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Long time Amazon Seller here It's against Amazon TOS to contact Amazon's customers outside the Amazon messaging system, and they are really heavy handed agains

Long time Amazon Seller here It's against Amazon TOS to contact Amazon's customers outside the Amazon messaging system, and they are really heavy handed against sellers breaching this. If you complain to Amazon that the seller is contacting you outside the Amazon messaging platform and harrassing you, then Amazon will close their seller account. Alternatively you can threaten to report them to Amazon for this and they will go away.

greenyoda 5y ago
> "contacted Amazon, who responded with "we'll deal with the issue and get back to you within 48 hours", which never happened" Apparently, complaining to Amazon didn't solve the problem.
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > Apparently, complaining to Amazon didn't solve the problem. Amazon has different tiers of support. My understanding (from a few years ago, after being very persistent on an issue), is that their chat support people are relatively dis-empowered compared to their phone support people. So it's totally possible that one support channel could solve this problem, and other ones can't. And if that's the case, the fault is totally Amazon's: no customer should have to understand their bureaucracy to that level of detail to get their issue resolved.
  - owenversteeg 5y ago
    If an Amazon phone CSR can be trusted, that's still the case. I recently had an unusual issue that required escalation "all the way up" and at a certain point I reached a guy who claimed, at least, that that was as high as any customer could go - it was on the phone and he mentioned that the chat CSRs had much less power. He had managers of course but they were "not allowed" to speak to customers.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  maybe the contact to Amazon said something like "The seller is harassing me" not "The Seller is contacting me outside of official Amazon channels and harassing me", and probably, if you just dropped the harassing me it would be even more important to Amazon to shut that down.
slapfrog 5y ago
> > "contacted Amazon, who responded with "we'll deal with the issue and get back to you within 48 hours", which never happened" > "If you complain to Amazon that the seller is contacting you outside the Amazon messaging platform and harrassing you, then Amazon will close their seller account." What is the purpose of telling somebody to do exactly what they just told you they already did, and insisting that it will work when they just told you it didn't? Your comment is tantamount to gaslighting.
- bawolff 5y ago
  > Your comment is tantamount to gaslighting. That's a bit strong. People can have different experiences, amazon might treat different groups differently, etc
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- antipodes123 5y ago
  Hi there - "gaslighting", seems a bit extreme? I'm just offering some help. The thing with Amazon is that it's super fragmented and you have to complain through the correct channels. After six years I'm still struggling to navigate at times. General Customer service team members' KPIs are to just close tickets, that's all they care about. Go to the Product page and click "“Report Abuse”" on the reviews. Or email the support team and ask them to escalate the ticket to Seller Performance. Also complain to seller-performance@amazon.com
  - taurath 5y ago
    I have done all these things myself, and I still see the seller accounts live, or name changed. Around 10% of items I’ve ordered have been either fakes of name brands, didn’t match the photos, or had a seller review scam thing going. It’s not an outlier, it’s standard.
- neilv 5y ago
  > insisting that it will work when they just told you it didn't Apt username: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes > In geography, the antipode (/ˈæntɪˌpoʊd/ or /ænˈtɪpədiː/) of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it.
neolog 5y ago
> It's against Amazon TOS to contact Amazon's customers outside the Amazon messaging system Is there some reason the seller needs to have the buyer's contact info?
- mcny 5y ago
  > Is there some reason the seller needs to have the buyer's contact info? I have the same question, except I'll narrow the scope a little bit. In case the order is fulfilled by Amazon.com (FBA), is there any reason for the seller to have the buyer's contact or shipping information? I know the seller has my information because I have a similar experience to TylerRobinson, except my gift card was only USD 5: > The situation with Amazon reviews has become unbelievable. I recently purchased a $20 item with around 30,000 reviews, overwhelmingly positive. $20 was a reasonable market price for this item from any retailer. > There was a card inside the box from the seller saying they’d send me a $15 gift card for posting a 5-star review and then forwarding them proof I had posted it to some gmail account. I followed the instructions, and like clockwork got $15 back on Amazon.
  - Dyac 5y ago
    Part of it is to do with liability and tax stuff. If amazon doesn't share the info in both directions, can they really claim to the taxman and insurance providers that the seller sold you the stuff, or did Amazon really sell you the stuff and the seller was simply their supplier? Amazon wants to say the seller sold it (unless it was a vendor sale "sold and fulfilled by Amazon.com").
  - moltar 5y ago
    For FBA buyer info isn’t released. Emails are obfuscated and proxies via @amazon.comm domain. They did release this info up to about 2y ago.
- antipodes123 5y ago
  Sellers don't get access to customer info unless they are fulfilling the product themselves. Sellers are obtaining this through black hat methods.
plorkyeran 5y ago
I have complained to Amazon several times about sellers contacting me and AFAICT it has never done anything.
- saos 5y ago
  Likewise. I’ve decided to stop using Amazon altogether as I’m not sure how seller is getting my number.
saos 5y ago
I had a seller contact me directly on WhatsApp. I reported it to Amazon and never heard back. Eventually the same number that contacted me on WhatsApp changed their display photo from company logo to an exotic woman asking me for Bitcoin payment

greenyoda 5y ago

> "contacted Amazon, who responded with "we'll deal with the issue and get back to you within 48 hours", which never happened" Apparently, complaining to Amazon didn't solve the problem.

