Amazon is a marketplace where millions of sellers operate their business and try to succeed. However, there’s a big problem that should be eventually solved: Amazon suspensions are a dime a dozen here. Let’s not beat around the bush, and frankly accept it: Amazon sellers are at risk of getting suspended, but little did they know that customers can dominate, and never get punished…
In our previous article we talked about stress, and how Amazon sellers are dealing with everyday hardships. Amazon Seller Central is a real treasure, especially when you want to understand what sellers feel, and what they do to overcome their feelings. And today, we will talk about an incident, a single episode that proved Amazon’s excessive obsession with its customers.
IMPORTANT: you can see the original story here. All the information is taken from there, nothing is added, and nothing is exaggerated.
What Happened?
During their everyday business operations, a printing company received an order, which was honestly very problematical! The company itself says: “received an Amazon Custom order from a person requesting we engrave a knife with a name, two swastikas and some text that translates in English to “the white calling.””
For a company that strives for a good reputation, this kind of order was not appropriate at all! This is why they contacted Amazon, and requested order cancellation. Apart from that, they asked Amazon to prevent the buyer from leaving negative feedback. However, Amazon was too concerned about its customers opinion about the platform, and therefore, pinned the responsibility on the company. “They told me they couldn’t do that, but I should contact the customer and request they cancel the order themselves,” says the seller.
They say no pain, no gain! The printing company decided to follow Amazon’s advice, and contact the customer, who by the way, didn’t respond! There was no other option: the company had to cancel the order, which as you all know, leads to the worsening of Cancellation Rate. A real nightmare for Amazon sellers, right?
ODR for Speaking Up? No Way, Amazon!
Cancelling the order made the customer upset, and a negative feedback followed right away! However, this seller knew that it is not enough to be non-racist: you should be anti-racist!
“IMO Amazon has brought us a customer that requested we create a weapon with racially hateful statements and symbols on it. We should certainly be able to decline such a request without fear of repercussion, and negative feedback is certain in situations like this – all sellers know this.”
This seller really got bent out of shape, because the platform that should provide good and safe conditions for its sellers, failed to do that! However, after uploading this story to Amazon Seller Central, the seller finally got a somewhat normal response.
“We apologize that you received an order of this nature. Please feel free to reply with any other questions you may have.”
This is a curious case, as Amazon is pretty strict when it comes to Nazi-related items! Adolf Hitler’s book, for example, is on Amazon’s no-no list!
We don’t really know how this story ends, but there’s something we know for sure: sometimes you just have to rely on yourself, trust your gut instincts and operate your business. Suspensions are dangerous and horrifying, but there’s always a way to solve your problem. You just have to know the way out!
