Amazon Seller Account - Was it hacked?

The 3 last weeks I've been going absolutely insane dealing with Amazon seller support. I'm wondering if anyone else here has had a similar issue and looking any tips/hints on how to solve my issue.

I sold a $150.00 set of DVD's on Amazon 3 weeks ago, the buyer received the item and everything was fine. Two days later I'm locked of my seller account. I get the message " You do not have access to merchant Please pick a different merchant or marketplace.". Also on this page is a red exclamation mark inside of a triangle.

I have called seller support 5 times and no results. Worryingly, I have been referred to as "Mr. Parsons" in response to e-mails I've been sending to seller support. Who is that?.....not my last name. That's why I think I was hacked. That ain't me and I believe a Mr. Parsons (maybe Alan?) stole my account. All I get from Amazon is "we are going to look into it and get back to you" statements. The reps are like androids....cold and mechanical. I want to talk to them like actual people but it's just odd.

Now my 150 bucks is in Limbo. I'm worried if my bank account is OK. Sorry guys I'm just venting too....I'm just a little perplexed and pretty mad about this.

 

Amazon is shutting down Seller accounts for reasons they are not talking about. They shut mine off - I see the same message as you if I try to log into it. I got a bunch of runaround BS from the rep I talked to. They do owe you the money, though, and that should be pretty easy to recover if you focus on it when you call. Say goodbye to selling on Amazon, though, they told me not only that they couldn't reopen my Seller account but that I should not try to open another from the same account. It's very unlikely you were hacked, except by Amazon themselves.

 

I've read about the issue you're talking about and lots of people are frustrated. Why do you think I'm getting referred to as a different name? Very suspect to me.

 

More recently, a large number of Amazon third-party seller accounts have been compromised. A scammer hacks an older or dormant seller account, changes the bank account information and adds listings for new merchandise at unreasonably low prices, then pretends to ship the item to a buyer using a false or incorrect tracking number. The scammer then withdraws available funds from received payments into their bank account. In cases where the scammers are operating from remote or international locations, this makes things even more complicated.

 

A few things:

A) No matter what, Amazon will eventually have to release the funds to you. This is true whether or not your account was hacked.
B) Yes, Amazon can close your account, blacklist it, and you can never, ever use it again.
C) This probably does not apply to you, but Amazon has the best fraud prevention tools in the business. This means if your account has been used in a manner that breaks any of Amazon's rules at any time, there is a good chance they will eventually discover that, and when they do, they can (and often do) close it unceremoniously and permanently. And they may never actually explain to you the exact why...
D) If you are blacklisted, and you attempt to open another account with another credit card, another address, a family member, etc. there is a very good chance Amazon will figure that out and blacklist that account as well. They are actually shockingly good at figuring out related accounts.

Now, all of this may have nothing at all to do with your account, except for (A). You will eventually get your money. For the rest, and I say this in the most serious way: Amazon can work in very slow and mysterious ways.

 

You might want to ask your bank if they can help you verify the fact that you are not "Mr. Parsons". Also, perhaps you could get the Post Office to vouch for your address, and the lack of "Mr. Parsons'" living there. The Post Office should be interested in this whole hoo-hah anyway, considering there may be some sort of a mail fraud angle that could get Amazon in dutch with a federal law. THAT oughta wake 'em up!

And, if indeed you succeed in proving you did nothing wrong, and Amazon is forced to do the legwork for the United Frikkin' States Of America, wherein they will ALSO be proving you did nothing wrong...then they have no reason to blacklist your account as a Seller and shut it down, without offering you a fresh one.

Even if they are resorting to hijinks to have excuses to shut down accounts arbitrarily, I'm sure they would much rather pick you up, dust you off and send you on your way, rather than getting pursued by the FTC or some other government agency for charges of mass defrauding of multiple Amazon Sellers relating to prejudicial canceling of accounts.

You have rights, and they're the same rights businesses must play fairly with, for all their customers.

 

People with much bigger operations and highly paid lawyers have tried to get their accounts reinstated and failed against the "our playground, our rules" defense by Amazon. If they don't want to let you back, they won't and you can't change that.

If his account was hijacked, I'm not saying they won't eventually budge. I'm not saying give up at this point. But I'm saying that if they ultimately say no, you're sunk.

 

And I'm just saying, is it really worth it to Amazon to toss 10 people off the Seller's roster, if those 10 band together and make a public stink that would be an interesting story for business news outlets, and suddenly 10 dissatisfied Sellers are making Amazon's whole agenda for selectively pruning their accounts a little too public to look good. Bad image=bad policy, no matter how good a policy it looked like when they discussed it privately in some meeting.

I'm just offering suggestions, and reasons those suggestions could have traction, and give our OP something to consider. Bigger operations and highly paid lawyers, battling gargantuan operations and massivly paid lawyers, probably isn't nearly as good a story in public.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I'm patient and it isn't like I'm in need of payment tomorrow or anything, I guess it's just the nature of the whole thing. I'm antsy until the issue is resolved.

During the last call I made on Monday, I was told Amazon would be sending out a check for my payment if 7 to 10 business days so we'll see if that happens. All further questions about this "Mr. Parsons" puzzle customer service reps and they claim they don't know what I'm talking about. Hmm. I have that e-mail as proof.

 

File a complaint with your State Attorney General. You will get your money back fast!
I filed a complaint with the AG here in MA. a number of years ago concerning Direct TV.
Direct TV ended up sending me $180. I wasn't even asking for any compensation!