I was just coming here to ask for help on an Inauthentic claim. I am not suspended or deactivated… just being asked to provide invoices/proof of authenticity.
Book was a used library copy. Buyer opened a return (no issues there - we have auto approved returns and RFS refunds). Buyer also (apparently) answered the VOC email stating he ordered a hardcover, but received a library book which was a hardcover. He used the words “didn’t receive original” in the VOC complaint… which I presume is what triggered the autobot Inauthentic violation.
I have since reached out to the customer, who is very kind and apologetic in the fact I have this issue as he states he didn’t think it was a fake or counterfeit, but his complaint was more about the condition received. Anyway… I have appealed the violation, but Amazon keeps sending the wash-and-repeat emails asking for invoices…for a used library book we are contracted to sell for this particular client. I even asked how to help the buyer retract the complaint that triggered this wrong/false violation. Nothing.
Any advice? Do I just click that i acknowledge the violation / shame on me / won’t do it again / blah blah? I hate to accept responsibility on this as we are quite confident (as is the buyer) this is not an inauthentic claim at all, but obviously do not have the “evidence” amazon wants to prove that. This seems to have been auto-generated and they will not tell me how to tell the buyer to retract it. So frustrating.
Hi @DBB! I moved this into its own topic so that @oneida_books and anyone else can offer insight without clogging up @tmehki’s topic. Thank you for trusting the SellersAskSellers community for help and advice! Also tagging @Booksellers.
There are not receipts or invoices. It was purchased by a public library (not inauthentic, obviously) and we sell it on consignment. I don’t purchase from them. I am contracted by them. Anyway… Yes, it seems to be a robot that grabbed the word “original” from his VOC complaint and ran with it. Such a mess.
I seriously seriously dislike this new option. (My mother told me not to use the word Hate except for true evil, this seems to come close.) This feels like an additional method for things to become truly effed up. How many times can one use this option before Amazon says “okay, too many you’re done?” Or how may black hats will be allowed to use it continually to keep selling? I’ve seen several different issues reported on the NSFE that this option is a choice, not just the counterfeits reported.
It’s just plain wrong to make sellers use this bogus option instead of having a real person look at appeals.
Agreed. I strongly suspect that we are not alone in thinking so, and that that’s probably why the seasoned & savvy forum veteran @dmitrirex’s “Why Does Amazon Want All It’s Sellers To Be Liars?” (link, NSFE) discussion has garnered in excess of 3200 ‘views’ over its fortnight-long lifespan…
For anyone who knows: What will happen if the OP simply does nothing, except perhaps delete the item entirely from their inventory? Will the violation just drop off after 180 days? I’ve never gotten an inauthentic violation, but have gotten a couple of other types, and usually we just delete the book and move on.
From what I’ve seen reported by other members of our Seller Community over the last 5 years - i.e., since the 2019 ‘full’ rollout of the AHT (‘Amazonese’/‘Amazonish’ for “Account Health Team”) Initiative - mileage seemingly varies widely on this score of unaddressed violations, apparently due to Amazon-internal weighting of the severity of said violations.
Well - Lo and Behold, I believe I got a human to review my appeals. I received another email stating the following: “After further review of your account, we have decided that you may continue to offer the below items on Amazon.com. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. No action is required from you at this time.”
The violation has been removed as well! Crazy town. I truly had no hope they would do that. I did not ever acknowledge the violation, just replied with the correct information (that they were wrongly marking this customer complaint as an inauthentic complaint when that was not the case in the slightest). No idea how/why this happened, but yay for today I guess.
Right?! But it was just from Amazon [email protected], so it won’t help me in the future. And the only thing I ever did (albeit multiple times) was use the Appeal / Submit new info buttons in the violation representation screen. I just got super lucky imo. I have done this before and it went nowhere. I will take the W today though.
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