Amazon Chargeback Dispute: A Seller Guide to A-to-z Claims, Card Chargebacks, and Amazon Pay

Short answer: An Amazon chargeback dispute is one of three different processes. An A-to-z claim is filed with Amazon and decided by Amazon. A card chargeback is filed with the buyer’s bank and decided by the bank, with Amazon presenting your evidence. An Amazon Pay dispute covers orders on your own website that used Amazon Pay, and it has its own rules and its own deadline. Find out which one you have, check the reply-by date in the notice, and send evidence that answers the buyer’s specific complaint.

This article is for informational purposes and not to be construed as legal advice. No attorney-client relationship exists based on the review of this article, and none of the information in this article is legal advice. Amazon updates its policies. Confirm every deadline in your own Seller Central account or notice.

The three processes at a glance

Sources for each row are linked in the sections below.

A-to-z claims on Amazon marketplace orders

Amazon’s A-to-z claims help page says the program covers orders fulfilled by you. It covers on-time delivery and the condition of the item.

What happens before a claim

In most cases the buyer must contact you first. For a delivery problem, Amazon says you must respond in Buyer-Seller Messages within 48 hours of the buyer’s first message. The buyer must also wait 3 days past the maximum estimated delivery date. For an item condition problem, you must authorize or respond to the return request within 48 hours.

Missing those windows matters. Amazon lists them among the reasons a claim can be granted automatically and debited from your account.

What to send

Amazon may ask for more information during its review. The help page says that if you do not respond to Amazon’s information request within 72 hours, Amazon may grant the claim for the customer. That affects your Order Defect Rate.

Build your response around the claim reason:

• Item not received: valid tracking, the ship date, and the delivery address from the order.
• Item not as expected: your return authorization, the return label, and your Buyer-Seller Messages.
• Refund issues: proof of the refund or of the return you received.

Keep it short. Give the facts in date order and attach the records.

Appeals

If Amazon grants a claim against you, the help page gives you 30 calendar days to appeal and add new information. If you do not appeal in that time, Amazon says the claim closes and its effect on your ODR cannot be reversed.

For more on handling these claims, see our post on A-to-z claims for Amazon sellers.

Card chargebacks on Amazon marketplace orders

A chargeback starts when the buyer asks their card company to reverse a charge. Amazon’s Respond to a chargeback claim page explains that the card company asks Amazon for details, and Amazon then emails you.

Your two options

You can refund the buyer, or represent your case to the card company through Amazon. To represent your case, go to Manage chargeback claims and click Represent your case. You can also reply to the chargeback email. Amazon notes the option appears under both the All and Action Required tabs.

The deadline

Amazon’s page says: “You must respond to any chargeback claim within seven calendar days of the email date.” If you do not respond, Amazon says it might debit your account. Requests for more information have their own time frame, stated in the request.

The evidence package

Amazon asks for:

• The shipping date
• The shipping method
• Any tracking information
• Your correspondence with the buyer

If the buyer says the item was materially different, Amazon may ask about the item too. Amazon says to include as much as possible in your first response. Buyers do not see your comments. They go to Amazon investigators.

What happens next

An Amazon investigator reviews your information, prepares the representment, and sends it to the issuing bank. Amazon says the final outcome can take up to 90 days, or longer in rare cases. Amazon emails you about the outcome only if you are financially responsible. If you believe you were debited in error, reply to that email. Amazon notes that in most cases the bank’s decision is final.

Amazon Pay disputes for orders on your own website

Amazon Pay is a separate service. Its rules apply to purchases on third party sites that use Amazon Pay at checkout. Amazon’s A-to-z help page says the A-to-z policy is different for Amazon Pay transactions.

Amazon Pay chargebacks

Amazon Pay’s Chargeback FAQ says you can dispute the chargeback by replying to the email with your evidence, or accept it. The page states: “You must respond to any chargeback notification within 11 calendar days of the email notification date.” If you do not respond, Amazon Pay will debit your account. The exact reply-by date is in the notification email.

The notice lists the dispute type. An unauthorized transaction chargeback may be covered by the Payment Protection Policy if you meet its terms. A service chargeback means you should check the card type and reason code to decide what to send.

At a minimum, Amazon Pay asks for:

• The status of the transaction
• A description of the product or service
• Proof the cardholder received the item

Amazon Pay also suggests order confirmation emails, details of any changes, refunds, or cancellations, tracking numbers, photos of the item, your refund and return policies, and customer communication records. Amazon Pay may send this data to the card company and the bank, so keep it relevant.

Amazon Pay says the final outcome can take up to 90 days from the date the charge was disputed, and sometimes longer.

Amazon Pay A-to-z claims

Amazon Pay’s A-to-z page for merchants gives you 7 calendar days to respond to the notification. If you do not respond, Amazon assigns the claim to you, reimburses the customer, and debits your account.

The page lists evidence by claim type. For an item not received claim, it asks for verifiable tracking or proof of shipment, the delivery estimate you sent, the order confirmation email, and any outside communication with the customer. For a materially different claim, it also asks for a description of the item and the detail page URL.

If a claim is decided against you, Amazon Pay gives you up to 30 calendar days to appeal from Seller Central.

When a buyer files both

Amazon Pay’s A-to-z page says that if a chargeback arrives from the card issuer while an A-to-z claim is under review, Amazon Pay denies the A-to-z claim. The chargeback process then decides the dispute.

When repeated chargebacks threaten account health

Amazon’s Order Defect Rate help document (dated October 2021; check the current version in Seller Central) says ODR is the share of orders with one or more defects during a 60 day period. It has three parts: negative feedback, A-to-z claims, and credit card chargebacks. Amazon’s policy is that sellers keep ODR under 1%. Above 1% may result in account deactivation.

Not every chargeback counts. Amazon says fraud chargebacks, where the buyer says they never made the purchase, do not count toward ODR. Service chargebacks, where the buyer admits the purchase but reports a problem, do. The rate is based on the order date, not the date the chargeback arrived.

For A-to-z claims, the same page says claims that are granted and debited from you, refunded after filing, cancelled, or still pending all count. Claims paid by Amazon, denied, or withdrawn do not. If you win an appeal, the claim is removed from your ODR.

Amazon Pay adds a money angle. Its A-to-z page says excessive claims can lead to warnings, suspension, or termination, and that claims affect the ODR used to calculate your reserve. If funds are on hold, see our posts on Amazon disbursement holds and reserves and withheld funds.

How to watch it

Amazon says to check ODR on the Account Health page, in the Customer Service Performance section. Click View details to download the report. Match each defect to its order ID. Look for patterns by product, carrier, or claim reason. Fix the cause, not only the single claim.

The escalation path

1. Respond on time. Use the reply-by date in the notice.
2. Appeal where Amazon allows it. Use the 30 day A-to-z appeal window. For chargebacks, reply to the email if you were debited in error.
3. Work the account health issue. If ODR is rising, address the defects listed on the Account Health page.
4. If your account is deactivated, Amazon’s appeal page says to go to Account Health and click Reactivate your account. You may be asked for a questionnaire or supporting documents. A clear Plan of Action helps explain the root cause and the fix. See also our Plan of Action template guide.
5. If the appeal does not resolve it, read about suspensions, appeals, Plans of Action, and arbitration.

When a lawyer can help

Most single chargebacks are an operations task. Legal help makes more sense when defects are putting your account at risk, when funds are held, or when you face a deactivation and need a written appeal. LA Law Group, APLC works with Amazon sellers on account health, suspension, and appeal issues. To discuss your notice, visit our Amazon seller lawyer page or call (866) 625-2529.