A-to-Z Claim and Appeal Denied- Advice?

Hello,

I sold an item August 8, shipped it out Aug 9. Item was large and order was to The Marshall Islands. Unfortunately that meant that Amazon shipping cost more than my profit. I compared prices on pirateship and they had a viable option through USPS Ground Advantage, so I purchased. Valid tracking uploaded to Amazon seller.

Item has not been delivered and per USPS has been in “arriving late” status since August 19. I google and found an “estimate” of 13 business days to the Marshall Islands (not sure if accurate), which would have just run a few days ago on Sept 5, but after the August 31 date Amazon claims as the last possible date it should have arrived.

I received an e-mail saying that buyer had an inquiry and was requesting replacement or refund on September 5. It was nowhere indicated that an A-Z claim had been opened, just presented as a normal buyer message. I responded immediately, apologized for the delay, but said it was still in transit. He indicated it was too late and he would return it once it arrived, but problem solved until it does and everyone is happy.

Amazon on their own initiative Auto-refunds the order as a granted A-Z claim on September 8 because ” the tracking information is either missing or invalid. Per policy, valid tracking was required on this order.” This is blatantly untrue.

I appealed, provided tracking information (already uploaded to the order details), all tracking details and updates, and referred them to communication with buyer and that buyer was satisfied to return item upon receipt. Appeal was just denied. Because I did not ship in a timely manner. Obviously that is a lie, it shipped within 24 hours. I can’t control the delays of USPS, especially on an international shipment. Apparently because it did not arrive by August 31 I lose.

Any next steps? I don’t seen an option to file another appeal. Package is still en route. I tried an intercept an was told it was not available for the package. Package was insured for the automatic $100, and maybe it was lost and I can get some coverage that way, but it is too early to file a claim and if it is delivered I’m sure they will deny it, and customer gets to keep my item and Amazon my money.

Obviously if I continue to sell through Amazon I will always use their shipping so they can’t screw me, and when it comes to situations like this where there shipping options are not viable I will just cancel.

I sell a decent amount and would prefer not to, but am willing to go nuclear and do a credit card dispute and charge back when they bill my credit card. They are intending to bill me $338 on Monday, which is 5 more than they paid out in the fist place for some reason. And I’m out about $30 from the shipping label, and about 230 total out of pocket loss between the label and the item cost.