Failed VTR policy and cannot get Plan Of Action accepted
I have been trying for some time to get my account re-activated.
I have what I think is a sensible and accurate Plan Of Action (POA) which I have submitted.
It has been rejected and I am told that further information is required.
I do not know what other information they could need, and asking does not get a reply that is helpful.
Has anybody an idea how I can solve this impasse.
45 replies
Seller_NoMNQDGnEW5Bx
Can you tell us how you were posting things before you had your listings suspended? and also post the last POA you sent in
Seller_DROodOAYHftnc
Is your POA in their required 3 point format ?
…and as asked above, how were you posting and confirming shipment ? - that is usually where people make the mistakes if they have not read the VTR policy correctly or are confirming shipment incorrectly, or thinking you have to send everything tracked, which you do not.
Seller_LEtOQMzYE7r2x
Our account was deactivated Fri 12th November 2021 owing to 4 sales which shipped violating the Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) policy introduced in Mid 2021. We now appeal to be reinstated and below was and will continue to be our ‘plan of action’.
Root Cause:-
Our main shipping agent ‘My Hermes’ had a website crash lasting several days and we were unfamiliar with the details of the alternative shipping agents available. In particular we were not clear which services via the Post Office had a tracking number that was suitable to meet Amazon’s requirement. Of the 5 parcels shipped between 27th and 29th Oct 2021, we failed on 4 to obtain a valid tracking number.
Immediate Actions to correct the problem:-
We deactivated our books on Amazon to avoid any further sales to customers whilst this was being sorted out, and contacted the affected customers to let them know their parcels MAY be delayed, as we had waited expecting ‘My Hermes’ to fix their problem. No parcels were in fact delayed.
To stop it happening again:-
We have trained all our staff, so that they are aware of the alternative shipping that meet Amazon’s VTR policy shown here https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/G201817070.
Procedures have been changed to ensure that no extra wait is incurred as a result of any future problems with our main shipper ‘My Hermes’.
NOTE:-
We activated our account again at the beginning of Nov 2021, and the 7 sales we had (5th - 8th Nov) before Amazon deactivated our account ALL met the VTR policy. This indicated that our plan was working as these were all shipped via the Post Office, as our normal shipper was still having website problems.
Appeal:-
We would ask you again to kindly reactivate our account so we can continue trading through Amazon. We would like to get back to providing an excellent service to your customers, as we had been doing over the previous 4 years without any issues.
Thank You
Felicity Warnes
Seller_LEtOQMzYE7r2x
The latest POA is ‘above’ - hope you can help with this - Thanks
Ash_AMZ
Hello @Fashion_Books_UK,
This is Ash from Amazon and would help you with your questions.
I understand that you need help with reactivation of your account.
In order to help you better, kindly share with us the initial email you received on the performance notification at the time of account enforcement.
You can find this on the performance notification section under the performance tab of the seller central page.
The forums community and I, are here to assist you with your concerns.
Regards,
Ash.
Seller_LEtOQMzYE7r2x
Thank you both very much, especially as these were very quick replies.
I will take these seriously and recompose my POA and republish here ASAP.
I am a bit slow on sorting these things out so please bear with me if it is not immediate.
Regards
Felicity
Seller_NoMNQDGnEW5Bx
That’s not VTR then so some of the answers above aren’t the solution to your POA
So your root cause is that you dispatched late and then you need to say how you plan to make sure that doesn’t happen again
Seller_LEtOQMzYE7r2x
Thank you again for replying. Just to explain how we became confused.
During the period when problems started we were under significant stress, including the death of a close friend we had known for about 50 years. Although the item from 12/11/21 was read at the time, it didn’t sink in and every time we reviewed the account we saw this:-
Thereafter we took it as read that it was VTR problem. No one from Amazon helped by saying we were answering the wrong thing.
I hope to have a revised POA in a few days, and I would very much appreciate your help with that when it is posted.
Regards Felicity
Seller_LEtOQMzYE7r2x
Below is the modified POA that I intend to provide. I hope that I have covered everything, and please let me know as I am no where as competent as you people in getting this procedure right.
