I have been selling books here for over 2 decades, and have maintained a 100% rating for many years. (With 4900 sales, I have only 3 negative feedback ratings, ALL of which were buyer error.) I only carry a stock of about 1000 titles at a time, so while I am certainly not one of Amazon’s biggest sellers, I am one of the BEST.

On March 27, I was informed that I had “committed a Communication guidelines policy.” The SPECIFICS of the violation were not noted in any way. This was the second time this had happened in just over a month, despite the fact that I had done NOTHING differently than I have been doing for over 22 years.

The first time, I submitted an appeal copying the form letter that I personalize to every buyer, and showing how it does NOT violate any policy. The response I got was the SAME “We have found that your account has violated our Communication guidelines policy” notification that I had originally received. Since both notices stated “This decision was reached through a combination of automated analysis and expert human review,” I could only conclude that my letter needed editing (which I did,) and “acknowledge my error.”

Things were fine for the next couple of dozen sales, when I got hit with a SECOND violation.

This time, I submitted over 120 pieces of evidence as to why the notification was in error, and AGAIN got the canned response – in less than 30 minutes… which meant to me that no human had reviewed what I sent. Pointing out this fact, I sent it again. Once again, I got the robot response.

Since that time, I have amended my appeal THIRTY NINE TIMES, repeating a version of the following note:

“I still have not been informed of what SPECIFIC policy I violated (or IN WHAT MANNER.) I cannot acknowledge my understanding of this issue (nor change my behavior to address the issue) until this is clarified.

“I have violated no policy. I have sent the same email to over 4000 customers over the course of 22 years. The problem is with your algorithm/ AI, which has accused me of this violation TWICE in the past month or so, though there was NO problem for over two DECADES. That same AI system seems to be what “reviews” my appeals, but does nothing to help solve the problem. All I get is the same exact “robot” response, with no answers to questions or clarification to assist me. This is completely unfair.

“I WANT to resolve this, but it makes no sense for me to blindly "acknowledge my violation" and promise to "take corrective measures" if I am not made aware of what the actual issue IS. How would I know what to change?

“I have offered arguments for, and over 120 points of evidence of, compliance with all rules I am aware of, yet have no explanation of why that evidence has been ignored or overruled. All I am asking is that I be informed of the details that are NECESSARY to fix the problem.

“PLEASE let me know, so that I can adjust my actions as a seller accordingly, and put this behind us. I will look forward to getting the needed answers.

“Should I get a reply of the same robotic message that I have now received 39 times, I will continue to repeat this plea until such time as I get an adequate response to my very simple questions. Have a human being review my full appeal.”

EVERY TIME, I simply get a repeat of the initial “notice of violation,” which means NO HUMAN HAS EVER LAID EYES ON MY APPEAL.

Now, I COULD just keep repeating myself for 180 days until the violation drops off my record, but my GOAL is to prevent this from happening again in the future. I have read a few of these forums and have noticed that an Amazon moderator sometimes takes notice. (Now, I’ve also seen that the moderator’s advice is often absolutely useless, so I won’t be holding my breath for a proper resolution, but here I MAY be able to at least get human eyes on the issue.)

Any solid advice (from ANYONE) will be highly appreciated!