Amazon Calling Suppliers

[RustyShackelford]

So members, and people around other forums have confirmed Amazon is calling suppliers....what happens in the case the 3rd party supplier doesnt want to give out private info. Or doesnt know youre selling on a ecommerce platform, is your account automatically suspended or the listing blocked.
It seems az is getting more extreme with every passing month.

[Canadianleaf]

Would also like to hear experience from others about invoices and Amazons behavior. What you are asking is a good question.

[inkidiot]

Originally Posted by RustyShackelford

So members, and people around other forums have confirmed Amazon is calling suppliers....what happens in the case the 3rd party supplier doesnt want to give out private info. Or doesnt know youre selling on a ecommerce platform, is your account automatically suspended or the listing blocked.
It seems az is getting more extreme with every passing month.

I bet amazon wants to do away with small time sellers like e b ay does

[Play]

Originally Posted by RustyShackelford

So members, and people around other forums have confirmed Amazon is calling suppliers....what happens in the case the 3rd party supplier doesnt want to give out private info. Or doesnt know youre selling on a ecommerce platform, is your account automatically suspended or the listing blocked.
It seems az is getting more extreme with every passing month.

Technically speaking, suppliers shouldn't give out any of your information to 3rd parties unless you consent to it.

Given data protection laws have become stricter than ever before as of recent, I would think companies will act more cautiously.

[RustyShackelford]

Originally Posted by Play

Technically speaking, suppliers shouldn't give out any of your information to 3rd parties unless you consent to it.

Given data protection laws have become stricter than ever before as of recent, I would think companies will act more cautiously.

Well that’s my point. Most decent suppliers will tell them to take a long walk off a short pier. Amazon isn’t a government authority. No supplier is obligated to give them any info. What my question is. How will amazon react if the supplier says sorry we don’t give out the info of our customers. Does that automatically get your listing or account closed. What if your supplier is a factory in China and they don’t answer the phone or speak English. Many scenarios.

[Play]

Originally Posted by RustyShackelford

Well that’s my point. Most decent suppliers will tell them to take a long walk off a short pier. Amazon isn’t a government authority. No supplier is obligated to give them any info. What my question is. How will amazon react if the supplier says sorry we don’t give out the info of our customers. Does that automatically get your listing or account closed. What if your supplier is a factory in China and they don’t answer the phone or speak English. Many scenarios.

If a supplier refuses to give up any information, they are abiding by the law. Amazon shouldn't in turn limit your account because your suppliers are law abiding citizens.

All I would say is Amazon will probably try their luck to see if they can get anything out of the supplier.

If this makes you feel this uncomfortable, perhaps reach out to your supplier. Depending on how good your relationship is, you can tell them should anyone call from Amazon, what to say or not to say.

[Canadianleaf]

Originally Posted by Play

If a supplier refuses to give up any information, they are abiding by the law. Amazon shouldn't in turn limit your account because your suppliers are law abiding citizens.

All I would say is Amazon will probably try their luck to see if they can get anything out of the supplier.

If this makes you feel this uncomfortable, perhaps reach out to your supplier. Depending on how good your relationship is, you can tell them should anyone call from Amazon, what to say or not to say.

Good idea on telling the supplier not to disclose information.

One caveat could be the stealth info being different than the info used to buy from supplier. So if the supplier states they won't disclose MY information, any Amazon inquiries it will for a different person(stealth account). Amazon calls: "Would like to confirm invoice 1234 for John Doe", suppliers response: "We have no such record".

Best case is if the supplier has a blanket "no information" sharing for inquiries. I will contact them and ask.

Its possible they have dedicated teams to do this very thing. If Amazon continues to grow then it would only make sense they take extra steps to attempt to verify some invoices.

Maybe after repetitive flagged listings do they really scrutinize the invoices

[Play]

Originally Posted by Canadianleaf

Good idea on telling the supplier not to disclose information.

One caveat could be the stealth info being different than the info used to buy from supplier. So if the supplier states they won't disclose MY information, any Amazon inquiries it will for a different person(stealth account). Amazon calls: "Would like to confirm invoice 1234 for John Doe", suppliers response: "We have no such record".

Best case is if the supplier has a blanket "no information" sharing for inquiries. I will contact them and ask.

