Anyone else experiencing delays with FBA shipment centers?

[JasonR]

Amazon seems to routinely misplace my inventory at least once a month. Definitely not an isolated issue.

Occasionally I'll open a case regarding lost inventory, and they'll find most of the units. I open cases as soon as I can regarding lost inventory - it seems to help.

 

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[biophase]

Update; Yep, turns out the remaining ones were all lost too...
But they only reimburse 90% of what I would have made if they were sold, and of course the UPS cost to get to FBA is also a loss.

OP; follow the advice from @biophase and send them a ticket to check it out. Very likely lost.

They reimburse you based on the payment that you would have gotten if the items sold on Amazon for your average selling price. So if you had a $100 item, you would get around $78.

 

[biophase]

Yeah this really makes you wonder what is going on at these warehouses. I mean, I understand losing/damaging a couple of units here and there, it happens. But THAT much product!? Where does it all go? To a magical mystery land?

Well... it goes into this big warehouse I assume where they just let it sit until they lose more of your stuff. Because when they lose some of my stuff now, instead of paying me, they replace it. Of course, how do they replace something that only you make? Probably with your lost stuff that they
found after they've reimbursed you.

I had a new product, sent over another 15. They lost 15. But they paid me for 14 units and replaced 1 unit. No idea where the 1 unit came from. The 1 unit went for sale, sold in a few days. No complaints from the buyer, so I guess they got the correct item.

I don't know what they are doing over there.

 

[Phones]

1. List some low-cost manufactoring products at 500$
2. Send a huge shipment to Amazon
3. Wait for them to loose it
4. Profit

/joking, but I can't understand how a company that should have their shit together is loosing money on this.

 

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[biophase]

So this is scary. Apparently they are now logging in products sent to our warehouses in different warehouses.

I sent 50 of A to BNA2. It got logged that BNA2 received only 25 and was missing 25. So I opened up a case. They told me that my other 25 were logged in at PHX5. I checked my tracking numbers and I sent them to BNA2. How do they log a shipment in Cali into a warehouse in Arizona?

So now this complicates things, because even separate warehouses won't fix your issues.

So now my shipment at PHX5 has extra 25 of A. But it's missing 25 of B. So I have no idea if they lost B or if it's logged in at FTW1. So it's a huge clusterfuck.

And to top it all off. I sent a total of 100 units of A and 100 units of B, to 4 different warehouses. I ended up with 150 units of A and 68 units of B. And I KNOW that I sent the correct amounts. So now I have 218 units in stock. Who knows where the other 18 units came from. This is a brand new product.

And yes, this is after they investigated everything.

 

[1step]

Well... it goes into this big warehouse I assume where they just let it sit until they lose more of your stuff. Because when they lose some of my stuff now, instead of paying me, they replace it. Of course, how do they replace something that only you make? Probably with your lost stuff that they
found after they've reimbursed you.

I had a new product, sent over another 15. They lost 15. But they paid me for 14 units and replaced 1 unit. No idea where the 1 unit came from. The 1 unit went for sale, sold in a few days. No complaints from the buyer, so I guess they got the correct item.

I don't know what they are doing over there.

Have you ever seen the "we have counted this twice and its not eligible to reconcile" message? I know I pack boxes right, and yet sometimes full boxes are lost, it's obviously obvious when an entire box goes missing... And yet amazon says they have counted twice and I get nothing.

 

[biophase]

Have you ever seen the "we have counted this twice and its not eligible to reconcile" message? I know I pack boxes right, and yet sometimes full boxes are lost, it's obviously obvious when an entire box goes missing... And yet amazon says they have counted twice and I get nothing.

Yeah, dealing with that right now.

 

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[ddall]

That is who the loan is from. I was invited a couple months ago and took them up on the offer. Bought inventory with it plus some extra and ran out Dec 1st. Using profits to buy more as soon as I get them in my hand. They offered me another one already but I have not taken it as I want to see what sales are going to do in Jan-Feb. I suspect that I will get another one after the new year and may take it.



