What is a chargeback process at Amazon?
Amazon refers to the chargeback process as the recovery of a credit card payment by the cardholder, also known as credit card reversal in German. This can occur, for example, in cases of errors such as double charges. Consumers can also request a payment reversal if products have not arrived or if the credit card has been used fraudulently by third parties. Both sellers and vendors can be affected by a chargeback case on Amazon.
Unlike an A-to-Z Guarantee case, the buyer does not contact the marketplace seller or Amazon. For a chargeback process, they contact their bank directly, from which they received the credit card. There, they can initiate the process either online or via a chargeback form for an Amazon order. The bank also decides whether to accept or reject the request.
To decide whether the refund will be issued, the bank contacts Amazon in the chargeback process and requests the necessary information. If it is a marketplace purchase, Amazon in turn contacts the seller. Therefore, a chargeback cannot simply be demanded; such a request from the customer must be justified.
What is the correct way to handle a chargeback case on Amazon?
If a customer initiates a chargeback process for an order through Amazon, it always involves effort for the affected seller. If they receive an email requesting further information, they essentially have two options for responding:
- They can promptly initiate a refund of the credit card charge. This can be useful in cases where the situation is clear, such as when the goods never arrived at the customer.
- They can provide all necessary information for the review of the chargeback process. Amazon will then forward this information to the credit card holder’s bank.
It is also important for sellers and vendors to know when dealing with credit card chargebacks: The deadline specified by Amazon in the notification email for an initiated chargeback process must be strictly adhered to.
If no deadlines are mentioned, sellers should respond within eleven calendar days – either through Seller Central or in response to the notification email. If sellers do not respond to an Amazon chargeback case, the customer’s request is typically granted.
How can sellers provide the necessary information?
If sellers do not want to initiate an immediate refund, they must provide the necessary information for the chargeback process to Amazon. They can do this either through Seller Central or by responding to the notification email.
All Amazon chargeback cases can be found in Seller Central under the “Performance” menu. Only Amazon can access the response recorded here by the seller. The following information should be provided by sellers:
- the status of the transaction,
- the description of the product,
- the shipping date,
- the shipping method (FBA, FBM, etc.),
- information about tracking (e.g., the tracking number),
- if applicable, additional information about the product or item, such as photos or usage logs of a digital service.
If there has already been contact with the buyer regarding this order, it may be useful to forward this correspondence to Amazon as well. Subsequently, an Amazon employee will prepare the case and then forward the information to the bank responsible for the credit card chargeback process. Amazon itself does not make its own decision regarding the legality.
Does Amazon charge a fee for a chargeback?
If sellers agree to the chargeback or initiate a refund, no additional costs are incurred. However, if sellers contest the chargeback case, Amazon charges a fee of 20 euros for managing the process. This fee is waived only if the chargeback is covered by Amazon’s payment protection policy.
How long does it take to receive a chargeback response from Amazon?
Just like the customer, the seller or vendor can also wait for the bank’s decision after providing all the information. This can take up to 90 days, and in some rare cases, even longer. However, sellers will only receive a response from Amazon regarding the chargeback process if the chargeback has been made and they are financially responsible. In this response, they will also learn the reason for the decision.
While there is the option to respond to this email and present reasons why the account was unjustly charged, experience shows that the bank’s decision is usually not reversible. Therefore, Amazon will only revisit a chargeback process in the rarest of cases.
What are the consequences of a chargeback process for sellers?
The loss of revenue and possibly the product is already frustrating enough; in some cases, a credit card chargeback also affects seller performance and thus indirectly impacts the chances of winning the Buy Box or the ranking of a product within search results. If a chargeback process occurs for a credit card through Amazon, it can either be
- a fraud-related chargeback or
- a service-related chargeback.
The former occurs when the buyer claims not to have made a purchase – for example, if a credit card was stolen. This form of the Amazon chargeback process does not have negative effects on the seller’s performance.
Service-related credit card chargebacks, on the other hand, refer to transactions where the buyer confirms the purchase but informs their financial institution that there were issues, such as with defective items. Amazon classifies this type of chargeback as an order defect. Therefore, it is important that sellers keep an eye on the order defect rate – this should ideally trend towards 0%.
How can sellers and vendors avoid credit card chargebacks?
It is particularly important for sellers to avoid chargeback processes as much as possible due to the negative impact on seller performance. However, vendors also have a vested interest in minimizing the number of refunds they have to accept.
To minimize the risk, Amazon recommends that sellers and vendors pay attention to various aspects:
- The product detail page of an item should be as detailed as possible. The more accurately the customer knows what an item looks like and what its function is, the lower the likelihood that they will want to return it.
- The seller’s policies on returns and refunds should be easily accessible to all customers.
- Customer inquiries should be answered as quickly as possible and in a solution-oriented manner.
- The likelihood of a successful dispute in an Amazon chargeback process increases if sellers can provide a tracking number and the customer has signed for the receipt of the goods.
Image credits in the order of the images: © vector_v – stock.adobe.com