tablespoon 5y ago
> Apparently, complaining to Amazon didn't solve the problem. Amazon has different tiers of support. My understanding (from a few years ago, after being very persistent on an issue), is that their chat support people are relatively dis-empowered compared to their phone support people. So it's totally possible that one support channel could solve this problem, and other ones can't. And if that's the case, the fault is totally Amazon's: no customer should have to understand their bureaucracy to that level of detail to get their issue resolved.
- owenversteeg 5y ago
  If an Amazon phone CSR can be trusted, that's still the case. I recently had an unusual issue that required escalation "all the way up" and at a certain point I reached a guy who claimed, at least, that that was as high as any customer could go - it was on the phone and he mentioned that the chat CSRs had much less power. He had managers of course but they were "not allowed" to speak to customers.
bryanrasmussen 5y ago
maybe the contact to Amazon said something like "The seller is harassing me" not "The Seller is contacting me outside of official Amazon channels and harassing me", and probably, if you just dropped the harassing me it would be even more important to Amazon to shut that down.

slapfrog 5y ago

> > "contacted Amazon, who responded with "we'll deal with the issue and get back to you within 48 hours", which never happened" > "If you complain to Amazon that the seller is contacting you outside the Amazon messaging platform and harrassing you, then Amazon will close their seller account." What is the purpose of telling somebody to do exactly what they just told you they already did, and insisting that it will work when they just told you it didn't? Your comment is tantamount to gaslighting.

bawolff 5y ago
> Your comment is tantamount to gaslighting. That's a bit strong. People can have different experiences, amazon might treat different groups differently, etc
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
antipodes123 5y ago
Hi there - "gaslighting", seems a bit extreme? I'm just offering some help. The thing with Amazon is that it's super fragmented and you have to complain through the correct channels. After six years I'm still struggling to navigate at times. General Customer service team members' KPIs are to just close tickets, that's all they care about. Go to the Product page and click "“Report Abuse”" on the reviews. Or email the support team and ask them to escalate the ticket to Seller Performance. Also complain to seller-performance@amazon.com
- taurath 5y ago
  I have done all these things myself, and I still see the seller accounts live, or name changed. Around 10% of items I’ve ordered have been either fakes of name brands, didn’t match the photos, or had a seller review scam thing going. It’s not an outlier, it’s standard.
neilv 5y ago
> insisting that it will work when they just told you it didn't Apt username: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes > In geography, the antipode (/ˈæntɪˌpoʊd/ or /ænˈtɪpədiː/) of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it.

neolog 5y ago

> It's against Amazon TOS to contact Amazon's customers outside the Amazon messaging system Is there some reason the seller needs to have the buyer's contact info?

mcny 5y ago
> Is there some reason the seller needs to have the buyer's contact info? I have the same question, except I'll narrow the scope a little bit. In case the order is fulfilled by Amazon.com (FBA), is there any reason for the seller to have the buyer's contact or shipping information? I know the seller has my information because I have a similar experience to TylerRobinson, except my gift card was only USD 5: > The situation with Amazon reviews has become unbelievable. I recently purchased a $20 item with around 30,000 reviews, overwhelmingly positive. $20 was a reasonable market price for this item from any retailer. > There was a card inside the box from the seller saying they’d send me a $15 gift card for posting a 5-star review and then forwarding them proof I had posted it to some gmail account. I followed the instructions, and like clockwork got $15 back on Amazon.
- Dyac 5y ago
  Part of it is to do with liability and tax stuff. If amazon doesn't share the info in both directions, can they really claim to the taxman and insurance providers that the seller sold you the stuff, or did Amazon really sell you the stuff and the seller was simply their supplier? Amazon wants to say the seller sold it (unless it was a vendor sale "sold and fulfilled by Amazon.com").
- moltar 5y ago
  For FBA buyer info isn’t released. Emails are obfuscated and proxies via @amazon.comm domain. They did release this info up to about 2y ago.
antipodes123 5y ago
Sellers don't get access to customer info unless they are fulfilling the product themselves. Sellers are obtaining this through black hat methods.

plorkyeran 5y ago

I have complained to Amazon several times about sellers contacting me and AFAICT it has never done anything.

saos 5y ago
Likewise. I’ve decided to stop using Amazon altogether as I’m not sure how seller is getting my number.

saos 5y ago

I had a seller contact me directly on WhatsApp. I reported it to Amazon and never heard back. Eventually the same number that contacted me on WhatsApp changed their display photo from company logo to an exotic woman asking me for Bitcoin payment