Amazon account suspension is a very painful experience for both customers and sellers. If you are a customer, you will not be able to buy any product from Amazon and use its services. On the other hand, if you are an Amazon Seller, you will not be able to continue your business on Amazon until the issue gets resolved. Apart from the violation of Amazon’s terms and conditions, there are multiple reasons Amazon locks an account. If such a thing has happened to you and you are still looking for a solution, this article may help you. Here, we will provide some tips that may help both sellers and customers to unlock their Amazon accounts.
Reasons for Amazon account suspension
Before we start our discussion on how to unlock the locked Amazon account, it is better to talk about the reasons why Amazon suspends or locks an account. If you are a new seller on Amazon, this information will help you avoid those mistakes that could lead to account suspension in the future. Some of the points listed below are only for Amazon Sellers, whereas, some are for both sellers and customers.
- Suspicious activity.
- Operating the Amazon account with multiple IP and MAC addresses.
- Incorrect or incomplete account information.
- Providing poor service to the customers.
- Selling fake products to the customers.
- Quality and safety issues.
- Miscellaneous.
Let’s discuss this in detail.
1] Suspicious activity
Being one of the most trusted online stores, the security of both sellers and customers is paramount for Amazon. That’s why if Amazon detects any suspicious activity on a seller or a customer account, it immediately locks that account. In such a case, contact the Amazon customer support team to unlock your account.
2] Operating the Amazon account with multiple IP and MAC addresses
Operating the Amazon account with multiple IP and MAC addresses can lead to account suspension. What does this statement mean? When you create an Amazon account on a particular computer, it captures its MAC address. When you log in to your Amazon account on another computer, Amazon may lock your account. The chances of account suspension are high if that computer is a shared computer, like the computers in a cybercafe. This is because multiple Amazon users can sign into their accounts on the same computer in a cybercafe. Due to this Amazon considers that you are operating multiple accounts which leads to account suspension.
The same thing applies to the IP address. That’s why it is not recommended to log into your Amazon account with public Wi-Fi as it might be used by multiple Amazon users. This may result in account suspension.
3] Incorrect or incomplete account information
Providing incomplete or fake information to Amazon is one of the reasons your account gets locked. When you register on Amazon as a seller, you have to provide all the required documents. After providing all the required documents, Amazon reviews your profile and validates the authenticity of the documents provided by you. If Amazon finds any discrepancy in your account details, it will put your business on hold. During this period, you will not be able to sell any product on Amazon. In such a case, you may receive the following message:
We are reviewing your Amazon seller account because we were unable to verify some of the information you provided. During our review, you will not be able to sell on Amazon.
In certain situations, Amazon Sellers can have more than one account. If Amazon has removed your selling privileges from one of your accounts, instead of registering a new account, you should appeal the suspension from the email address that you have used to register that locked account. You can resume your business after Amazon reactivates your account.
4] Providing poor service to the customers
All Amazon Sellers have to maintain a healthy account to avoid suspension. The performance of the Amazon Seller account mainly depends on the three factors, order defect rate, cancellation rate, and late shipment rate. being an Amazon Seller, you have to take care of the following things to avoid getting a red flag from Amazon:
- Your order defect rate should not exceed 1%.
- The total order cancellation in your account should not exceed 2.5%.
- The late shipment orders in your account should not be more than 4%.
If you fail to maintain the above criteria, Amazon may suspend your account. If such a thing happens to you, send a Plan of Action to Amazon including the details like ASINs, Order IDs, and brands (if applicable). Your Plan of Action should highlight the root cause of the issue and the steps that you will take to avoid the mistake in the future.
5] Selling fake products to the customers
If you want to avoid account suspension from Amazon, you should focus on product authenticity. Your Amazon account will be blocked if you sell counterfeit or fake products to the customers. If any quality, trademark, copyright, or patent issues occur in your account, you will receive a notice regarding that; and your product listings will be removed automatically. If you think that the complaint is false, you can contact Amazon regarding that.
6] Quality and safety issues
Sometimes, Amazon receives complaints from some customers regarding low quality or different material and safety issues. In such a case Amazon may lock your account. Following are some examples of material and safety issues:
- Defective of fake item: The customer may complain to Amazon that he received a used or fake product or the product is defective or damaged.
- Product information: The customer may also complain that he did not receive all the items described on the product page on Amazon’s website or the product that he received is different from that displayed on the product page.
- Safety issues: Issues like the product expiry date and other health issues fall under this category.
7] Miscellaneous
There are some other causes of Amazon account suspension, like selling prohibited items on Amazon, abusing customer reviews, misuse of the product page, etc.
How to unlock Amazon account
When Amazon suspends or locks your account, it sends you an email regarding that. That email contains the reason for your account suspension. Read that email carefully and try to clear the issue in your appeal. After your account suspension, Amazon will ask you a few things to decide whether your account is to be unlocked or not. The chances of getting your account unlocked will be high if you provide authentic information to Amazon.
Here are some tips that you can try to unlock your Amazon account:
- Submit the required documents directly.
- Call Amazon supervisor or account specialist.
- Chat with an Amazon account specialist.
- Contact Amazon Accounts Specialist via email.
Let’s start.
1] Submit the required documents directly
This is a straightforward method to unlock the Amazon account. But unfortunately, this method is not for Amazon Sellers. If you are an Amazon customer and your account is locked, follow the instructions below:
- Open your web browser and sign in to your email ID registered with Amazon.
- Open the last order dispatch confirmation email.
- Now, click on the link provided in the email to access your Amazon account. You should see most information except the product details.
- Now, try to buy something from Amazon.
- When you buy something, you may receive a message “Your amazon account is locked, and orders are on hold.”
- The page should also display the Add document button. Click on that button and upload all the required documents.
After submitting all the documents, wait until Amazon contacts you.
2] Call Amazon Supervisor or Account Specialist
Search online to get the contact number of Amazon support in your country. Call them and explain the reason why your account was locked. Request the Amazon account specialist to review your account and unlock it.
3] Chat with an Amazon account specialist
To use the online chat feature, you have to sign in to your Amazon account. Because your account is locked, you have to sign in with another active account. After signing in, contact Amazon via the online chat feature and provide them with the verification details when you will be asked to do so. Explain the reason why your Amazon account was locked. The account specialist will review your account and do the needful.
4] Contact Amazon account specialist via email
Amazon Sellers receive an email from Amazon after account suspension. Amazon wants sellers to submit an appeal with a Plan of Action describing the reasons for their account suspension. Also, make sure that you have covered all the points in your appeal.
How do I reactivate my seller account?
In order to reactivate your Amazon account, you should contact Amazon support and explain to them the reason for your account deactivation. If you are an Amazon Seller, you have to submit an appeal with a Plan of Action. In your Plan of Action, you should explain the root cause of the issue that had led to your account deactivation. In addition to this, the Plan of Action should also describe the steps that you will take to avoid the same mistake in the future.
How do I appeal an Amazon suspension?
While submitting an appeal, you should provide all the documents asked by Amazon along with a Plan of Action. Plan of Action is a crucial part of the appeal. Therefore, it should contain a detailed explanation of the root cause of the customer complaint. The following points will help you make an effective Plan of Action:
- Assure the Amazon account specialist team that the mistake will never happen again in the future.
- Explain the steps that you will take to improve your services on Amazon.
- It will be better if you write the solutions to the problem in bullets instead of writing in paragraphs.
- Do not blame the customer in your Plan of Action.
Hope this helps.
Read next: How to create and manage Amazon Prime Video profiles.