Wow, that is horrible. I always just send in one SKU for each shipping plan to make it easy and all the boxes are the same size/count. I can't imagine loosing that much inventory. You have to wonder what is really going on at some of these warehouses.

@Eskil - Expounding on the speed of check in. Right now I am sending in 1-2 boxes at a time so that may also be why mine are being checked in quick. I am sticking UPS labels on boxes about an hour after DHL is delivering them and I do my quality check. I have had to change the QC procedure because of a bad shipment last time. Not sure if it was that way from the factory or from shipping but I had a spike of returns.

I'm in Canada so do not get offered the Amazon loan. This year I borrowed $155K (Cad) through multiple means (including maxing CC's), and a Canadian Government Small Business loan where I had a lot of work and interviews to get. I need a serious cash injection to scale quickly. LendingLoop.ca just arrived in Canada but requires two years of operation. By next Q4 I hope to have 9-10 products in stock. The largest challenge is scaling and maintaining inventory. (I take no profit out as I work full time) I plow it back into the business for new products and larger orders.

 

[Cascade]

I'm in Canada so do not get offered the Amazon loan. This year I borrowed $155K (Cad) through multiple means (including maxing CC's), and a Canadian Government Small Business loan where I had a lot of work and interviews to get. I need a serious cash injection to scale quickly. LendingLoop.ca just arrived in Canada but requires two years of operation. By next Q4 I hope to have 9-10 products in stock. The largest challenge is scaling and maintaining inventory. (I take no profit out as I work full time) I plow it back into the business for new products and larger orders.

Offer some encouragement...
There is large pools of money waiting to be tapped. For example

Supplier financing i.e. consignment
Buyer financing i.e. prepaid
Invoice financing i.e. factoring
etc etc etc

What places have you tried? Hmm...you're not trained in financing skills? ....oh...have you sought out expertise from those who know?

Ask yourself: If I had $$$ to lend, why would I lend to Company X out of every and any other borrower seeking financing, including the "borrower" which is my own fixed deposit at the bank?



Another bit of info to share for those doing FBA. They main shipper UPS is experiencing service failures. Had placed an order for some gifts that arrived very late and the rest are still somewhere in transit. AMZN rep was really great in responding. Got some refund for the shipping paid.

Action for biz>>> Give your customers a feedback channel. Just because the yellow button is clicked doesn't end the total customer experience. Great opportunity to offer superior customer service and some raving fans.

 

[Eskil]

I know I pack boxes right, and yet sometimes full boxes are lost, it's obviously obvious when an entire box goes missing

Yeah I have noticed that it's (almost) always entire boxes that go missing. I used to send in cases of 6 units per box. So they "lost" them in multiples of 6 (like 6, 12, 18, etc.), not like 7 or 11. Obviously exact case counts. Same after I switched to 25 units per box. Now they are lost in increments of either 25, 50, etc. Multiples of 25. (not like 23 or 47).
Interesting...

 

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[DrkSide]

Yeah I have noticed that it's (almost) always entire boxes that go missing.

Same here. They always lose a whole box. Sometimes I will notice though that the received count is off by 1 unit when I try to reconcile the shipment. Need to watch for that as well.

On another note. What system/software are you guys using for tracking inventory. I do it just by excel right now but I know as I add more products it is going to get increasingly time consuming. I know some are using stitchlabs but that is out of the price range right now and offers more functionality than I need.

 

[1step]

@Eskil @biophase
I contacted them multiple times and they ended up refunding for those that were obviously full cases even if it said they were counted twice - I would just keep trying

 

[evlttwin]

I have units in Kentucky (where my stuff is held up currently) and Texas.

I 2nd day aired the stuff to Kentucky - I'm hoping that expedites the process. Last time I second day aired my shipment they got it checked in in like 20 minutes.

Well damn....I just sent a big shipment in to Kentucky yesterday. This is not filling me with a lot of Christmas joy right now....

 

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[Jake]

All of my boxes are in but they screwed up somewhere. I have 2 less of 1 product and 3 extra of another..I could understand 2 extra as they look somewhat similar but 3?

