When was the last time you had a bad shopping experience where you were dissatisfied with the item purchased online?
You can easily return an item you bought in a brick-and-mortar store, but it is a different story when shopping online because there is no genuine shock to go back into.
Customers need protection when they don’t get what they ordered from Amazon. They always risk when buying online because the product may not match the description.
This is the idea behind the Amazon a-to-z guarantee to protect customers. The e-commerce giant introduced the free a-to-z guarantee to protect customers when buying online.
Unfortunately for the seller, experiencing too many A to Z claims can severely damage the quality of their seller account and the ability to sell.
It is like getting negative reviews which could prompt Amazon to suspend the account. This article analyses the Amazon a-to-z guarantee refund and how to apply it.
What is Amazon A to Z Guarantee?
The A to Z guarantee protects you when you buy items sold and fulfilled by a third-party seller. It guarantees the customer that Amazon will intervene and refund the purchase price under certain conditions.
If you buy something from a third-party seller and it is defective, the amazon a-to-z guarantee is in place to protect them. This guarantee also considers issues with the timely delivery of an item and the condition of the purchased item.
Buyers can get reimbursement for their purchase or cancel their authorized payment if a purchase made on a third-party site using Amazon files does not satisfy them.
They can also conduct Amazon to report the issue if the delivery time or condition of the item bought does not satisfy them.
The Amazon a-to-z guarantee ensures a consistent experience for Amazon shoppers. This long-standing guarantee protects all products in the Amazon store. It protects customers’ Amazon values and ensures an excellent customer experience.
The company focuses on helping to resolve personal injury and property damage claims. However, the amazon a-to-z guarantee does not cover digital items, payment for services, or stored value instruments.
Before filing an A to Z claim, you must contact the seller and wait 2 business days for a reply. It allows the seller to respond and offer a resolution to your issue.
You have 90 days after the maximum estimated delivery date to request a refund. After reporting the problem to Amazon, their team will determine if the customer is eligible for a refund.
Eligibility for Amazon A to Z Guarantee
There are certain requirements for customers to submit an A to Z warranty claim. In principle, you must have purchased a physical product from a third-party provider via the Amazon website or used the Amazon payment service to purchase goods from a third-party provider.
The A to Z claim must meet one of Amazon’s a-to-z guarantee conditions.
Make sure you’ve contacted the seller through your account and waited two business days for a response before filing a claim.
Amazon requires that you try to resolve the issue with your seller regarding the item before asking for a refund through the-to-z guarantee. The item’s condition, its timely delivery, and other additional refund conditions are guaranteed under the a-to-z guarantee.
You can file a claim when your request meets one of the following conditions.
- The seller failed to deliver the item three calendar days past the maximum estimated delivery date or 30 days from the order date.
- You didn’t receive your item despite tracking saying it was delivered.
- You are not satisfied with the quality of the eligible services performed by the third-party seller.
- The item received was damaged, defective, or you changed your mind and returned it in line with Amazon’s return policy, but you’ve not been refunded. You need to contact the seller within 30 days of receiving the item and postmark the return within 14 days from arranging the return with the seller.
- You’ve waited longer than 90 days to file a claim from the estimated delivery date.
- You’ve been charged extra by the customs authority for shipment besides the purchase and dispatch price you paid, and the seller did not cover these costs.
- You want to return an item internationally, and the seller does not provide a return address within the US or a prepaid return label.
- The seller did not offer a full refund without requesting the item to be returned.
However, there are some exclusion criteria where Amazon does not provide a refund. You will not get a refund under the a-to-z guarantee if you file a chargeback with your payment provider or bank.
The exclusion criteria also apply to non-physical items such as payment for digital products and monetary payment methods. This means you won’t get a refund from Amazon if you submit a warranty claim related to an eBook or music download.
The same applies when paying by credit card or direct debit, and their respective bank has revoked the debit.
How to Apply
Anyone can request an a-to-z guarantee refund if there’s a problem with an item they bought that was sold and fulfilled by a third-party seller on Amazon.
You can file an A to Z claim provided you first contacted the seller and waited two days to allow him to resolve the problem. This two-day period gives the seller time to resolve the issue on their own before Amazon can step in.
Filing an Amazon a-to-z claim is easy. On the Amazon website, go to your orders and locate the order on the list. Click to show a problem with your order and select the type of problem from the list. Press a button that allows you to request a refund.
There is a text box where you can enter comments before submitting.
The company claims to release the refunds as soon as a resolution. Amazon will take up to seven days to investigate your request. They will notify the customer of their decisions by the email address associated with the account.
You can view the request’s status by locating the order in the list and selecting the problem with the order.
How Long do I Have to Wait for a Refund?
Normally it takes between three and four days for the refund to be credited to the original payment source. However, the overall time differs depending on a variety of factors.
For example, it varies from product to product, with Amazon initiating your refund from the first day of the request.
There are several factors Amazon considers when making an arbitrary decision. The company considers warranty claims when calculating the seller’s overall performance, which reduces the chances of winning.
If you are sending back the return by yourself to the seller’s address, it has to reach the seller before initiating the goodwill refund. It can take up to 25 days for an item to reach Amazon once a customer returns it.
After reaching the Amazon fulfillment Centre, it will take two days to process the refund and back today for the refund amount to appear in the customer’s account.
The refund will take a long time because Amazon will not directly give you the refund first. They need to investigate and give you a refund based on the investigation.
Amazon processes all refunds through your card issuer. As a result, they extend the processing time to 7 business days.
Wait 90 days after the maximum estimated delivery date to request an a-to-z guarantee refund. Contact Amazon Seller support if you don’t get a refund after 90 days.
Sometimes your refund request can fail depending on the investigation. However, you can still submit an appeal within 30 calendar days of the decision if your refund request fails.
In case you no longer need a refund, you can cancel your request before Amazon decides. Follow the same steps used to apply for a refund, where you go to your orders, locate the order, select the problem with your order, and select to cancel the request.
You will need to explain why you’re canceling the request in the text box before submitting it.
Conclusion
The Amazon a-to-z guarantee protects customers and makes sure they get their money back should they be dissatisfied with the transaction. It’s meant for people who buy items sold and fulfilled by A third-party Seller.
This is a significant move that increases customer confidence in the e-commerce giant. This guarantees to ensure timely delivery and good condition of the items.
Suppose you are dissatisfied with the delivery or condition of your item and failed to resolve the issue directly with the seller. In that case, you make a claim directly to Amazon, and their team will decide if you deserve a refund.
The customer has up to 90 days after the maximum estimated delivery date to request a refund under the a-to-z guarantee.
Because of Amazon’s customer-friendly terms, the seller does not have much control over protecting themselves from customers attempting to take advantage of the return policy.
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