That's what I meant, if you have a good relationship with your supplier, then just tell them to give a blanket answer to anyone calling from Amazon, i.e. "We don't share customer orders/information etc. for data protection reasons."

The only issue I foresee is if Amazon use underhanded tactics, such as calling in impersonating you, i.e. "Hi, its John Smith calling about order number...", that will cause issues. Now whether Amazon will push it that far is another question altogether.

[rockarockla]

Yes they call suppliers to check on invoices

[dallis]

Amazon shouldn't in turn limit your account because your suppliers are law abiding citizens.

ROFLMFAO!!!!

It's like you've never read the forums before...

When I was a distributor I wouldn't give out any info to a 3rd party making an inquiry. It's just bad policy. and opens you up to lawsuits if anything goes wrong.

[mrowcp]

Yea, they have a new team named - Product group approvals team.

Here is small part from the e-mail that I've received today:

This is Supporter from the Product group approvals team

Thank you for your understanding in selling brand BRANDNAME in Amazon.

Upon review we are unable to approve your request at this time. If, in the future you wish to request approval to list products of this brand once more, you may do so at any time by submitting a new application.

.....

So may be when they are unable to contact the supplier, they just sending you one of these

[glacier922]

Originally Posted by Play

Technically speaking, suppliers shouldn't give out any of your information to 3rd parties unless you consent to it.

Given data protection laws have become stricter than ever before as of recent, I would think companies will act more cautiously.

I don't think Amazon would care about privacy protection laws. They look at it and laugh their asses off. Kind of like Facebook.

[glacier922]

Originally Posted by rockarockla

Yes they call suppliers to check on invoices

whaaaaaaat? What happened in your case?

[Chuk]

I have a website and issued an invoice to a friend for his new stealth account about 2 weeks ago. I got a call from Amazon Catalog team the next morning asking to confirm the invoice.

Amazon will not ask personal questions. They will provide the order ID or Invoice number and ask ask questions like:

- The date on the invoice.
- what’s the address on the invoice (supplier address)
- They will ask you to confirm the items on the invoice and quantities quantities purchased.
- I was also asked if there was a logo on the invoice and where it was.

I answered the questions correctly and the invoice was accepted.

[dachilla]

Originally Posted by Chuk

I have a website and issued an invoice to a friend for his new stealth account about 2 weeks ago. I got a call from Amazon Catalog team the next morning asking to confirm the invoice.

Amazon will not ask personal questions. They will provide the order ID or Invoice number and ask ask questions like:

- The date on the invoice.
- what’s the address on the invoice (supplier address)
- They will ask you to confirm the items on the invoice and quantities quantities purchased.
- I was also asked if there was a logo on the invoice and where it was.

I answered the questions correctly and the invoice was accepted.

I must say, this is unbelievable! If I was the supplier (you), and if it wasn't for a friend, I'd tell them to piss off. Sure wouldn't let them snoop around my business or any of the invoices that were handed to the customer.

[Lucky100]

Make sure your supplier is willing to follow the monkeys demands.

Amazon used to use the same monkey to call my local suppliers main store with the same questions for every document I submitted. Eventually my supplier said he’s not dealing with it anymore and stopped answering. That account is now suspended for forged manipulated.

I was able to retrieve the money with the suppliers help but account is dead

[Canadianleaf]

Originally Posted by Chuk

I have a website and issued an invoice to a friend for his new stealth account about 2 weeks ago. I got a call from Amazon Catalog team the next morning asking to confirm the invoice.

Amazon will not ask personal questions. They will provide the order ID or Invoice number and ask ask questions like:

- The date on the invoice.
- what’s the address on the invoice (supplier address)
- They will ask you to confirm the items on the invoice and quantities quantities purchased.
- I was also asked if there was a logo on the invoice and where it was.

I answered the questions correctly and the invoice was accepted.

Do you have an actual Ecommerce website where you actually sell goods or is it a "phake" site where it just gives this impression so you can convince Amazon?

[Chuk]

Originally Posted by Canadianleaf

Do you have an actual Ecommerce website where you actually sell goods or is it a "phake" site where it just gives this impression so you can convince Amazon?

I have an Ecommerce site, but I actually tweaked the store up a bit for this purpose.

[SaiJin]

Oh? Tell us more about it.

[Leothebusinessman87]

Amazon is growing and growing so if Amazon continues to grow then it would only make sense they take extra steps to attempt to verify some invoices.