Bamboo insanity any one?
Just had a long list of our “Bamboo” products de-listed – Amazon wants us to Appeal if we want to still sell them.
Reason;
“This product has been identified as Food Contact Material being produced from bamboo (or other natural constituents) in combination with polymers”
It seems an EU directive in combination with a faulty Amazon AI robot has issued a decree…
So you could vaguely understand it if it was for bamboo products made of bamboo (skewers, boats, cones) – not that we have any melamine or polymers associated with any of those products (certified), and it would be a long process to go through the normal 6-iterations it takes to convince anybody at Amazon to help sort this out.
But…. anything with “Bamboo” in title is included including;
Cast Iron teapots
Cast iron cups
Ceramic bowls
Ceramic mugs
Ets…etc…
Anybody else?
The dumbed down AI algorithms have finally gone mad… are they actually going out of their way to screw things up….?..
Bamboo insanity any one?
Just had a long list of our “Bamboo” products de-listed – Amazon wants us to Appeal if we want to still sell them.
Reason;
“This product has been identified as Food Contact Material being produced from bamboo (or other natural constituents) in combination with polymers”
It seems an EU directive in combination with a faulty Amazon AI robot has issued a decree…
So you could vaguely understand it if it was for bamboo products made of bamboo (skewers, boats, cones) – not that we have any melamine or polymers associated with any of those products (certified), and it would be a long process to go through the normal 6-iterations it takes to convince anybody at Amazon to help sort this out.
But…. anything with “Bamboo” in title is included including;
Cast Iron teapots
Cast iron cups
Ceramic bowls
Ceramic mugs
Ets…etc…
Anybody else?
The dumbed down AI algorithms have finally gone mad… are they actually going out of their way to screw things up….?..
89 replies
Seller_P9WE9DmQhKbaT
This sort of thing is very annoying, but usually and eventually this sort of thing gets sorted out. A comparable example in books was a whole load of completely respectable history books being delisted because they had the word Nazi in them. Together with others I was on here expressing my exasperation but it was corrected after several weeks and there has been no repetition of the same error. I assume the bots either have a learning capacity or the algorithms are tweaked.
The problem is exacerbated by being unable to get a sensible human response when the problem is first spotted and a case raised. Ideally there would be an admission of machine driven error together with a promise, with a plausible time scale, that the problem will be rectified.
Seller_Or6BJBRNojYTB
Oh joy.
Yes, we had exactly the same notification yesterday.
It appears to appease the Amazon Machine, an SGS report is needed…at least that’s what we’ve deciphered so far.
Seller_GTQV2zDar8YQQ
I had 2 mugs and a cutlery set removed .
I was a little worried as I sell a lot of other things using Bamboo although they don’t come in to contact with food .
If I am reading this EU ruling correctly it’s only things that could come in contact with food that will be affected .
Seller_tAP9fcJH83gFW
I just had somebody claiming to be from “Amazon Accounts”, unable and unwilling to identify themselves, but insisting on me giving them email and address details before they talked to me.
She then repeated the policy statement, totally ignoring the facts that the goods have nothing to do with bamboo, melamine and polymers. It is up to me to prove that cast iron and ceramics are not made from bamboo contain melamine/polymers apparently – mission impossible – how could you possibly do that?
I pointed out that she had not read the case, had not provided me with any new information and asked for a manager to talk to – could not be done.
The following was then sent to me;
If this problem continues, we may not allow you to sell on Amazon.
– A detailed explanation of the root cause(s) of the violations
– Confirmation that you have closed or deleted all restricted product listings from your inventory
– The proactive steps you have taken to prevent any similar violations in the future
Complete insanity!!
Seller_fTHw0bbzSUL9L
That doesn’t sound very positive.
There’s plenty of bamboo products (perfectly permissible) that have been caught up in this. The EU action is targeting what are essentially plastic products containing bamboo powder, often nonetheless marketed as just bamboo. It isn’t targeting all bamboo products with food contact. In fact, anything that visibly resembles bamboo should be outside the scope of this action.
If someone can’t see that something cast iron or ceramic isn’t bamboo, it’s going to be an uphill battle getting a product that is bamboo, but not the restricted one, reinstated.
Seller_EIkfX7Xycaq4H
yes especially when we are no longer in EU - this would not apply ?
Seller_Or6BJBRNojYTB
Just had a call from an Amazon rep in Spain to make me aware of this issue.
Lovely girl, didn’t have a clue.
Told me to close the listing or our account was at threat (product in question is a bamboo chopping board that is SGS certified of anything nasty).
Except I can’t close the listing. It just keeps saying ‘Detail Page Removed’.
She said, ‘Contact Seller Support’. What do you do at that point? Ask them to pass the crack pipe over?
Don’t need this stress and bother.
Don’t need the money.
Fed up of dealing with an evil machine.
Fed up of dealing then after with people that are beyond clueless and punished by Amazon for not working fast enough.
This is just 4 weeks after they decided a garlic press needed a hazmat exclusion.
And to top it all, an ‘Amazon 360’ rep reaches out to us again to see if we can work together. This the program where you pay £1k+ per month and 0,5% of your turnover to Amazon. Yet as I have asked before, they have absolutely no control or communication with Seller Support. I am at this point, wondering if Seller Support operate on Pluto as some sort of troll service.
Fantastic stuff.
About done. Soon to be Ciao.
Seller_k07x09wX75QDZ
Just received this when appealing against the China mug vio…. This product has been identified as Food Contact Material being produced from bamboo (or other natural constituents) in combination with polymers. The use of bamboo (or other natural constituents) in combination with polymers such as melamine, for the manufacture of plastic Food Contact Materials does not have an explicit authorization under article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 of 14 January 2011.Therefore, the sale of these products is restricted on Amazon…
If you believe that this product should not be subject to the recall, please write back to us attaching a signed letter of compliance.
Your letter of compliance should be from the manufacturer, on the manufacturer’s letterhead in .pdf format, and include the following documents:
- Must be from the manufacturer, and on the manufacturer’s letterhead
- Brief statement (1 to 2 sentences) of the reason for the recall
- Identification of the ASIN and product being requested for reinstatement
- How the current/incoming inventory is not subject to the recall and is compliant with all regulatory standards
- Must be submitted as a PDF
Once we receive your letter, we will pass it on to the appropriate team. They will investigate your request and we will contact you with their decision.
Crazy ….
