Just posted by Amazon on the seller "Success" board. 

The A-to-z Guarantee is a cornerstone of the Amazon marketplace, providing each customer with a highly trusted shopping experience.  Most Amazon Marketplace sellers provide great customer service and never have an A-to-z Guarantee claim filed against them. 

Sellers are accountable for resolving A-to-z claims. In the past, Amazon has funded certain item not received claims on behalf of the seller, despite seller responsibility for fulfillment. We are announcing a revision of this policy. Effective June 18, A-to-z Guarantee Not Received claims will be processed according to the following policies:

Products(s) Shipped without Tracking
A seller will be liable for a not received claim if Estimated Delivery Date (EDD) has passed and the order was shipped without tracking information. This policy will apply to all orders, including those shipped by media mail.   

Product(s) Shipped with Tracking – In Transit
If a product is not delivered by the end of the EDD range, and tracking information shows an expected delivery in the near future (and the product was shipped by the promised ship date of two business days from the order date) the claim will not be granted and the buyer will be asked to wait for the product.  The seller will not be liable. However, if tracking information does not show expected delivery in a reasonable timeframe, the claim will be granted and the seller will be held liable.  This will apply to packages lost in transit as well.

Product(s) Shipped with Delivery Confirmation Tracking – Tracking Shows Delivery and Buyer Claims Item Not Received
The A-to-z Guarantee team will investigate the dispute. Amazon may contact the buyer to confirm non-receipt. If no receipt is confirmed, the seller may still be held liable for lack of fulfillment - Amazon will not cover service errors, including loss, theft, or postal/shipping issues.  Amazon will, however, continue to protect sellers from fraudulent buyers and A-to-z Guarantee abusers. 

Product(s) Shipped with Signature Confirmation Tracking – Tracking Shows Delivery and Buyer Claims Item Not Received
If the name on the signature confirmation matches the buyer, the A-to-z Guarantee team will deny the claim.  If signature confirmation does not match the buyer, the A-to-z Guarantee team will deny the claim and ask the buyer to follow-up with the individual that signed for the package.  Guarantee claims for packages that are signed for by a freight forwarder or an agent of the buyer (e.g. receptionist, family member) will be denied.  However, if an investigation determines that the customer did not receive the order due to a shipping error beyond his or her control, the seller may be held liable.  We anticipate that this would be a very rare occurrence.

The changes to our A-to-z claim handling policy are intended to hold sellers accountable for shipping reliably and to enhance customer trust in the marketplace.

How sellers can reduce the risk of an A-to-z Guarantee claim

There are three simple ways to mitigate the risk of an A-to-z Guarantee claim for item not received:

1. Ship promptly and use a shipping method that ensures reliable delivery before EDD.
2. Ship with tracking information and provide this information to the buyer.
3. Ship higher priced items with signature confirmation tracking and/or insurance.

As a reminder, you can review the pertinent section of the Participation Agreement below:

Participation Agreement, Section 5m

“5m. We may refuse service to anyone for any reason. We may earn interest or other compensation from the balances in our bank accounts that result from the timing difference between our being paid by Buyer and our bank account being debited to pay Payment Transaction credits to Seller. We reserve the right to seek reimbursement from Seller if we, in our sole discretion, decide to reimburse Buyer under the terms of the Amazon.com A-to-Z Guarantee, provide a refund to Buyer if Seller cannot promptly deliver the goods, discover erroneous or duplicate transactions, or receive a chargeback from Buyer's credit card issuer for the amount of Buyer's purchase from Seller. We may obtain such reimbursement by deducting from future payments owed to Seller, reversing any credits to Seller's bank account, charging Seller's credit card, or seeking such reimbursement from Seller by any other lawful means.”

I wonder how Amazon would now classify my previous case where the buyer claimed his dog ate the package because the carrier threw it into his yard?

A "postal/shipping issue"?

Tom

It apparently depends on whether or not Amazon actually contacts the buyer, and then believes him when he states that "he" has not received it..

Tom

Amazon currently gives me enough (on average) for me to pay for DC at the electronic rate, but not enough for Signature Confirmation.

Amazon is deliberately vague about the price point of when they will want to see SC. I suppose we will all have to pick our own point, based on the average rates of loss.

Tom

Agreed and I've been lucky so far with no A-Z's, but I'm a very small seller here. Still using Shipping Assistant so I've no choice about using DC. I've only used SC on the few books I've sold over $75.

Besides Amazon saving themselves a bundle, it still sounds to me like a way for USPS to sell more DC.

Or the higher commissions and guaranteed variable fee from doing away with zShops?  Or the extra money they get from "selling" storefronts to sellers who give them even more money (when it used to be a PM benefit)?

Maybe this is a clever ploy to distract us from the fact that listings aren't showing...