Amazon has a big bug and sellers are going crazy!

Recently, a large-scale BUG broke out in Amazon!

A large number of packages were delivered before the seller shipped them?

Not long ago, an Amazon seller received the following message from a customer:

I recently ordered two products from your store and today I received notification from Amazon that the items had been shipped. However, upon checking the tracking numbers provided, I discovered that they had already been used and were showing as delivered to a different address.

This problem is by no means an isolated case, but is widespread in the orders of many sellers.

A seller said that the customer reported that the logistics showed that the package had been delivered, but it was not actually received. The seller found something unusual when checking the tracking information: the order was only packed this morning and was picked up by USPS a few hours ago. What's even more strange is that the tracking number of this order was used by a company in New York to send a package to California two days ago, but the seller is located in Miami and the package was to be sent to Kansas.

That is, the seller sent out the package just a few hours ago, but it was strangely shown as delivered, but it was not delivered to the buyer's address. In response, the seller lamented: "In my 30 years of business career, this is the first time I have encountered such a situation."

Another seller also encountered such a bizarre situation: "On February 25, I received an order and sent it out through USPS. However, when I used the tracking number on the USPS website to check the delivery status of the package, I found that the package had been delivered to another address on February 11. How could the order I sent on February 25 be delivered on February 11?"

This situation is not limited to a single order from the seller. One seller revealed that of the 193 parcels they sent out on February 24, 99% of the parcels showed that they had been delivered in December last year, and the remaining 1% showed that they had been delivered in January this year. Another seller also found that 56 of the 67 orders he had shipped had this situation, with the proportion of orders with problems as high as 83%.

Not only was the delivery time abnormal, but the location was also often inconsistent. For example, a seller's customer's delivery address was in Ohio, but the logistics tracking information showed that it had been delivered in Texas.

In fact, when checking the tracking information of these packages on the Amazon order page, the updates are normal. The problem is only exposed when checking the USPS website. Because of this, many sellers only noticed this abnormal situation after receiving feedback or complaints from buyers.

"It's a mess!" one seller sighed helplessly after experiencing this chaos: "Customers are becoming very upset and worried. This will be a customer service nightmare."

Lost packages, angry buyers

According to some analysts' estimates in 2020, the United States Postal Service (USPS) undertakes the final delivery of about 40% of Amazon's orders. Considering this proportion, it is not difficult to imagine how wide a range of sellers will be affected by the abnormal package tracking information problem.

Fearing that continuing to use the old tracking number would bring risks to their business, many sellers took some countermeasures as soon as they noticed the problem. Among them, a seller who had more than 100 order tracking information abnormalities immediately returned the USPS shipping label he purchased and re-shipped it through UPS.

Although this successfully avoided the risk, it inevitably led to a significant delay in the delivery of the package and an increase in shipping costs. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the problem. What is even more troublesome for sellers is to appease the buyers.

"They all think I'm a liar and demand a refund," one seller complained bitterly, saying that many customers had sent him letters of "criticism" and he was now in a state of panic. Another seller said that he received more than 50 complaint messages from sellers in just six hours, and he felt helpless.

Sellers also ran into obstacles when trying to refund postage. One seller revealed that Amazon told him that he needed to contact the carrier to apply for a refund. But when he contacted USPS, he was explicitly rejected on the grounds that the tracking number had been used. USPS said: "We have no record of you purchasing a shipping label. We only know that this number has been used weeks or even months ago, so we cannot refund."

In the process of dealing with these problems, sellers can't help but wonder: What exactly caused this problem to arise?

Some sellers said that the problem lies in the labels being recycled too quickly. Generally speaking, the USPS will recycle used labels, but usually about a year after the tracking information is cleared.

Another seller said it was a callback from the Amazon API to the USPS when issuing label numbers, “It didn’t realize they had been used and was just issuing random numbers and not checking them against the system before issuing them.”

Before the problem is resolved, the sellers have made it clear that they will no longer use USPS for delivery. At the same time, they suggest that Amazon send a message to affected consumers to explain the current problem, rather than asking sellers to explain it one by one.

Amazon quickly issued a statement in response

On March 1, Amazon issued an announcement acknowledging that there was a glitch affecting USPS shipping labels. The announcement showed that on February 27, Amazon had implemented a fix and had taken action to protect sellers who purchased labels through the Buy Shipping and Veeqo platforms.

In addition, the announcement also mentioned that USPS has informed Amazon that it will use duplicate tracking information for delivered packages that have been accepted.

Amazon said that if a seller's orders are affected, they will take the following measures to protect the seller's account:

Amazon Account Health Protection: Any affected orders will be automatically protected and will not affect the seller's Amazon account health metrics, including on-time delivery rate, order defect rate, valid tracking rate, and delayed shipment rate. Sellers do not need to take any action. Amazon has identified the affected orders and will update sellers' account health metrics by March 7, 2025. For questions about other sales channels, Amazon recommends that sellers contact their respective seller support.

Refunds for purchased labels: For any affected USPS labels you purchased on Amazon Buy Shipping or Veeqo, Amazon will refund the shipping costs you paid to your original payment method. You can receive your refund by March 31, 2025, without taking any action.

A-to-z claim refunds: Labels purchased on Amazon Buy Shipping and Veeqo already include A-to-z claim protection related to shipping issues, as long as the seller ships on time. If the seller receives an A-to-z claim due to this issue, Amazon will automatically refund the buyer, and the customer-reported claim will not be counted towards the seller's order defect rate. No action is required from the seller.

In this announcement, Amazon responded to many of the concerns of sellers one by one. However, sellers still have other concerns, one of which is whether Amazon will automatically remove neutral and negative feedback for affected orders.

Amazon

USPS Shipping Labels