Amazon chargebacks come in many forms. Many can be avoided. With a thorough understanding of Amazon’s guidelines, coupled with your own strategies for compliance, you can create an effective defense against these hits to your revenue. One area in particular where you can take control — Amazon ASN (Advance Shipping Notification) accuracy — may be your number one way to prevent shipping deductions.
Key Insights
- Inaccuracy is the enemy
There are only a handful of ASN categories in which you can be charged, but many ways you can make an error. - Defending your margins: Prevention & Recovery
Winning the chargeback game comes down to preventing them, then recovering those fees when they do occur. - More than a “nice to do”
ASN accuracy is not merely a compliance checklist item, but the single most critical defense for protecting profit margins against Amazon’s complex automated shipping chargebacks.
Understanding Your Enemy
Any successful defense starts with understanding what you’re up against. In the case of Amazon shipping chargebacks, your enemy is inaccuracy. Amazon has very specific guidelines for shipping notifications, which must be adhered to. How you approach shipping accuracy has everything to do with your defense against chargebacks.
While multiple types of Amazon vendor chargebacks can be levied, ASN chargebacks fall into just a few categories:
- Unit Count Mismatch: ASN quantities don’t match the actual shipment.
- Missing/Invalid Expiration Date: Especially critical for consumables.
- Missing ARN or PRO/BOL: Tracking-info errors for TL/LTL shipments.
- Late ASN Submission: Not submitted within Amazon’s required timeframe.
Failure to meet Amazon’s guidelines in any of these areas results in a chargeback. ASN errors represent a direct and significant financial impact. Fees can range from a few cents per unit to 100% of product cost, depending on severity. If you’re managing a high-volume account, even minor errors can snowball into high-dollar losses.
This can be avoided. Once you understand the enemy, winning comes down to two key actions:
- Prevention
- Recovery
See the potential impact of chargebacks on your business with our ROI Calculator in this article. Deductions are complex. We can help you navigate them and improve your bottom line.
Amazon ASN Chargeback Prevention
Your operating procedures are the first line of defense to prevent Amazon chargebacks. When it comes to Amazon vendor compliance, you’ll want to be familiar with Amazon’s requirements, ensuring your procedures meet them. There are strategies you can implement to reduce fees and improve operational accuracy.
Things like:
- Validate ASN data against physical shipments before sending.
- Include carrier tracking numbers in each ASN to avoid rejection.
- Submit ASNs on time.
- Use a hierarchical packaging structure to detail which items are in which boxes and pallets.
Amazon’s new ASN Version 2 rollout now demands more granular labelling.
- Label each box and pallet with Serialized Shipping Container Codes (SSCC) or Amazon Container Codes (AMZNCC).
- Track box-to-pallet mapping — e.g., Box 1–30 on Pallet #1 — to enable scan-based receiving.
- Apply tracking numbers to each non-palletized box, not just the shipment as a whole.
Accuracy at each step is key. Knowing exactly what’s expected is paramount. Train your warehouse teams on the new ASN V2 requirements, audit any 3PL partners to ensure alignment with the new V2 standards, then use Amazon’s ASN dashboard to spot recurring errors and refine your process to reduce them.
Lastly, have a system in place for recovery when chargebacks do occur.
Amazon ASN Chargeback Recovery
Even with perfect processes, mistakes occur due to the complexity of Amazon’s system. Whether through your error or Amazon’s, erroneous chargebacks happen. You’ll want to be on top of your 1P revenue recovery to find the ones that shouldn’t have been, file the necessary dispute, and recover your funds.
To do it yourself:
- In your Vendor Central > Operational Performance dashboard, identify the chargeback, click “View All” next to the Total chargebacks summary, then search by keyword, product ID, or PO to locate the specific chargeback.
- Confirm the chargeback reason and status. Ensure the “Dispute” button is available.
- Collect your supporting evidence (e.g. ASN records, shipping confirmations, label images), then submit the dispute by clicking “Dispute” and following the prompts. Clearly explain why the chargeback is invalid and attach your documentation.
- Monitor the dispute status: Under Review, Reversed, Waived, or Rejected.
Remember: Timing matters. You have 30 days from the chargeback notification to file a dispute. If rejected, you get another 30-day window to submit a second dispute.
Automation is preferred. If you want to automate this process or recover chargebacks across multiple deduction types, platforms like Carbon6 can help.
Not Merely a Checklist Item
ASN accuracy is more than a checklist item—it’s your primary defense against hidden profit loss. Why? Because our data shows 65% of chargebacks can lead to a shortage claim.
A simple label error doesn’t just trigger a small fine; it disrupts Amazon’s automated receiving system, putting your payment for that inventory at risk.
Optimizing this process has a significant financial impact:
- $1M Recovered in 8 Months: Farouk Systems was losing profit due to an Amazon knowledge deficit and errors in deduction tracking. By auditing their account and leveraging expert knowledge, they recovered $1 million in just eight months and increased their net profit recovery from single to double digits.
- 30% Reduction in Future Fees: A global CPG brand was facing high ongoing fees. Through a combination of historical recovery and root cause analysis with supply chain coaching, they not only recovered over $2 million in one year but also mitigated future fees by 30%—a direct result of improved prevention.
While total elimination of all chargebacks is unlikely, being ready to recover them when they occur is essential.
The Ultimate Defense
While prevention is your greatest protection against chargebacks, when fees do get taken out, you’ll want to shore up the castle walls and get them back.
This is where a strategic partner comes into play.
Carbon6 Revenue Recovery handles your chargeback recovery, automating the time-sensitive dispute process and providing crucial root-cause analysis that internal teams often lack the time or tools to perform, which further helps with prevention. This makes Carbon6 a fully comprehensive solution.
Start your free audit today and see what this industry-leading revenue recovery platform can do for you. Simplify the complexities of 1P vendor accounting and dispute management, with 24/7 support from an expert team of recovery specialists delivering unmatched accuracy with every dispute.
“Carbon6 is the premier service provided in the chargeback, shortage, and accrual/overbilling space. I’ve seen them return millions back to multiple vendor accounts. Their dashboard is intuitive, user-friendly and most importantly, drives dollars back in the business.”
Former executive | P&G, Nestle, and Duracell
