For those of you not selling on Amazon- the Alliance is it's secret police force. No one knows who the Alliance is- they only contact you by email. They can and do shut down accounts over night-Jeff Bezo- son of a texas oil man is busy trying to fly to the moon

Amazon Alliance Insults Reliable Seller, & Supports Nutball Psycho Customer
Posted: Mar 17, 2006 5:27 PM Report Reply


In 8 years of selling on Amazon, we've never before received a "policy warning" from Amazon Alliance Program. We're a reputable bookstore & don't worry much about our account standing. But we're beside ourselves by the assumptions, unprofessionalism, & downright rudeness of their emails.

The scenario:

Customer says item not received, but DC shows it arrived on time. Customer gets mad, we direct him to A-Z program.

Customer was denied A-Z claim, consequently left us negative feedback (it was inaccurate - he said we never shipped the item).

We emailed customer, asking what we could do to make him reconsider his feedback. After all, we're reasonable people - it's possible that the delivery confirmation was a mistake (a longshot, I know). We suggested the possibility of sending a replacement at a discounted rate.

Customer BLOWS UP! Lots of profanity, excessive emails (over 40 emails in 72 hours), sexually inappropriate emails to one of our female employees, filed claims with the BBB & the FBI internet fraud division, and reports us to Amazon Alliance. He claims we were trying to "extort" more money out of him.

We're online veterans, we know all about nutball psychos. We blocked his email & sent him an autoreponse saying "stop emailing / contacting us". No biggie. Happens every so often (especially with religious books).

But then... Amazon sends us a policy warning! Saying we mistreated this customer, and are guilty of feedback manipulation! We figured it was just a form letter, so we sent a reply with the facts & told them sending a warning without first investigating was hasty. Next reply was from a human, who claims no mistake was made - that our reply ("what can we do to make you reconsider your feedback") was manipulation.

We went back & forth 5 times, just to clarify. Amazon instructed us to: (1) apologize to the customer, (2) refund the customer, and (3) also send him a free replacement. Excuse me??? Simply unbelievable. Keep in mind - this is after they turned down his A-Z claim. Obviously, we refused. This is part rant, but also part question - has anyone else had problems with "Amazon Alliance"?




what-novel-ideas

Posts: 8,342
Registered: 2/8/06
Re: Amazon Alliance Insults Reliable Seller, & Supports Nutball Psycho Customer
Posted: Mar 17, 2006 5:43 PM in response to: questliving Report Reply



You might want to consult local law enforcement about the harrassment from the buyer, and then email alliance and let them know that the matter is being investigated.

At the very least, I'd forward them every single email you received from that buyer.

R





johndeplume

Posts: 14
Registered: 3/17/06
Re: Amazon Alliance Insults Reliable Seller, & Supports Nutball Psycho Customer
Posted: Mar 17, 2006 6:18 PM in response to: questliving Report Reply


Birds of a feather flock together.




ondeckonline

Posts: 3,094
Registered: 2/8/06
Re: Amazon Alliance Insults Reliable Seller, & Supports Nutball Psycho Cust
Posted: Mar 17, 2006 6:23 PM in response to: questliving Report Reply


Sounds like a case of "squeeky wheel getting greased". Ask Amazon if this means that we should never try to resolve a negative feedback problem, because successfully doing so would always be "feedback manipulation". My guess is that their beaurocratic answer would be that we should try to satisfy the customer in any way possible, but never mention feedback removal as a possible condition. Of course, this removes any incentive on our part to do anything at all.




mattblack-oh

Posts: 125
Registered: 2/8/06
Re: Amazon Alliance Insults Reliable Seller, & Supports Nutball Psycho Customer
Posted: Mar 17, 2006 6:26 PM in response to: questliving Report Reply



Crikey!

Have you emailed jeff@amazon.com?







johndeplume

Posts: 14
Registered: 3/17/06
Re: Amazon Alliance Insults Reliable Seller, & Supports Nutball Psycho Customer
Posted: Mar 17, 2006 6:27 PM in response to: what-novel-ideas Report Reply


This affirms why I am making the leap to E-Bay Stores. I may not be successful, but hopefully I will prevail & not be at the mercy of nuts running loose. My acct. here will be secondary, as is Half.com now. I won't cringe when receiving feedback blackmail & dealing with nuts who need therapy, medicine, and perhaps a few weeks away to regroup. Why???? Why??? Does Half.com seem to have 1% of the kooks that purchase here? Could I get a fed. grant to explore the disparity of nuts to sanity, site to site? Knock on wood, my cranium, I have never had a bad experience selling on Half.com. No one has ever left a nasty mean feedback or said anything negative @ Half.com. The reason is glaring, and I don't really need the federal grant $ to point out the difference.




twinriversbooks

Posts: 1,383
From: SopranoLand, near the Twin Rivers (Duh!)
Registered: 2/8/06
Re: Amazon Alliance Insults Reliable Seller, & Supports Nutball Psycho Cust
Posted: Mar 17, 2006 6:29 PM in response to: ondeckonline Report Reply



Sounds like a case of "squeeky wheel getting greased". Ask Amazon if this means that we should never try to resolve a negative feedback problem, because successfully doing so would always be "feedback manipulation". My guess is that their beaurocratic answer would be that we should try to satisfy the customer in any way possible, but never mention feedback removal as a possible condition. Of course, this removes any incentive on our part to do anything at all.

Which is a prime reason why it is in EVERYONE'S best interest that the feedback system be overhauled. It is just not working on SOOO many levels.





johndeplume

Posts: 14
Registered: 3/17/06
Re: Amazon Alliance Insults Reliable Seller, & Supports Nutball Psycho Cust
Posted: Mar 17, 2006 6:43 PM in response