Amazon Suspension Drama
It’s Saturday night. I am on a date with a girl who is significantly less pretty than her picture or perhaps it was someone else’s she sent. Her personality is more boring than most trees and my phone will not stop buzzing. I am a little baffled because usually my friends wait for me to call them after, who could be calling me?
To be honest (as much as a lawyer can be), I was excited for the opportunity to excuse myself to go to the bathroom to see who it was. The second I am out of sight, I take out my phone and missed calls are from a number I do not recognize. Thank heaven for visual voicemail, so I can read what this guy wants. Joe, got my number from Jason, his account is suspended and needs my help, NOW.
I was looking forward to getting home and relaxing but I was also happy that I had a decent excuse to wrap up the date. I drop her off, hopefully, to never see her again. I call Joe on my way home and he sounds like a dog that has not eaten in 3 days. The good ol’ Amazon algorithm picked up that Joe had violated intellectual property of another company.
Truth is, he had done nothing wrong. He was nowhere near anyone’s copyright or trademark. How do we write a plan of action or appeal an Amazon suspension when we have nothing to apologize for? The answer is to really understand what Amazon wants. Amazon is concerned for their customer safety. The fact that you are innocent is irrelevant. Drop the notions of justice. Figure out the proverbial key to the Amazon castle.
In this scenario, our plan of action stated that we will do nothing that could be picked up by the algorithm as the keyword overlap presents a concern for more educated Amazon customers. Further, lack of such willingness could show indifference to Amazon intellectual property concerns in the future. We ensured we changed the language, updated the company policies and hired someone a few hours a week to scan the listings.
Do not get caught up in right and wrong, understand what is important to Amazon, so you can start selling again.
