When disputing Amazon shortages, timeliness is an important factor that can increase or decrease your dispute success chances. In order to give you the best chances of recovering dollars lost to Amazon shortages, our team created the following deduction classifications:
Developing (Prior to invoice due date): These are shortages on invoices that haven't yet reached their due dates. Disputes on these shortages are likely to be denied, so we recommend waiting on these deductions.
Optimal (Within 30 days after due date): These are shortages that we're deeming as prime for disputing. We recommend disputing all shortages when tagged as such.
Maturing (Between 30 and 40 days): These are shortages that need to be disputed as soon as possible. These deductions are aging and need to be addressed before they age any further.
Mature (40+ days): These are shortages that we believe are "too old." Disputes on shortages tagged as such are more than likely going to be denied by Amazon. However, we do recommend disputing these as well because:
There is a minute chance that some could be successful.
More importantly, you will need a corresponding DisputeID for each denied deduction you may raise to Amazon's support team by the means of an "Open Statement" (a.k.a: case escalation).
What does this look like on the platform?
On the deductions list view page, you will find that each shortage listed on the page comes with a tag.
In addition to these tags, you can also use the new 'Dispute Timeliness' filter to view any combination of tagged shortage claims.
You will also be able to view each deduction's timeliness category on the deduction details page.
Unlike the list view page's tags, the dispute timeliness card on each shortage's deduction details page will provide additional details regarding the anticipated date when each shortage will 'move' to each of the last three categories (i.e.: Optimal, Maturing, Mature).
Do the timeliness categories behave differently for already-disputed shortages?
Yes! For disputable shortages, the timeliness tags describe the stage that each disputable deduction is at as of today. So a shortage classified as optimal today, could become maturing by the next day. However, with shortages that have already been disputed, these tags describe the stage of each shortage at the moment of dispute.
Do Price Claims behave the same way?
While we also recommend disputing invalid price claims as soon as possible, it does not look like price claims are as affected by the timeliness factor. As long as a price discrepancy is identifiable and disputable with Amazon, the success of a dispute will likely rely more on the accuracy of Amazon's records of the product's unit price.