I have been using Amazon SellerCentral for over 2 years without a hitch. I had an absolutely impeccable selling history and 98+% feedback rating with over $1,376,000 in sales and a loyal return customer base.
In September of 2008 a competitor on Amazon began undercutting every item in our store front, infringing on trade and brandmark rights and destroying the minimum advertised price (MAP) set by the manufacturer for every product in his inventory. The manufacturer (undisclosed) was overwhelmed by the policies set forth by Amazon for protection of his brand and was unsuccessful in securing his products, sales policies and pricing on Amazon.
In October 2008 our competitor decided to place multiple orders on multiple user accounts and proceeded to leave negative feedback, some within hours after placing the order. Each claim was met with verified tracking and customer service records that shown immediate action on every customer inquiry. None of the rebuttals were accepted by Amazons team and resulted in immediate refunds.
The tremendous loss from refunds as well as our rapidly declining feedback rating destroyed what was left of our account and crushed our sales. Not more than a day later an account suspension warning letter was sent to our email that reads as follows:
Since we were unclear why our response was not deemed valid we drafted our response to fit the requested format and 15 days later this is the response we received.
When I called Amazon we were given no response and offered no assistance. For most Amazon sellers that have been banned this would be the end of the line, but I just couldn't take no for an answer.
I began collecting every piece of intel and interrogating representatives. Over 2 months I had befriended a network that divulged the inner workings of Amazon's compliance department. I was eventually given information on my account and told that the user whom left us feedback was a repeat offender having been linked to several banned Amazon accounts.
But how could this be possible?
How could you set up a new account once you have been banned from Amazon?
During the past 6 months I made 11 failed attempts to create new accounts doing everything in the book to make a permanently separate my old account. I spent thousands of dollars in new computer equipment, IT services, bank account changes, credit card reissues and various other techniques that ultimately failed and left me for broke. What I found in this process is 10 simple rules that can help you reestablish your account and get you back selling on Amazon.
So the $19 question is... How much is it worth to reinstate your selling privileges on Amazon again?
In September of 2008 a competitor on Amazon began undercutting every item in our store front, infringing on trade and brandmark rights and destroying the minimum advertised price (MAP) set by the manufacturer for every product in his inventory. The manufacturer (undisclosed) was overwhelmed by the policies set forth by Amazon for protection of his brand and was unsuccessful in securing his products, sales policies and pricing on Amazon.
In October 2008 our competitor decided to place multiple orders on multiple user accounts and proceeded to leave negative feedback, some within hours after placing the order. Each claim was met with verified tracking and customer service records that shown immediate action on every customer inquiry. None of the rebuttals were accepted by Amazons team and resulted in immediate refunds.
The tremendous loss from refunds as well as our rapidly declining feedback rating destroyed what was left of our account and crushed our sales. Not more than a day later an account suspension warning letter was sent to our email that reads as follows:
We are writing to let you know that your listings have been suspended and are currently unavailable for sale. The feedback, claims, and/or refunds submitted to your seller account profile indicate that a number of buyers have been dissatisfied with the service you have provided.Our rebuttal was over 5 pages long, detailing every transaction including time stamped customer service inquiries and responses, order tracking information and viable product information that was more than sufficient to expunge our record of these baseless claims. We included our sections of our internal process and procedural manual that highlighted what corrective actions we would take to reduce claims and increase positive customer feedback. After 2 days of painstaking order and customer service audits this was the response we received form Amazon.
You can view our Seller Performance Targets in Seller Central at the following location:
Seller Central Home > Site Map > Reports > Customer Metrics
Your seller account will remain accessible to you. Please take steps to resolve your pending sales.
We encourage you to review your processes in order to identify any operational deficiencies that may have contributed to increased negative feedback, guarantee claims or returns submitted by your transaction partners. In order to reinstate your listings, please write to seller-performance@amazon.com and provide a detailed account of the steps you will undertake to bring your performance up to our standards.
We look forward to hearing from you.
In our review of your seller account history, you have already received notification regarding the actions taken on your account. According to that e-mail message, your account has been blocked because The feedback, claims, and/or refunds submitted to your seller account profile indicate that a number of buyers have been dissatisfied with the service you have provided.
This action was taken by our Seller Performance department, which conducts order and account investigations. All actions and concerns regarding your account must be communicated via e-mail for our records. If you wish to appeal this decision, you may do so by writing to seller-performance@amazon.com.
To ensure that the Seller Performance department has all the information they need to conduct a thorough review of your appeal, please include the following information in your e-mail to seller-performance@amazon.com:
1. The root cause of (Order Defect Rate).
2. What actions you have taken to remedy the root cause.
3. What actions you will take in the future to ensure the issue does not recur, and
4. Your plan for evaluating the success of your remedy actions.
The Seller Performance team will review the information you provide and will contact you via e-mail with a final decision.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Since we were unclear why our response was not deemed valid we drafted our response to fit the requested format and 15 days later this is the response we received.
Hello from Amazon.com.
Thank you for writing. We have considered your request for reinstatement and decided that your account will remain blocked.
A seller's negative feedback, refunds and claims reflect a seller's overall performance. High rates of these criteria generally indicate that buyers are experiencing unsatisfactory transactions.
Any remaining funds may be reserved for up to 90 days from the date of your final sale. After 90 days, the funds will be disbursed, provided we do not receive charge-backs or A-to-z Guarantee claims against your sales. If you have further questions about your disbursement, please email payments-funds@amazon.com.
While we appreciate your interest, please understand that the closure of an account is a permanent action. Any subsequent accounts that are opened will be closed as well.
Thank you for your understanding with our decision.
Best regards,
Seller Performance Team
http://www.amazon.com
When I called Amazon we were given no response and offered no assistance. For most Amazon sellers that have been banned this would be the end of the line, but I just couldn't take no for an answer.
I began collecting every piece of intel and interrogating representatives. Over 2 months I had befriended a network that divulged the inner workings of Amazon's compliance department. I was eventually given information on my account and told that the user whom left us feedback was a repeat offender having been linked to several banned Amazon accounts.
But how could this be possible?
How could you set up a new account once you have been banned from Amazon?
During the past 6 months I made 11 failed attempts to create new accounts doing everything in the book to make a permanently separate my old account. I spent thousands of dollars in new computer equipment, IT services, bank account changes, credit card reissues and various other techniques that ultimately failed and left me for broke. What I found in this process is 10 simple rules that can help you reestablish your account and get you back selling on Amazon.
So the $19 question is... How much is it worth to reinstate your selling privileges on Amazon again?
