Got banned from Amazon?

The purpose of this thread is to keep all past and present Amazon Customers informed of recent changes within Amazon. This thread will also serve as a place for those who have been blacklisted to update and support each other. It is intended for anyone who has found this forum by search engine or other means. This thread is one of the top 10 search returns by Google.

Those who were affected by the blacklisting at first thought they had received a spam or phishing email. However, once other people confirmed that they had also received the same discourteous email and were no longer able to login to their Amazon accounts, all were certain that this blacklisting was for real.

Mass Closing Of Amazon Accounts By Amazon
http://forums.slickdeals.net/show...910&page=1

The Consumerist Reports The Blacklisting:
Amazon Closes Accounts En Masse
http://consumerist.com/5044959/am...s-en-masse

The Consumerist Reports Amazon Termination Of The Post-Order Price Guarantee
http://consumerist.com/5044911/am...-guarantee

The Blacklisting Has Been Covered On TV :
http://www.ketv.com/video/17405717/index.html

Once Blacklisted, The Former Account Holder Is Affected In The Following Ways:

He/she is unable to:
(1) Place Orders
(2) Print receipts
(3) View Past Orders
(4) Track packages
(5) Access current subscriptions
(6) Access items that were saved in account for later viewing.
(7) View personalized recommendations

In addition, Amazon has refuses to issue refunds on any Blacklisted Accounts for:
(8) Gift cards.
(9) The time left on Amazon Prime membership.

The blacklisted can no longer:
(10) Download books exclusive to Amazon for their Amazon exclusive Kindle.
(11) Access, view, or download any digital content found in their Digital Media Library even though the member has already paid for said content.
(12) Use Amazon Visa rewards.

And lasty, any pre-orders or orders placed while the account was being closed were cancelled.

To make matters worse, any subsequent accounts created by a blacklisted member will also be instantly banned. It is not known how Amazon links accounts to the blacklisted. It is speculated that Amazon links banned accounts by billing address. In addition, if a blacklisted member were able to place a order with Amazon, Amazon will not accept the return of that order. In other words, a blacklisting is lifelong and permanent. The following quote is taken from the email that Amazon sent to its members.

Quote : If you were to open a new account, the same will result and it will also be closed. In the event that you attempt to do so, we will not accept the return of any additional orders, nor will we issue further refunds in connection with any future orders. We appreciate your cooperation in refraining from using our web site.

Amazon refuses to reinstate most accounts. If a member sends an email to the account appeals email address, Amazon will reply with the following generic reply.http://forums.slickdeals.net/show...tcount=455. In rare circumstances, Amazon can reopen a closed account but they threaten to re-close the account if any additional "concession requests" are made.

[b] Reaction To The Blacklisting:
The majority of customers - blacklisted and not blacklisted - believe Amazon did not handle this matter properly. Amazon has failed to define what is and is not considered "an extraordinary number of incidents." Amazon has also failed to define what is and is not a "concession incident." Customers speculate that a concession incident could by any one or more of the following: (1) Coupons, (2) full returns, (3) partial returns, (4) full refunds, (5) partial refunds, (6) A to Z claims, (7) post order price Guarantees, (8) Visa Rewards, (9) refusing shipments, (10) returning defective items, (11) cancelling orders, and so on.

A concession incident is essentially an action that causes Amazon to make less than the maximum amount of profit per transaction.

Most people also agree that Amazon should have defined what is and is not considered "an extraordinary number of incidents." But most importantly, Amazon should have sent an email to the members in question stating that their account would be closed if they continued to request too many "concessions."

The former customers are very much upset with Amazon because Amazon did not provide any notification of any kind that their accounts were in poor standing according to Amazon's unpublished internal policies. Amazon's former customers are also upset that Amazon is refusing to allow them to continue to shop at their webstore even if they were to no longer request any concessions.

Many customers believe that this unexpected blacklisting is an attempt by Amazon to implement stricter return policies. However, Amazon does not want to make any official changes to their terms of service regarding return policies. Amazon is trying to perpetuate the illusion that "returns are easy" at Amazon.

Amazon's Discourteous Email Explained In Terms Of Psychology

Quote : Amazon’s secretive internal "concession incident" policy is not explicitly stated in their terms of service. This allows Amazon to perpetuate the view that concession incidents are not tabulated and will not be used against the customer. This is misleading. Amazon's unanticipated blacklisting has brought about their desired result. The rates of requested concession incidents have probably lowered across all of Amazon’s customer databases thanks to social forums like this one. The word has gotten out. We are the unofficial spokespersons for Amazon's new policy. Amazon is broadcasting its new policies by proxy, i.e., through us. Amazon orchestrated a psychological attack against a minority of its customers. This unexpected blacklisting has had a chilling effect. Current customers can't determine if another blacklisting will ever occur. Thus, many will do whatever it takes to not upset the powerful and unforgiving Amazon. When you're blacklisted from Amazon, you're blacklisted from Amazon Marketplace. Not being allowed to shop at Amazon Marketplace has been a big loss and disappointment for me.

