The Amazon judge and jury

[MuirWannabe]

The Amazon arrogance just continues to escalate. Apparently they think they are perfect, never make a mistake and don't believe in innocent until prove guilty.

To simply refused to elaborate, to blame it on their secret business algorithms, to tell you to go F yourself and refuse to even refund your prime membership money. Let's see how this works when they take over the food market, the drug market and any other market as they see fit.

If your state has a pro-active Attorney General lodge a complaint. It looks as though you would quality for a small claims court so go for it. If I was you I would tack on the value of any Fire Sticks, unusable Fire tablets or kindles and any digital content.

Are you 100% certain you have no inkling of what triggered this, ? Even the smallest thought of what might have been misconstrued... Start raising a stink and see what you kick up.

In answer to your last question. No, I’ve no idea. There’s nothing we did wrong. Just simple customers who used the site to buy the occasional item. I feel like we got caught up and linked with something bad. Maybe our account was hacked although I’ve seen no evidence of that on my credit card. In fact, we have and use the Amazon credit card for our purchases. Another irony is that card is still open and appears fine with no false charges. They closed our account but not our credit card (which doesn’t end in 37 btw).

 

[ivinsfan]

So you don't even have the option to check your actual account online to see if there is anything fishy going on? It's like your account never existed and poof it's gone. Do they closed the account of anyone who gets hacked. I don't get it.

I've been googling multiple accounts and it almost solely refers to business accounts. I guess the all American company doesn't even feel the need to explain itself. I'm going to start buying less from them because between this kind of stuff and basically extorting local communities for massive tax breaks, I'm pretty sick and tired of the entire Amazon brand..

 

[GrayHare]

Small claims court varies state to state but in general it's for basic disputes involving small dollar amounts. Filing is usually a simple form and a small fee. Cases like the OP describes are typically resolved long before any hearing is scheduled because the legal action causes the defendant to stop ignoring you. When Amazon's attorneys see they can't prove you wrong they are likely to realize it was their goof and restore your access. They'll likely want to phone you to talk about it, again long before a hearing date. After you have want you want, you can tell the court you wish to drop your claim.

 

[braumeister]

Did you try this:

Amazon.com Customer Service Live Person Information:

The best number to call to reach a human at Amazon.com Customer Service Department is listed below:

Phone number to call: 866-216-1072

How to Speak to a Live Person: Call 866-216-1072 and get directed to an automated voice messaging system. Press 0 and you will be placed on hold to speak with a live customer service agent for Amazon.com. We experienced a 4 minute wait time.

Support Hours: Customer Service Representatives are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

 

[ivinsfan]

I just read the T and C of a Prime membership and you won't collect a dime in small claims court. If they determine (according to their "standards" ) any fraud or misuse they are not obligated to return one penny of your prepaid Prime membership fee.

 

[GrayHare]

It sounds like the OP prefers access restored rather than money returned.

 

[ivinsfan]

It sounds like the OP prefers access restored rather than money returned.

Yes well that door has already been closed by Amazon...

 

[GrayHare]

Yes well that door has already been closed by Amazon...

In my experience all sorts of doors can open once a defendant has a trial scheduled.

 

[Lsbcal]

All of these big and small companies seem to have their dark side.

I hope somehow this incident can be turned around.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I just read the T and C of a Prime membership and you won't collect a dime in small claims court. If they determine (according to their "standards" ) any fraud or misuse they are not obligated to return one penny of your prepaid Prime membership fee.

Not only to mention, I am quite sure there is a choice of forum clause in your terms and conditions. And the terms will be construed in the favor of Amazon..not you. Save your filing fee.

In my experience all sorts of doors can open once a defendant has a trial scheduled.

That would most likely not happen. Even if the lawsuit is proper (correct forum, a valid claim), rarely do disputes go to trial. NOW..that's not to say that there is some lawyer(s) out there looking to do a class action. In that scenario, the OP might get $8.47 in the year 2044, and the lawyers will make $100,000,000.

OP...when you said that your returns were "relative" to your purchases, I think you should elaborate. I will be honest, I have had quite a few returns, but for good reason and doesn't happen often. Nonetheless, I use Amazon A LOT so with all this publicity with folks being BANNED, it has me *really* thinking about returns. I wouldn't be surprised if this is done on purpose. Ban a few folks for "too many returns", they raise hell online, the media picks up a story and BOOM...people thing twice about returning stuff.

I wonder too if someone held $100,000 in stock if that would make a difference? Probably not since that would only be .0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% ownership...if that.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Me versus Amazon. Could be one of the great David and Goliath stories of all time. Would seem I have no chance.

But I’ll google the cost of a small claims filing just for the heck of it.

Thanks for the empathy everyone.

Ivinsfan,
I won’t be ordering from them anymore either. Except my defiance is a little more involuntary. But I appreciate your views.

 

[audreyh1]

There is clearly a credit card number involved that does not belong to the OP, so I doubt it has to do with returns. The OP was told that it was due to a link with another banned account. The mystery is why there was such a link.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

But I’ll google the cost of a small claims filing just for the heck of it.

Read the terms and conditions of your membership. See what the forum clause says, and if you are bound to alternative dispute resolution before wasting time looking into filing fee. This is NOT legal advice. I repeat, this is NOT legal advice.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Did you try this:

Yes, I did. The humans I was allowed to speak with universally could not address my issue or even talk about it. They could only submit a form to Account Services. And they will only deal via email. It truly was one of the 7 circles of hell. I circled it 3 times before realizing this was really their process for handling these locked account situations. That’s when I emailed Jeff. And then things got even worse [emoji15]

 

[audreyh1]

Well - if there is any kind of dispute resolution available I'm sure the OP would like access!

