Amazon holding over £20,000 of funds due to a problem with a £70 sale

M_em

I have had a problem with Amazon holding funds.  It was caused when a buyer bought something for £69.99.  The buyer didn't return the item and so they weren't refunded but they opened an A to Z case.  The problem with that order has ow been resolved, they returned the item.  I moved all my inventory to Fulfilled by Amazon because the courier wasn't guaranteeing daily collections due to coronavirus so the seller fulfilled orders was below 100 however this has made the seller performance over 1%.  The FBA orders are still active but they have put a hold on the account so the funds are still being held until 60 days after the AtoZ case was open on 21st November.  I have appealed it but they aren't getting back to me.  I even went to their London offices and they said the only way I can do it is calling the help line.  When I call the help line they say they will be getting back to me by the end of the day or the next day but they don't.

Does anyone have any advice because I need to pay suppliers but Amazon aren't releasing the funds,

jonesMUFCforever

Are you a time lord?

M_em

jonesMUFCforever said:

Are you a time lord?

Unfortunately no

Thrugelmir

Like Ebay, like Paypal their customer support won't care.  Infuriating that companies like this get away with such practices. Their rules or nothing. 

oldbikebloke

Thrugelmir said:

Like Ebay, like Paypal their customer support won't care.  Infuriating that companies like this get away with such practices. Their rules or nothing. 

well as a buyer I am grateful to them because the idea of firing off money to some ebay/amazon seller without any buyer protection is unthinkable given the chance that someone will sting .

Grumpy_chap

What is the time-scale that the £20k revenue accrued over?
Any business of reasonable status should be able to structure to operate with payment terms and 60-days is not unreasonable in my opinion.
What are your payment terms with your suppliers?

M_em

The amount has been since the first week of September.  Most of my supplier's terms are usually up to 30 days but some service suppliers and the smaller suppliers require instant payment.  The amount they are holding is now passed £22,000 and the only response I am getting from Amazon is that they need to hold all the money in the account to cover the £69.99 dispute when the buyer didn't return the item which was resolved around 2 weeks ago. 

 Grumpy_chap said:

What is the time-scale that the £20k revenue accrued over?
Any business of reasonable status should be able to structure to operate with payment terms and 60-days is not unreasonable in my opinion.
What are your payment terms with your suppliers?

M_em

They still haven't released the funds and it is now reaching £30,000.  Seller support have promised several times I will get a call within 48 hours from the relivent department but they don't call me. 

44lisa44

We had this amazon issue this year as we had a problem with one of our products and our are sales increased significantly at the beginning of lockdown. Amazon put our account on review and with held all our money. We eventually got the money after 6 weeks!!!

jonesMUFCforever

44lisa44 said:

We had this amazon issue this year as we had a problem with one of our products and our are sales increased significantly at the beginning of lockdown. Amazon put our account on review and with held all our money. We eventually got the money after 6 weeks!!!

The poster you mentioned has not been on the forum for nearly a month so don't expect any replies.