Amazon launched a new program to protect sellers from having their accounts deactivated while trying to resolve problems. Many sellers heralded the move, which Amazon announced on Wednesday as follows:
“Today, we are launching Account Health Assurance, a new benefit for sellers who consistently achieve a high Account Health Rating (AHR). With Account Health Assurance, we will no longer deactivate your selling account as long as you work with us to resolve any issues.”
Dharmesh Mehta, Vice President of Amazon Worldwide Selling Partner Services, said, “As we head into the busy holiday shopping season and beyond, we want to provide Amazon’s seller community with even more peace of mind so they can focus on doing what they do best, which is creating innovative products, building amazing brands, and delighting customers.”
The reaction on the Amazon seller discussion boards was mixed, however – sellers liked the program, but some objected to the eligibility criteria, exposing the divide between what could be called the haves and have-nots.
Amazon described the criteria as follows: “Account Health Assurance is a benefit for professional sellers in our US and Canada stores (other countries will be launched over the coming months) who maintain an AHR score of 250 or higher for at least 6 months with no more than 10 days where your AHR dropped below 250 and have a valid emergency contact number on file.”
Sellers who qualified praised the move. But numerous sellers said they would not qualify because attaining an AHR score of 250 excluded lower-volume sellers.
One seller, who said they qualified for the protection offered by the new program, nevertheless said the eligibility factor “completely screws a ton of quality sellers.”
An Amazon spokesperson told EcommerceBytes there was no charge for Account Health Assurance.
In the email that went to sellers, Amazon explained:
“When you encounter an issue that would otherwise result in account deactivation, AHA will now step in and an account health specialist will proactively reach out and explain step-by-step what the issue is and how to address it. As long as our team can reach you within 72 hours and you work with us to address the account issues, your selling account will not be deactivated. By knowing that your account health is safe, you can spend more time focused on growing your business.”
The Amazon spokesperson said Account Health Assurance was launching first with selling partners in Amazon’s U.S. and Canadian stores. “Amazon expects to expand this benefit quickly to additional sellers, including to other countries in the coming months,” she said.
I’m one of those sellers who do not qualify because of volume, despite having 100% feedback and no dings against my account health – a clean slate. I’m selling an average of 14 books daily and that only takes me to an AHR of 240.
Nice to know that a phony IP complaint can deactivate my account.