Verification...How & When to Escalate?

#1

Hi Folks,

I have what seems to be the usual verification issue, upon opening my Company seller account on Nov 6th it was suspended within approx 15 mins.

Following the account suspension, I was asked to supply a passport copy for verification which I do so in the the form of a scanned high res clearly legible pdf doc.

A few hours later I get the standard droned response from seller-verification@amazon.co.uk "Dear Seller,

We were unable to verify the information you
provided when registering for a Selling on Amazon payment account and,
as a result, your Selling on Amazon payment account could not be opened.
Unfortunately, this means that you will not be able to continue to sell
on Amazon.

Please take appropriate steps to resolve any open
orders. Note that any amounts paid as a result of A-to-z Guarantee
claims and chargebacks may be deducted from the balance in your existing
Seller Account.

Please do not hesitate to contact Seller Support with any questions you may have:
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gp/contact-us/contact-amazon-form.html

Kind regards,
Amazon Payments"

OK, so since receiving this message on Nov 7th I have:

1: Logged numerous cases that just keep going unanswered but keep being marked as answered.

2: emailed various different departments i.e. seller support, seller performance team, amazon payments and seller-verification-enquiry@amazon.co.uk

3: Appealed through the ā€œif you believe your account was deactivated in errorā€ section.

I might add that along with my communications through the various channels, attached was what I would describe as a compilation of Company and Personal identity info in the form of a p.d.f. document which includes:

driving licence, passport, various company info such as CAR report, Certificate of Incorporation, Memorandum and Articles of Association, HMRC Letter which includes my registered Company address and my UTR number, and finally an EE bill that includes my residential address.

As I said, all this is in p.d.f format with each side of driving licence on one separate page of the p.d.f. same applies to the other documents supplied.

Amazon clearly now have enough identity information form me and I believe its all in a correct and legible format.

In the Seller Account info section under Bank Account, it says ā€˜verifiedā€™

The fact they have been unable to verify this info is beyond me and must be the fact that its a Bot doing the verifying and not a Human, if only I could speak to a person I feel this could be resolved promptly.

The problem I have is, I donā€™t know what the issue is, because the communication from Amazon is totally inadequate.

Since the 8th Nov I have had 0 responses, the unanswered cases that are being marked as answered is very annoying to say the least and it would appear there is no accountability at both seller support and seller performance.
Amazon appears to be a law unto itself in regard to the way it treats third party sellers, and whilst I accept the fact we are operating on their platform, in short time that I been on here and reading through the forums I have to say it raises some concerns.

Whilst this may seem normal to those of you whom may have been in the Amazon eco system for some time, its starting to feel like some kind of crazy alternative existence which rapidly starts to take its toll.

My dilemma is, when and where do I go from here, Iā€™m aware of escalations to: managingdirector@amazon.co.uk and also jeff@amazon.com but at what point do I ā€˜fire these gunsā€™

Whilst I am not prepared to just 'give up and walk away, at the same time I donā€™t need this ongoing headache for the next six months.

Any positive/constructive input would be greatly appreciated as Iā€™m starting to feel a little desperate already!

Thanks in Advance,
I2U

#2

It can take a few weeks/months for the verification process to run itā€™s course. Personally I would just wait until you are asked for more information (if required) and keep checking your seller account for updates.

#3

Eureka Jack, thank you for the input.

Itā€™s extremely difficult for newbies such as myself to get our heads around the fact that for such a supposedly ā€œefficient company/platformā€ we just have to sit around without so much as an acknowledgement from Amazon to say that we have received your updated or additional info.

Is it too much for us to expect any sort of reply for them to confirm that they are reviewing the situation etc, weā€™re supposed to (from Amazonā€™s perspective) just sit on our hands possibly for months in the hope that they may reach out us at some point in the dim and distant future and all while theyā€™ll charge you for the privilege?

Also, if they donā€™t respond who knows how much time, money, or both that person has haemorrhaged, it seems absolutely crazy.

Is this an accurate introduction to life as an Amazon seller, total ineptitude on their behalf?

Feels like welcome to the nut house!

