Amazon Account Under Review... "Defect Rate" is Insane

[eBay King]

So I recently got my selling account under review. Last one was about 10 months ago. Passed that time.

Done well over 250 sales since then, no problems, over 20% positive feedback and no claims.

Just over the past few weeks I got an A-Z claim opened in error by the buyer, then closed by them "claim withdrawn" or something like that. But that still added to the total of their precious "defect rate".

I get another clown who scammed a refund out of me with ⊗⊗⊗⊗ threats of malious lies and then leaves a negative feedback and then all of a sudden, I am over the 1% threshold of "defect rate".

The thing is, we all know that the defect rate is 1%, but they class:

1. Negative Feedback
2. Opened A-Z Claims
3. Chargeback Claims

ALL as under one thing, not 1% for each of the 3 metrics. So this can easily be gone over. Even if the buyer withdraws the A-Z claim, that still counts. That is retarded.

It is currently at 2.5% Short Term and 0.0 % Long Term.

So, we are looking at just 1 negative out of over 250 successful sales over 10 months of selling and that is all it takes for this sh*ty Amazon to send out the "Your funds are on hold whilst under review" bullsh*t email to be sent out to me.

Don't know if they will pass it or not, but I do know that I am not listing anything until I hear the outcome. So that means thousands out of pocket for me during this time. I will not send out thousands of pounds worth of stock for free (heard too many horror stories). All stop was applied last review and all stop worked. Took them 30 days to make their minds up though.

This place needs their "standards" relaxed slightly. It just harms business for them and the sellers. 1% for the combined 3 metrics is stupid and would not matter on eBay, and rightly so.

Notice how Amazon have this 1% metric for "defect rate", yet other metrics they have are more relaxed, like 5%.

I feel very annoyed and angry with them right now. A quality selling account should not go through this sort of crap for just the one bad buyer...??? I feel hatred heading towards Amazon...

There might be some other members on here who have been through this treatment?

[jeffweico]

You can survive negative feedback (unless they claim counterfeit goods) but Amazon does not like A-Z claims and they ABSOLUTELY HATE CHARGEBACKS.

My GUESS is the account will survive but be under more scrutiny. It seems like long term, you are OK and have had multiple problems recently all at once. Amazon will most likely be watching to make sure that does not continue.

If they suspend the account, you should appeal the suspension. I have pulled accounts back freom the dead that way. It does not work 100% of the time, but if you write a good letter outlining your plan for avoiding problems in the future and do not argue with them in any way, they CAN be forgiving.

[GreenBean]

Originally Posted by eBay King

So I recently got my selling account under review. Last one was about 10 months ago. Passed that time.

I feel very annoyed and angry with them right now. A quality selling account should not go through this sort of crap for just the one bad buyer...??? I feel hatred heading towards Amazon...

There might be some other members on here who have been through this treatment?

In that case go work your bad vibes off somewhere else. Calm down and regain your composure.

Dont deal with amazon whilst you are in this mind set.

The one thing amazon will not accept is seller aggro. I dont doubt, for one moment, that all this is unfair. Push the wrong buttons & amazon will push you.
UK amazon gave grief on an account with less feedback & tenure than yours.
Although it was proven to be a buyer error, they had the hide to say 'but you got an A-Z claim anyhow'. Rather inflexible bar stewards.

Read jeffweico's advice. Try your best to deal with them as he suggested.
Good Luck

[AmazonStealth]

Your account will not get shut down for negative feedback alone. I have seen sellers with 80%ish positive feedback and they have been on for years. Now if your negatives are coming because of f@ke goods, then that is a different story. Also if a a-z claim is withdrawn it does not count against you. I would also like to add that I have had a few charge backs in the past year and all were denied. If you can provide a tracking number you are covered.

[eBay King]

(Thanks everyone for the replys. I will address them professionally as usual)

AmazonStealth, A-Z Claims withdrawn by buyer do still count though. This is from Amazon's own website:

"Are buyer-withdrawn or not-granted claims counted as defects?

Yes - all claims are counted as defects. Because Amazon.co.uk values customer experience and expects merchants to accept responsibility for dispute resolution, we want to capture any problems that cause buyers to file claims. Over time, a merchant with enough orders will have some claims they feel were unjustly filed. However, these should be small compared to total order volume."

Now, this is very irrational and should not effect the defect rate if a buyer withdraws the claim of their own decision.

The less than 1% defect rate is totally too strict, as why should one or two buyers by allowed to effect a very solid account which has been doing business for a good stretch of time without issues.

