(Dear mods, please move this to wherever it should be!)
SO, guys, my husband, who has ordered things on Amazon only a few times since he opened his account decades ago, has just been told his account has been closed because it was “linked with another account that is in violation of our policies” (sounds familiar!) What?? He is a BUYER, has never been a seller, and his account is in no way linked to any other besides mine (same address) – but my account is in good standing.
Well he wouldn’t care if they closed his rarely-used account – except that they’re using this closure to refuse to refund a defective product he returned, a return that they acknowledged they received (though even that took a ridiculous 2+ weeks post-Staples drop-off),
The defective item, price about $160, was part of an order of 9 tech items my husband had ordered for a non-profit he’s involved in, an order of $1200 or so. He would normally place such orders with B&H in NY, but one thing wasn’t available there so he chose Amazon. Guess what, not everything was available at Amazon, either, so the order arrived in dribs and drabs over a period of weeks.
So now he’s waiting to see if Amazon will deign to reinstate his account, solely so he can attempt to get the refund he is owed! If he gets it, he plans to close the account himself rather than deal with such crooks ever again.
Meanwhile, I called our credit card company to learn about time limits and other details required to file a chargeback. Before I hung up, I asked the agent if calls about Amazon order issues crop up often, and she said Yes, she’s dealt with quite a few just this week! What has happened to Amazon??
MarthHub says he thought the same thing (despite not being aware of Amazon’s notorious history of such things) and even mentioned it to the human rep he managed to speak to yesterday.
Yeah, the supposed link with some other account could be for a trumped-up reason like that. MarthHub himself has never left any reviews, not even real ones. But others with this situation – Amazon closing their accounts to get out of refunding legitimate returns – are showing up on Reddit, so it could be something brand new.
I did wonder if not having placed any orders for ages (since 2008, it turns out!) and then returning one out of nine items in a sudden reappearance, caused some algorithm to deem this return suspicious. Supposedly “the return processing failed”, no explanation. However the item returned was definitely defective so there was no fraud; why don’t they just check it?
I’m just glad we have the option of requesting a cc chargeback, which I’ll file next week if Amazon continues to play this game.
I have seen this a LOT on Reddit lately. People order something and the box arrives empty/damaged/incorrect, their account gets banned for filing a return with refund. Customers are opening the packages in front of the delivery person for a witness, this has been happening so much. It seems like filing for a return over a certain amount now can result in an account ban.
My son needed a new computer and after saving was going to order one from Amazon. After seeing what has been happening lately he instead went to a local store.
Could it be possible that his card had ever been used by an account the non-profit has? OR, could he have ever used one of theirs and THEY have a problem?
My other concern is that they now link his buyer account to YOUR seller account which probably won’t be hard to do and follows standard Amazon linking procedures (followed by suspensions of all related accounts.)
Yeah, I was getting the definute impression from Reddit folks and from the credit card rep that this was not a fluke. But what a way to conduct a business! My husband spends a lot of money on tech stuff and there is NO WAY he’ll ever even think of choosing Amazon ever again.
Unfortunately this nonprofit doesn’t have its own account on Amazon so he used his, but had the order shipped to his name at their address.
My happy news about your other concern is that I permanently closed my Amz seller account, along with its associated buyer account, a couple years ago, My current Amz buyer account, which I’ve had for decades, never had a seller account associated with it. I don’t shop on Amazon much any more, but after this, I hope to shop there Never Again.
It’s been some time but I worked a couple of Buyer Account suspensions in the past. One of those related to - purchase of Amazon Gift Cards from Kroger used to buy stuff with.
Amazon sent this in an email …
A copy of your statement for your Mastercard ending in 27, including the billing address
– Your name, phone number, and the email address registered to your Amazon account
You can find our fax number on the Amazon.ca Help page:
www.amazon.ca/help/addressverification
Some buyer in Phoenix purchased a $1200+ Apple I-phone on my AMZ buyer account in Jan, which we were able to retrieve(long story). Able to ship back to AMZ within three days thru a AMZ verified return at a nearby UPS store. The phone sat in the warehouse for 45 days while TPTB refused to refund our CC. Saying it was a “unusual return” which allowed some a-- in the warehouse to steal it and ship to Brazil!! Probably an inside job all along.
