What is A-to-Z? A-to-Z Review, Features

Amazon A-to-Z, the full name of which is Amazon A-to-Z Guarantee claim, is a protection policy that Amazon implements for all buyers who purchase goods on the Amazon platform. If a buyer is not satisfied with the goods or services sold by a third-party seller, the buyer can initiate an Amazon A-to-Z claim to protect his or her own interests.

Sellers have only three days to respond to Amazon A-to-Z claims initiated by buyers. If the seller does not respond within the specified time limit, the buyer will win the case.

Time limit requirements

For buyers

1. Buyers may file a claim 3 calendar days before the estimated latest delivery date or within 30 days of the order date.

2. The buyer has 90 days from the estimated latest delivery date to file a claim.

For sellers

Starting from November 14, 2016, the time limit for sellers to file AZ claims initiated by buyers has been shortened from 7 days to 3 days. The new regulations are intended to improve buyers' after-sales experience.

Application Requirements

When the buyer's situation meets the following three conditions at the same time, the application can be submitted:

1. You have contacted the seller through the "Contact Seller" button in "My Account".

2. The seller has not responded for more than two working days.

3. Request to meet one of the following “Amazon Marketplace Transaction Guarantee Claim Conditions”.

Amazon-to-z Guarantee claim conditions

1. Goods not received

If the seller marks the item as shipped and the item does not arrive within the expected time, the seller will be required to pay compensation if the buyer files a claim.

In this case, Amazon will investigate the package signature, and as long as the seller can prove that the order package has been signed for, the seller does not need to bear responsibility. However, if the package is not signed for, and the customer is unable to receive the package on time due to the seller's fault, the seller will be punished.

2. The product does not match the description

The product received by the buyer is significantly different from the product displayed on the product details page, including damage, defects, missing parts, etc. upon receipt.

3. The buyer did not receive a refund

The seller has agreed to refund the buyer, the buyer returned the item, but the seller has not refunded the buyer. The buyer can initiate an A-to-Z claim.

4. The seller refuses to take the product back

The seller refuses the buyer's reasonable return request that is subject to Amazon's return policy.

The above situations are the reasons why buyers initiate A-to-Z. If the seller does not provide good service, which makes the buyer dissatisfied and initiates a claim, the seller is advised to refund the buyer immediately.

5. Invoice Disputes

This includes not receiving the invoice, the invoice header or amount not matching, etc.

What should I do when I receive an A-to-Z?

1. Check in time: Check whether there are any new A-to-Z in the Amazon account Performance (if there are any new A-to-Z, the customer service email will receive an email notification).

2. Timely response: You need to follow up and respond on Amazon within 3 days of opening the claim. If the seller does not respond within three days, Amazon will assume that the buyer wins, approve the buyer's claim, and directly refund the buyer. At the same time, according to the agreement with the seller, the full claim amount will be deducted from the seller's account.

3. Contact the buyer : Communicate well and try to get the buyer to withdraw the A-to-Z order (if the seller cancels the order more than three days later, the A-to-Z order will still be included in the seller's ODR).

4. Be careful with your words: Contacting buyers and Amazon casually during the A-to-Z process. When writing emails, if the words are inappropriate or unreasonable, it will lead to the serious consequence of the store being closed.

5. Prepare an appeal : If the buyer does not respond after multiple contacts, or the buyer's request is unsatisfactory and the two parties cannot reach an agreement, we need to collect information that is beneficial to us and then submit an appeal letter to Amazon.

6. How to appeal: In the appeal letter, we need to provide: order details, package tracking information, communication records with the buyer, partial refunds and discount information, any information that is beneficial to us, etc. (In the claim email notification sent by Amazon, click "Represent to Amazon", apply for Amazon to intervene in arbitration, and provide the collected information).

as a result of

Az affects the order defect rate (< 1%) in Amazon's performance indicators. If it exceeds the indicators required by Amazon and cannot be improved, Amazon will suspend your sales privileges or even close your account.

How to avoid and prevent AZ?

1. Reply to the buyer's emails in a timely manner: Generally, buyers will contact the seller in advance when they encounter some problems. If the seller does not reply to the buyer's email within a reasonable time limit, the buyer may directly open an AZ;

2. Actively refund the buyer: Check the progress of the buyer's return in a timely manner and refund the buyer at an appropriate time to avoid claims;

3. Accurately describe the product and provide clear pictures: Each product must be matched with the correct ASIN, and the product must match the description, which allows buyers to clearly understand what they want to buy;

4. Careful delivery: Proper packaging to avoid product damage, provide valid tracking information and require the buyer to sign to confirm receipt;

5. Confirm shipment and provide tracking information: Confirm the order immediately after it is shipped and provide tracking information to Amazon. After confirming shipment, Amazon will send a shipping confirmation email to the buyer with any tracking number you provided.

6. Cancel any out-of-stock orders promptly : notify the buyer via email that their order has been cancelled so they don’t have to wait for the goods to be delivered;

7. Provide high-quality pre-sales and after-sales services: Solve buyers' pre-sales and after-sales quality issues free of charge and remedy them. The remedy only takes a few minutes, but it is very helpful in establishing a long-term relationship with buyers.

Dealing with A-to-Z claims is more difficult for sellers than general returns and exchanges. Once an A-to-Z claim is established, it will affect the seller's performance indicators, such as the Order Defect Rate (ODR) and Perfect Order (POP) scores. In serious cases, it may lead to the account being reviewed, frozen, or even closed. Therefore, sellers must pay attention to A-TO-Z to prevent it from posing a threat to the store!

A-to-Z claim details

Log in to your Amazon account and select A-to-z Guarantee Claims from the PERFORMANCE drop-down menu to check if there are any new claims. If there are any new claims, Amazon will also send a notification to the customer service email.

1. Buyers must contact the seller before opening a claim. If the buyer is not satisfied with the seller's service after communication and the problem is not resolved, the buyer can open a claim for the following issues: 1) The item was not received 2) The item received did not match the description, such as the item was damaged, had quality problems, or was partially missing, etc.

2. Under normal circumstances, buyers can open a claim within 90 days of purchasing the item. In special cases, for orders that are more than 90 days but no longer than 6 months, buyers can also contact Amazon Customer Service, and Amazon will decide whether the buyer can open a claim.

3. The seller needs to follow up and respond on Amazon within 7 days of opening the claim.

4. For orders that have been refunded or chargebacked, buyers can no longer open a claim.

5. The seller wins (Amazon’s decision does not affect the account rating), including the following statuses: Claim Closed, Claim Withdrawn.

6. Buyer wins (Amazon’s decision will affect the account rating), including the following statuses: Order Refunded, Claim Granted (Seller Funded).