Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

[Amethyst]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Truth doesn't much come into it (as it is currently only your version of the truth), so be a little careful (you want them to help you sort it out rather than creating further issues so I may be inclined to remove that last tweet you made). All your followers will see your tweet as will anyone searching on words such as @AmazonMarketPl (for that specific tweet) - LB has just followed you btw I completely understand how angry and frustrated you are but you need to get answers and attacking and accusing won't help.

Just spell out what has happened and that you need answers (in 140 characters or less )

[CleverClogs]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Also, my business partner is worried about defamation but I have reassured that I am unaware of anyone being sued for telling the truth?

It is certainly not unknown for people to be sued for having written inconvenient truths, but it would hardly be wise for Amazon to do that.

[Rhothgar]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Do you mean remove the one to AmazonMarketPl?

Also, please follow @rogerwiddowson and could I ask if you would be so kind as to review any tweets I have made in the past hour as I have gone tweet crazy. It's very cathartic - telling anyone who cares to listen about your problems.

I also responded to link from Amazon Help (not that they will take any notice)

"A post was made on my behalf by @LegalBeagles in my fight for justice.

Despite emailing Christopher North and Seller Performance, Amazon have not relented on reinstating our business account to its former unblemished status.

This will keep being retweeted and I have asked one of my followers to get on the ear of one of his followers who has 4.5 million followers.

Amazon has been given every reasonable opportunity to deal with us reasonably which they have failed to do.

Please escalate the tweet to the highest level in Amazon or at least to someone who cares so they can follow the progress of this.

I will be attempting to have a meeting with a UK MP this week who is campaigning against Amazon on the Boycott Amazon campaign by Ethical Consumer and bring this to his attention how Amazon is destroying legitimate tax paying UK businesses.

This will also be escalated to the National Press in the coming week to see if there is interest there. I am sure they would revel in this story."

I am beginning to feel really positive about this.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Just spell out what has happened and that you need answers (in 140 characters or less )

Or use Long Tweets - link

[Rhothgar]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Seriously? How can anyone be sued for writing something which is true?

Once you're down, you're down. If I am left with nothing, I still have integrity and the truth to tell. Somehow reminds me of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner'.

[Amethyst]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Looking into it a bit I don't think the 'contact us' wording on your item listing regarding returns can be viewed as a violation of policy as they have this in your seller details;

Returns and Refunds

Please refer to the Amazon.co.uk Return Policy. Please contact xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx to get information about any additional policies that may apply:

Contact this seller Phone: xxxx 1xx 7xx

To initiate a return, please visit Amazon’s Online Return Center to request a return authorization from the seller.

For questions about a charge that has been made to your credit card, please contact Amazon. For questions about how to place an order, search Amazon Help.

[Amethyst]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Also, please follow @rogerwiddowson and could I ask if you would be so kind as to review any tweets I have made in the past hour as I have gone tweet crazy. It's very cathartic - telling anyone who cares to listen about your problems.

Done. I see what you mean about your tweet craziness Remember your customers will be seeing your tweets too so bear that in mind.

This tweet - Amazon using underhand tactics to crush businesses. - possibly not a good idea....though you might feel that is the case it isn't proven.

Your priority is to get Amazon to review your account properly and either reopen your storefront or return your merchandise that's stuck in their fulfillment centres.

[Amethyst]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

23 Nov

@AmazonHelp Amazon have STILL failed to resolved an account login issue after 3 months. Serious business impact and they do not seem to care

What was that all about ? Separate issue to this one ?

[Rhothgar]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Don't ask about that one!

Our account was hacked in April of this year. An employee accidentally clicked on a link in an email and obviously gave our email and password details away.

We only realised when someone called us asking about some flash Nikon camera we had for sale, which we didn't have for sale.

We then realised our logo had been changed to a picture with an email address on stating contact us.

Amazon locked the account down whilst they investigated (even though we changed the password immediately to prevent further unauthorised access) but they never listened surprisingly.

This was a clever trick by the people who hijacked the account. Because they hadn't changed the password, we have no idea our account had been compromised!

When Amazon locked the account down, only I could access our seller account from my PC and no other PC or Mac in the office could access it using our regular email address. We had to create limited accounts using different email addresses for different authorised persons who needed the same rights but did not have.

We realised when we were overseas that we were unable to manage our business to the extent we would have liked. We had emailed Amazon from April to July and then again in October with still no resolution. Finally I lost all patience in November when we began trialling Linnworks which would have enabled us to control stock management and much more and we could not use the business email to gain access to Amazon's MWS Servers to upload feeds.

About the contact details. You're right. Our contact details would not trigger the breach. This is how ludicrous this whole situation is. We have a phone number and anyone could call us to enquire and we could direct them away from Amazon if we so chose but we would never do that as that would increase our financial risk if the person turned out to be using someone else's credit card. At least by going through Amazon, we are very well protected financially.

