Amazon Reimbursements for Sellers Made Easy

How to get Amazon to reimburse you the money they owe you with Refund Genie

Introduction

It doesn’t matter how much of an Amazon veteran you are, eventually you will find yourself making an embarrassing rookie mistake. That’s exactly what recently happened to me, and it was a mistake that initially cost Helium 10 $3,000 dollars! 

Thankfully, I was able to get most of that money back from Amazon with the help of our Helium 10 refund manager, Refund Genie.

If it could happen to me, it could happen to you too!

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What Did I Do Wrong?

Keep reading to see what the heck I did wrong, and how with just a couple of messages, I received a nice $2,500, “my bad” reimbursement from Amazon. In addition, I’ll outline how you can avoid making the same mistake, as well as other ways that you can protect your account and get money back from Amazon with the help of an Amazon refund trick like the Helium 10 Refund Genie and our other Amazon refund services. 

Let me first set the scene. It’s really crazy how I even realized I made the mistake in the first place. As you might have noticed, over the last couple of months, ALL of the Helium 10 Pro Training Videos, (the videos that show up when you hit “Learn” in any of the tools), have been redone. These videos are, for the most part, recorded live, and I didn’t have the benefit of our Amazon FBA refund management software to monitor my account at the time.

As I was doing the Profitability Calculator video, you’ll notice at the 1:17 mark of that video that I started talking about why Amazon is charging the Helium 10 Project X account for an 8-pound package.  

Now, since I recorded it live, you’ll hear me do a double take as I say, “and uh…I actually want to take a look at that because I think Amazon is charging too much! I need to look at my alerts to see if they changed my dimensions on this.” 

As soon as I stopped recording that video, I went directly to Helium 10 Alerts (More on what this tool does later). What I found in the history was, sure enough, WAY back when I launched the product in November. Amazon changed my dimensions!

What Amazon Did Wrong

They increased the height by almost double, from 4 inches to 7.59 inches, and they increased the width from 7.5 inches to 9.89 inches. 

This mistake was a classic example of how Amazon’s errors can cost you money, and why having an Amazon refund manager like Refund Genie and utilizing the best Amazon refund services is crucial to protecting your account. 

I went back to the profitability calculator in Helium 10 to check to see if that made a difference with the FBA fees. 

First, I checked what Amazon was charging me at the time: 

I was being charged an FBA fee of $7.32 per unit. Next, I put the original dimensions into the same profitability calculator. 

The fee would have been only $5.80! Since November we have sold 2,000 coffin shelves. If you multiply that out, that means that Amazon was charging me $1.52 more per unit on shipping, for a whopping total of $3,000!!! 

Our Amazon FBA refund management software can help you catch such discrepancies and ensure you get the refunds you deserve.

Before I tell you how I got my money back, allow me to bring attention to more of my stupidity.

Helium 10’s Alerts Saves the Day

When I saw the Alerts notification above in the history of the product in Helium 10, I had a weird sense of deja vu. I swore I had seen that before. So, I went digging into the archives and wound up at Project X Episode 13. Sure enough, again, live as I recorded it (guys, as I told you before, I don’t practice things I do…I record it all live!), I was surprised to see the alert showing that Amazon had in fact, changed the size. Our Amazon refund software, Refund Genie, can help you catch similar discrepancies.

Right there, as I recorded the video live, I said, “I need to check that out to see what happened.” But did I? NOPE! Not until months later when I first discovered my rookie mistake! If only I had been using our Amazon refund tracker and refund manager tools to monitor my account, I would have caught that mistake earlier.

So, how did I rectify this situation? Well, the first thing I did was get a tape measure and measure the coffin shelf box to make sure I had the right dimensions and to take a picture of it for Amazon. 

I then composed the following message in a case to Amazon Seller Support, and I included these images. 

Thanks to Helium 10 Alerts, I was able to give them the exact time they made that change, which is a crucial feature of our Amazon refund software.

They got back to me the following week with this awesome message:

That SAME day, the money showed up in the payments section of Seller Central. 

Now, you might be wondering, why only $2,300 instead of $3,000? Well, as it turns out, you have to report this kind of thing within 90 days, which is why our Amazon refund services and refund manager tools are designed to help you stay on top of refunds. So I couldn’t get all of the money back. 

If you won’t tell my bosses, I won’t! I don’t want $700 taken out of my paycheck! 

I spent these last 2 months filming over 60 new Pro Training Videos for the website and occasionally cursing to myself. It’s a lot of hard, sometimes tedious work. But thanks to that exercise, I was able to come across this error and get this money back with the help of our Amazon refund manager and software. Who knows how long and how much more money I would have lost if I hadn’t done that?

Ultimately, this whole process was totally unnecessary. 

Helium 10 literally alerted me the SAME DAY that Amazon changed these dimensions. I could have taken action then and there, and the best Amazon refund services can help you do the same. That mistake of not heeding the alert COULD have cost me $3,000 and DID cost me $700. 

