Amazon Package Never Arrived? Here’s How to Report a Missing Package

Amazon may be one of the largest global retailers today, but that doesn’t make it infallible. Though it typically towers above most of its competitors, it still faces the same issues that the competition does, including damaged goods, the wrong items getting sent out, and occasionally, packages just outright not being delivered.

Amazon and other retailers are constantly working to make it amazingly convenient to shop online. Still, more internet shopping means more opportunities for your purchases to be lost or even stolen. Having your Amazon package missing can be an absolute nightmare but figuring out what went wrong and how to correct it doesn’t have to be.

What Should You Do If Your Amazon Package Has Not Arrived Yet?

With the rise of online shopping in recent years, package theft has also risen alongside it. Unfortunately, the more and more shopping gets done online, the more likely you become the target of such theft. One of the ways Amazon attempts to combat the wave of lost and stolen packages is through their A-to-z Guarantee.

1. Use the Amazon A-to-z Guarantee for Third-Party Orders

So what is the Amazon A-to-z guarantee, and how exactly does it work? Let’s first assume that you’ve recently purchased an item from a third-party seller who isn’t covered by the “Fulfilled by Amazon” protection. A seller without this means that there is no package tracking available through your Amazon account portal. So any seller could go rogue, charge you for the product, and claim your package is on its way when in reality, it hasn’t shipped at all. 

The above situations are where Amazon’s A-to-z guarantee comes into play. This Guarantee is for any third-party purchases on Amazon that are not fulfilled or sold by Amazon. The mandate set forth by the Guarantee states that any item purchased from a seller through the Amazon website is eligible for compensation. Of course, a few conditions need to get met before you can make an A-to-z claim.

You will first need to contact the seller through your Amazon account and provide them with 48 hours to respond.

Things to know: 

• You can only file a claim once you’ve contacted the seller.
• You can contact the seller through your Amazon Payments account.
• On the “Transaction Details” link, you will see an option to “Contact Seller.”
• You must give the seller 48 hours to respond.

If the seller’s response is not satisfactory, you can then follow through with a claim.

To submit an A-to-z claim:

• A claim can be submitted no later than 90 days after the maximum estimated delivery date.
• If the item arrives broken, defective, or misrepresented, you’ll need to file a claim within 14 days after arranging the return through the seller.
• To file a claim, go to your Orders List and select “View/File Claim” on the order.
• Follow the on-screen instructions, which will require you to select a reason for the claim.

The five reasons to file an A-to-z guarantee claim:

• You did not receive the item within three days past the latest estimated delivery date.
• Your article was damaged, defective, or materially different from the one you ordered.
• You returned an item to Amazon but did not receive a refund.
• You need to return an item internationally, but the seller did not provide a U.S. address or an international shipping label.
• The seller miscalculated customs and/or shipping charges, and you had to pay those fees upon delivery.

You will need to provide explanations and documented evidence for the reasons for the claim. For more information, see the Amazon A-to-z Guarantee.

Once a claim has been submitted:

• You can view the claim on your Amazon Payments account.
• If the seller resolved the matter before the claim decision is finalized, you could withdraw the claim by responding to Amazon’s confirmation email.
• Amazon will make a decision. If the claim is approved, you will be refunded.

Amazon does have the right to deny your claim if one or more of the following circumstances are met:

• The item received was the same as described by the third-party seller.
• The item was received and the third-party seller provided verification of delivery.
• You failed to respond to a request for further information.
• The claim was filed due to buyer remorse rather than an actual issue with the item.
• You filed a chargeback with your payment processor or bank.
• You were unwilling to return the item to the third-party seller.

Regardless, if your claim gets denied, you can then appeal the claim. Amazon can then choose to investigate the situation further. Additional evidence to back your claims that you may not have produced for the initial claim would help with the case.

If you bought something but the Amazon package never arrived, what can you do? Which dispute channels are available to you? Keep reading to find out.

2. Other Solutions to Delivery Problems with Third-Party Sellers

Some delivery problems happen more often than others. Before you begin to panic, look at some of the more common issues you could face when dealing with Amazon sellers and how best to correct the situation before going to extreme measures.

An Item Has Been Ordered but Not Yet Shipped

A quick Google search for Amazon delivery problems will reveal that this particular issue occurs relatively often. What can you do if you’ve placed an order, but the seller still hasn’t made the shipment after several days, weeks, or even months have passed?

