Contacting the provided email has not worked for others who received the same form letter. They receive a few further form letters before their emails are no longer answered. This guy posted his emails to Amazon along with the pat responses he received from them:
Introduction
A lot of people think that Amazon.com has great return policy. I thought so too. In fact, I've seen advice on some discussion boards that people should buy expensive products--like high-end computer monitors or digital cameras--from Amazon.com so that they can easily return them if they don't like them. How misleading! I was a loyal Amazon.com customer for 5+ years, had an Amazon Prime account and an Amazon Visa card, and have recommended Amazon.com to all my friends.
Well, this all changed a month ago. Amazon closed my account in a very rude way without any warning. In my efforts to resolve this issue I discovered that Amazon.com has built an impenetrable fortress around their account management personnel. There is no way to contact them! None of the emails I received were signed by a person, there were no phone numbers I could dial, and my account was closed in such way that even customer service people could not tell me what is going on.
I have never had such bad customer experience! Amazon.com obviously no longer cares about their customers simply because they have many. The issue turned out to be related to returns and refunds but I still don't understand what their account closing policy is. Yes, I have returned a number of items that had problems or did not perform as well as expected. The most expensive one was a Nikon D80 digital camera that had dead pixels on the sensor. I suspect there are people that abuse the return/refund system, but I don't do that. All my purchases were made in good faith that I'll keep the product and all my returns were for a concrete reason.
The rest of this page documents my email exchange with Amazon.com.
First email from Amazon.com: August 27, 2008
Hello from Amazon.com.
A careful review of your account indicates you've experienced an
extraordinary number of incidents with your orders and corresponding
shipments.
In the normal course of business, the occasional problem is
inevitable. The rate at which such problems have occurred on your
account is extraordinary, however, and cannot continue. Effective
immediately, your Amazon.com account is closed and you are no longer
able to shop in our store. I am very sorry for any disappointment
this may cause.
Please know that any accounts related to yours have also been closed.
If you were to open a new account, the same will result and it will
also be closed. In the event that you attempt to do so, we will not
accept the return of any additional orders, nor will we issue further
refunds in connection with any future orders. We appreciate your
cooperation in refraining from using our web site.
If you require additional assistance, or have any concerns, feel free
to contact us directly at
account-appeals@amazon.com.
Please do not contact regular Customer Service again, as they will no
longer be able to assist you.
Regards,
Account Specialist
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com
==========================
Reply to Amazon.com: August 28, 2008
You've got to be kidding me!
I never expected such a bad customer relations experience from Amazon!
To me Amazon has always been a site that I respected and preferred for
online purchases. What exactly is meant by "incidents" in your email? Is
it returns? Customer support calls? I have returned some items in the
past that I didn't like -- and this is the normal practice in the US --
but have never abused the system.
I don't believe returns can be a valid explanation as I have ordered
almost nothing in the past 3 months and, correspondingly, had not done
any returns that could have triggered your action towards closing my
account.
Hence, I disagree with your unilateral decision and demand that my
account is restored. What's more, I believe I have a certain amount of
Amazon gift certificate dollars already applied to my account. Closing
my account will make me lose them, which is just plain unfair.
Once again, I believe this message was sent in error. Please restore my
account.
Regards,
-- Georgi
Second email from Amazon.com: August 30, 2008
Thank you for sharing your thoughts regarding the cancellation of your
Amazon.com customer account.
The closure of your account had to do with the frequency and amounts
of refunds being issued on your account for a variety of reasons.
I understand your viewpoint, and I regret that you are so disappointed
by our company's decision. I wish things could have worked out
differently.
Thank you again for taking the time to share your comments with us.
Please know that we respect your opinions and value your feedback.
Best regards,
Account Specialist
Amazon.com Customer Service
==============================
Check your order and more:
http://www.amazon.com/your-account
Calling customer support: September 1 -- September 14, 2008
I tried emailing Amazon.com another two or three times but received no reply. Then I started calling customer support. Interestingly, customer support was not able to access my account and hence could not tell me what was really going on or how to handle the situation. They promised me two times that within a couple of days somebody will get in touch with me but nobody ever called.
The third time I called I insisted to talk to a manager and after some time I got to talk to one. He also couldn't access my account but promised that he will personally see that the issue is forwarded to an account specialist. A few days later I got the next email.
Third email from Amazon.com: September 19, 2008
Hello again from Amazon.com.
We closely examined your account, your history, and your related
accounts to ensure that any decision regarding your account was made
in accordance with our policies.
We remain unable to serve you as a customer. I'm sorry, but we will
not reopen your closed Amazon.com accounts. This decision is final.
I am happy to answer any order related questions regarding your closed
accounts. Keep in mind our decision regarding this matter will not
change.
Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or
concerns, and thank you for contacting us.
Best regards,
Account Specialist
Amazon.com Customer Service
==============================
Check your order and more:
http://www.amazon.com/your-account
My response to Amazon.com: September 19, 2008
OK, a few concrete questions:
- You mention that the decision was made in accordance with your
policies. Where are those policies? Your return policy does not define
maximum number of returns or anything like that. You seem to trick
your customers into believing that you have great flexible return
policy, which turns out not to be true.
- I had some gift certificate balance in my account. How do I get that refunded?
- Also, I was subscribed for Amazon Prime membership. I'd like to have
the unused portion of that membership reimbursed as well.
Thanks.
-- Georgi
Final email from Amazon.com: September 25, 2008
Hello again from Amazon.com.
We closely examined your account, your history, and your related
accounts to ensure that any decision regarding your account was made
in accordance with our policies.
We remain unable to serve you as a customer. I'm sorry, but we will
not reopen your closed Amazon.com accounts. This decision is final.
There will be no further compensation.
Our decision regarding this matter will not change.
Thank you for contacting us.
Regards,
Account Specialist
Executive Customer Relations
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com
==========================
Yes, there are others...
A friend pointed me to a site that lists complaints from people that were blacklisted by Amazon.com in a similar way:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/compl...om-c93533.html
Well, that's all. I hope someone finds this information useful.
September 29, 2008.
http://www.beloev.net/amazon.html