MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Amazon has banned my account

Gideon · 04-07-2009, 11:01 AM

I think a lot of these responses may be going overboard.

Almost any store (online or off) will do this after a certain amount of time/expense. And having spent some time in retail, I'm okay with that - there are people who abuse the system, it does cost a company to return an item, and a company is only going to lose so much money to a customer.

The problem is not the majority of the people these sorts of policies effect who really do have it coming, it's the people like our poster who get caught up in the system.
So to my mind, here are the real problems here:

Not allowing you to have a real discussion about it (and thus having human vetting of the policies, and not just letting a computer spit out the name), or warning.
No transparency regarding the actuality of this process.
The issues of gift cards and Kindle issues

Still, this is trickier than just "stupid Amazon!" If you ban someone and they deserve to be banned, then they got what they have coming. They did things wrong as it relates to the company and run that risk - and if they didn't consider that Amazon may invoke that EULA - that's their problem. You're dealing with a private business, and they can choose not to serve you if they feel you're taking advantage of them or costing them money. I've banned people from entire chains before - and they deserved it. But I, as an individual, made that decision - not a computer algorithm.

And yes - always use honey. If you become a jerk - you're not going to get anywhere in this. They already accept they will get nothing from you, so you have no leverage. If you mention a lawyer, they will shut up and not talk to you further - you will have to actually get a lawyer - and good luck with that working.

The trick is if they don't deserve to be banned.

So, as I said... go through official channels. Use your email receipts to figure out what happened if you can't get to your account screen. Try to get a hold of their execs, and if that doesn't work - then head straight to the Consumerist. Public humiliation is just about the only way to go forward on this if the above don't work. Though it wouldn't hurt to talk to your state attorney.

04-07-2009, 11:01 AM	#59
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	I think a lot of these responses may be going overboard. Almost any store (online or off) will do this after a certain amount of time/expense. And having spent some time in retail, I'm okay with that - there are people who abuse the system, it does cost a company to return an item, and a company is only going to lose so much money to a customer. The problem is not the majority of the people these sorts of policies effect who really do have it coming, it's the people like our poster who get caught up in the system. So to my mind, here are the real problems here: Not allowing you to have a real discussion about it (and thus having human vetting of the policies, and not just letting a computer spit out the name), or warning. No transparency regarding the actuality of this process. The issues of gift cards and Kindle issues Still, this is trickier than just "stupid Amazon!" If you ban someone and they deserve to be banned, then they got what they have coming. They did things wrong as it relates to the company and run that risk - and if they didn't consider that Amazon may invoke that EULA - that's their problem. You're dealing with a private business, and they can choose not to serve you if they feel you're taking advantage of them or costing them money. I've banned people from entire chains before - and they deserved it. But I, as an individual, made that decision - not a computer algorithm. And yes - always use honey. If you become a jerk - you're not going to get anywhere in this. They already accept they will get nothing from you, so you have no leverage. If you mention a lawyer, they will shut up and not talk to you further - you will have to actually get a lawyer - and good luck with that working. The trick is if they don't deserve to be banned. So, as I said... go through official channels. Use your email receipts to figure out what happened if you can't get to your account screen. Try to get a hold of their execs, and if that doesn't work - then head straight to the Consumerist. Public humiliation is just about the only way to go forward on this if the above don't work. Though it wouldn't hurt to talk to your state attorney.