Pending Payment Scam Orders
Hi,
For the past two days, we have been receiving hundreds of orders per day, mostly for the same ASIN, and they all remain in pending payment status. It feels like someone is trying to deplete our stock and keep it locked up for three weeks. (Yes, Amazon waits 21 days for a payment to clear, which is insane.)
We contacted customer support, but they have been useless, as expected.
Has anyone experienced something like this before, and if so, how were you able to resolve it?
This is for FBA, not FBM.
Seller_CW0P5hgbsiqWX
Yes, this is a tactic that competitors use to get rid of the competition. Since Amazon by default subtracts the pending purchase from your inventory, it can very well stop your sales.
Of course you can not see who the buyer really is, but Amazon can. That makes this a winnable problem when submitted for an investigation. Amazon's Buyer Abuse Prevention Team may ever be able to help.
You can control this. The buyer can see how many you have available for sale; this is how they know how many to place in pending. Try changing the available amount to 2-3. This will show the buyer you are not much of a worry.
Topher_Amazon
@Seller_nsTqZobQWJSCX SellC gives some pertinent info in the reply above, but if you open a support case for investigation please share that case number here for me to take a look and escalate if needed.
Topher
Seller_nsTqZobQWJSCX
I appreciate that you are writing here, but what does "I will escalate" even mean?
That's what I've been hearing from everyone for the past week. Is this the standard Amazon handbook sentence to calm sellers down while actually doing nothing?
You could simply list some facts about what has been done already or outline the next steps, but it's always just that sentence and nothing ever happens.
This is not a complicated problem to solve, is it? Canceling those orders should take less than 10 minutes.
Seller_nsTqZobQWJSCX
Today we received this response to the case.
As expected a total joke
Thank you for your report of a suspected policy violation. We cannot take action on the report based on the information you provided as no violation has been identified on the reported ASINs or order IDs.
Topher_Amazon
Hi @Seller_nsTqZobQWJSCX, I've passed this along to internal partners asking for another review of the case. Please keep an eye out for new correspondence and I'll update if I hear before you.
Topher
Seller_nsTqZobQWJSCX
We sent in new stock and the problem just goes on.
They purchase but never pay.
We just give up, we have to accept the fact that Chinese scammers rule amazon now.
Also please look into case:
ID 15344921761
Amazon lost many of out units and we provided all documents they asked for but now they don't reply since 3 weeks.
Topher_Amazon
I've also escalated this and the associated case (ending in 581) asking for review and reply, sharing that you are the manufacturer.
Topher_Amazon
Hi @Seller_nsTqZobQWJSCX, Denisha has created new case 15508513451 and corresponded there within the last half hour if you have yet to see it.
Topher
Seller_NaffGpwcLYP2C
File a report here:https://sellercentral.amazon.com/abuse-submission/form/inventory-hold
Seller_Z3SAB32tx2ORv
same here, we had about $6,000 worth of pending orders about 1000 items. (we sell low value items) It seems to be coming from outside of Amazon as a drop ship setup. it actually helped the traffic for us. Eventually it was canceled out of the system. it definitely has the depletion tactic, but is seems that something else is going internally, as if each order seems to have a multiplicity propagation error that is being exploited. the items that were pending are very slow movers and extremely unusual items! very strange!
Seller_MXmsewA6LgFl9
It happened to me a few years ago probably from competitors.
It is always good to restrict items sold per order and when it starts happening is good to restrict the ASIN to 1 unit only for each order maybe it could help.
Seller_csxJFXnDdYYg3
Seller_qS4hi6SmsLLix
I've been there. Almost a month to have the order cancelled. How can a buyer have the order pending for payments anyway? As a buyer on Amazon I always get my cards charged normally. When I had an expired card I got a notification right away. No store takes that long to wait for payment. This is insane. I would say 24h to 48h maximum or your order is cancelled. What about instant approval/rejection of payment method like any other store?
