ok, Connor may be right here. Bots are not intelligent, thus can not be called AI.
Also, As Amazon found out with their “just walk out” tech in their stores, it is cheaper to pay people in 3rd world countries to push buttons then it is to properly code AI to track and charge accounts
Well … that is 50% right and 50% wrong. If you split the A & the I, bots are artificial TRUE … bots are intelligent FALSE.
Deserves a Hammer Meets the Nail if we do say so ourselves.
I don’t disagree that your’s is a post worthy of a “Nail, meet hammer” reply - but when Amabot meets AI, I think that our well-missed friend @SawleMill’s 070121 Camtasia-created .gif from the OSFE is probably the best response:
Some of you here like Seamod. I have always found her super snarky and dismissive. This is a good example (filter this thread by Amz replies; it ain’t the only passive aggressive one):
And I thought it was just me!
I used to say that I didn’t really care for her “style,” but she has so many supporters that I just stopped voicing my opinion. The rebutals usually quote the good she has done - which I don’t deny - but it’s how she comes across while doing them.
There was a recent case on the NSFE where she helped someone fix something (I forget what) and she made it a point to come back and say that it was the direct result of her intervention.
Maybe it was, and I’m sure it was appreciated, but that’s not a good look (to me).
Something like, “I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time, with the right tools, to be able to help you” might have worn better.
(Should I run for cover now? )
Nope, she def has her moments, and if she does not know you yep she could be dismissive.
I still think she’s a good asset to the community, but in any case, I hope no one stops voicing their opinion just because it might not be in agreement with the majority!
Right (and thank you for the encouragement!), but sometimes it’s just not worth a battle. People got very defensive on her behalf.
I have not a combative bone in my body, so I will generally just walk away from a “fight,” unless it’s something I have a real passion about…like the treatment of animals.
Don’t test me on that!! 
Glenn_Amazon - who, if he IS the Original “GlennS@SellerSupport” from the Age of Jive, remains the sole member of any of the ASF moderator/subject matter expert cotillions cohorts that I’ve personally seen to publicly admit that ‘Ghost’/‘Zombie’/‘Phantom’ Offer-Listings actually exist, with his 041916 post on that subject* - made an 081524 reply here that leads me closer to thinking that the current user of that FMT/CMT Account (link, NSFE Profile) just might actually be ‘Original Glenn’ (‘bolded’ emphasis, second ¶, mine):
As a long-time member of the IETF, Patching, Cyber Security, and MSP Communities alike, I’m constrained to understand just how and why legacy computing environments present challenges as Progress Marches ON - and to my way of thinking, it would appear that whoever made that post isn’t exactly in the dark on how things work, now…
I only recorded the Jive Platform URL for that post - i.e., https: //sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/click.jspa?searchID=10615846&messageID=3583707#3583707 because after the shift to the Discourse Platform in Q1 2018, it would still redirect right up until the time the NSFE was fully implemented for all - and I have little incentive to conduct such a deep dive into details.
There’s a possibility that if I put my thinking cap on, squarely, I might be able to ferret out whether or not that post is still publicly-available; I’ve not bothered doing that because I didn’t believe GlennS’ explanation, quoted below, re: “Multiple Exchanges” being the culprit - like our friend @Lake, I understand exactly WHY the original decisions underpinning the deployment of Relational Databases to The `Net will ALWAYS be subject to Race Condition Errors…
Still, I archived that post:
Day is done, gone the sun, from the earth from the moon and the sky… I now agree with an Amazonian other than Susan ( @SEAmod ) for the first time ever.
Amazon should be replaced in full.
In defense of legacy systems. The back end systems at most major banks are more secure and more reliable than the more modern front end systems in use in banking.
I am sure that many bankers live in fear that the lack of compatible hardware will force the replacement of their legacy systems.
In my experience, the design was more appropriately reviewed for legacy systems, before any code was written, the code better tested, and fewer false assumptions were made about security risks, so that access was controlled.
As for ghost/zombie listings, there were statements from Amazon development when questioned at Amazon seller gatherings, which acknowledged the problem and suggested it would never be remedied. Some of which was repeated by members of the ASF team.
As an aside, Ebay sellers have been reporting increased incidents of ghost listings. Not surprising since the ghost listing issue is inherent to false assumptions for all large websties which require scalable, distributed databases.
As for replacing the Amazon system in full, I will go on record for predicting that the replacement will be less reliable than the current system. And that assumes that some of the current duplication of functions which were created by evolution will be eliminated.
I agree with you @lake being in systems and networking many years before we founded the company we are now.
However
The issues of late likely have more to do with corporate hygiene and staff than they do with systems.
I was in a mood last night, tired of dealing with the changes they are making, especially to the new mandatory automated shipping requirement. It does just not fit our company.
It has been a while since I posted on one of the ASFs my theory that Amazon has a model for its 3P sellers, their companies and their management which drives Amazon policies, systems functions, fees and trust and safety.
There is constant pressure on sellers to adhere to that undocumented model.
