Can Amazon Hold My Money for Fraud after I've shown Documented Proof?

[AntDeezy]

So here is the situation:

I started selling on Amazon in the beginning of February. I had a total of approximately 72 orders that were processed on my account. Of those 72 orders, 11 of them were drop ship orders. That means that I posted an item for sale on Amazon and when it sold, I purchased it from a retailers website and had it shipped directly to the customer.

On March 4th I woke up and was no longer able to log in to my Amazon sellers account. After calling and speaking with a customer service rep, they told me that my account had been placed "On Hold." I sent a few emails to Amazon asking why my account had been placed on hold and on March 10th I received the email below from Amazon.


Hello,

We closed your account because we believe that you fulfilled Amazon orders with goods that were purchased from other retailers using stolen credit cards.

Due to the proprietary nature of our business, we do not provide details on our investigation methods.

If we determine that a seller account has been used to engage in fraud or other illegal activity, we may permanently withhold remittances and payments. In accordance with this policy, we do not plan to transfer any funds to you.

To learn more about this policy, please search "When will I be paid" in seller Help.

Regards,

Seller Performance Team
Amazon.com




I figured that this must simply be some type of mistake within their system and that once I show them invoices for all of the orders that were drop shipped using my account that they would see the billing address is mine and that the cards are mine.

Since receiving that email on the 10th, I have sent Amazon pictures of all of my credit cards with all numbers blacked out except for the last 4 digits. Pictures of my photo ID. (Showing proof that I have my cards in my possession and that they are not stolen)

I've also sent pictures of the invoices for all 11 drop ship orders which show the items purchased, my credit card info as payment method, my billing address, and a tracking number for the delivery which matches the same info which is uploaded into the Amazon system to show proof of shipment.

Now, since receiving that email from them I have not gotten any response.

When calling into customer service I am told that an account specialist are the only people who can view my account since it has been placed "On Hold."

The customer service rep does however tell me that they will submit a ticket to the Specialist and that I should expect a reply within 24 hours.
I've called and been told this exact same line over 5 times with no response.

Now, all of my emails to seller-performance@Amazon.com go unanswered. (Which is the only way to reach out to them as the account specialists do not have a phone number)

So my question is, Can they legally hold my money and not respond to my emails after I have provided them with full proof that every order that has come through my account was indeed purchased using my own credit cards?

Also, do I have any options in terms of getting my money back because this feels like fraud against me.

They are holding over $500 worth of inventory of mine as well as $2500 in funds from the orders I shipped to customers.

 

[army judge]

Read your seller's contract.
Read it THOROUGHLY.
Your answers will be revealed upon reading your seller's contract.
What can you do?
You can write a letter to Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos asking him to intervene on your behalf and apologizing for the misunderstanding.
That's about ALL that can be done, unless you have $25,000 to hire a lawyer in an attempt to recover a few hundred dollars!

Be advised, if FRAUD is on the table, your best option might be to let it all go, if even a smidgeon of truth is involved.
If you KNOW fraud is not involved, send a nice letter to Jeff Bezos. Jeff can be very helpful.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Sorry to hear about your issue. That is very unusual and I wonder whether you have an idea why there could be such an error. Let's assume you don't. Much of the time these issues aren't handled with phone calls and a paper trail may be necessary. You are probably better served by obtaining the contact information for Amazon's legal department where you should send them a certified letter. That should jolt someone into action. Be aware that what you state in the letter can be used against you in a court of law. You may have a case to obtain the money but chances are that army judge is right - your ability to obtain damages may be limited and potentially not available. If you want to challenge them, there is always the court system but the dollar value of damages may be too small to make this endeavor worthwhile. Good luck.

 

[antdeezy02]

Read your seller's contract.
Read it THOROUGHLY.
Your answers will be revealed upon reading your seller's contract.
What can you do?
You can write a letter to Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos asking him to intervene on your behalf and apologizing for the misunderstanding.
That's about ALL that can be done, unless you have $25,000 to hire a lawyer in an attempt to recover a few hundred dollars!

