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The last eight months of my life trying to communicate with Amazon…
My Amazon Seller account has been deactivated due to an ASIN that currently violates title II of the clean air act, which was enacted March, 2020. I am not disputing the fact that this product is now currently a restricted product. I received a seller deactivation letter in September 2023, which references the ASIN B07N1XDS8M, yet I deleted the ASIN from my catalog 4 years earlier in February 2019 and confirmed this with a seller support case (Case ID: 15009037701). Within the case Amazon Support states “To answer your question, our system shows ASIN B07N1XDS8M under SKU 479041-TR was created on January 2019 and deleted on February 2019.”
This listing was deleted from my account in February 2019 at a time when Title II of the Clean Air Act was not enacted. This enactment didn't happen until March 2020, a full year after it was deleted. Furthermore, I deleted the ASIN from our catalog because I no longer wanted to sell the product and have continued to have no intention of doing so after this time. Yet, in September 2023, 4 years after deletion, along with my desire to not have anything to do with the ASIN I was deactivated for “posting” ASIN. I should not be held liable for a listing that was deleted, 4 years prior, during a time when it was legal to sell on Amazon, and never associating myself with that ASIN again. I should not have my account taken down after 4 years of no association.
On the EPA website they offer the documents referencing the addition of defeat devices to the Clean Air Act Dated March 2020 (just search for: epafactsheetreaftermarketddsandtampering.pdf). This document should be the evidence, along with the case, for full reinstatement to my account.
I believe based on the above facts our account should be reinstated and needs someone at Amazon that has deep understanding of restricted products timelines to actually understand that just because I “posted” this ASIN it should not solely deactivate my account.
Yes, the information above should be enough to reinstate my account, but I have more.
After my account was deactivated I continued to receive restricted product violations for ASINs that I had deleted long ago. So I started additional cases and received more information about those ASINs. But, Amazon understood that since I deleted the ASIN “in violation” BEFORE the violation was received then the violation was IMMEDIATELY removed.
- Violation Case ID: 14869919491
- ASIN: B007RQYSLM
- Violation Date: Feb 29, 2024
- Creation Date: March 14, 2018
- Deleted Date: Jan 19, 2024
- Removal Reason: Deleted before violation
- Violation Reason: “This product may interfere with the proper operation of a vehicle’s emissions control systems which violates Title II of the Clean Air Act. Amazon policy prohibits the sale of products that violate the Clean Air Act, including products intended to defeat, bypass or shut down emission control devices.”
- Violation Case ID: 15055623941
- ASIN: B00GY6XV2S
- Violation Date: Apr 3, 2024
- Creation Date: Feb 25, 2023
- Deleted Date: Feb 07, 2024
- Removal Reason: Deleted before violation
- Violation Reason: “This product may interfere with the proper operation of a vehicle’s emissions control systems which violates Title II of the Clean Air Act. Amazon policy prohibits the sale of products that violate the Clean Air Act, including products intended to defeat, bypass or shut down emission control devices.”
Since violations are immediately removed from the account health page after I pointed out, within a case, the ASIN deleted dates in reference to when the violation was received, WHY is the ASIN that deactivated my account in the exact same manner not handled in the same way? Why is my account not reinstated immediately just like the other two exact scenarios? Why can Amazon not look at the facts beyond a posting of an ASIN and understand what the seller did on the ASIN to make a judgment call that is as important as my account activation?
But wait… there's more! Since my account has been deactivated and I was receiving violations for ASINs that were deleted. I decided to manually delete (because I am deactivated and no file upload is available) my entire catalog of SKUs. This should narrow down how I am getting violations right? NOPE! I started getting random ASINs appearing in my managed inventory after my account was completely empty!
So let's get this straight. I am receiving violations for ASINs that I deleted, I am getting violations removed because I can prove those dates the ASINs were deleted, by starting a case of course. However, ASINs are now just appearing in my account! So I start a case (Case ID: 15009037701) to ask about these random listings appearing, Amazon tells me "Please delete the SKU, I will confirm that our system correctly removes the information. Once the SKUs have been deleted, please reply to this case." and "Thank you for the additional details provided. In the review that I performed, I found the SKUs were deleted in 2020. The SKUs were re-added the same day that got deleted. There were updates to the SKUs, the last ones happened in 2023. Considering you provided a screenshot without any listings, I will contact an internal team to review your account. I will contact you as soon as I have an update." I should also point out that these random listings had a posting date of the date they APPEARED randomly in my account, so current date! As if I just went to my account and posted them in 2024.
So now as a seller, I need to manage my account for current listings, old listings, and new old listings. WHAT? Oh and I am still deactivated… I should probably end this rant with “well you posted it so you’re a bad seller.”
