Robbed By Amazon for giving someone a refund

jsphr

Basicly ive been selling brand new products on amazon marketplace for around 6 months now, with 100% positive feedback, and no problems at all until 1 person thought one of the items I was selling was fake, I assured him it wasnt and offered to provide a receipt from my wholesaler (who is a authorized dealer), And happily offered the buyer a refund if he was unhappy with the product.

The buyer left me negitive feedback, accusing my products of being fake I requested amazon to remove this as it wasnt based on any fact, and that I could provide a receipt to prove the item was genuine.

And recived this reply:

Thank you for sending us your message. This feedback meets our criteria for removal, and we have removed it from the website.

Thank you for taking the time to bring this issue to our attention.

The next day, I received a email from amazon saying my account was being reviewed and I couldnt withdraw any funds for 30 days, they explained that I'd not done anything wrong, and it was standard practise to review accounts after 6 months

The day after this, the product the customer returned arrived back to me so I put the refund through, the second I put the refund through I got this message:

We are writing to you to inform you that we have blocked your amazon.co.uk seller account. Your open listings have been cancelled and you may no longer sell on our site.

We took this action because it has again been alleged that item(s) you have listed may be counterfeit and therefore in violation of our Participation Agreement which prohibits the sale of items that infringe another party's copyright, patent, trademark, design right, database right, or other intellectual property or other proprietary right. (see section 4.8 of the Participation Agreement for further details).

So basicly, amazon thought I was in the right as they removed the feedback, Then suspended my account beacause I gave someone a refund

Also the email dont make any sense with the 'again it has been alleged' as this is the first problem ive ever had with anyone on amazon, in 6 months of selling.


anyways thats the story, heres the questions I have regarding this

Firstly I requested a transfer of funds to my bank account 2 days before any of this happned, which has not arrived, can they legaly stop this (I recived a confirmation email that the withdrawl had been initiated) as it was before any problems with the account?

Secondly there are funds from remaining sales in the account that they claim they can hold onto for 90 days after the day my account was closed, I have emailed them over and over and only get the same copy and pasted email reply:

This message is to inform you that we have blocked Amazon.co.uk seller account due to the number of A-to-z Guarantee claims you have received. Your open listings have been cancelled and you are no longer able to sell on our site.

If you still have items to dispatch, please take appropriate steps to resolve your pending sales. Your seller account will remain accessible and you are encouraged to refund or dispatch pending orders.

Any funds that were in your account at the time of closure are on temporary hold pending the resolution of your sales. Funds are generally held for 90 days and will be released minus any unresolved chargebacks or A-to-z claims filed against your account.

While we appreciate your interest, please understand that the closure of an account is a permanent action. Any subsequent accounts that are opened will be closed as well. Thank you for your understanding of our decision.

Warmest regards

Had the same reply 6 times now, regardless of what I say, phoned them and was told they cant discuss seller accounts on the phone and that they would email me shortly and got the responce again

Is there anything at all I can do about this, if so how could I go about doing it? cheers

Baz_2

So how many a - z guarantee claims do you have?

soolin

The feedback and the claim that item is a fake are two different issues.

The feedback may well fall foul of the Amazon rules, so be subject to removal but that doesn't mean to say that Amazon agree item is not a fake, it just means that they don't approve of the feedback.

We always hear of how awful and brutal ebay and paypal are, yet in reality Amazon are much much stricter and may take some convincing that your items are genuine.

jsphr

So how many a - z guarantee claims do you have?

had the one ive mentioned, no others in 6 months

As far as amazon taking convincing goes, I have offered to provide proof that the item was genuine, however there not intertested and keep sending me the same copy and pasted email as mentioned above.

poppy_f1

what about calling them and offer to fax or email proof

jsphr

Phoned them, They cant discuss seller accounts on the phone apprently, cant belive they can actully get away with blatantly robbing me like this

pinkshoes

Your only hope is a recorded delivery letter stating all the facts and proof, and ask them to release the funds.

If it was in the initial T&Cs that you agreed to, there's not much you can do.