12 Year Account Deactivated for Bundling Policy Violation
We work with our local Coca-Cola bottler and ship MF orders on AZ. Saturday, an account that was 1000/1000, was deactivated. No call from Account Assurance. Not even an email about the defects, but just a notification that 2 ASINs with Diet Coke bundled under our brand name were reported for Intellectual Policy Violation.
We spend $1m+ per year with Coca-cola and have all of the invoice, statements, and verbal authorizations to do so. They are one of our very few accounts we don't have Brand Registry authority with. Now that we asked our reps and the VP to draft us a letter they are acting like it is a big process to run up to legal. I told them I just need a simple letter stating we are authorized to resell their brand Diet Coke. We told the reps to cancel all of the trucks coming in twice per week and put the ball in their court.
Having such a strong account with 50k plus orders per month I let my ego get in the way and said it would never happen to us. I was wrong.
We've already submitted 2 POAs that have been denied and they are telling us all they want is the LOA to reactivate. In the mean time I have payroll, expenses, credit cards, and family.
We spoke to our internal B2B reps and they are working angles and we hired a 3rd party consultant to help us.
1st post here, but any advice given would be helpful. Thanks in advance!
12 Year Account Deactivated for Bundling Policy Violation
We work with our local Coca-Cola bottler and ship MF orders on AZ. Saturday, an account that was 1000/1000, was deactivated. No call from Account Assurance. Not even an email about the defects, but just a notification that 2 ASINs with Diet Coke bundled under our brand name were reported for Intellectual Policy Violation.
We spend $1m+ per year with Coca-cola and have all of the invoice, statements, and verbal authorizations to do so. They are one of our very few accounts we don't have Brand Registry authority with. Now that we asked our reps and the VP to draft us a letter they are acting like it is a big process to run up to legal. I told them I just need a simple letter stating we are authorized to resell their brand Diet Coke. We told the reps to cancel all of the trucks coming in twice per week and put the ball in their court.
Having such a strong account with 50k plus orders per month I let my ego get in the way and said it would never happen to us. I was wrong.
We've already submitted 2 POAs that have been denied and they are telling us all they want is the LOA to reactivate. In the mean time I have payroll, expenses, credit cards, and family.
We spoke to our internal B2B reps and they are working angles and we hired a 3rd party consultant to help us.
1st post here, but any advice given would be helpful. Thanks in advance!
76 replies
Seller_z3XfkorVSmnEY
Thank you for posting as a reminder that we all need LOAs in writing and that verbal agreements aren't enforceable on Amazon.
Sorry, I've got nothing, but wish you luck getting the brand to give you an LOA.
Seller_OvL8C4BJWiuS9
The issue is with the name Coco-Cola, it's not owned by your local bottler. You have to have a written LOA from headquarters.
Seller_GG74u1SdeK6EC
Famous last words: "It'll never happen to me!"
Dear US Amazon sellers, take note.
You're next.
Seller_2UkjhY9D9b6bj
[Moderator Edit: removed off-topic commentary]
Seller_pPJq5hFWVCV7P
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. To save time and money, here's a straightforward approach: Since you have a direct relationship with Coca-Cola, ask them to issue a Letter of Authorization (LOA) and send it directly to Amazon. This is what Amazon requires, and doing anything else will lead to the same results you have been getting (rejection).
Having Coca-Cola send the LOA directly to Amazon ensures it reaches higher-level contacts and bypasses the lower levels of Amazon's customer service.
If you can't obtain the LOA, your listing will be permanently removed, and any remaining merchandise seized along with any associated profits, as Amazon considers it unauthorized.
Amazon does not take into account the size of your business or your revenue. To companies like Coca-Cola and Amazon, even a $1 million business is insignificant. Without an LOA, Amazon risks legal liability for allowing unauthorized merchandise on its platform, which is why they take this action.
If getting the LOA isn’t possible and you still have time, remove any unauthorized products before Amazon freezes your account and earnings. If you don't, you could face severe consequences as stated in Amazon’s policies and procedures.
Best of luck, and please keep us updated on the outcome.
Seller_NXdn1E2vBn61e
seems like everyone is getting deactivated for the smallest of things this year
Seller_lCX40xAkSs1xm
Without an LOA sellers are operating on quicksand.
Other sellers take note, you MUST have an LOA from brands to sell here.
@Seller_qqHdw3ueiYIye - sorry this is happening to you. The only solution is to get the Coke LOA and forward it onto Amazon.
Seller_iobipI6xASRkh
Do you have anything in writing saying that you can sell Coca-Cola brands? Even if it isn't official, just something saying you can sell their stuff on Amazon or are an authorized retailer. If not, it sounds like a legal mess with the bottling plant giving you permissions Coca-Cola didn't approve of. Hopefully that is not the case and they can get you an LoA which should clear this right up.
Seller_il1zfRGqD6RdF
1) Coca-Cola is a big brand, i dont think your local reseller can do anything to help you
2) I have create new listing for coca-cola under our brand, and immediately the listing got shutdown. I am not sure why you have 2 listing bypass. When you comebine the listing, it trigger the system.
3) Amazon should suspended the listing, not the account with 1000 points. I think there should be a bigger problem in this case
Seller_RbJUivBkEeSVW
please fix the title its not a "Bundling Policy Violation" its Intellectual Policy Violation" big difference
sorry about all the trouble but your problem is with the Coca-Cola company