Since sharing information is incompatible with Amazon corporate culture, it is likely that any successful Amazon seller will encounter requirements and procedures which do not fit their company.
Given the nature of Internet marketplaces, most are operating with similar models and there are few alternatives, if any, when you discover that your company is not a fit.
I have found the beauty of buying on the internet to be the sellers who do not fit, but admit to doing most of my buying from those who do fit.
But since my buying is extremely pragmatic, it is from box in/box out sellers who are large enough to have robust logistics - company owned or contracted.
Agreed. A case in point - among more than a mere few examples of Susan still sporting her “Forum Angel” hat in recent weeks and months - is this 092724 NSFE discussion she created in an effort to effect change on the Seller Community’s behalf:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/636aedb2-f403-4954-920f-5771d3ee88ff
There has already proven to be positive results for some of the folks who’ve posted complaints to that ‘compilation’ thread - which has apparently, in turn, prompted some of the seasoned and savvy forum vets who brave the NSFE to direct others to it whenever they can (kudos to those who do so, more than a few of whom are either members of the SAS Forum, or regular observers of it).
The ‘money quote’ in that discussion, for my money, is Susan’s’ 100227 reply to another of the long-time vets, here (‘bolded’ emphasis mine)*:
I take the point expressed by our friends @UserID & @Diane upthread - as Pep pointed out in Post #167, Susan H. has been known to be curtly-dismissive over the years - but I, for one, still admire her gumption in going to bat for our Seller Community…no matter what the consequences might prove to be for her own position**.
As most of us who’ve been Sailing The River for more than a few years already know, TrippleJ’s last sentence in that quoted post of Susan’s, in regard to non-Verified Purchase Product Reviews, has been insidiously-exploited by the Bad Actors seeking to harm their competitors.
Yet another ever-widening chink in Amazon’s armor…
I’m by both nature and inclination a forgiving person - but it’s unlikely that I’ll ever forgive Amazon for allowing SWSNBN/SWMNBN’s shenanigans to not only effect a public apology to her over in the European Forums, but also to have apparently not only have knocked SeaMod from the Global Forum “Leader” position, but also to have apparently resulted in the hiring of the “Screeching Harpy” (‘Dogtamerese’ for Katie Scott) in order to effect the abomination we now know as the NSFE…
My thoughts…
right about the data she needs to collect to demonstrate the issue, and I hope she gets it in (meaningful but not overwhelming) droves.
) abuse against Sellers simply acting in good faith in accordance with Amazon’s policies and procedures, she is a force to be reckoned with.Now, none of us are perfect–“We’ve all got both light and dark inside us.” ~Sirius Black, OOTP–but much respect to Susan for choosing to shine her light on an issue affecting others unjustly.
@Dogtamer agree completely with ** although it might actually have been Susan’s choice, given the complete nutsiness (apologies to @anon72228237!) of that particular user and their associates/sock puppet accounts.
This sounds like a subject that deserves its own thread.
I am fairly confident that the “apology” was merely legal being legal and taking the cheapest way out, and that there is nothing that a single person can do to change Amazon in any way shape or forum (yes I said it). The NSFE had nothing to to with any legal cases, it was simply a cause and effect of bringing the forum software “in house” and allowing greater control.
As for Susan’s power, she was participating less and less well before NSFE was announced. There were a few other “Leaders” before the NSFE.
Food for thought, If the NSFE was all due to one legal case, then why did said “apology” vaporize with the NSFE? I believe the terms (that were leaked) were to be posted for 1 year, NSFE reduced that to mere months.
As far as Seamod, she is and always has been the biggest fighter for sellers when it was painfully obvious the seller was wronged. Who knows how many times she stepped in to situations in the OSFE because most if it could have been handled via PM.
To be fair, the apology posted by @News_Amazon over in the European forums has not evaporated:
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/f5eb22fbd677a3312e1c27c489e2a02f
The original text of the OSFE post from Q4 of 2022 (found @ the redirected [‘broken’ for Discourse display] URL here - https: //sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/forums/t/message-regarding-kika-hajdukova/550161) remains unchanged since I first archived it 110522.
There’s more than a singular reason for that to be the case, but I’m not @ liberty to reveal more of my cards than I already have since my very first post to the SAS.
They may have done away with PM/DM but there is a workaround IF the MODS even remotely like/tolerate you.
I recently asked Seamod to open a case for me so I could contact her off the Forum. A ‘buyer’ had flat out lied about a situation and stated that items could not be sold due to safety issues. In addition they claimed to have contacted the company lawyers and were told as much.
Amazon naturally refused to remove the post despite furnishing information from the manufacturer that the statements were NOT true as well as linking the company website showing they sell the items identical to the ASIN.
It took about a week but the feedback was removed. She kept on top of it and let me know what was happening as far as the escalation.
At some point she needs a statue someplace at Amazon HQ as far as I am concerned!
Or maybe a Medal of Honor for bravery in combating Amazon stupidity!
