I received this policy violation warning:
We discovered that you sent impolite or unprofessional messages to members of the Amazon community. This is against our Selling Policies and Seller Code of Conduct. An Amazon seller account may be deactivated if the seller sends inappropriate messages to other members of the community.
Order ID : *******************
If you continue to have inappropriate contact with members of the Amazon.com community, your account will be deactivated and you will not be permitted to sell on Amazon.com.
Learn more about the Selling Policies and Seller Code of Conduct in Seller Central Help:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/G200386250
What can I do to avoid account deactivation?
If you wish to appeal this decision, click on the "Appeal" button on the Account Health page
I SUBMITTED AN APPEAL - a comprehensive one. Ive done this 7 times now. it keeps getting rejected with this message:
Hello,
Thank you for submitting your appeal. We received your submission but do not have enough information to remove the warning from your account at this time. To remove the warning, please send the following:
-- Greater detail on the root causes for using inappropriate or unprofessional language in your communications with the Amazon community.
-- Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve this issue.
-- Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent usage of inappropriate or unprofessional language in your communications going forward.
Learn more about the Selling Policies and Seller Code of Conduct in Seller Central Help:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/G200386250
How do I send the required information?
Visit the Account Health page and navigate to “Policy Violation Warnings.” Click on the Appeal button next to the violation notification and submit additional information.
HERE Is what i have submitted. I have NO IDEA why it keeps getting rejected. what could it possibly be missing or need. help is appreciated. PLEASE dont respond with wasteful or unhelpful comments. thank you!
Thank you for approving our appeal for the communications violation
The order that created the violation: ***-********-****
Root Cause of the issue:
The first root cause we have identified was the tone of a message to a customer, as well as the usage of inappropriate and unprofessional language. The employee was frustrated by a lack of cooperation from the customer on the issue and responded in an unprofessional manner. This caused a poor experience for the customer and a frustrated employee that did not adhere to proper amazon communication guidelines. This was due to a lack of professionalism, stemming from the lack of training on how to solve the conflict with the customer order in an appropriate manner and to resolve the issue to the customers’ satisfaction.
Another root cause we would like to address, is the issue of basic lack of training on how to handle escalating issues and customer complaints in an effective and clear manner. This was amplified by the lack of experienced Amazon guideline trained personnel on hand to oversee the training and communications execution for the employees engaging in customer communications interactions
• We have identified the affected employee who engaged in the conversation with the customer in an unprofessional manner and enrolled them in proper training and REMOVED them from any further contact from customers. We also identified a gap in communication time and approach to handling amazon specific order issues.
• Another root cause is the review of amazon communication policies. We found that our employees were not up to date on all communication protocols and acceptable communication methods.
• We continued to work with ALL employees who handle any amazon related issues and had each employee submit answers and areas they did not feel comfortable or up to date on in regard to policies and communications.
• The root causes above were all determined to be key in identifying how to create our action plan below. We have addressed EACH root cause below and submitted specific ACTIONS to combat the inappropriate communications warning and submissions
Actions Taken to Resolve the issue at hand:
• We have been executing extensive 1 on 1 training on how to handle escalating issues.
• We also hired an employee with Amazon policy and guideline experience in handling all communications with customers to assist in not only our DIRECT communications, but also to handle the training and implementation of our changes in this action plan.
• In executing our resolve actions – we had all employees and management complete the “3.6 Prevent communication guideline violations module video and training guide sheets”
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/learn/courses?ref_=selleru_athena&courseId=58adabac-a05d-4a01-9801-f6b0f1ea20f3&moduleId=7ad377d4-ad5d-4173-a456-0e14d7cf14cc&modLanguage=English&contentType=VIDEO&category=TUTORIAL&ref=xx_SellerUniversity_xxxx_meldedSidebarSearch&mons_sel_mkid=amzn1.mp.o.ATVPDKIKX0DER&mons_sel_mcid=amzn1.merchant.o.A2ME7P7MNFJQ3T&mons_sel_persist=true&videoPlayer=airy
• We have done mock calls and mock emails with various scenarios the employee can expect to encounter.
• We have also had them go though seller forums to read and understand other issues sellers have and how to successfully resolve them professionally and to amazon policy
• We have set up daily meetings to discuss prior day communications and troubleshoot any communications breakdowns or employee unsure responses to certain issues.
• We have set up weekly report card meetings in which we go over the week of communications and set further expectations on how to improve various responses and communication times.
• We have set ZERO TOLERANCE policy for any improper communication or inappropriate language responses to customers.
• The amazon employee hired has also set up templates of various communications that are regular in order to standardize professional communications and uniform responses to situations.
• Work stations were purchased to add additional amazon access to managers as well as newly hired employee.
Preventative Measures to ensure there are no further violations of any communication guidelines:
*****[Our company name] commits to preventing any further inappropriate communications with customer. We commit to handling ALL customer communications in a professional manner and to adhere to ALL amazon policies. We also commit to properly training all employees that engage in customers communications BEFORE they start replying to customers or handling messages. **
• In order to prevent the usage of inappropriate or unprofessional language, the employee in question cannot submit a response to a customer without supervisor approval first. This is the FIRST step we took to prevent any further policy warnings or inappropriate communication.
• Each employee will be managed on each response and each response will be reviewed and approved. This will help not only train the employee, but hold them accountable. It will also allow on job teaching sessions so the employee can view any corrections to the communications in real time.
• In further method to prevent issues, we have manager ONLY communication protocols for certain escalated customer issues or issues in which a customer has requested intervention
• All return request and customer issues are viewed by a manager beforehand and a response is communicated to the employees of how to properly handle the issue and respond.
• The last step to prevention is again a zero tolerance policy for any member of the team to engage in any combative conversation method with any customer. Those employees who engage in such will be removed and terminated.
• Workstation was set up for communications between customers only. This was used to filter and allow multiple trained eyes to identify communication gaps before they were sent out. They were then UPDATED, COACHED, and ALTERED (if needed) before they were sent to any customers.
This comprehensive action plan will help ensure proper and professional communications at ALL TIMES. We commit to adhere to all amazon communication guidelines and expectations, specifically in regards to using inappropriate or unprofessional language. This action plan has been updated, reviewed, and is consistent with the expectations required for professional communications. It is IN EFFECT as of 07/1/2024 and is being used. Since its initial development, we have had no professional communications or inappropriate communication issues.
