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A month ago I asked this: "Can Amazon terminate an AWS account because you returned a shirt?" [1] I didn't get any satisfactory answers, but this is exactly th

A month ago I asked this: "Can Amazon terminate an AWS account because you returned a shirt?" [1] I didn't get any satisfactory answers, but this is exactly the kind of scenario I was afraid of. A business that relies on AWS can be wiped out by an automated script in a different department. There is no mitigation since Amazon will also close "linked accounts", so having separate business and personal Amazon accounts isn't enough. It's super scary. I tried tweeting @jeffbarr and posting in the AWS forums about these risks, but got no response from Amazon. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10248690 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10248690

ksdev 11y ago
Indeed. I didn't took into account the possibility of having my access to AWS service cut off if there are some problems on the shop account side. Looks obvious now. It is good that Amazon is protecting user accounts. But the way it was handled in my case is scary - writing just that my "account is closed", it "cannot be reopened" and it's the end, when I have a few sites running on AWS managed to frighten me ;) Maybe they would try to contact me before by phone if I didn't live in Eastern Europe, who knows? Fortunately, an hour ago I received an email from Amazon saying that my account has been reinstated, so these few times I've contacted them about this problem have an effect.
joesmo 11y ago
Must've missed that post. Yes, they can. Even if you're a Prime paying customer, whose main purpose in addition to fast shipping is to to allow you to return things without hassle. See the letter I got below for returning ~$100 worth of shitty merchandise. Mind you, I did not violate any terms or conditions and there was no misuse whatsoever. I replied and got back a very confusing, generic email that didn't answer any of my questions. I figured it was their way of telling me they don't want me as a customer. Since this is the way Amazon treats its customers, Amazon can go fuck itself. I don't plan to ever buy anything from them again and I strongly urge people to think of the ramifications of this happening to a business run on AWS. I'm currently working on moving our company's infrastructure off their system and writing a blog post about it. --- Hello, We have noticed that you have returned a large number of your orders. While we expect occasional problems with orders, such large numbers of returns can suggest that customers are unaware of our return policies. We want to call your attention to our returns policies because repeated misuse can result in the closure of your Amazon account. To learn more about our policies, search “About Our Returns Policies” in the Help section of Amazon.com. If there is something we can do to help solve any recurring problems you are having with your orders, please reply to this email to reach an Account Specialist. Sincerely, Account Specialist
- deleted 11y ago
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- UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
  Just because I'm nosy, how many individual returns did you generate? I've returned three motherboards in a row (all from the same malfunctioning batch) that cost over $150 each, and never got a warning or whatever. So for less than $100, I cannot imagine why they'd take this action. Is it a lot of returns on inexpensive things (e.g. 20 $5 items).
- hgdkshfskjhf 11y ago
  This is very strange. I return stuff a lot with Amazon. I have returned laptops, cameras, lenses, and a lot of cheaper stuff. Never had any issue. On most of cheaper stuff, Amazon doesn't even want it back, they just refund. My rough estimate is I return 5-10% of orders. This scares me and makes me want to diversify my shopping with other retailers. :(

ksdev 11y ago

Indeed. I didn't took into account the possibility of having my access to AWS service cut off if there are some problems on the shop account side. Looks obvious now. It is good that Amazon is protecting user accounts. But the way it was handled in my case is scary - writing just that my "account is closed", it "cannot be reopened" and it's the end, when I have a few sites running on AWS managed to frighten me ;) Maybe they would try to contact me before by phone if I didn't live in Eastern Europe, who knows? Fortunately, an hour ago I received an email from Amazon saying that my account has been reinstated, so these few times I've contacted them about this problem have an effect.

joesmo 11y ago

Must've missed that post. Yes, they can. Even if you're a Prime paying customer, whose main purpose in addition to fast shipping is to to allow you to return things without hassle. See the letter I got below for returning ~$100 worth of shitty merchandise. Mind you, I did not violate any terms or conditions and there was no misuse whatsoever. I replied and got back a very confusing, generic email that didn't answer any of my questions. I figured it was their way of telling me they don't want me as a customer. Since this is the way Amazon treats its customers, Amazon can go fuck itself. I don't plan to ever buy anything from them again and I strongly urge people to think of the ramifications of this happening to a business run on AWS. I'm currently working on moving our company's infrastructure off their system and writing a blog post about it. --- Hello, We have noticed that you have returned a large number of your orders. While we expect occasional problems with orders, such large numbers of returns can suggest that customers are unaware of our return policies. We want to call your attention to our returns policies because repeated misuse can result in the closure of your Amazon account. To learn more about our policies, search “About Our Returns Policies” in the Help section of Amazon.com. If there is something we can do to help solve any recurring problems you are having with your orders, please reply to this email to reach an Account Specialist. Sincerely, Account Specialist

deleted 11y ago
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UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
Just because I'm nosy, how many individual returns did you generate? I've returned three motherboards in a row (all from the same malfunctioning batch) that cost over $150 each, and never got a warning or whatever. So for less than $100, I cannot imagine why they'd take this action. Is it a lot of returns on inexpensive things (e.g. 20 $5 items).
hgdkshfskjhf 11y ago
This is very strange. I return stuff a lot with Amazon. I have returned laptops, cameras, lenses, and a lot of cheaper stuff. Never had any issue. On most of cheaper stuff, Amazon doesn't even want it back, they just refund. My rough estimate is I return 5-10% of orders. This scares me and makes me want to diversify my shopping with other retailers. :(