have a chance at the Buy Box, however, the rate should be as close to 0% as possible.
FAQ
No, but it is indeed possible to take action against the buyer according to the ruling of the BGH. This makes sense when it is obvious that the buyer is intentionally asserting the warranty in order to keep both the purchase price and the product.
If a package has been lost at Amazon or something similar, the A-Z Guarantee must be requested. However, there is no special process required for this. It is sufficient for the buyer to claim that the product is defective. The Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee allows customers to rely on Amazon in the event of a warranty claim, rather than contacting the seller directly. For sellers, however, this means that the e-commerce giant decides independently on the warranty case, often without involving the seller.
Sellers often bear the costs, as determined by the BGH, which highlights the imbalance in the relationship between buyers, Amazon, and sellers. Buyers benefit from a comprehensive guarantee, which in turn leads to increased traffic on the platform. However, this concept does not provide for any say from the sellers, even though it concerns their products and their revenue. In the worst case, sellers can lose both their products and their revenue, often without a refund from Amazon. Therefore, Amazon sellers can take legal action against buyers if they deem it necessary.
The Amazon A-Z Guarantee usually requires the return of the product in order to be eligible for a refund or replacement. However, there are exceptions for certain digital products or services where no return is required. It is advisable to check the specific terms of the guarantee for each product. Additionally, sellers should track whether the customer has actually returned the product, as Amazon does not always thoroughly check the receipt of goods in the warehouse.
A refund is generally guaranteed, meaning that customers can request a refund of shipping costs in certain situations. However, it depends on the specific conditions of the order, such as the selected shipping plan or whether the item was sold and shipped by Amazon or a third party.
Image credits in the order of the images: © fotogestoeber – stock.adobe.com / © fran_kie – stock.adobe.com