[AmazonStealth]

Sell in high volume and you dont really have to worry about it I guess.

[eBay King]

WELL THERE YOU GO. Those sneaky tramps at Amazon have blocked me.


"This message is to inform you that we have blocked your Amazon.co.uk seller account. Your open listings have been cancelled and you are no longer able to sell on our site.

We have taken this action because it has come to our attention that you may be selling recopied media, contrary to our Participation Agreement found below"


The thing is this is bullsh*t and not true. I do not sell "recopied" media. I had a 0.0% long term defect rate, as mentioned earlier, and just one bad buyer who has ruined my account? Totally insane.

They have overlooked all my excellent sales for many months and just got rid of me with a copy and paste email.

So this is what it is like on Amazon with just one bad buyer. There are other members on here who said Amazon was garbage, and I now can confirm this is true.

[jeffweico]

I'm NOT making any judgments regarding your merchandise.

Amazon REALLY, REALLY, REALLY does not want to have the reputation of eBay when it comes to counterfeits. So, they are very quick to judge. Your merchandise may be 100% authentic, but the following will cause problems if you are selling DVD's...

* Selling only the titles available on DHgate. Amazon is aware of what is being sold there.

* Selling DVD's, especially box sets, below distributor prices. Remember, Amazon sells too, and they know what the wholesale price of this stuff is. So, when you offer box sets that normally go for $250 for $99.00, that is a HUGE RED FLAG to them.

* Customer complaints - legitimate or not - regarding the authenticity of your DVD's.

* A high rate of returns and exchanges for DVD's that do not work. The phakes produced in China have a much higher defect rate than the ones authorized by the studios.

* Selling Disney classic animation DVD's. Disneys are the most counterfeited DVD's on the planet, as they release them for a short time and then stop making them for 6+ years. A Disney release from 2008 that is a popular title, will be scarce and very expensive. So when you list 25 brand new copies of Cinderella for $13.99, they KNOW what you are up to.

That is just the way it is.

[eBay King]

Jeff, I appreciate the info about the DVD's being sold on there, but I have NEVER sold a DVD on there before, even on eBay. This is what makes this even more infuriating.

Also, my products were not the big and main titles an stuck mainly to older stuff which Amazon have not got their listings out there. I have not competed with Amazon for selling, just other small sellers.

We all used to have a "good time", competing with each other by reducing our prices frequently for months and months. It was a challenge, but still worthwhile.

This has totally come down to just the one buyer who has ruined me for no reason and I will not forget this. Amazon themselves are just as bad as this buyer for ending an account with no risk to them.

[jeffweico]

Sorry, when you said "recopied media" I assumed you were selling DVD's. But I know what you mean. I once got the same letter from Amazon on an account that only sold older books.

[ovidiu]

Look, bad messages of any kind in feedback usually equals intense scrutiny from Amazon and suspension if the message is about selling phakes or other stuff like that. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to protect yourself against this kind of buyer behavior, except to sell different things that aren't as big a target of scammers.

[eBay King]

Appreciate all the repsonses and advice.

I know they are strict, but anyone with half a brain cell at Amazon could see that I am a genuine good seller, with a good record of feedback and sales, yet they overlook all that and just go with the one bad buyer?

I am not one to complain much on here about selling, but this is just stupid of them. Fair enough, if I did something wrong it could be understood, but this account was the only one I had and was created a long time ago.

I think we have all become just accustomed to this sort of treatment on the online selling game these days. We just accept what we are given. Sad.

I will reassess things and work out if this can be avoided maybe later on down the road after a break from there by selling different things as Ovidiu said. Don't know how to fully go about getting another Amazon account with all the MAC tracking, etc... I have a friend who has bought the Amazon Ghost guide, upto date version, so I will study that and see.

[rsot]

Very solid advice from jeffweico.

/quote

I have a friend who has bought the Amazon Ghost guide, upto date version, so I will study that and see.

Interesting.

[eBay King]

rsot, "interesting" ? Is this a good plan to use for getting back on Amazon later on?

[troublez413]

Originally Posted by rsot

Very solid advice from jeffweico.

/quote

I have a friend who has bought the Amazon Ghost guide, upto date version, so I will study that and see.

Interesting.

how do you know there is an updated version?

[rsot]

I was saying "Interesting" because of the way the comment was stated =)

@eBay_King - yes the guide is very solid for getting on Am az on but I would say that forums are a good necessity to couple with the guide for constant discussion. AZ is constantly evolving.