 

[Hassen]

Update; Yep, turns out the remaining ones were all lost too...
But they only reimburse 90% of what I would have made if they were sold, and of course the UPS cost to get to FBA is also a loss.

OP; follow the advice from @biophase and send them a ticket to check it out. Very likely lost.

Thanks man, & @biophase. Sorry for the late reply bc my internet is so buggy sometimes I can't connect to the forum at all.

Anyway I did open a ticket & a lady on the missing inbound team said she'd have the center look into it; the stuff was just checked in & received in-full a couple days later. Not sure if it's related to the ticket at all since the ticket stayed open & I got no further notification from that representative, but I couldn't find any way to close the ticket either.

I had another two shipments checked in & received, one in-full & one still in progress, since then; now waiting for another three delivered shipments to get checked in.

 

[Hassen]

Speaking of, anyone has SKUs within one shipment just being received as randomly a few units more or fewer than the quantity you sent, all the time?

I've always dismissed it as I must've counted stuff wrong, but recently it's got a bit baffling sometimes, like where did that one or two items go if it's not at Amazon, & def not in my house?

 

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[Vigilante]

Want to know how this gets worse? When liquidators show up listing your lost inventory on Amazon under your listing.

 

[biophase]

Speaking of, anyone has SKUs within one shipment just being received as randomly a few units more or fewer than the quantity you sent, all the time?

I've always dismissed it as I must've counted stuff wrong, but recently it's got a bit baffling sometimes, like where did that one or two items go if it's not at Amazon, & def not in my house?

Happens all the time. I used to think it was me, until I double checked before I sent stuff.

 

[biophase]

Want to know how this gets worse? When liquidators show up listing your lost inventory on Amazon under your listing.

Yes, I've had a couple selling under my products and the are selling authentic stuff because I test ordered from them. Thankfully it's been only a few units here and there and it's always the same supplier. But I guess it's ok because Amazon technically already bought that product from me.

 

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[biophase]

@Eskil @biophase
I contacted them multiple times and they ended up refunding for those that were obviously full cases even if it said they were counted twice - I would just keep trying

I was able to get a payment for a box of 10 units yesterday. This was a "counted twice" item. First case they refused. I sent more proof and they paid up.

Also, they actually found my one case of 150 units missing since November 18th. And they found 3 of 14 boxes so far of a shipment missing since November 21st.

 

[amp0193]

I was able to get a payment for a box of 10 units yesterday. This was a "counted twice" item. First case they refused. I sent more proof and they paid up.

What proof did you send? I'm dealing with this right now on a "counted twice" item.

 

[biophase]

What proof did you send? I'm dealing with this right now on a "counted twice" item.

I sent the Fedex tracking numbers of each box with the size and weight of the box. My products are so big that if I were missing 10 units, there would be a 40 pound difference in box weights. I also sent them the commercial invoices.

 

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[Hassen]

I sent the Fedex tracking numbers of each box with the size and weight of the box. My products are so big that if I were missing 10 units, there would be a 40 pound difference in box weights. I also sent them the commercial invoices.

And I just had my first "counted twice" discrepancy as we speak. Jesus. I'm going to try using the invoice and the customs declaration.

 

[DrkSide]

What a great morning.

Not only am I dealing with a shipment that was counted twice but incorrect. It also appears that overnight ONT2 managed to lose an entire box of units.

I can already tell its going to be a good day.

Edit: Yep, lost. means that I will be OOS before my next shipment arrives.

 

[theag]

Wow, I wouldve never guessed that Amazon is so sloppy in their core business.

 

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[4x4ord]

I appreciate you guys posting your Amazon issues. It helps the rest of us understand the importance of being diligent about keeping your paperwork files squared away.

 

[DrkSide]

Wow, I wouldve never guessed that Amazon is so sloppy in their core business.

During the normal year I didn't have many problems with them losing inventory. Maybe a couple units here or there.

The holiday rush seems to have impacted their ability to count and manage inventory. I am wondering if they did not put enough staff on to handle the rush or if they are just trying to rush things through the door.

I have one item that I only sent 50 units in. They counted the 50 and put them inventory. Then sold 51 of them. Wonder how that is going to work.