Beware Clearing Cache and Cookies and Taking Long Vacations
I did two things that I never thought would be a problem. I took a three month vacation in the summer and I cleared my cache and cookies about a week before I was ready to become Active again.
Within a day after I cleared cache and cookies, I received a threatening e-mail from Amazon saying that my account was at risk of deactivation because I had not provided a bank statement and valid ID, something which I did a year before.
After spending six hours to provide the information, I received another threatening e-mail. I found that I put one wrong number on the expiration date of my driver's license, corrected it and submitted the update.
Later that day, I received an e-mail from Amazon stating that everything is now up to date and my Amazon account was ready to go.
The next day, I received another threatening e-mail stating that my account was at risk, that I had not done anything to fix it and that I was at risk of deactivation. The e-mail did not mention any of my previous work.
I opened a case and nothing happened in over a week. I requested the case be escalated to Leadership Team and/or tech team. I have been receiving periodic notifications that someone is looking at my case, but it has been a week since I made my request for escalation. During the time that I opened the case, I have received three more threatening e-mails, all of which state that I have done nothing to fix my account.
I think that, somehow, Amazon has either developed two accounts for me, are mixing me up with someone else or that either the computer or an Amazon staff member have been deleting information that I submitted.
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Which brings us back to the original topic. I could not find any prohibition for taking long vacations or information about possible negative consequences for doing so. Amazon needs to be more transparent about this issue.
I also recall all the times that Seller Support has told me and probably most of us to clear cache and cookies for one reason or another. They never told us that, if we are on vacation and clear cache and cookies, we will have to spend hours updating our account over and over again and be threatened with deactivation. Once again, Amazon and Seller Support need to be more transparent about the consequences for clearing cache and cookies.
Beware Clearing Cache and Cookies and Taking Long Vacations
I did two things that I never thought would be a problem. I took a three month vacation in the summer and I cleared my cache and cookies about a week before I was ready to become Active again.
Within a day after I cleared cache and cookies, I received a threatening e-mail from Amazon saying that my account was at risk of deactivation because I had not provided a bank statement and valid ID, something which I did a year before.
After spending six hours to provide the information, I received another threatening e-mail. I found that I put one wrong number on the expiration date of my driver's license, corrected it and submitted the update.
Later that day, I received an e-mail from Amazon stating that everything is now up to date and my Amazon account was ready to go.
The next day, I received another threatening e-mail stating that my account was at risk, that I had not done anything to fix it and that I was at risk of deactivation. The e-mail did not mention any of my previous work.
I opened a case and nothing happened in over a week. I requested the case be escalated to Leadership Team and/or tech team. I have been receiving periodic notifications that someone is looking at my case, but it has been a week since I made my request for escalation. During the time that I opened the case, I have received three more threatening e-mails, all of which state that I have done nothing to fix my account.
I think that, somehow, Amazon has either developed two accounts for me, are mixing me up with someone else or that either the computer or an Amazon staff member have been deleting information that I submitted.
--------
Which brings us back to the original topic. I could not find any prohibition for taking long vacations or information about possible negative consequences for doing so. Amazon needs to be more transparent about this issue.
I also recall all the times that Seller Support has told me and probably most of us to clear cache and cookies for one reason or another. They never told us that, if we are on vacation and clear cache and cookies, we will have to spend hours updating our account over and over again and be threatened with deactivation. Once again, Amazon and Seller Support need to be more transparent about the consequences for clearing cache and cookies.
21 replies
Levi_Dylan_Amazon
Hello @Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB,
Thank you for reaching out here on the forums.
From what you have shared so far, this sounds like you are experiencing two separate processes. One being account re-verification after going on vacation and the other is the Inform Consumers Act verification. Can you confirm if this is correct?
I want to clarify that clearing your cache and cookies will not trigger this verification. The Inform Consumers Act is an annual verification for higher volume sellers. The law applies to third-party sellers on Amazon who, in any continuous 12-month period during the previous 24 months, have sold 200 or more new or unused consumer products and have had $5,000 or more in gross revenues.
I suggest to visit your account info section of seller central and complete the outstanding verification items to avoid account disruption. Please share any case ID's that you have so I can take a look at the details and your next steps.
Once you have checked this, please reach back out in this thread for additional guidance. The forums community and I are here to support you.
Wishing you the best,
LeviDylan
Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB
Just saw your post after posting my update.
No one has told me about any other reason for deactivation but was told to look at seller performance. I went into seller performance and could only find three things with closed listings that were not deemed significant by seller performance unless they wanted me to say that I read something which I did. I never received any correspondence from Seller Performance on those issues before since I take care of them right away.
My bank account does not have my middle name and has only four letters in my first name. That name is printed on Amazon bank information but not what needs to be seen on bank statement.
As I said before, once the dust settles and this problem is behind me, I am going to request that Amazon verify that I had over $5,000 in sales - don't think I am close for the past three years.
