I’ve been asked for more detail
Okay, so you can prepare a more detailed Plan of Action and post it here for feedback.
i am not very good with my wording
Dear Amazon Seller Performance Team,
Thank you for your opportunity to appeal my Seller Account’s suspension due to its Order Defect Rate exceeding the 1% target.
I understand that Amazon takes failures to meet their strict conditions very seriously and I would like to present you my Plan of Action.
What happened:
• I received multiple complaints from customers in the form of A-Z claims over a couple of months and negative feedback regarding an item being late.
Why this happened … I used an untracked service which meant when buying shipping labels through Amazon they were unable to assign tracking information to each order going back a whole year , meaning the customer was unable to track their item and when late they would open an A-Z claim or ask for a refund, rightly so as I couldn’t show where in the postage system their order was.
On each order that i buy through amazon shipping labels , no tracking Id is being generated for the service ive used - which is why i am not able to give any tracking IDs apart from the very few on the spreadsheet added due to being able to see those few labels before expiring. This highlights an issue which i should have been aware of and started sending fully tracked sooner.
This is the root cause of my issues - i should have bought fully tracked but i bought Royal Mail 1st Class small parcel. This should produce a reference / tracking number but this has not been automatically added to order when buying through amazon shipping labels , meaning there is no way for me to find a tracking iD to see if the item is delivered. I added photos of a few sample orders to show this and raised a case log. Evidence added in way of photos of my orders going out and packaged up , Proof of no tracking being added to my order details through Amazon shipping.
• I gave out many refunds
Why this happened — I am always happy to refund but I could see none of my orders were showing as delivered so was worried there was a big problem so refunded first before realising it was the postal method and lack of tracking that was the issue. I should have waited and not panicked before giving out refunds , i just did not want any bad reviews or claims if items were late. I know this looks bad as i now have a negative balance
• I sent out items late
Why this happened – I sent items late due to not having the stock to hand which was a mistake, I had added new items before ordering the stock for these new items and underestimated the time it took to arrive before I could send the orders out.
I was underprepared once adding amazon advertising campaign for new orders and did not have all the stock needed to fullfill these so shipped items late. I had mistakenly thought i had time to order the stock but there were delays with it arriving and meant i had to ship my own orders late. This was unacceptable of me
• I made assurances to Amazon previously that I would send items tracked
Why did this happen – I felt that I couldn’t afford the cost of tracking so thought I would save money and keep my costs low by saving a little and felt royal mail would be reliable even though un-tracked – I was very wrong and regret this action so very much. This will change right away as for the sake of a few pounds I have lost hundreds of pounds in refunds and my creditability.
I was not able to show proof of delivery
Why did this happen - I sent parcels out via the post office without scanning them as proof to show they had gone. I stupidly didn’t know this was an option and i blame myself entirely for the lack of tracking. As explained further up , when buying labels through amazon shipping it is not giving me a tracking ID or reference number , this area is left blank , so when asked i am not able to show any proof of delivery as there is not a tracking ID for me to add to royal mail site to see if its delivered. I didnt buy a fully tracked service but i should have been able to show delivery but this doesnt update on my shipped orders due to having no tracking ID.
The International orders that i purchased through Royal Mail Click and
Drop ( this download has been added to appeal ) are all marked as shipped but no further information as i paid for the cheapest shipping which was international standard which is not tracked. I deeply regret my choices here.
So when being asked to show proof or tracking IDs for my shipped orders, i can not do this as i firstly did not buy fully tracked and Amazon shipping did not generate a tracking / reference ID to use to enter into the shipping company website to see if delivered or update .
What I have done to resolve the issue:
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I am going to change majority of my items I make to FBA to eliminate shipping issues. I make personalised items but many of them i can adapt to generic so this takes pressure off myself for shipping. It means smaller amounts of items to ship myself , making it more manageable
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I am changing my handling time to give chance to ship orders earlier to allow for any delays . I will once able , go into each order and allow 5-7 days for each item, meaning i can ship before the last date and allow incase delays of a day or so.
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I have had an assistant join me who will take over the checking of tracking Id’s that have gone out each day and will take shipping to the post office and scan in the parcels so I can concentrate on making the items.
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Tracking Ids will be added to a spread sheet each day - end of day to keep an eye on deliveries and any issues we can alert the customer right away.
• I have carefully read and re-read all Amazon’s policies and help pages, especially the ones regarding minimum performance standard and its guidelines, to ensure that I don’t violate them again. Ive watched seller university too.
- I have several case logs open requesting help with my appeal and how to resolve the issue that my appeal keeps being rejected. I have spoken to an account health specialist hence updating this plan of action to include the details you needed. Please see case log ID 8851795692.
What I will do to prevent this from happening again:
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From now on, all orders will be sent on time and confirmed as shipped within the expected shipping date, using a fast and reliable shipping carrier, which will obtain the signature proof of delivery, this will prevent late-receipt and non-receipt complaints. This will allow customer to track and myself to prove when asked about delivery. I will upgrade to the best tracking offered to eliminate this issue ever again. Meaning if any claims in future i have a signature to show its been delivered.
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I have linked my post office account to amazon so when buying on there it will update my order details and tracking ID for the customer and i will be able to track using the royal mail site if needed - a much more streamlined plan.
• After taking advice and learning more about delivery i will scan my products when dropping at post office rather than just passing them over - giving me a back up too , to show delivery. This will be done by my assistant now. I was unaware before this was an option to scan , this will prove and show my parcels are in the system
- As soon as my Seller Account gets reactivated, I will increase each of my product’s handling times to ensure, that it reflects the actual time needed to make the order and covers any unexpected delays. This will ensure, that customers have realistic delivery expectations.
I will change majority of my items to FBA , to eliminate any shipping issues,
• I will keep reviewing my performance metrics each day to verify that I am within Amazon’s targets. All customer messages will be answered on time, All orders will be shipped and confirmed as dispatched on time.
My errors ,lack of knowledge surrounding shipping and whats needed have caused these problems. My only area of complaint is shipping and its something i should have addressed properly months ago.
Ive refunded nearly all my orders before realising that they had been delivered it was the tracking updating which has left me in a deficit .
I take full responsibly for my failings and i should have addressed this months ago. I have good quality handmade products but my failings are with shipping and i should have upgraded to tracking a long time ago but my lack of understanding of the gravity of my actions made me believe i would be ok for a while to ship with the cheaper option.
I believe that my Plan of Action sufficiently addresses the issues noted in the suspension notice and I am looking forward to continue selling on Amazon.
Is this the Plan of Action which you previously submitted? I think it looks very good.
If you appointed a solicitor to send a letter to Amazon regarding the matter, it would be perfect.
This was a slightly longer appeal - it feels too long but am unsure how to write what i need to?
I am in UK no idea what solicitor to pick to write this
Any commercial dispute solicitor should be able to prepare a letter for Amazon regarding the matter. Don’t worry about it, the majority of sellers get reinstated using this approach.
I don’t know how to find one?
What about the mediation option?
Simply Google “commercial dispute solicitor” and call or e-mail them.
Usually, solicitors are carefully picking their clients, so be prepared that 6 out of 10 will not get back to your inquiries.