I thought it had settled down but I have loads of messages today.

I know there are some issues with Royal Mail but some of these requests go back 1 or 2 months so probably chancers trying it on as Amazon says the item is lost.

I personally don't think it is going to stop...

Is anyone else experiencing an extremely high 'reserve' on their account? As in pretty much all of their income from sales is being held in reserve? I don't understand what's happened and the support channels are hopeless. Any guides or policies give generic reasons and don't seem to apply to our situation.

Raised a case on 24th December to query it. This got 'transferred' immediately and as of yet have heard nothing back. Seller support are only able to tell me that once the case gets transferred, it gets a new case ID from the team that are dealing with it -whoever that new team is now? Seller support can no longer see updates or communicate with the team that deal with it. All they can do is escalate the issue if more than 14 working days passes and we don't get an answer.

In the meantime, I've got no visibility of this new case ID, or the progress, so I don't know if this mysterious team are waiting on me or if I'm waiting on them. I can't fathom why there's not even a trace of the new case ID on the 'manage support cases' screen so that we could at least see some sort of progress or expected completion date, or know who's waiting on who. We're just left in the dark day after day hoping for an email to come in.

Issue 1) Why does it take 10+ working days to 'investigate' why the account is on reserve? And who are this elusive team that are working on it, that no-one can get in touch with or communicate with? Why do 'transferred' cases not continue to have a front-facing ID that we can review and communicate through?

Issue 2) What actually is the reserve and how does the amount get calculated? We're currently receiving £0 from all of our sales. As far as I can see the account is in good health and there's been hardly any chargebacks or refunds, etc. Again, very little guidance or communication on what the issue is.

Any moderators on here able to shed some light?

Has anyone else experienced Amazon selected inappropriate reviewers to review their product?

For instance, Amazon sent a our 3 litre can of premium olive oil (RRP £69.95) and the reviewer spend all his time talking about the tin and he fails to talk about the olive oil in any meaningful way.

Has anyone else given away free product to people who just don't seem to have any connection with their product?

"Thank you for your recent submission. It has been reviewed and accepted. However, your account remains deactivated at this time.

Why is this happening?

Due to unresolved policy violations from the following dates, we are unable to reactive your account. The dates are in YYYY-MM-DD format:

-- 2020-03-11

-- 2020-05-07

-- 2020-09-08

-- 2020-09-30

-- 2020-10-25

-- 2024-10-07"

Appeal

Subject: Appeal for Product Violations – Trademark and Restricted Policy Violation

Dear Amazon Seller Performance Team,

I am writing to appeal the product violations related to copyright and restricted policies that have been applied to my seller account. I take these matters seriously and would like to clarify the situation and provide context to demonstrate that my products do not violate any policies.

1. Generic and Unbranded Replacement Parts:

The products I sell are generic, unbranded replacement parts designed to be compatible with various original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products. These parts are intended as cost-effective alternatives to brand-name products and are not intended to infringe upon any intellectual property rights. All parts I offer are non-branded and do not include any trademarks or logos belonging to other companies.

2. No Copyright Infringement:

I have taken every precaution to ensure that my listings do not infringe on any copyrights. The product images, descriptions, and titles used in my listings are original and accurately represent the products without referencing any copyrighted logos, trademarks, or protected materials. The replacement parts are designed purely for compatibility and not for any other deceptive or misleading purpose.

3. Amazon's Restricted Products Policy:

I understand that Amazon has specific guidelines regarding restricted products and intellectual property. To the best of my knowledge, my products comply with Amazon’s policies. If any violation has occurred, I assure you that it was unintentional. I have reviewed the following Amazon guidelines to ensure my compliance:

A. Restricted Products Policy

This page outlines the types of products prohibited from being sold on Amazon, including regulated and restricted items. It's important to review this to ensure that your products do not fall into restricted categories.

Restricted Products Overview:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201254150

B. Intellectual Property Policy

This page provides guidelines on intellectual property violations, including copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Understanding these guidelines will help ensure you don’t accidentally violate intellectual property rights.

Amazon Intellectual Property Policy:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201361070

C. Prohibited Seller Activities and Actions

This page details prohibited activities and seller conduct, including selling counterfeit or infringing products. Violating these policies could result in account suspension or removal of products.

Prohibited Seller Activities and Actions:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201894250

D. Copyright Infringement and Claim Process

If you are concerned about copyright violations or need to understand Amazon's process for copyright claims, this page offers important information.

Copyright Infringement and Claim Process:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200280370

E. Trademark Policy

This page explains what constitutes trademark infringement and how Amazon handles intellectual property complaints related to trademarks.

Amazon Trademark Policy:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201313810

F. Product Listing Guidelines

This page provides guidelines for creating product listings, including rules on content and what to avoid to prevent policy violations.

Amazon Product Listing Guidelines:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201078340

By thoroughly reviewing these links, you can ensure your listings and business comply with Amazon's policies regarding restricted products, intellectual property, and seller conduct.

4. Compliance and Corrective Actions:

I am committed to ensuring my listings are fully compliant with Amazon’s policies. After reviewing the applicable guidelines, I have taken the following corrective actions:

I have carefully reviewed all my product listings to ensure they accurately describe my products as unbranded, compatible replacement parts.

I have double-checked all product images to ensure they do not infringe on any copyright or trademark.

I am committed to further training and staying informed about Amazon's policies to avoid future violations.

5. Request for Reinstatement:

Given the unintentional nature of the violations and my commitment to maintaining compliance, I respectfully request the reinstatement of my listings. I am happy to provide any further documentation or clarification as needed.

Thank you for your understanding and for reviewing my appeal. I look forward to resolving this issue and continuing to operate within Amazon's policies.

yes exactly, this was 4 years ago when Amazon first rolled out this detection feature on listings, and instead of using the correct compatibility terms which is something like "compatible with xyz brand" i used "for xyz brand".

Apart from this my account has made it impossible to recieve phone calls from Amazon, or even contact amazon through the chat feature or use the case log. The only appeal option is an appeal for "deactivated due to second account being deactivated" which all of my accounts apart from this one are currently active.

Overall there are a lot of bugs with Amazon, none of my listings actually violated any policies just were automatically flagged by Amazons AI keyword detection software.