Suspended Account from years ago still haunting us

#1

Our account was suspended two days ago. Before you disregard my post as “just another idiot who broke the rules and wants to whine about it”, that’s really not the case here. I feel our situation is very different than most. And, admittedly, I kind of feel like how people look in the movies when they say “im not guilty” (“yeah, nobody in here is guilty!”)…but, i really do feel like this is a big misunderstanding. Hear me out.

We FIRST opened a Seller account on Amazon years ago (6ish?). The official LLC name of my company is the name of our website. We filled out the application honestly and set up our account…after some time our account became suspended for violating the T&C of Amazon:

Unauthorized and improper business names: The Business Name (identifying a seller’s business entity on Amazon.com) must be a name that: accurately identifies the seller; is not misleading; and the seller has the right to use (that is, the name cannot include the trademark of, or otherwise infringe on, any trademark or other intellectual property right of any person). Furthermore, a seller cannot use a business name that contains an email suffix such as .com, .net, .biz, and so on.

I completely admit that I did not read the entire Terms & Conditions before creating our account. But even after reading it…in our case, how can we NOT violate this term and condition: must be a name that: accurately identifies the seller without violating this term and condition: Furthermore, a seller cannot use a business name that contains an email suffix such as .com, .net, .biz, and so on.? It is an impossibility! I HAVE to violate at least one of these!

Be that as it may, we made our bed…we were going to sleep in it. We were early in our business and we needed to focus on the core of our business…so, we put selling on Amazon on the back burner for a while. Fast forward a couple of years and we decided that we were ready to sell on Amazon again. We started the sign up process again, only this time, we called in and received help from someone at Amazon. We were fully transparent in what happened to our account in the past and explained to him that we genuinely: A. didn’t know we were violating the T&C and B. had NO intention of diverting traffic or anything of the like. We simply set up our account, filling out the fields with exactly the information they asked for…no discontent at all. He ceded the point that we probably just got caught in some “automated system”, he completely understands how this could easily happen, honestly, in this situation and he continues to help us set up a new account to which there was no problem.

SIDENOTE - I dont think this has anything to do with our problem, but I want to get all of the details out there. At sometime between then and now, I bought my ex-business partner out of his share of the business and there was a change of ownership and management. Through a long and winding buy-out process with him, I had to abandon the 2nd account (it was NOT suspended) and start a new (3rd) Seller account from scratch. THAT is the account that was suspended two days ago. Again, I don’t think this has anything to do with this situation…but I wanted to make sure that was explained.

Fast forward to two days ago…we were suspended because we were “linked to a suspended account”. I thought we did everything right! We had amazon seller central help us set up an account…with full transparency and knowledge of our previous problem. Not only did we have HELP from Amazon setting up to sell again…we have been selling for YEARS. We are an honest business and we put a ton of time and effort into running and managing our amazon account…im not saying we are promotional material for amazon to use as model Sellers…but, we run a pretty tight, decent ship. We are in the process of appealing…but, from everything i read about suspended accounts…i’m not exactly optimistic. What am I to do? This old account just keeps haunting me…even after I think i’ve addressed it.

Does anybody have any helpful input here? Or am i stuck in a (basically) automated process where my fate has already been decided?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and thanks, in advance, for any time that you take processing this.

Edited by: Jerky on Feb 5, 2015 8:06 AM

Edited by: Jerky on Feb 5, 2015 8:07 AM

Edited by: Lauren@SellerSupport on Feb 5, 2015 9:08 AM

Edited to remove off-site URL

#2

seller support will give you false info all the time if you were suspended and didnt appeal your suspension you are done here and any other account will be closed

#3

you abandoned your amazon account lol ya im sure you will get another chance

#4

Tough crowd.

I didn’t read the forum rules. Don’t murder me for it. I understand the irony here. I’m a first time poster…i’m looking for support and help, please.

#5

You can not open new accounts once one has been suspended. They have ways of linking them. If you spoke to some seller support rep on the phone and did not get some kind of exemption from someone higher up on the food chain then you can not open another much less have 2 active accounts.

You created a huge mess here and I doubt you will be able to get amazon to forgive this.

#6

If you read your suspension email from a couple of years ago, you will see where it say, any future accounts will be closed.
A lifetime suspension, mean a lifetime.