23 replies
Seller_A0u3HmOdAljUS
More ranting because at this point why not…
I know others have been in this situation but when it first happens to you, you freak out. You think oh this is wrong someone at Amazon will help me “they want sellers like me.” Since I was deactivated, I knew this was due to an issue on the platform. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the information to be able to convey what it was outside of the fact that the item referenced in the deactivation letter was NOT in my account at the time that I got the deactivation letter. Speaking on the phone with Amazon Customer Service Reps, they all said something along the lines of “I see exactly what you’re saying here. This is really odd, I’ve never seen this before.” then they would submit for escalation and say something along the lines of “I’ll submit this for you! I will also call you as soon as we hear a response!”. Then 30 days later they have ghosted you and you finally call after being super patient and they say “oh yeah that was denied 20 days ago” and you can never get back to that person outside of the game of chance.
Seller_LVZcgxAgZ2xBv
Can you share the link to the thread? Thanks!
Seller_4K7eqIN4GuF2E
Why are you seeking help in the forum? No one here (and especially not the mods) can help you.
File for arbitration.
Seller_K62KfAcSw9f8N
[Moderator Edit: removed personal solicitations]
Seller_LyYw7fQRKc5G7
I recommend filing for Arbitration.
Information for this is in section 18 of the sellers terms of service.
Nikki_Amazon
Greetings @Seller_A0u3HmOdAljUS,
Nikki here to help you with restricted products violation.
Firstly, I apologize for the delay in responding and understand your frustration regarding your communication with Amazon. Our moderation team is committed to addressing all inquiries as soon as possible.
My Amazon Seller account has been deactivated due to an ASIN that currently violates title II of the clean air act, which was enacted March, 2020. I am not disputing the fact that this product is now currently a restricted product. I received a seller deactivation letter in September 2023, which references the ASIN B07N1XDS8M, yet I deleted the ASIN from my catalog 4 years earlier in February 2019 and confirmed this with a seller support case (Case ID: 15009037701). Within the case Amazon Support states “To answer your question, our system shows ASIN B07N1XDS8M under SKU 479041-TR was created on January 2019 and deleted on February 2019.”
This listing was deleted from my account in February 2019 at a time when Title II of the Clean Air Act was not enacted. This enactment didn't happen until March 2020, a full year after it was deleted.
I reached out to Seller Support to seek information on how to assist you with reactivating your account. They have advised that you create a new case with Seller Support to address the concerns related to the ASINs in question.
Once you have created a case, please reply to this post with the case ID if you would like our assistance in following up on it.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
The forums community and I are committed to assisting you.
Wish you all the best,
Nikki
Seller_A0u3HmOdAljUS
So...More unpredictableness today; I received a random and unprompted call from Amazon today referencing a performance notification I just received regarding disbursement of funds?
When I asked more about what this was regarding (I have not requested a disbursement, so this was out of left field), they acted like I was inconveniencing them about the purpose of the call. Then when asking about our account status and what this even means (again, I did not request this). They acted like asking them questions was not acceptable.
I have no idea what prompted this call or the funds disbursement, but here we are today!
Seller_A0u3HmOdAljUS
Okay, I know that I might just sound like the Abe Simpson headline: "Old Man Yells At Cloud", but...
I just received a new case started by Amazon "Detail Page Change Request for ASIN". However, I don't even have this product listed? I don't have any products in my account at this time (since February). What is even happening? This is such a random series of events today...
It's frustrating when things are happening out of your control when your entire livelihood depends on it. Like someone is just yelling "Do you concur??" over and over at me.
Seller_A0u3HmOdAljUS
@Nikki_Amazon
Thank you for the response. Also thank you for contacting the responsible team.
I would like to provide clarity in hopes you could relay this to the proper team:
Changes before deletion in 2019 - I would have updated our inventory sku’s title, description, quantity and price.
Changes after deletion in 2019 - No changes would have been made after deletion. It would have been deleted completely from our catalog, inventory, and feed in full. I have no documentation to provide other than the case ID to prove this deletion date. What documentation could I provide to prove that I did not update the ASIN? I do have a case (15009037701) that states the deletion date in 2019.
After deletion I would have wanted nothing to do with the ASIN and moved on without it in our inventory/catalog. This is what I need help in relaying to the proper team to reinstate our account.
Your continued help and support here could possibly reinstate our account and would be greatly appreciated!
Seller_A0u3HmOdAljUS
Well guess let's continue this therapy session for myself because why not. Today I received a phone call from Amazon.
“Do you know why you were deactivated?” Is basically in no more words how it starts. Then of course goes into a short explanation about “why” I am deactivated. I think wow I finally have someone on the phone, maybe they will finally understand all that I have been through and actually try to fix this.
The employee repeats what I have heard for months (almost a full year) that I evasively listed an ASIN and that because of Title II Clean Air Act the only way to reinstate my account is to prove the ASIN is not in violation. I think- well great here this is all over again. I state “well I am not in dispute of the ASIN being in violation of the Clean Air Act. I simply deleted this ASIN in 2019, before the item was in violation, which I have proof of here with case ID 15009037701. Could you review this case and see where it states I deleted the ASIN from my inventory in February 2019?”
