A tough lesson on partnering with the most powerful cyborg in the world.

Jeff Bezos can do whatever he wants. He has earned that much power. He deserves it. He built the most expansive and efficient system the world has ever seen.

But behind the shiny happy commercials is a soulless cyborg with no human compassion.

Amazon shut down our business last week. Without warning — A cryptic and vague automated email delivered the news.

Account deactivated.

Over the past several years, I put my heart, soul and thousands of hours into creating this business. It took all our money and a lot of failures — but we finally did it. Amazon customers love what we’re creating. We just took a 100k loan on our house to buy more inventory.

Our family was all in on this business. We provided the ideas, design, capital, products, labor — the creativity. Amazon provided ultimate customer trust and unmatched logistics and fulfillment. It seemed like a win-win relationship.

Your Amazon seller account has been deactivated in accordance with section 3 of Amazon’s Business Solutions Agreement. We found that your account is related to another account that may not be used to sell on the site. As a result, you may no longer sell on Amazon.com through this account. Due to the nature of our business, we do not provide details on our investigation methods.

What does that mean? I have no idea what that even means.

I’d heard many horror stories over the years. Amazon shutting down huge businesses with no warning and no explanation.

For sellers there’s no such thing as calling Amazon — or speaking to a human.

All communication is done through a black hole of a back-end portal. Here you can fill out a form to send correspondence that will go out to either a robot, or to somewhere far away— usually within a few days…or weeks…or maybe not.

Upon receipt, the robot — or drone will choose an auto-responder it feels is related, and the case will be closed.

File your appeal:

The form was short enough. But I couldn’t answer any of the three questions. I don’t know what I’m appealing. I don’t know what we’re being accused of.

Upload evidence and relevant documents.

Of what? I clicked submit.

You must upload evidence and relevant documents.

Day 3 — I still don’t know what we’re being accused of. I had to shut down all the listings on our website because Amazon holds most of our inventory in their warehouses— Not to mention the money in our account. And increasingly apparent, all the power.

I helplessly wait. My wife and I don’t sleep. No word from Amazon.

One day while I researched new ways to sell our products, a Seattle number calls my phone. I try not to sound overly eager when I answer.

It’s a real human.

He tells me that our account has been deactivated because it’s related to another account. I explain to him that I don’t understand and that I will do anything to help rectify the situation.

He tells me that he does not have access to any more information and cannot help me any further.

He instructs me to update the appeal.

Update the appeal with what?

I do my best to update the appeal. I speculate about what the issue might be. I apologize for whatever it is. I offer to provide anything at all they might need. I ask for more information about what this is regarding.

I send it off to the cyborg and wait…And worry — and speculate about what this could all be about — if this could really be the end of us and Amazon.

We put everything we had into creating this business. I quit my job. I was finally following my passion and talents. We were creating new things that people love and giving back to the world through the foundations that we support.

We’ve yet to make a dime of profit — Everything so far has gone right back into the business. But it didn’t matter, because we were making people happy and getting better at what we do. Amazon customers loved what we’re creating and wanted more.

No response for days…I continued to bash myself for relying too much on one platform, when my phone rings. It’s a Seattle number. I’m surprised to hear the same human on the line.

“The name of the account you are related to begins with the first three letters ‘W-i-l.’”

W-i-l???

“I don’t know any accounts, businesses, passwords, anything that start with those letters? Could someone have hacked my account? Do you have any other information to help us figure out what this is all about?”

“This is the only information I have. You will need to submit another appeal.”

He hangs up. I’m more confused than ever.

I submit another appeal.

I’ve racked my brain and can’t think of anything at all that begins with ‘W-i-l.’ But I’m willing to provide any information you need. Is there anything other information regarding this account that can help me file a better appeal?

I send it off into cyberspace…I wait…Nothing…

…Days…Nothing…

Lack of sleep combined with anxiety and uncertainty send me spiraling. At one point, the pain and unresponsiveness bring me to break down — A grown ass man crying, alone in our garage. Helpless in a relationship with a cyborg.

What if I communicate with it like a human?

I log into the portal and write from my heart.

Dear Amazon,

I’m wondering if I could talk to you today?

I literally feel sick over this whole situation.

I’ve put my heart and soul into creating this business. We’ve invested thousands of hours, and all of our family’s money. All of our efforts the past few years have gone into making each Amazon customer happy, and reinvesting into making new products that people love.

I do everything from my heart with a moral compass of doing what I love and trying my best to make people happy. We’ve yet to make a profit, but it feels so good to use our talents and effort to do something positive. Our business is supporting global reforestation and has helped plant 1,272 trees so far. Our other business is committed to the Vanderpump Dog Foundation for canine abuse.

The stress that this uncertainty has put on our family is unexplainable. Not knowing why our account was suspended is the worst part.

I understand that Amazon is a business and has their own agendas and guidelines. I want to operate according to these guidelines, and believe that we will be a valuable asset to Amazon.

Is there anything we can do to find out more about our situation? I’ve racked my brain and can’t think of any stores or accounts we might be related to that starts with ‘Wil.’

Any personal communication and advise you might be able to offer would mean everything to me.

Thank you Dave

I send it into oblivion…I wait…

Nothing…

…I continue to wait…nothing…feeling inexplicably ashamed, inadequate, unaccepted — unworthy of love from a cyborg.