The Lessons Learned From This Unexpected Blacklisting:

All Amazon customers must be well aware of the terms of service they agree to whenever they use any Amazon service. Amazon customers must be aware the submitting an above average number of concession requests will result in their permanent closure of their account.

For instance, in regards to the Kindle.
Amazon can:
(1) "Discontinue wireless connectivity at any time"
(2) "Reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the [Kindle] Service at any time" while not being held "liable to you, [the Kindle owner] should it [Amazon] exercise such right."
This policy can be viewed by clicking on the following link. Press control F on your keyboard to find the quoted text more quickly.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/cus...=200144530

Unbox Content:
BoingBoing describes the contract as the worst they have ever seen. There are simply too many things wrong with the contract to mention here. Click on the link the follows to read a point by point analysis of the terms you agree to follow once you purchase Unbox content.

Digital Media Library:
Whenever you purchase digital items through Amazon, you are not purchasing the content itself. You are only paying for access to view the content itself. Becuase Amazon cancels accounts and has the tendency to not reopen them, everyone should purchase access to Amazon's digital content with great caution.

Coverage on other forums and websites:

http://www.complaintsboard.com/by...-a345.html
http://www.precomania.com/rating_....php/r=180
http://www.epinions.com/content_442900319876
http://www.beloev.net/amazon.html
http://www.kalyansuman.com/labels...uster.html
http://www.ripoffreport.com/repor...368329.htm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/...about.html
http://cybercjh.com/blog/2008/09/...amazoncom/
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/off-topic/857006
http://www.dealtime.com/xMR-Amazo...2900319876
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/h...g-way.html
http://forums.anandtech.com/messa...TARTPAGE=1
http://forums.macrumors.com/showt...?p=6161039
http://comicsworthreading.com/200...-changing/
http://www.pcworld.com/shopping/m...views.html
http://cheatingnetwork.net/forums...losed.html
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu8j...amazoncom/
http://senninweblog.blog124.fc2.c...try-3.html
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showt...st12640272
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthre...565&page=2
http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cac...cd=5&gl=us

It has even been discussed on Amazon's own Gold Box forum. The blacklisting of its own customers made quite a stir at the Amazon forums but Amazon has since removed most of the threads that pertain to the blacklisting. Some threads remain however.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd...RRIIKOKVDH
http://www.amazon.com/gp/forum/cd...MZ1V6FKE86


Source: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=908910&highlight=amazon

I just got an email from amazon.com telling me that I am no longer welcome to use their site and that my account has been closed with immediate effect. The reason, they say, is that I've had too many problems with shipments. I confess that over the past few years I've returned far too many apple computers than is normal, but most of the time I've first been to Apple who've told me that I can either have it fixed or return it to amazon and recommended the latter.

I've also bought tons and tons of expensive stuff from them over the years without any issue at all, including cameras, lenses, telephones, computers and books.

I'm really really outraged because I also have lots of amazon credit that I got by using my amazon.com credit card AND all my receipts are on my account so that I have no way of proving purchases anymore. I can't even log on!

Needed to vent. I really can't believe that they would penalise me for using their return policy. If they can't handle that people return defective products, they shouldn't have that policy. A lot of stores don't.

Any advice? I don't want to lose my receipts because it'll be hard to get warranty service if I need it. And, of course, I don't want to lose my credit that I have accumulated through my amazon card.

Unbelievable.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=552203

Can amazon hold my money for 90 days?
Last month I received a notice form Amazon stating I would receive payment to my checking account in 5 days. The next day I received an e-mail saying they were holding my money pending an investigation. They said I had done nothing wrong and it was standard procedure. They went on to say I should keep selling and filling orders. Which wasn't easy some of these items were very costly to ship.

A week later they e-mailed and said my account was closed and I would have access to my funds in 30 days. Thirty days have pasted and I still can't get to my money.

Today i received the following e-mail from them:

"Hello from Amazon.

We are writing to let you know that we have blocked your Amazon selling account. You may no longer sell on our site.

We took this action because it has come to our attention that an excessive portion of your recent orders have been cancelled.

If you still have items to ship, please take appropriate steps to resolve your pending sales. Your Seller Account will remain accessible and you are encouraged to refund or ship pending orders.

Your funds are being reserved in your Amazon account for 90 days from the date of your final sale. After 90 days, the funds will be disbursed minus any A-to-Z Guarantee claims or charge-backs. If you have further questions about your funds please write to payments-funds at amazon

While we appreciate your interest, the blocking of your account is a permanent action. Any subsequent accounts will be blocked as well. Thank you for your understanding with our decision.

Regards,
Seller Performance Team
Amazon"

Do they have the right to hold my money this long? Even after sending a confirmation that it would reach my account before that date? I have no customer complaints filed against me and all orders have been filled. They are simply canceling me due to orders I choose to cancel instead of filling due to what I felt was faulty product. I decided to stop selling rather then get customer complaints.

What's the verdict can they legal keep my money?

http://www.thelaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25273