#4

@I2U_Store I have had the exact same problem as yourself and Iā€™ve provided all the information they need to verify me. Still heard nothing after 2 weeks of opening my account. I just really hope they get back to me very soon so I can start selling. At this rate I donā€™t think we will be able to start selling in time for Christmas as we anticipated.

Will you please let us know when you have heard back from them and how you got on?

Thanks.

#5

Most new sellers know Amazon from the point of view of a buyer, now youā€™re a seller, things are a little different.

The university can be a great source a information in the early days.https://services.amazon.com/tutorials-and-training.html

#6

@Sleepeze

Sorry to hear youā€™re in the same boat, Iā€™ll be sure to update if thereā€™s developments in our situation, I would appreciate if you could do the same likewise.

Have you escalated your case, or are you just sitting tight for the moment?

#7

@I2U_Store

So far I have appealed with all the documents needed for them to verify me.

The docs I supplied are:
Bank Statement for my business account in PDF format
Bank Statement from which my seller fee comes out from in PDF format
Drivers Licence front and back in PDF format
Current Appointments report in PDF format
Memorandum of association in PDF format.

I have also emailed seller-verification-enquiry@amazon.co.uk and seller-verification@amazon.co.uk

I have not had a reply of any sort yet regarding this issue. Having checked my case log the case shows transferred but it has been like this for ages.

I just donā€™t know what to do anymore. I just wanted to start and get selling before Christmas but seems like itā€™s not going to happen now.

I am still going to sit tight and wait for a response from Amazon.

#8

I am having the same problem it has been since oct 13 and still no update. it is very frustrating.
i hope it works out soon for both of us

#9

Did you know you can speak directly to Seller Verification by phone. They are based in Eire and have been helpful to me in the past. Much quicker than contacting Seller ā€œSupportā€.

From SC Homepage, Help, Contact Us at bottom, Selling on Amazon, Your Account, Account Verification. Select Phone and enter your number. Theyā€™ll call you straight away in office hours.

#10

@ToySeller

Is that option still available when they suspend your account?

#11

I donā€™t know. Never been suspended. Is the help section even displayed when you log onto a suspended account? If so, use the above route.

#12

It would appear this feature is conveniently revoked when your account is suspended and are in need ā€œSeller Supportā€

#13

I have encounter exactly same issue since 11th Oct, itā€™s already a month.
I have heard from my friends who spend around 4 months to make their Amazon US store online.
I donā€™t know how to activate the account again except waitingā€¦

#14

Months! That is a real worry. It says in the help section it should take no more than 20 working days:

### How long will it take to verify my information?

After we receive all of the required information, it will be verified as soon as possible, usually between 5ā€“10 working days. If we need additional information from you after we have completed our verification, it may take another 5 to 10 working days from the time we receive the additional information to complete the process.

#15

@I2U_Store Heyy,

Just wondering if verification team have got back to you and sorted your account out? I still have not heard from anyone. I have sent few emails to the support email addresses but still nothing.

Thanks

#16

Hi Sleepeze,

The same for me, I still have not heard anything.

I was trawling the forums last week and the general impression I got was that unless we escalate the issue, I seriously wouldnā€™t expect to hear anything back at all!

There are people/cases that have literally been waiting months with no response.

I sincerely hope Iā€™m wrong but this appears to be the case at the moment.

If thereā€™s an issue with verification or any other form of account suspension there appears to be zero response from ā€œSeller Support/Performanceā€ or ā€œSeller Verificationā€

The prospect of still waiting for reply 3 months into next year doesnā€™t exactly fill me with positive vibes towards Amazon at present!

#17

Hey guys, we are in a similar situation.
That being said, in our case, when there was a correction needed in our documents (translation issues, additional documents required), we received the notifications in less than 24 hours, about 3 times. After we finally managed to send all the required documentsā€¦silence.
So, on a positive note, my guess is, that once all the required documents are provided and the application is complete, it takes a while to get through to the final boss.

#18

@I2U_Store Hey,

I have finally been verified. Hows it going for you?

Your account is under ā‚¬15,000 disbursement limit. Does this mean I can only sell up to Ā£15k? and if it reaches higher than that threshold what happens?

Thanks

#19

Are you registered as a business on Amazon? This comment means that individual sellers have to be registered as a business once this level is reached.

#20

Yes I am registered as a Business.