Your mistake was not reading the participation agreement.
Once Amazon brought this to your attention, you pushed things to the back burner and ignored it till now. Another mistake was not writing a profession appeal and explain that you will find a user name that better fits Amazon’s venue.

The odds are greatly against you, but you might want to write a business appeal with a business plan and hope someone at Amazon will read it. You are two years late in writing your appeal, but maybe someone will see it as, better late than never.

Good Luck

#7

Who “helped” you? Seller Support or Seller Performance?
You need to be dealing with Seller Performance on this.

I don’t think that you have much of a chance, honestly, suspensions are usually forever.
No do-overs or second accounts.

But it’s always worth a try. Put together a good appeal, post it here, maybe a kind person or two will critique it for you, then send it in.
You have to email, not call: seller-performance@amazon

#8

Posting under the name “Jerky” when you know you where suspended for using this name as your user/business name, shows that you still don’t get it.
Even if Amazon shouldn’t have an issue with it, you know they did, why continue to use it on their site?

#9

+And by the way posting your website here is a violation of forum rules. You seem to keep tripping over yourself.+

What do you want to bet, he didn’t read the rules to posting on the boards?
He admits to not reading all the rules when he started selling here, yet still hasn’t learned from it.

#10

“Look jerky, I don’t need to talk to you.”

#11

And by the way posting your website here is a violation of forum rules. You seem to keep tripping over yourself.

#12

He sells beef jerky so its not the jerky they didn’t like it was the .com he used in store name.

Edited by: Crackhead on Feb 5, 2015 8:24 AM

#13

Its probably all the nitrates in his bloodstream

#14

If you haven’t already, might as well try to appeal it. Even though the chances are slim to none, it never hurts to ask. If appeal doesn’t work, you can always escalate to jeff@. Be sure to keep everything brief (they don’t want to read a diatribe), admit mistake, and throw yourself on their mercy. Wouldn’t hurt to point out seller metrics (number of satisfied customers, etc) and that you’ve learned the error of your ways. I wouldn’t get my hopes up, but might as well try.

Edited by: OutWest on Feb 5, 2015 8:39 AM

#15

You have broken the rules multiple times. So yes we are going to be tough on you.

All you can do is what Outwest suggested. And yes it is a long shot

#16

If you exhausted all your appeals then you are done here. Unless you email Jeff@amazon.com and his executive team sees a reason to fix this for you.

Why couldn’t you have called your store on amazon Jerky Store, Jerky Depot, Jerky Factory. The .com is the problem. Your store name doesn’t have to match your llc name.

#17

Thanks for the reply.

It was an honest mistake. Again, I can’t have my company name be both a name that is NOT misleading (not my company name) and NOT have a .com in it…both of which are violations of the T&C. How SHOULD I have set up my account?This is exactly why we called in when we were ready to sell on Amazon (after the account was suspended).

The delay wasn’t “sweeping it under the rug” at all. We just went through all of the appeals and felt that we exhausted everything at the time. At some time in the future, we revisited the idea and thought we should call and talk to someone about setting up a new account. It’s really just that. No more, no less.

I didn’t read the T&C of the forum and i tripped up again, yes. I’m sorry Amazon forum. I’d edit the original post, if I could.

Thanks again for any input.

#18

Most of our stuff is all-natural…no nitrates. :wink:

#19

Thanks for the reply, OutWest.

Now, in retrospect, I totally get it…but at the time, i read “Seller Name” as “Company Name” it never even occurred to me that I needed to make up a fictitious random seller name (like a BB handle) at all. It truly was an honest mistake…and after the suspension, i completely understood it.

For future account holders, they should make that field on the account creation form error out if a .com, .net, .org, etc is in it. Don’t even let someone accidentally (or purposely) create an account if it violates T&C. I’d hate for other people to be banned for life for an honest mistake.

Thanks again, OutWest.

#20

I lol’ed at this.

Son, now a days EVERYONE’s businesses are their website address.

Not only was the first account suspended and you opened a new account but a third???

Seems you not only didn’t read any rules, but you didn’t read your suspension letter as well.

> “just another idiot who broke the rules and wants to whine about it”

I will stick with it.