Our account was deactivated Fri 12th November 2021 owing to 7 sales which shipped violating the Late Shipment Rate (LSR) over the previous week. We now appeal to be reinstated and below is our latest ‘Plan Of Action’.
Root Cause:-
On Fri 5th November 2021 we had a technical difficulty with our normal shipping agent and after 2 days managed to ship via an alternative agent. All of the 7 parcels ordered between Fri 5th and Mon 8th Nov 2021 were shipped an extra 1 or 2 days later than required. This situation was exacerbated by the fact that the existing ‘shipping settings’ were very tight, which up to then we had been meeting.
Immediate Actions to correct the problem:-
We deactivated our books on Amazon to avoid any further sales to customers whilst this was being sorted out. We contacted the affected customers to let them know their parcels MAY be delayed, as we were aware that we needed to manage their expectations. As a result there were no adverse comments or complaints from Amazon customers.
To stop it happening again:-
We have trained all our staff, so that they are aware of the Royal Mail shipping services (our alternative shipper) that meet Amazon’s VTR policy shown here https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/external/G202014610?language=en_GB.
We also made our staff aware of the 4% Late Dispatch Rate, and how that works shown here
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/200285190?locale=en-GB.
Procedures have been changed to ensure that no extra wait is incurred as a result of any future problems with our main shipping agent.
We have also changed the shipping settings to enable us to take account of any minor delivery problems that might occur in the future.
Appeal:-
We would ask you again to kindly reactivate our account so we can continue trading through Amazon. We would like to get back to providing an excellent service to your customers, as we had been doing over the previous 4 years without any serious issues.
Thank You
Felicity Warnes
Seller_LEtOQMzYE7r2x
I sent this off to Amazon at 21:00 (UK time)
Our account was deactivated Fri 12th November 2021 owing to 7 sales the previous week which violating the 4% Late Shipment Rate (LSR), known as Late Dispatch Rate (LDR) in the UK.
We now appeal to be reinstated and below is our latest ‘Plan Of Action’.
Root Cause:-
On Fri 5th November 2021 we had a technical difficulty with our normal shipping agent and after 2 days managed to ship via an alternative agent. All of the 7 parcels ordered between Fri 5th and Mon 8th Nov 2021 were shipped an extra 1 or 2 days later than required.
Immediate Actions to correct the problem:-
We investigated and chose an alternative shipping agent, with a view to proving a quicker delivery service than before, ensuring the overall customer wait time would be similar.
We deactivated all ASINs on Amazon to avoid any further sales to customers whilst this was being sorted out.
We contacted the affected customers to let them know that their parcels MAY be delayed, as we were aware that we needed to manage their expectations.
As a result there were no adverse comments or complaints from Amazon customers.
To stop it happening again:-
- We have trained all our staff, so that they are aware of the Royal Mail shipping services (our alternative shipper) that meet Amazon’s VTR policy shown here https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/external/G202014610.
- We made our staff aware of the 4% Late Dispatch Rate, and how that works shown here
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/200285190.
- Procedures have been changed to ensure that no extra wait is incurred as a result of any future problems with our main shipping agent.
- We have extended our ‘Handling time’ from 1 to 2 days, to enable us to take account of any minor delivery problems that might occur in the future.
Appeal:-
We would ask you again to kindly reactivate our account so we can continue trading through Amazon. We would like to get back to providing an excellent service to your customers, as we had been doing over the previous 4 years without any serious issues.
Thank You
Felicity Warnes
… and got this back at 21:100:
Hello Fashion Books UK
Your Amazon selling account has been deactivated. Your listings have been removed. Funds will not be transferred to you and may be held for 90 days. Please ship any open orders to avoid further impact to your account.
Why did this happen?
This decision was made after reviewing both your account and the information provided.
Sincerely,
Seller Performance Team
Can anybody help us understand what our current status is:-
Can we ever get back on Amazon or not?
Do we have to wait another 3 months?
Regards
Felicity
