Amazon will not remove sellers violating its own policy
We are a brand owners and despite several requests to Amazon are getting absolutely no where removing a plethora of Hijackers who are selling our product in direct breach of Amazons own conditional guidelines.
We can't do a test buy as many of them are FBM and will not ship to us.
This is the standard response received when a report abuse claim is lodged
Thank you for your report of a suspected policy violation. We cannot take action on the report as no violation has been identified on the reported B0B4T2CFM9 for the violation type selected.
ASIN: B0B4T2CFM9
Order ID (if applicable):
Complaint ID: 15436037031
@Dougal_Amazon
Amazon will not remove sellers violating its own policy
We are a brand owners and despite several requests to Amazon are getting absolutely no where removing a plethora of Hijackers who are selling our product in direct breach of Amazons own conditional guidelines.
We can't do a test buy as many of them are FBM and will not ship to us.
This is the standard response received when a report abuse claim is lodged
Thank you for your report of a suspected policy violation. We cannot take action on the report as no violation has been identified on the reported B0B4T2CFM9 for the violation type selected.
ASIN: B0B4T2CFM9
Order ID (if applicable):
Complaint ID: 15436037031
@Dougal_Amazon
19 respuestas
Dougal_Amazon
Hello @Seller_pixSY1g97J4aL,
Dougal from the Community Manager Team here and I can definitely assist you with reporting the potential IP violations.
Most of the recommendations I will make below, come from the Intellectual Property for Rights Owners help page. This is a really robust page and has a ton of information, but focus on the "Types of notices not accepted on Amazon," and "Reporting Infringement," sections to start with. Also, please note that I am unable to view Complaint ID's submitted via Report Abuse, but I can see complaints submitted via Brand Registry and I've looked at your most recent that was not accepted.
Here is a bulletized list of feedback for complaints submitted via Brand Registry:
- Stick to facts only when submitting IP complaints - assumptions about where another seller obtained their stock will not be accepted
- Complaints submitted via Brand Registry are specifically IP, so mentioning distribution channels in your submission will not be accepted
- Stick to the infringement type you are selecting. If you are reporting Trademark infringement on the product or its packaging, do not provide detail that the product is counterfeit (this is another infringement type) just stick to the TM infringement
Here is a bulletized list of feedback for complaints submitted via Report Abuse:
- If you are unable to receive the product because the FBM seller is not sending, you should NOT report this as an IP violation here, report it in An abuse issue that is not addressed by the other topics in this menu because a seller canceling orders is more in line with violating the Selling policies and seller code of conduct.
- Keep in mind that unlike reporting via Brand Registry, the outcome will not be shared with you
- IF you cannot report counterfeit via Brand Registry report a violation because your TM is still pending in the US, you can report via Report Abuse and select "The product received is different than the product on the detail page (different version, model or product)." Again, stick to facts only when reporting
I hope this feedback allows you to take new action. Please let me know if you have any other questions and/or let me know how it goes.
Best, Dougal
Seller_pixSY1g97J4aL
Hi @Dougal_Amazon
Thanks for the update. I will try going down that path but wouldn't it be much easier and less costly for all concerned if Amazon just provided some really simple gate keeping processes like those described in your seller university videos to stop unauthorised sellers from creating listings in the first place.
If sellers were unable to list a product for sale without first uploading a receipt from the manufacturer or authorised seller over 80% of these hijacker/stolen product issues would go away overnight.
Maybe Amazon make too much money allowing cybercriminals on their platform!!
Dougal_Amazon
Hi @Seller_pixSY1g97J4aL,
I'm happy to help wherever I can and I do recognize that improvements can be made.
It does start in forums like this though so again, I appreciate you coming here and sharing your experience.
Best, Dougal
Seller_pixSY1g97J4aL
@Dougal_Amazon
Just thought I would give you an update that after placing 20 test orders I was able to remove 3 of the 47 unauthorised sellers from my account. 13 of the test order sellers never sent the product and despite raising seller abuse complaints I got the automated "nothing to see here folks everything at Amazon is perfect" response and no action was taken.
5 of the sellers sent product that was used or damaged and two sent completely different products from what was listed.
Of course despite numerous follow ups cases Amazon did absolutely nothing.
After taking down 3 violations I noted another 4 new ones appear. And to top it off Amazon still have not refunded the money I spent doing their job. I am intrigued as to what they will do with the counterfeit product that I was forced to return to get my money back for this pointless exercise
Perhaps the reason why Bezos is having problems with his Space Ships is because he bought it on Amazon!!
Seller_YbjDMJJIcxeh8
Dougal_Amazon
Hello @Seller_pixSY1g97J4aL,
Thank you for coming back and providing me an update. I cannot see anything summitted via Report Abuse, but I am able to see 3 submission via the brand registry site (of 47, 1 and 43 from oldest to newest).