Be advised, if FRAUD is on the table, your best option might be to let it all go, if even a smidgeon of truth is involved.
If you KNOW fraud is not involved, send a nice letter to Jeff Bezos. Jeff can be very helpful.

Thanks for the reply, My issue here is that I 100% know that there was no fraud on my account. I used my own credit cards to purchase all inventory that I've sold on the Amazon platform and I have the invoices to prove it. Since receiving the email from Amazon I've gotten a copy of all of my credit reports from each agency and none of them show anything that I do not recognize. My thoughts were that by some chance there could be someone with a card that's in my name that I do not know about.
This turned out not to be the case.

I've sent emails to Amazon at the seller - performance @ amazon .com of the invoices for all of my purchases and still get no response.

My reason for creating this thread is to legally see what can be done being that I know I have not done anything fraudulent in any way.

I mean, the email I received was so vague that it could be sent to anyone at anytime for any reason it appears.

In my case I could prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that I did not do anything fraudulent as long as I am able to present my case. I have all invoices, and they all show my billing address which is the same that Amazon has on file. Also, these are the same cards that I have active on my Amazon buyers account which remains open.

Basically I'm wondering is it completely a loss knowing that I have not done anything wrong, even if I have all of the documentation and can prove that every order which came through my account was purchased legally?

Or at the end of the day would I still be only looking to recover my $2,500 in money they owe plus the $500 in inventory they have in their warehouses?

 

[mightymoose]

As above. Your answer is within the contacts you agreed to when you started selling. I would bet Amazon is doing things by the book.
Just because you know there is no fraud is not reason for them to act. Once THEY know there is no fraud you should see results. There is a process. Learn what it is and monitor each step of it.

 

[army judge]

Basically I'm wondering is it completely a loss knowing that I have not done anything wrong, even if I have all of the documentation and can prove that every order which came through my account was purchased legally?

Or at the end of the day would I still be only looking to recover my $2,500 in money they owe plus the $500 in inventory they have in their warehouses?

Your problem is you're at their mercy, right or wrong.
I'll accept your representations as 1,000% TRUTHFUL.
You did NOTHING ILLEGAL.
You followed ALL of their rules.

Now, here's your problem.
You'll first have to see if the documents you've accepted to become one of their resellers allows you to sue them, of if you're required to go to arbitration.
It doesn't matter, because we're simply discussing possibilities.

Okay, let's say you CAN sue them.
You'll be required to sue them in Washington state, perhaps.
Maybe you could get the matter moved to a federal court.
Either way, you'll be gong up against some outstanding lawyers, the best that Jeff Bezos' BILLIONS can buy.

Now, let's say your case was 1,000,000% rock solid.
You'd spend at least $25,000, maybe $50,000 to chase three grand.
Even if you win, you lose.

I'm not trying to discourage you, friend, I'm just being honest with you.
You must first understand what you've gotten yourself not may not be what you thought it was.

Your best shot, and its a "hail Mary" is to write a letter to Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO and Founder), asking him to show you compassion and mercy and reinstate you, or at least release your money and/or merchandise.

So far what you've experienced is working for Amazon as designed.
It's done that way to exasperate people and get them to just give up.

 

[antdeezy02]

Hey Law Professor,

In your above reply you mention that I can send them a Certified Letter. What exactly is a "certified letter?" I'm more than willing to mail a letter stating my case and showing my evidence. I have records of all of my transactions and the invoices for each item that was ever sold on my account. All I really want is for someone to take the time of day to look at it so that they can see that I've done nothing wrong. I'm not seeking any damages. I just want what's owed to me and the ability to do my business on the platform again. I feel that if I'm in front of someone who will listen then I could easily show them all my records and we could see that somehow there is an error somewhere.

-Thanks in advance for your reply