MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - I'm scared, frustrated, don't know who to go to anymore

overfloater · 02-21-2012, 10:58 AM

I want to believe that everything's above-board here, and that you're just the victim of a misunderstanding. But, IMO, we're not quite getting the whole story.

Also, it's clear you're not just a "regular" Amazon customer. Let me explain that by comparison...

I'd consider myself to fall pretty much into the "standard customer" category.

I've been an Amazon customer for well over 10 years.
My primary interaction with Amazon has been to make regular purchases from them of physical items shipped to my home address.
I have used only a small number of different credit cards during that time
I have changed home address only a few times and login email address just once.
I have never had another Amazon.com account. (Nor have I tried to open another one.)
I have never had any "non-standard" flags on my account -- student, teacher, parent, etc.
I have never sold items via Amazon.
I have only ever returned 2 items in 10 years. Both physical items: once because I accidentally ordered 2 copies (my bad, I paid for the return shipping); once because an electronics item had a provably incorrect product description and it was incompatible on arrival.
The only potentially "odd" activity is having had 3 or 4 orders shipped to my name at one particular foreign address (family back in the UK), but that address has remained unchanged on my Amazon account for 10 years.

With that general usage and purchasing pattern, I'd say there's very little opportunity for Amazon to flag my account for unusual activity.

Now compare your usage pattern:

- You've sold thousands of dollars'-worth of merchandise via Amazon. While not "unusual", exactly, it does still put you in a very small minority of Amazon customers, percentage-wise.

- You're an Amazon Student member. Again, relative minority.

- You've utilized their "trade-in" program before. (Trading-in what?) Yet again, this probably puts you in a minority.

- You had just returned a product prior to the ban for "arriving in a different condition than described". (You say you "never returned a large amount of items" -- but that's subjective and still doesn't really tell us whether you've returned items on a regular basis, or if (like me) this is an incredibly unusual, one-off occurrence for you. Bear in mind I've returned 2 items in 10+ years. The fact that a 2-3 year customer just happens to have been banned after returning an item, having obviously returned others in the past, is a red flag to me.)

- Moreover you express concern about whether you'd be able to return items from your current orders that just shipped if they turned out to be defective. Given the minimal failure rate on most products, I can't say that problems with returns on outstanding orders would ever have crossed my mind in comparison to the aggravation of fighting to get my account reopened -- but apparently it's at the forefront of yours.

----> The whole "buyer/seller/student/trade-in/returns" scenario here could -- if one were a complete cynic (not saying whether I fall into that category...) -- smell of someone trying to work the system. Especially in light of your account(s) situation:

- You have multiple current accounts. ("Other active accounts", per your original post.)

- You've had at least one Amazon account in the past, which you closed voluntarily March 2011.

- It appears you've had several additional Amazon accounts in the past, also closed voluntarily: "I have went ahead and checked through all my past accounts, and every single one was closed on my OWN request." (This directly contradicts what you said later: "I had only closed 1 account prior to this one being closed, but that was in March of 2011." You go on to restate this several times. Something's not adding up here. We're not getting the full story on all your past and present accounts.)

- You tried to open a new account after receiving this recent ban -- contrary to their email instructions -- only to have that new account immediately re-banned.

----> Overall, it sounds like you've had a ton of Amazon accounts. While that may not be in direct violation of their TOS, it does open up a whole mess of potential confusion for sorting this out. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if it flags you for scrutiny in Amazon's system -- it certainly sets off alarm bells here.

Sorry if you really are 100% innocent and are simply getting screwed by the system. But understand that your story, as you've relayed it in pieces here, simply doesn't add up. And the pieces that do fit together trigger a bunch of "Whoah, definitely not your run-of-the-mill Amazon customer" alarms in my head.

02-21-2012, 10:58 AM	#111
overfloater Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 50298 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Kindle 3	I want to believe that everything's above-board here, and that you're just the victim of a misunderstanding. But, IMO, we're not quite getting the whole story. Also, it's clear you're not just a "regular" Amazon customer. Let me explain that by comparison... I'd consider myself to fall pretty much into the "standard customer" category. I've been an Amazon customer for well over 10 years. My primary interaction with Amazon has been to make regular purchases from them of physical items shipped to my home address. I have used only a small number of different credit cards during that time I have changed home address only a few times and login email address just once. I have never had another Amazon.com account. (Nor have I tried to open another one.) I have never had any "non-standard" flags on my account -- student, teacher, parent, etc. I have never sold items via Amazon. I have only ever returned 2 items in 10 years. Both physical items: once because I accidentally ordered 2 copies (my bad, I paid for the return shipping); once because an electronics item had a provably incorrect product description and it was incompatible on arrival. The only potentially "odd" activity is having had 3 or 4 orders shipped to my name at one particular foreign address (family back in the UK), but that address has remained unchanged on my Amazon account for 10 years. With that general usage and purchasing pattern, I'd say there's very little opportunity for Amazon to flag my account for unusual activity. Now compare your usage pattern: - You've sold thousands of dollars'-worth of merchandise via Amazon. While not "unusual", exactly, it does still put you in a very small minority of Amazon customers, percentage-wise. - You're an Amazon Student member. Again, relative minority. - You've utilized their "trade-in" program before. (Trading-in what?) Yet again, this probably puts you in a minority. - You had just returned a product prior to the ban for "arriving in a different condition than described". (You say you "never returned a large amount of items" -- but that's subjective and still doesn't really tell us whether you've returned items on a regular basis, or if (like me) this is an incredibly unusual, one-off occurrence for you. Bear in mind I've returned 2 items in 10+ years. The fact that a 2-3 year customer just happens to have been banned after returning an item, having obviously returned others in the past, is a red flag to me.) - Moreover you express concern about whether you'd be able to return items from your current orders that just shipped if they turned out to be defective. Given the minimal failure rate on most products, I can't say that problems with returns on outstanding orders would ever have crossed my mind in comparison to the aggravation of fighting to get my account reopened -- but apparently it's at the forefront of yours. ----> The whole "buyer/seller/student/trade-in/returns" scenario here could -- if one were a complete cynic (not saying whether I fall into that category...) -- smell of someone trying to work the system. Especially in light of your account(s) situation: - You have multiple current accounts. ("Other active accounts", per your original post.) - You've had at least one Amazon account in the past, which you closed voluntarily March 2011. - It appears you've had several additional Amazon accounts in the past, also closed voluntarily: "I have went ahead and checked through all my past accounts, and every single one was closed on my OWN request." (This directly contradicts what you said later: "I had only closed 1 account prior to this one being closed, but that was in March of 2011." You go on to restate this several times. Something's not adding up here. We're not getting the full story on all your past and present accounts.) - You tried to open a new account after receiving this recent ban -- contrary to their email instructions -- only to have that new account immediately re-banned. ----> Overall, it sounds like you've had a ton of Amazon accounts. While that may not be in direct violation of their TOS, it does open up a whole mess of potential confusion for sorting this out. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if it flags you for scrutiny in Amazon's system -- it certainly sets off alarm bells here. Sorry if you really are 100% innocent and are simply getting screwed by the system. But understand that your story, as you've relayed it in pieces here, simply doesn't add up. And the pieces that do fit together trigger a bunch of "Whoah, definitely not your run-of-the-mill Amazon customer" alarms in my head.