The Amazonian reviews the case to which they state “well I can only see what Amazon wrote…” then “well I see where they give deleted dates.” Here I am! Here is my chance for someone to understand! YES! FINALLY!
“Well you could have done a redrive which is a text file updating something else on the listing after you deleted it which then reinstated the listing…” I think to myself; NO! NO! NO! Why is this even a thing and why is this the continued response? So when I go, “I am aware of this and I am not aware of any reason this could have happened and let's keep in mind the account deactivation is for September 2023 and I deleted this all the way back in February 2019. I am not aware of any file uploaded after deletion. Why would I even care to post this product?!?” (as kindly as I can muster) I then get the response “well I can’t see the redrive information that's from another team and I will need to reach out to them and that will take days.”
I continue to stay calm (difficult) but I also want the person to understand what I’ve been trying to get some Amazonian, with some power, to comprehend for months. “Well I have this in a case, here is the Case ID.” The Amazonian then responds with something like “Well there could be others and it looks like there are others…” So I reply with “Yes, those were also deleted here is the case number 15178040661.”
This continues on to basically me getting “This will take 1-2 days and I have to request information I can’t see and the reason for the deactivation could be because of some other ASIN you haven’t seen.”
So let me get this straight. Because I had to prove the ASINs that “I am aware of” were legitimately deleted in 2019. SOMEHOW not only could I have “done a redrive file after” but I could also “have other ASINs that have caused my issue” that I haven’t even been informed of?
WHAAT?!? Plus no one person has or can see ALL of the information necessary. So now you at Amazon rely on another team/person to provide you what you “request” and you solely go off that. No questions asked. Not like “Well this seller has been selling on Amazon for 15 years, listed hundreds of thousands of ASINs, deleted hundreds of thousands of ASINs, sold millions of dollars of product, we’ve held his funds for nearly a year, he fulfilled every order even after deactivation, proved he deleted ASINs we originally questioned about 4 years before deactivation…” NOPE!
“COULD BE SOMETHING ELSE!” Maybe this is meant to be. Maybe this is for the best. Because the system is not meant to be helpful.
So I guess I will get a random phone call. Telling me my fate. Oh yea and if someone at Amazon wants to, remember, they record the phone call! Yes, someone has the ability to go back and review what I just went through! But, if I was to guess, that would be another team and take a couple days.
Seller_A0u3HmOdAljUS
So I got a call back today. I’ll just keep posting on this. Looks like nearly no one reads this anymore so this is just for me and hopefully some superhero mod can read all of this and go, gosh this is terrible.
If you read my last post you will remember that the Amazonian “Jennifer” claimed that she just needed “them” to give her the redrive file (flat file) with when I updated the ASINs in question. Because, you know, surely this seller, me, updated these after deletion (I didn’t).
Note about this call - It sounds like Jennifer is walking around outside. It’s windy as all get out. So think of the wind just blowing the entire time you read this.
Call starts with Jennifer actually acknowledging that I deleted the listings and the timeframes were correct based on case id 15009037701. Then she goes into that “they” were not able to find that flat file… INTERESTING?!? So this all confirms we were not evasive on the ASINs and lets get that account reinstated?? NOPE! The response is “they” said even though these ASINs, that were your original issues are all good “they said you had more in your account at the time of deactivation.”
WHAAT?!? So what started as one ASIN, led to three, and now it's just “more?” (I STAY CALM) I ask okay well I was able to prove those three so do you have these other ASINs that “they” claim we had? SURPRISE! “No ‘they’ didn’t provide this. ‘They’ don’t provide much information in these circumstances. But- All you need to do is get a file from seller support then you will have to determine which ones you think were the issues.” - Which is wild and nearly impossible to guess because it could actually be anything “they” deem in violation (If you’ve ever received a restricted product violation you will understand.) Or it could just be EVERYTHING for all I know.
Straight twilight zone. Lets remember I proved that the original ASINs amazon claimed took my account down WERE DELETED FOUR YEARS BEFORE, which they actually acknowledge. Yet, somehow there’s just “MORE” and it’s just up to me to figure it out. Well, I have been selling on Amazon for 15 years. I have added and deleted hundreds of thousands of SKUs on my account. The three ASINs that were originally my issue, were deleted 4 years prior to the violation. So based on this information whatever I “EVASIVELY” listed could have been listed and deleted within that 15 years plus whatever was in my account at the time and “they” know “something” is there but “they” can’t give me a list.
I don’t know. Seriously. No words.
Calmly, I try to explain this twilight zone I am in with Jennifer. Then the call ends…
She calls back. Then the call ends…
I try to call the number she calls me on, but it's just a busy signal.
Fifteen minutes goes by.
She calls back. We had just got disconnected. But, during that time she reached out to “them” to get a list of ASINs that “caused” my issue. Because you know the original three that I proved were good weren't the only ones…cause now, “there are others”.
She will call me tomorrow with the list.
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