Let me start by saying that I have tremendous admiration for Amazon and truly have the utmost respect for the good that they have brought not only to the United States, but also all over the world. It is thanks in part to Amazon that I am able to work for myself and have my wife stay at home and raise my young sons. However, there is a serious problem right now that we need to address. The problem is that fundamental flaws in the Amazon seller performance system are causing many good sellers and businesses to shut down due to suspension and removal of their seller privileges. This is causing serious damage within the Amazon seller community and is destroying many lives and businesses. All sellers are affected by this and many now work in constant (justified) fear of unwarranted account suspension. It is serious, let me explain...

It is an absolute necessity that Amazon Seller Performance removes any and all sellers who abuse their selling privileges. All Amazon customers, shareholders, and quality sellers deserve this. This is the job of the Amazon seller-performance team. It is a very important aspect of this business and maintaining the integrity of the Amazon name.

There seems to be a huge rise in the number of recent seller suspensions. The team responsible for this task is not built to perform all that it is asked of it right now. This is causing longer than necessary reinstatement periods and/or the complete removal of many sellers who have had long histories of providing quality products.

The suspension system is too impersonal. The suspension of an account is the same as shutting down a business or firing an employee (often, many employees). Many, if not most, sellers return after their first suspension, but only after weeks filled with worry and void of sales. This can be a crippling blow to any seller and is not conducive to improving their performance. Now sellers are in a tough spot and they feel the Catch-22 of the need to make up for lost income as well as keeping the Amazon seller performance team happy.

I am an Amazon selling coach and consultant for several large sellers and many smaller ones. Recently, I have been working with a disturbingly large number of suspended sellers. The high number of them is not the problem, it is the reasons (or lack thereof) behind the suspensions and the way in which they are treated during the reinstatement process that is concerning.

I am petitioning that Amazon requests that the Amazon Seller Performance team improve in the following ways. Jeff Bezos if you are reading this, I implore you to supply this department with the aid they need to implement these changes as soon as possible.

#1 All Suspension Cases Should Be Handled Promptly and within the Quoted Time Frame

Sellers are quoted a response time of 24-48 hours, but this is a far fetch from the reality of things. The average response time for my clients has risen to 7 days, all of them are typically quoted 24-48 hours.

If merchants on Amazon shipped their orders 3X-7x later than expected, they would have their privileges removed. The seller-performance representatives should be held to the same or a higher level as they are the ones judging the customer care provided by other sellers. This is not an appropriate situation and these representatives need to be held accountable, just as they hold the sellers accountable. The suspended sellers are not criminals or second class citizens. They may have made mistakes, but they deserve quick and honest responses.

How to Correct: It is my opinion that the seller-performance department is understaffed or underperforming. Hire more help or implement new procedures and place leaders within the organization who will improve response times. At the very least, require honest response quotes. If it will take 2 weeks, representatives should say so.

Have you ever been fired and told the decision would be made in 2 days and then you had to wait an additional 5-10? If not, you can imagine right? It is gut-wrenching. Please demand that they respect this and can empathize in some way with the suspended sellers.

Note: I am unaware of the procedures, but if cases are being passed between representatives or different shifts, this should be stopped immediately and each case should be handled by only one representative.

#2 Support Representatives Should Show an Understanding of Each Case and Fully Read and Comprehend Each Letter They Receive.

If an investigation is done of this department, you will find a disturbing reality is that most sellers get a canned, default response asking for more information, regardless of the case. I have never seen a seller performance response letter that stated anything specific to the case at hand. That is in 30+ letters over several months, which is no small sample. Sellers spend a great deal of time and effort writing their letters and they deserve for them to be read in their entirety. If they will not be read, they should not be asked to be written. They need to send an actual response showing they have read and understand the case, and not send each seller the same automated first email. This can sometimes happen 2-3 times before anything is specified.

This process seems to be more of a "slap on the wrist" instead of an actual corrective process. Amazon needs to analyze why they request that these letters be written and remember what it is that they are actually trying to achieve in the process.

How to Correct: Require that employees read the letters in full and can write responses stating what they have actually gathered from the letters

#3. Seller Support Representatives Should Be Specific and Clear in Their Responses.

Seller-performance representatives should not be permitted to be vague with their responses as this is not constructive. It should not be a process of the seller needing to “find their mistake” when very often, the problems were not even direct complaints or negative reviews. Much of the time, the seller is not seeing what the problem was because they did not receive any information about the issue.

How to Correct: Make it company policy that you cannot respond with canned template emails. Each letter should be custom. They don't need to be long, just concise, to the point and constructive. If there is information about a case that a seller cannot see, they deserve to have that disclosed so they can identify and address the problem or defend its validity.

#4. Seller Performance Should Provide Phone Support.

This may be the biggest one. I know that these calls would not be pleasant, but the fact that there is not a contact available for this department is truly egregious.

How to Correct: It should be possible to reach a representative in some fashion other than email. If not for all cases, at least for cases that are over several weeks old or for final removal cases.

#5 Seller Performance Needs to Become More Reasonable with Acceptable "Excuses" for Problems

In all of the letters I have seen written, the only ones that get reinstated are the ones that accept complete blame for the problem. Amazon wants to know that this problem will be fixed, but there are many cases when it was truly the fault of Amazon or another factor outside of the sellers control. Sellers are afraid to state anything but their own blame for the causes of the errors. This will get them reinstated, but the same case can be used against them should the error occur again. They have now created a hypothetical solution to a hypothetical problem. This is particularly the case with co-mingled inventory.

How to Correct: This can be changed when seller performance changes their overall dynamic and approach to suspensions. By implementing the changes mentioned previously, this will carry over into an environment that sellers will feel they can be honest and not merely lay down and take full blame for issues out of their control.

#6 Allow Sellers Who Have Been Suspended in the Past to Have a New Opportunity to State Their Cases to the (Hopefully) Improved Department

Many sellers have wrongfully lost their accounts and have given up. They deserve a fair chance if they weren't given one prior.

How to Correct: Create a small branch of this department for past suspension follow up.

Finally

#7 If There Is Not a Criminal Investigation Regarding the Case, Release Inventory and Funds Sooner Than 90 Days

This is the seller's livelihood and 90 days is an extraordinarily long and unnecessary amount of time to request. Although it is certainly written in the policies, Amazon is most likely to end up in a legal battle over this sooner rather than later, which they (Amazon) will likely win, but could be avoided entirely and at no costs. This is really a good-will issue. Why would Amazon want to do this to anyone? They don't, so lets fix it.

Note: I admit that there may be information I am missing regarding the reasoning behind the 90 day time frame so keep that in mind.

Again, I do not want to seem ungrateful for the opportunity that Amazon provides. It is truly an amazing opportunity. I am writing this because I know that Jeff Bezos and all shareholders wouldn't want to hear that this is happening. This whole issue is not Amazon's style and should be corrected.

Sellers, whether you have been suspended in the past or not, I implore you to join this petition to seek fair treatment for all sellers. You may very well be in this situation one day and you will want a fair opportunity to speak your case.



Sincerely,

Nate McCallister

In full disclosure, I have worked with over 30 different sellers who have had their accounts suspended and consulted them on how to improve their businesses and get to the point that their accounts can be reinstated and hopefully remain that way. This is not coming from a one-time experience, I truly have seen the performance of this department from many angles, so please take this petition as such.