Levi_Dylan_Amazon
Hey there @Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB,
I wanted to provide an example of why this has not been accepted so far. If your name is Michael and the name in your seller account is Michael, submitting a bank statement with the name Mike will be deemed as a mismatch. To address the name mismatch you have the option of reaching out to your bank and obtaining a letter confirming your name and bank information. The letter must be on bank letterhead and can be submitted in the place of the requested bank statement. If your bank has your shortened name on file for you, you may need to work with your bank to have that updated.
I have also checked on your case ID and I can see that it is still under review.
Please let me know if you can obtain a bank letter for the Inform verification and respond here.
LeviDylan
Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB
Levi,
Thanks for the suggestions. Thought the name difference was causing a problem. Can't understand why it was not a problem when I had to verify everything the last two years. Although it was time consuming, I submitted everything and went through without any problem. Did Amazon add features that made it more difficult this time? I do not plan to change my name on my bank account and will hold off having my bank send me a letter until one of the Leadership Team members requests it but the latter suggestion sounds very reasonable.
So far, I think at least four Leadership Team members along with an internal team and perhaps others are involved in my case. I appreciate the help. Can't help but wonder that, with all the staff hours that Amazon is putting into my case, should they also be working on possible solutions to keep the problem from showing up again? Hard to believe that the bank verification debacle has not shown up before. Unless the timing of clearing cache and cookies had something to do with everything.
Also, this Verification requirement seems to have been around for a while. Why have I only had to verify during the three years that I took three-four month vacations?
Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB
Levi,
Looked at your response again, especially where you said "Please let me know if you can obtain a bank letter for the Inform verification and respond here."
I am sure that i can get a bank letter. Just do not know why anyone from the Leadership Team hasn't requested it. I do not want to bother my bank if it will not do any good.
Once I know that it will make a difference, could you have someone who is working on the case let me know and let me know the specifics that they are looking for.
Levi_Dylan_Amazon
Hello @Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB,
I have checked on your case ID again and I can see that this is still pending a resolution.
Once the leadership team shares a resolution with us we can discuss the best next steps. I will continue to monitor this daily and once there is movement I will be sure to reach back out.
Best,
LeviDylan
Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB
Reply,
Thanks for hanging in thee with me.
One question that no one seems to be able to ask - why are we having a problem this year when the verification went without a hitch the two years previously?
Looks like, no matter when everything is fixed, because of health issues, I will not be able to go off vacation status until around November 1.
Levi_Dylan_Amazon
Hello @Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB,
I will not be able to provide clarity on this as I do not have the information needed to provide an accurate answer. I just wanted to be upfront with you about that. I will continue to monitor the case ID for any updates and please let me know if you have further questions.
I hope you have a great rest of the day.
LeviDylan
Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB
I posted an update on my case since nothing had happened in five days. I received two responses, one from the new leadership team member who had taken over the case. He asked me to complete the banking area that has been a problem.
I went in and nothing had changed. It still wanted me to verify an account that does not have my exact name.
What have they been doing all this time and why didn't they take your suggestion to resolve the case?
At this rate, I will still be in limbo beyond November 1 when I planned to start selling again.
Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB
Leadership Team has become more testy and keeps wanting to close the case while leaving me in limbo.
In my last reply, among other things, I said "I would be willing to have my bank manager contact you but I thought that was something you would have mentioned."
I also requested that the case be elevated above leadership team status although I am not sure if that is even an option.
Please check the case and, hopefully, offer a voice of reason.
I do not want to end my 20 year affiliation with Amazon over something like this.
Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB
Lev,
Could not believe when I woke up this morning and did not see that my account was at risk of deactivation for the first time in a month.
Did you have anything to do with that?
Seller Support marked the case "Answered" but said Verification was in process and gave me a link to contact if I had additional problems.
Now, I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop since, earlier in the month, I received an e-mail saying everything was OK..
Today's developments save me contacting my congressman about the problems that law has on small sellers although I may still contact him but part of me is very exhausted with the entire situation..
Talking about small sellers, I think it is time to make it so I do not have to do the ID validation since I don't think that I have reached the $5000 threshold in the last three years and do not see much of a change unless CDs make a comeback like vinyl has. What do I have to do?
Thanks for your support.
Seller_0y5AN5tyn4EUB
Just received this e-mail:
Dear Seller,
Your bank account information has been verified. You can now disburse your funds to this bank account.
If you need to verify any additional bank accounts, visit your Deposit Methods page in Seller Central.
Sincerely,
The Selling on Amazon team
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Received one of these three weeks ago. Received a nasty letter from Amazon a few days later. Hopefully history will not repeat itself.
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
I don't think that clearing your cache had anything to do with it. At the most, that might clear a recent cookie so that you need a new OTP; but if the last one was more than a few days old, it wouldn't have counted anyway.
And having to re-verify after a vacation is not unusual. Amazon has never stated just how long you can go before this sets in, but it's been standard for several years now. Prior to that, inactive accounts were getting hijacked by scammers, so most agree this is a good thing, at least in principle. But as you see, their process is far from perfect.'
Thankfully you have the attention of one of the mods; I suspect this should be resolved within a few days. Keep us posted.
