Amazon Reimbursement Claim: Learn How to Get your Money Back

Last updated on January 30th, 2023

Written by Nicasio Co III

If you're an Amazon seller, there is a chance that Amazon may owe you money due to inventory mistakes. Like any other company, Amazon may experience inventory and shipping mistakes due to the number of packages they ship each year. Based on an article published by Forbes, Amazon was able to ship 2.5 billion packages every year. However, a number of these packages were damaged, stolen, or lost during shipment. Amazon was able to handle some of those mistakes, but others slip through the cracks. So, how do you make an Amazon reimbursement claim? We'll learn more about it as we go through this article. 

Amazon processes hundreds of orders each day. Due to this, they have several employees and machines to help quicken the packing and fulfillment of orders. But despite the people working to provide quality service, mistakes can happen. Due to these mistakes, Amazon now owes you money. If you're not frequently monitoring your Seller Central Account, you may miss out on these Amazon reimbursements. 

In this article, we'll look at various aspects of  Amazon FBA reimbursement and find different ways to get your money back.

What are the Seven Ways for Amazon reimbursement claims?

An Amazon reimbursement claim is a claim for the amount owed to you by Amazon due to inventory issues and errors. Some of the scenarios where Amazon owes you money are when a customer receives a refund despite not surrendering the product, or missing out on inbound shipments. To help you better understand when you can receive a refund, we have listed seven ways to claim reimbursement. 

1. Errors on Inbound Shipments to Amazon warehouse

By taking part in the Amazon FBA program, you'll be tasked to ship your products from your destination to Amazon's fulfillment centers. On your part, you expect that they will be received and stored properly by Amazon's personnel in the warehouse. However, there are a few errors that may occur. 

• Damaged or lost items - During the shipment of your items to the warehouse, the inbound courier may lose, misplace, or damage your items. 
• Missing items - The Amazon FBA team may not receive items due to the shipping courier's negligence. Other instances may be that the Amazon FBA team was not able to scan all the units. 

The Amazon FBA team is responsible for handling your inventories, so if they experience any of these, you are owed a reimbursement. The amount of the refund is usually the average sales price of the item.

2. Items lost or damaged in Amazon's warehouse. 

After receiving the items from the seller, Amazon shall store these items and retrieve them once an order comes in. However, there are instances when an item can get lost. It can be that the item was placed in another seller's stock, or it was moved. Whatever the case may be, once you lose an item, it will affect your business. You can't sell products without inventory, or you can't keep stocking up when you have items that are just misplaced. 

Due to the number of products being stored, packed, and shipped by Amazon, losing or missing items has been common. Hence, for every lost unit, you are to be reimbursed. 

3. Damaged item during shipment to customers or back to the warehouse

Whenever Amazon employees pick and pack your orders, they do it in a fast and efficient way. We can't blame them because hundreds of orders are fulfilled each day. Add to that Amazon Prime's two-day shipping, and they truly have to get the job done quickly. 

Since Amazon employees have to move fast, they sometimes can’t avoid accidents. These accidents can cause damage to your items, thereby owing you a reimbursement. Although, it is possible that Amazon won't catch all instances that's why customers sometimes complain about receiving a damaged product. 

Another instance can be that the shipping carrier negligently handles the package when shipping to the customer, or when a customer returns the package to the warehouse. Whatever it may be, it should be disclosed under the Damaged Inventory report. 

4. Amazon destroyed items in inventoy without your request or permission.

There are situations when certain items in the inventory are destroyed without the knowledge or consent of the seller. It happens when a customer returns a damaged item that is already deemed as unfit for sale. Amazon should refund you the value of the item destroyed, but the reimbursements sometimes never come through. On your end, you need to check that the reimbursements are processed.  

5. Customer Returned the Item 

Customers returning their orders is the most common reason for reimbursement claims. It is also one of the most common problems faced by sellers and Amazon employees. Some of the reasons to make a reimbursement claim are the following:

• Customers received a refund but did not return the item - The customer can return an order when they are dissatisfied, or the product was damaged upon arrival. However, when the customer was paid the full amount of the item, there were situations when they did not return the product. 