Then, they started to demand payment for the phone-stating I had bought it on a payment plan at $199 a month! We stopped payment on the charge, stating it was fraudulent! This went on for two months-it’s March by now–and then TPTB decide to close my SELLER ACCOUNT in APRIL-because our seller account was linked to a buyer account that was in “default”
In essence, blackmailing me to pay for a phone that we’d never purchased/used and TPTB admitted was in BRAZIL(they’d tracked it from the warehouse. The employee who stole it wasn’t the sharpest tool-and maybe they were— and I’m the fool!!)
So. was my seller account worth $1200? Paid $199 monthly payment-TPTB opened our seller account. I stopped payment again in May-we zigged and zagged. Never closed our seller account again- but received several threatening e-mails, In the midst, TPTB opened up a BRAZIL selling account for me( since phone landed in Brazil,presumably).
Just paid the damnable phone off this month! Hope those folks in BRAZIL enjoy their booty.
Recollect this expereince everytime I read about Jeff Bezos’ spending habits and his pulcritudinous wife whose taste is in her bosom–sorry, rubs me raw!
One reason we’re moving to new platforms. Yeah, may take another 15 years( our length of servitude w/ the Mother Ship) to match our AMZ sales-but by that time I’ll be nearly 90-years-old or dead!! Either way, won’t care!
What a horror story! Holding your seller account hostage like that! These are criminal acts and it’s disturbing to see them get away with it. Opening a Brazil selling account for you, that’s like rubbing salt in the wound they created. What a mess!
And to think I was reluctant to close my seller account for so long. Now I feel like I escaped from some kind of Kafkaesque prison!
The only reason I sell on Amazon is because that’s where the customers are. In 2025, our company sold ~600X gross revenue on Amazon over Walmart. I’m not sure of the ebay numbers off hand but they are somewhere near the Walmart sales.
Plus another thing: The way TPTB are dealing w/ INFORM ACT certification. We haven’t changed a thing since we began selling nearly 15 years ago-stability is our middle name! No edits, couple of clicks…
I think someone may have mentioned this on another thread but (typically) couldn’t locate!
Thirty minutes later, though “Regulatory Compliance” has cleared off metrics page, there’s still a big red “At RISK” on our account! Why worry sellers unnecessarily!
Many of us old-timers have gone through this 4, 5 times-including that horrible first year when took weeks waiting for the postcard! Do TPTB really believe we must be scared into compliance??
Even their follow up “Thank you” e-mail wasn’t gracious. Still trying to nudge us to check our metrics page in case of other issues w. seller account!!!
Do they assume they’re talking to fools here? Or do TPTB, since a majority of sellers are now Chinese, feel they must take an authoritarian tone? One letter fits all-in translation?
I’ve had a low level concern about this for years. I concluded a long time ago that Amazon probably would look favorably on returns if you bought lots of stuff.
So I have a bunch of things that I buy regularly - vitamins, packing tape, shampoo, etc - on subscription. They are usually a few pennies more or less than the price that I would pay elsewhere. And it is convenient to not have to continually re-order or go shopping for them. There is always enough tape to pack the books; there are always vitamins every day, etc.
I did this back in my pre-EV days when gas was a significant part of my budget. It was financially a good deal for me even if it did not cause Amazon to think well of me.
Back in December of last year - when the IRS still allowed big solar project deductions - I ordered thousands of dollars worth of solar panels and associated electronics. About half of it arrived damaged or in non-working condition. So I returned all of it - even the half that did work and was not damaged.
Amazon paid up without the slightest objection.
I can’t prove that my multiple purchases make me a favored customer who is not considered to be committing return fraud. But I suspect that it is so. I’m just one data point.
I can’t prove that my multiple purchases make me a favored customer who is not considered to be committing return fraud. But I suspect that it is so. I’m just one data point.
Just one data point but I think your hypothesis is very likely correct. Either that or it could be that those solar panels & accessories have been returned tons of times by multitudes of buyers for the same reasons, so they’re not going to fight about it.
Meanwhile, Amazon contacted my husband today, stating that his account has been reinstated so he can make his case for his refund. But they said the same thing a few days ago, and he already went through that process, so … ? Maybe they mean to just keep leading him around in circles till he gives up?