This is the text as initial post 1 which triggered the suspension:-

"Very good condition: Grade B This iPod is used but in very nice condition, the front is perfect but there is a slight ding on the back of the iPod. Nothing serious at all but it cannot go without mention. Comes unboxed with brand new genuine Apple USB cable and brand new genuine Apple earphones. If you are unhappy with the item upon receipt, please contact us to arrange a return for full refund in line with the Distance Selling Regulations. (For internal use only: 380502317077)"

[wales01man]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Don't have any answers to this but looks like the small business fighting one of if not the largest online seller in the world not an easy fight hope they can win through in the end.

[Amethyst]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

This may have something to do with it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I am thinking of buying an item from you but it is extremely urgent as I have left it to the last minute. Can you help?

A: If we have a particular item, you are interested in and it is fulfilled by ourselves and also by Amazon, we urge customers to contact us first before placing an order. More often than not, we can provide a far superior service to that which Amazon provide.

Q: It's Friday but I need my order for tomorrow. Can you guarantee it arrives in time?

A: Depending on the time you place you order is the crux of the matter here. If we have the stock and it is not fulfilled by Amazon, you should contact us first before ordering a time-critical item. We can only ship Special Next Day Delivery if you pay for Expedited shipping but this does not guarantee a Saturday delivery and that would cost extra. We dispatch items with services which allow for adequate compensation for insurance purposes. If the item you wish to order costs less than £50, then you can consider simply paying Standard Shipping and this will be shipped 1st Class Recorded. It will save you a lot of money on a Friday but will not be a guaranteed delivery. This is something only you as a customer can decide.

on http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aag/detai...#aag_legalInfo ( right hand side towards the bottom)

Is that FAQ something your business write or amazon ?

Obviously I'm not an amazon seller expert lol, and don't know the rules, but if that IS the issue then Amazon should at least tell you that.

[Rhothgar]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

This is not what they are pointing us to in their warning email received 02:18 06.12.2013

When we state fulfilled by ourselves and also by Amazon, we mean if we have two listings on a product detail page. One fulfilled (via Amazon) but Merchant Fulfilled (MFN - Merchant Fulfilled Network) directly by us and through Amazon's payment system.

We came up with that because, as you can see from our Feedback image pasted earlier, Amazon tend to let down our customers on dispatch time and late deliveries more often than we do. I cannot recall one time when we've been guilty of upsetting an Amazon customer with late delivery.

It is factual. We offer a far superior service than Amazon do either on promptness and after sales customer service. For example, if a customer receives an item which turns out to be faulty, Amazon Customer Services tell them that they have to return it and re-order the item. If the customer contacts us direct with the same problem, we can immediately arrange for a replacement with the rigmarole of the customer having to return, cancel and re-order the item.

We were worried that, especially at Xmas time, if a customer orders a time-critical item, we knew that in general Amazon were failing to get the item to the customer in time and then awarding us with a negative feedback through no direct fault attributable to us. It gives the customer information to make an informed decision on placing an order with us through Amazon. It is most definitely not an attempt to circumvent any policies. That's been on for years so it cannot be that.

The listing they cited was only on 13 days before they suspended the account.

Irrespective, if for some bizarre twist of fate, you were indeed correct. It would be nice to know and we could re-word it more appropriately.

[Amethyst]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

I completely understand why you have it posted in your FAQ, just trying to find something that might relate to the very vague reason that Amazon have given you for suspending the account as it really doesn't appear to relate to the text of the listing. Presumably FAQs and other seller information shows up with listings ?

Whether or not it is that, Amazon need to tell you, and communicate properly with you so that the issue can be sorted out without destroying your business.

Irrespective, if for some bizarre twist of fate, you were indeed correct. It would be nice to know and we could re-word it more appropriately.

Exactly

[Rhothgar]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

Here's an interesting video with remarkable comments below - not just me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCakYqxGpb8

[Rhothgar]

Re: Disgraceful treatment by Amazon - Account Suspended

I completely understand why you have it posted in your FAQ, just trying to find something that might relate to the very vague reason that Amazon have given you for suspending the account as it really doesn't appear to relate to the text of the listing. Presumably FAQs and other seller information shows up with listings ?

Whether or not it is that, Amazon need to tell you, and communicate properly with you so that the issue can be sorted out without destroying your business.

Exactly

Not really - the need to be searched for and they are not that easy to find in my estimation and I used it every day.

Here is the FAQ's of a competitor (who happens to be a really nice guy):-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aag/detai...AJLH76#aag_faq

He even goes so far as to mention his Ebay User ID but purely as an indicator that he is trustworthy and has good feedback.

We have over 12,000 feedback on Ebay but I wouldn't choose to blow my trumpet about that on Amazon.

No. The reason given is that text from the item listing on Post 1 and as re-pasted for you.

As I understand it, they have robots which crawl through all our listing comments and then paste it onto the web to increase visibility of our items for sale on search engines.

The funny thing about these notes is that normally we win the Blue Buy Box in the top right of our listings (when they were live) which most people click because they do not see the words 6 new from £14.99 below the Product Detail Page offering. It needs the user to click on the 6 new text for example to be taken to another page where they can review the other Amazon Merchant MarketPlace offerings. That is the only way people see comments. We have had many a complaint where another seller has changed the colour of an item or a photo on a Product Detail Page to what we are selling and they called up saying we've sent the wrong colour not realising the some other seller had changed a picture sometimes for something completely different. That was frustrating to say the least.