I’ll never forget when I did the live webinar first announcing Alerts, one of the attendees said that if we had had that tool the previous year, it would have saved him $10,000. Something similar had happened to him, but his issue was over thousands more units than my case with the coffin shelf, highlighting the importance of having a reliable Amazon refund manager and software.

Amazon Owes Me Money, Now What?

What you should do RIGHT NOW, is audit all of your products’ dimensions as they appear on Amazon, and make sure that they match what you know the dimensions to be, to avoid any potential Amazon refund issues. 

If you see any differences, report them ASAP as I did, and utilize our Amazon refund manager, Refund Genie, to help you navigate the process. And if you haven’t done so already, turn on Alerts for all of your items, so that you’ll know immediately if Amazon changes your dimensions, which is a crucial feature of our Amazon refund software.

There are other ways to get money back from Amazon, and our Amazon refund services can help you maximize your refunds. If you are a member of Helium 10’s Facebook group, you’ll see a large number of messages like this:

They are all talking about money that Helium 10’s Refund Genie, our Amazon refund manager, has found for them.

Here’s how it works. If Amazon loses or damages your products, they usually refund you right away, but sometimes, things fall through the cracks, and they never send you the money they should, which is where our Amazon refund tracker comes in. 

Helium 10 checks your account every month to see if you are due money from Amazon, and our Amazon refund software generates reports that you can submit to Seller Central so that they can check it, if they agree with the reports, they will reimburse you, just like they did to me above.

For many Helium 10 Users, the money they receive from Amazon that Refund Genie, our Amazon refund manager, has found for them more than covers the cost of Helium 10 itself! If you want to see how much money Amazon potentially owes you, sign up for a free account now, and connect Helium 10 to your Amazon account. Then, activate Refund Genie, our Amazon refund software, and check back in 24 hours for the estimated amount that you can get back with the best Amazon refund services at your disposal.

Amazon’s Refund Policy Updates: What You Need to Know

And here’s the important part: Amazon is changing its refund policy! As of November 1, 2024, they’ll be proactively issuing reimbursements for FBA items lost in their fulfillment centers. No more manual research or claims filing! But, don’t get too comfortable—you still need to keep an eye out for any discrepancies. If you don’t receive automatic reimbursement or removal claims, you’ll need to file manual claims. And, starting October 23, Amazon is introducing new eligibility windows for manual claims. Make sure you’re on top of these changes so you don’t miss out on owed money!

By the way, Helium 10’s Refund Genie is still your best friend here. Even with Amazon’s new proactive reimbursements, Refund Genie can still sniff out owed money that might have slipped through the cracks. We’ll keep checking your account every month to ensure you get every cent you deserve.

Upgrade to Diamond for More Thorough Audits AND Full Claim Automation

While Refund Genie makes it easy to audit and identify discrepancies, if you’re looking to maximize the amount of money you could be recovering, you may want to consider upgrading to Diamond for Managed Refund Service (MRS). With MRS, you can fully automate not just the audit but the entire claim filing and management process. This means that after identifying discrepancies, MRS will automatically submit claims, track their progress, and maximize your reimbursements without you lifting a finger. Imagine never having to worry about manually submitting claims or tracking each one again!

Ready for hands-off reimbursement filing? Upgrade to Diamond today and let Managed Refund Service do all the heavy lifting for you. Save time, save even more money, and focus on growing your business while we recover your hard-earned money.

Final Lessons

What have we learned today?

First of all, everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes, experienced sellers like myself make the mistake of not staying vigilant on things that affect my products, which is why having an Amazon refunds manager like Refund Genie is crucial. 

Sometimes Amazon makes mistakes that can cost you thousands of dollars, but our Amazon refund software can help you catch those errors.

Using the tools that Helium 10 provides, such as our Amazon refund manager and Amazon refund tracker, you can make sure that you’re paid back every cent you deserve. Use Alerts to inform you if something changes on your account that will immediately impact your bottom line, and use Refund Genie to keep tabs on what Amazon owes you for lost and damaged products. Our Amazon refund services are designed to help you maximize your refunds.

Whatever you find, make sure to act on it right away. Don’t wait months like I did! Protect your hard-earned Amazon income with our Amazon refund manager and software.

I also have a little homework for everyone out there. 

Follow my instructions above on auditing your account for the dimensions of your products, and then utilize our Amazon refund software to run Refund Genie on your account. Submit your reports on what money Amazon owes you, and then report back here and let me know how much money you got back. $300? $3,000? More? Our Amazon refund services can help you get the money you deserve.

Happy hunting!

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

How will I know when a refund has been processed?

Amazon will send you an email notifying you that you have been refunded. You can also check your Seller Central account, or your bank account to verify that the refund was processed.

How long does it take for the refund to be processed?

Processing times can vary but it typically can take up to 5 business days.