Amazon freezing accounts. Like banks.

Amazon's monkeys are out of control. Same as banks, but worse as there's only one Amazon (and who cares about antitrust laws - which could actually benefit both consumers and shareholders if applied).

So Amazon decided to freeze my US account. The reason being that I placed some orders for household items worth more than a few bucks.
You know the drill: orders cancelled, account blocked, repeat KYC, reset security, call Indian customer service. Cherry on the top: Amex froze my card because I attempted the same Amz payment several times 🤦

All fixed the next day, after a few hours wasted on the phone and online:

Hello,

Thank you for letting us know about the canceled orders in your account. We have restored your access to this account. You can now sign in and place orders.
You can review the exact status of your previous orders in the "Your Account" section of our website. For any canceled items you would still like to receive, you are welcome to place a new order through your Amazon account.
If you are unclear about order status, please contact our Customer Service team by logging into your Amazon account and navigate to the "Customer Service" section under "Account & Help."
We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. If you want to continue using Prime benefits, please re-subscribe.

Remember: now Amazon works like banks. You have to "warm up" the account if you want to spend your money. It doesn't matter if your account is several years old and you already spent 6 figures in the past. AI (Artificial Ignorance) dictates the rules, monkeys obey, customers suffer. And, I guess, Temu celebrates 🤣

Another proof that Amazon is a terrible company, too big to function properly, completely out of control and only relying on political support.

Fiscal said:

Amazon loves to freeze accounts, doesn't matter if you're a customer or seller.

I understand freezing sellers' accounts, that's legalized robbery and Amz makes good profits with it. But freezing legit customers' accounts? 😟 Pure idiocy.

Fiscal said:

Just as much as Shopify these days. Mostly annoying if you're a seller I'd say.

Plenty of horror stories of sellers with frozen accounts (and funds):
sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discu…7691f21550a0
sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discu…702403c91c98

View on Reddit

sellercentral.amazon.it/seller-forums/discus…38778521521b

Of course I too have an Amz seller account blocked with a material amount of funds withheld and litigation ongoing for years :(

Fiscal said:

But from what I understand they're much more consistent with customer service and speed of problem resolution on both ends than other providers (speaking from personal experience).

Not my experience.
I have some issues with another Amz shop, and after months of attempts finally customer service declared they have no idea of why certain things happen.

Fiscal said:

I can't scroll through my timeline without reading things like this. It's still bizarre that almost every entrepreneur has to keep jumping through these hoops. I hope there will come a time when we can live without constant KYC freezes. But that won't happen until crypto is fully embraced.

For sure they will find a way to make crypto payments annoying, like the EU did with the travel rule.

Fiscal said:

It's actually quite remarkable how big Amazon is considering its outdated layout and methods. But in tech it's usually: if it works, it works.

With Amazon it's more like: it doesn't work, but who cares, as long as revenues keep flowing. It is more expensive for them to fix issues at this point than accepting the constant, daily money bleeding caused by their rubbish systems.

Fiscal said:

I also find it strange that when you place an order, it can take days for the amount to be charged to your credit card.

They usually charge when the item is picked up from the shelf.

Fiscal said:

What I do like about Amazon though: they'll actually refund you quite easily and quickly if a product doesn't arrive or is broken.

There's an entire ecosystem thriving on this, with smart chaps making good money. Guides can be found on the dark web.
Unfortunately sometimes this damages genuine sellers: Ongoing Refund Scam Causing £74,000+ Loss