I have some feedback that I think will assist with any future submission.
Please take some time to review the Intellectual Property for Rights Owners help page. Specifically, the "Types of notices not accepted on Amazon," and "Reporting Infringement," sections. I call these out because in one submission you mention distribution and "Exclusive Distribution," cannot be enforced by Amazon. You also mention that the products are or must be counterfeit, but the infringement type you selection was not infringement. The second to last bullet point in the "Reporting Infringement," section is pasted below:
- Selecting trademark infringement and discussing copyright issues in the submission. The notice will be processed as a trademark complaint only. If you want to report infringement of a trademark and a copyright, file separate notices.
These are some possibilities of why you only had some of your submissions accepted.
I hope this helps.
Best, Dougal
Seller_pixSY1g97J4aL
Hi @Dougal_Amazon
I am at my whits end dealing with trying to remove poachers from my listings.
Amazon Conditional Guidelines Policy Clearly state that it is forbidden for a seller to sell:
"used, damaged, stolen or promotional goods"
Unfortunately there is no way for a seller to report sellers on Amazon.
You state that the way to do this is to go to account health and raise a seller abuse report. I can quite categorically advise that this is a total waste of time as Amazon does absolutely nothing about these reports. Within milliseconds of raising an abuse claim regardless of which type you report raised a response is received stating
Thank you for your report of a suspected policy violation. We cannot take action on the report as no violation has been identified on the reported B0B4T2CFM9 for the violation type selected.
ASIN: B0B4T2CFM9
Order ID (if applicable):
Complaint ID: 15564706031
How can Amazon possibly claim no violation has occurred without even bothering to investigate?
Seller_96h46W7CJczMl
Hello @Dougal_Amazon,
28 of March my account was deactivated because of believe that my listing ASIN B01M6XI4OJ "This product has been identified as Daflon, a prescription only medication." is completely unfounded.
ID 15538720741
In Submission I wrote more details:
June 25, 2024 1:33 PM -05
Additional information
ASIN: B01M6XI4OJ
Evidence from FDA, manufacturer invoice, label, free sale certificate, health certificate, links to manufacturer product website, wikipedia, FDA database.
Could you help me please, status of my product in US known as dietary supplement, not "prescription only medication".
Dougal_Amazon
Hello @Seller_pixSY1g97J4aL,
It all depends on which area you are selecting and what information you are providing. Unfortunately, I cannot review complaint's submitted via Report Abuse.
I can provide some guidance. For example, if you are reporting an IP violation and claiming the product is counterfeit, but the TM is still pending, you will received the blurb that you provided here (similar to the response you would receive from Brand Registry).
I can provide the Report abuse in the Amazon store Seller University video that does go through the various options in Report Abuse and examples of reporting.
If you want to report the seller from selling promotional goods, you should be providing proof of that claim. For example, if the product received has a label on the packaging that says "for promotional use only," or "not for resale," or something similar.
Keep in mind of the areas that Amazon cannot enforce that are listed in the Intellectual Property for Rights Owners help page and the Report Infringement Form.
I hope this helps a little.
Dougal_Amazon
Hello @Seller_96h46W7CJczMl,
Dougal here and thanks for the case ID. Since your account is already deactivated, the only path forward is a successful appeal via the reactivate your account workflow.
I have limited access to this information, but I do see that you have submitted appeals (I cannot review the specific details you provided), but since you mentioned the product is a dietary supplement, have you provided all the required tests and certifications needed from the Dietary supplements help page?
Also, if you have additional questions or need additional support, I recommend starting a discussion in the "Account Health," category here in the Forums.
Best, Dougal
Seller_96h46W7CJczMl
Hello @Dougal_Amazon
Yes, I provide Health Certificate, Free sale certificate, GMP Certificate, ISO.
I sent also label, and many other evidence manufacturer website, wikipedia information, all is proof that my product is dietary supplement in US.
I create 4 cases with FDA- FDA specialists confirm that my product is dietary supplement, and that "Daflon" is not a medicine by FDA. Also that dietary supplement dont have NDC code.
I would like to send my product to some extra lab test, but I cant find information from my account, and specialist dont want to provide me any information. They close cases without any respond. IMO its some scam, I was hacked by some scammers.
Is anybody in Amazon can help me ? 100 days of nightmare.
Seller_pixSY1g97J4aL
@Dougal_Amazon
I am curious as to why the onus is on me to prove that a seller is selling used, promotional or stolen goods.
The simple fact of the matter is Amazon is selling the goods on its platform and therefore has a legal obligation to investigate reports of violations.
Amazon is the company offering these products for sale and therefore should be doing its due diligence. Particularly when another seller has made numerous reports to Amazon of wrong doing by these sellers.
If Amazon is not prepared to do that I am more than happy to file a report with the Bureau of Better Business, Federal Trade Commission and local law enforcement.