Don’t freak out. There’s an easy fix to your problem. Amazon will not charge your credit card until the order has been confirmed. This means that nothing will show up on your bank statement indicating you’ve paid for a product that was never even shipped. So long as this is still the case, and you’re fed up with waiting, you can still cancel the order by:

1. Heading into Accounts and Lists.
   
2. Clicking on Your Account.
   
3. Then click on Your Orders and select Cancel Order.
   

Shows As Delivered but Has Yet to Arrive

Amazon issues guidelines for precisely this type of situation. Some of them might seem obvious, but they’re still essential to tick off:

• Ensure that the shipping address that was provided was correct on your order.
• Look for any notice that may have been left indicating an attempted delivery.
• Check within the vicinity of the expected delivery location.
• Check with your neighbors to see if they’ve accepted the package on your behalf.
• Do you happen to have Amazon Locker?
• Look in your mailbox as some deliveries will use multiple carriers which includes the standard postal service.
• Give it around 36 hours before escalating your concern. Sometimes packages may show as delivered while still in transit.

After waiting 36 hours, you can contact Amazon directly should your package still be a no-show. If there is still no sign of your delivery, here is how you can contact Amazon directly:

1. Log in to your Amazon account.
2. Scroll down to the footer and select Help, found in the “Let Us Help You” section.
3. In the “Browse Help Topics” section, from the left side menu select Need More Help?.
4. Then, in the main window click on Contact Us.
   • You should see all of your recent orders right there, on the screen. 
5. Locate the specific order that is causing you trouble.
6. Scroll further down, just below the order, until you see a drop-down menu.
   • It will be located just below the heading “Tell us more”.
7. From the drop-down menu, choose “Where’s My Stuff?”. 
8. Then, in the new drop-down menu that appears, choose Tracking shows delivered but shipment not received.

The site will then allow you to reach out to Amazon via email, phone, or live chat. Choose whichever option works best for you. Amazon will then investigate the case and, in the majority of cases, grant you a refund.

Fake Sellers

This is definitely one of the more widespread problems happening over at Amazon’s official website. It has become so easy for fake sellers to rip people off via fraudulent methods in recent years, and Amazon, as well as its customers, have seen their fair share of this worrying trend.

The problem is that a criminal can easily open up a new Amazon seller account and begin peddling popular items for sale. It literally only takes a few seconds when using Amazon’s seller’s platform. 

What happens is that they’ll list items for less money than other retailers to get more notice. Once an unsuspecting buyer makes the purchase and the criminal receives the order, they’ll immediately tell the buyer that the item is en route to the courier. This means that the purchase is accepted, and the funds for the product are released to their account. 

By providing an estimated delivery date of four weeks, the shady merchant can beat Amazon’s two-week payment cycle and vanish before buyers begin to complain about the product never showing up. It’s a pretty messed up situation to be in.

Luckily, it’s actually quite easy to avoid fake sellers trying to make a quick buck off of your misery. Feedback scores tend to be a great way to tell if the seller is trustworthy and not out to steal your money. 

To check the feedback scores of a seller:

1. When looking at a product, click on the seller’s name.
   • You can find the name in the same place as you would the Fulfilled by Amazon tag is located.
   • It will show as: Sold by <seller name> and Fulfilled by Amazon.
2. While on the seller’s profile page, make sure you’re in the “Feedback” tab.
   • It should be opened by default.

From this page, you’ll be able to see the seller’s lifetime feedback rating. This also includes any product reviews provided to the seller from previous customers. Off to the right of those, you’ll find the seller’s overall score spanning over the last month, three months, twelve months, and lifetime.

3. Use The Amazon Delivery Guarantee for Prime Orders

What to Do When Amazon Prime Packages are Missing

Amazon Prime members whose orders have yet to arrive will still have to follow all of the processes previously discussed in this article unless you purchased items sold and fulfilled by Amazon or bought third-party items that qualified for Prime shipping. Those items fall under the Amazon Delivery Guarantee rather than the A-to-z Guarantee. You’ll be working through Amazon and their customer care services to rectify the situation. 

Note: If a third-party item was eligible for Amazon Prime Delivery and changed after placing your order, it will still be subject to the Amazon Delivery Guarantee policies.

Amazon will be responsible for any delivery claims and will issue refunds up to the cost of all related shipping charges (shipping fees, service fees, customs fees, etc.).

Your Best Option: Buy Only from “Fulfilled by Amazon” Sellers

You can find items sold from both Amazon and third-party sellers when looking for products on the website. When using a third-party seller, be attentive in your dealings with them as you might notice a message that reads Fulfilled by Amazon on the product.

A Fulfilled by Amazon message implies that even when sold by a third-party retailer, Amazon will be the ones sending it out to your home through one of their Amazon Fulfillment Centers. This means that you’ll be able to track the package’s progress using the Amazon portal from your account. This also means that Amazon is taking responsibility for customer service and any product returns that may occur.

Purchasing a product from a third-party seller whose items do not contain a Fulfilled by Amazon tag runs a greater risk of future complications, which leads to A-to-z Guarantee claims that take time to process and complete. Furthermore, non-fulfilled Amazon orders can be risky as the seller can make false or exaggerated claims, which burdens you.