• Customer did not return the original item - A customer can ask for a replacement of their order. Like in the situation above, the customer received the replacement product but did not return the original product. 

• The returned product was not recorded - The customer successfully returned the item, but Amazon did not add it back to your inventory. 

• Wrong refund amount paid to customers - The customer can be paid the incorrect price for the item they purchased. They can be paid twice the amount of the item they bought.

• Uncredited restocking fee - There certain returns when Amazon charges the customer a 20% restocking fee. They would first deduct the fee from your account and send a refund after restocking the order. However, they sometimes forget to refund you.

6. Wrong quantity of orders received by customers

You can't avoid the wrong processing of orders no matter how careful you are. A customer can receive double or triple the number of items they ordered. The sad part is, Amazon doesn't discover this error on its own, and customers won't ship the additional items back. To avoid this from happening, you need to detect discrepancies in your inventory and order details. 

7. Amazon FBA fees 

Amazon FBA has its pros and cons. One of the disadvantages is the different types of Amazon FBA fees you need to pay. Among the FBA fees are storage fees, fulfillment fees, and commission fees. The fees shall depend on the category and the dimension of the item and the distance and type of shipping package. Sometimes you are overcharged or charged the wrong fee. These overcharges can add up, and you have the right to be reimbursed for the amount deducted from you. 

How to file a reimbursement claim

To file a claim on Amazon depends on where your item was lost or damaged in the fulfillment process. There are three categories for this:

Shipment to Amazon Warehouse

If your item has been lost or damaged during shipment from your location to Amazon's warehouse, these are the details you need to take note of:

• Submit a claim for lost units on the Reconcile tab
• Submit a claim for damaged items by opening a claim through the Contact Us page in Seller Central.
• Provide the Amazon shipment ID, Proof of inventory ownership, and Proof of delivery. The Amazon shipment ID can be found in your Shipping Queue. The Proof of Inventory Ownership is the invoice from the supplier, packing slip, or receipt from another seller. It should show the date of purchase, quantity, and product names. The proof of delivery shall be the active tracking ID and document showing the number of boxes shipped.
• Once Amazon confirms your claim, you will then be eligible for reimbursement.

Fulfillment Center Operations

The steps below are for lost or damaged items during the operations in the Amazon fulfillment center. Note that you can only file a claim no later than 18 months after the date was reported as lost or damaged in the Inventory Adjustment report. Also, before you file a reimbursement claim, check your Inventory Adjustment report to confirm the details.

Afterward, check your Manage FBA Inventory report to confirm that the lost or damaged item was not restored to your inventory in a sellable condition. Lastly, check your Reimbursement report to see if you have already been reimbursed for the lost or damaged item. 

Once you have checked the reports, you can now file a claim. To file a claim for damaged items, you will enter the Transaction Item ID in the tool in the Seller Central page. For the lost item, you can file a claim through the Contact Us page. 

Customer return claims

The rules set shall be for lost or damaged on your FBA customer order. You should file a claim no sooner than 45 days, and not later than 18 months after the customer has filed for  a refund or replacement. Before you submit a claim, you need to check if the item hasn't been refunded or replaced in the Manage FBA Returns report. Next, check the FBA customer returns report if the item has been added to your inventory. Lastly, check the Reimbursement report if you have already been reimbursed. `

To file a claim, you'll need to provide the customer order ID and other additional information. Afterward, you have to wait until Amazon approves your claim. 

Key Takeaways

Amazon is a giant online retail store that ships hundreds of packages each day. Despite the number of employees working to fulfill customer orders, they can't control accidents  This is also true with shipping. No matter how hard you take good care of an item, some events may lead it to be lost, stolen, or damaged. Due to these scenarios, Amazon owes you money. Making a reimbursement claim is fairly straightforward.

However, constantly checking your inventory can be a bit tedious. It's a good thing that here at Seller Interactive, our refund experts shall look into your account and run manual checks. Plus, our Amazon reimbursement service is one of the best. We'll look into 18 months worth of your data and check if Amazon has overcharged you. If you wish to know more about our services, you can email us at [email protected] or [email protected] today.