 

[MuirWannabe]

Read the terms and conditions of your membership. See what the forum clause says, and if you are bound to alternative dispute resolution before wasting time looking into filing fee. This is NOT legal advice. I repeat, this is NOT legal advice.

Good idea. Hopefully I can see the terms without having to log in. Cause I sure can’t do that. Probably can find them. This is already starting to sound complicated lol.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Well - if there is any kind of dispute resolution available I'm sure the OP would like access!

From the actual terms (and the OP MAY be able to use small claims):

Any dispute or claim relating in any way to these Terms or your use of Prime, or to any products or services sold or distributed by Amazon or through Amazon.com will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that you may assert claims in small claims court if your claims qualify. The Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law apply to this agreement.

To begin an arbitration proceeding, you must send a letter requesting arbitration and describing your claim to our registered agent Corporation Service Company, 300 Deschutes Way SW, Suite 304, Tumwater, WA 98501. The arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its rules, including the AAA's Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes. The AAA's rules are available at www.adr.org or by calling 1-800-778-7879. Payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA's rules. We will reimburse those fees for claims totaling less than $10,000 unless the arbitrator determines the claims are frivolous. Likewise, Amazon will not seek attorneys' fees and costs in arbitration unless the arbitrator determines the claims are frivolous. You may choose to have the arbitration conducted by telephone, based on written submissions, or in person in the county where you live or at another mutually agreed location.

 

[CountryGal]

Any chance your wifi has been hacked and someone is using your connection, so Amazon thinks you are coming from the same household?

 

[ocean view]

Does your local newspaper or TV station have a consumer advocate that you can contact? They might be able to get some answers.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Not only to mention, I am quite sure there is a choice of forum clause in your terms and conditions. And the terms will be construed in the favor of Amazon..not you. Save your filing fee.



That would most likely not happen. Even if the lawsuit is proper (correct forum, a valid claim), rarely do disputes go to trial. NOW..that's not to say that there is some lawyer(s) out there looking to do a class action. In that scenario, the OP might get $8.47 in the year 2044, and the lawyers will make $100,000,000.

OP...when you said that your returns were "relative" to your purchases, I think you should elaborate. I will be honest, I have had quite a few returns, but for good reason and doesn't happen often. Nonetheless, I use Amazon A LOT so with all this publicity with folks being BANNED, it has me *really* thinking about returns. I wouldn't be surprised if this is done on purpose. Ban a few folks for "too many returns", they raise hell online, the media picks up a story and BOOM...people thing twice about returning stuff.

I wonder too if someone held $100,000 in stock if that would make a difference? Probably not since that would only be .0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% ownership...if that.

To address your returns question. We have returned items. Maybe 2 or 3 maximum over the last 5 years. Relative to us ordering about 4-5 things a month. If they are making a ‘returns’ example of me, then nobody would have an open account. But yes, I remember we have returned a couple items.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Any chance your wifi has been hacked and someone is using your connection, so Amazon thinks you are coming from the same household?

Anything is possible. But it seems unlikely. We use the default password that came with the router. It’s long and obtuse. And I’ve seen no other problems in my life that would indicate I’d been hacked in such a way.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

To address your returns question. We have returned items. Maybe 2 or 3 maximum over the last 5 years. Relative to us ordering about 4-5 things a month. If they are making a ‘returns’ example of me, then nobody would have an open account. But yes, I remember we have returned a couple items.

Yeah, after re-reading your original post, I see that this is not the reason, so my apologies. Did you happen to see any Amazon (or Chase) accounts on your credit reports that you aren't familiar with? Do you have a common name? I am trying to figure out how you were linked with the "bad actor" account(s). It all sounds odd to me and I am sorry about your situation.

 

[Lsbcal]

....
We took these actions because our records show that this account is related to another account that was closed by Amazon. Due to the property nature of our business we are unable to discuss other accounts with you.

...

So there is some other account that is tangled up with your ID possibly. They suspect you may have done an end run to try to access via this account possibly (but very unclear).

Are there any obvious security issues with your accessing Amazon? Things like a computer that is not up to date, does not have good virus protection, is sometimes downloaded with questionable software, etc? What about your account password, is it a strong one? Is your account set up with 2 factor authentication should someone login from another computer? What about your phone, is it secure with a password and the cell service has a good password on your account so it cannot be hijacked?

Just some thoughts as security is a tough issue for most of us. Not blaming you for anything as I'm sure you are a victim of something here. So the question is where did the victimization begin.

 

[ivinsfan]

In my experience all sorts of doors can open once a defendant has a trial scheduled.

Small claims court isn't a trial and T and C of Amazon say any claim other then a small claims court issue will be settle by arbitration.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Yeah, after re-reading your original post, I see that this is not the reason, so my apologies. Did you happen to see any Amazon (or Chase) accounts on your credit reports that you aren't familiar with? Do you have a common name? I am trying to figure out how you were linked with the "bad actor" account(s). It all sounds odd to me and I am sorry about your situation.

No apology necessary. My last name is not very common. I scrubbed my Credit Karma report pretty closely and saw nothing that shouldn’t be there. That was 2 days ago. I’m going to check again now.

I agree that’s what they seem to be saying. I’m linked with some apparently very bad account. But why, what, how, etc? No idea. And why wouldn’t they give me a chance to talk about my account and to resolve whatever their concerns are?