Forum

Cancel or refund ? Advise please
 

Hi, Ok so I sold an item and 1 hr later the buyer emails me asking to cancel the order, now I know whatever happens now this will go against my account but, which is the better method ?

Should I cancel the order whilst unshipped or ship the order online then instantly refund it ?

Which is better for my seller account ?

thanks

Have the buyer send you a cancellation request email. If they do or did it will NOT count against your metrics.

I would cancel the order as the customer requested. There is no point in completing it since he can still get a refund anyway. When you refund his money, there is a drop-down box to enter the reason the order was cancelled. Click on "Customer Request".

I don't think this will be bad for your account. What WOULD be bad is ignoring a cancellation request from their customer.

Also, reply to their message confirming it and if possible do it within 24 hours.

I don't think Amazon does this. That is an eBay thing.

Or am I missing something?

Its a new thing they started doing this year... I know ive done it A LOT for customers but again the customer HAS to send the email first.

"What is not counted as an imperfection?
The following types of actions will not be counted as imperfections:

Cancelled orders requested by the buyer using the order-cancellation option on Amazon.com.
Pending orders cancelled by the buyer on Amazon.com.
Buyer-initiated messages that don't require a response, such as a "Thank You" note.
Buyer-initiated messages that are not related to an order. "

And in another seller help section:

"Seller Cancellations
Avoid cancelling orders unless requested to do so by buyers. Orders that are cancelled for any reason other than by buyer request will negatively affect your rating."

This would lead one to think that if a buyer writes a message asking you to cancel an order, that your metrics will remain unaffected upon cancellation. But this would require an Amazon employee to be monitoring all these emails. Unless... they have a cute little system in place that detects the word "cancel" in a buyer's message.

Still, I would suggest requesting that the buyer does the cancellation process themselves. Explain that it's really easy and ensures that they're refunded immediately (this always acts as a great motivator). Simply click on "Your Orders," find the order you want to cancel and press the "request cancellation."

<3<3

There is a lot of bad information around this subject. If you select buyer cancelled it wont go against your metrics, at least not in the UK.

I do it at least a few times a week and I do it for everything that is cancelled. Even if the buyer did not request it. Maybe this post should be locked/hidden but my metrics are great and I often use this feature.

Client has requested a cancellation - just double check and do the necessary - you will get your fees back - keep it simple. Do NOT ship.

thanks guys, great support and advise as usual :)

Hope you cancelled it - your customer will be happy