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When Amazon Bans your Account - Your kindle turns into a Brick

aphex

aphex

Moderator<br>All Things Apple
Moderator
http://www.mobileread.com/foru...ghlight=amazon+banning

Hi all-

I have been a loyal Amazon.com customer for many years, but today, I received an email stating that I have been banned from the site and my account has been closed, because I apparently have an extraordinary rate of requesting refunds due to a variety of factors.

This is patently not true: I have only returned items that were defective, in complete accordance with their policies. I was not trying to game the system, I was not trying to get things for free - I just wanted products that worked properly, and if they didn't, they went back.

There was no warning; in fact, when I asked a question about the lightness of my Kindle's e-ink, a cs rep said "no problem, I'll send you a new one" -- and even after I told him "don't bother if it's going to be the same, mine is OK" -- he sent a new one anyway.

I have certainly kept thousands of dollars worth of items purchased from Amazon and planned to be a lifelong customer.

The ban from the main site is bad (and inexplicable) enough, but...

I have now discovered that I cannot manage my Kindle2 account (I can't log into Amazon) or purchase any new content.

In effect, I now have a $359 brick, not covered under any warranty, not able to be used the way it was meant to be, not able to be returned (not that I even want to, I just want to keep reading!)

I called customer service several times today; the supervisors there explained that I cannot use the Kindle store but "I can get content onto the machine different ways."

I have emailed the proper address, but I'm not hopeful of a positive solution.

I know you all don't know me from Adam, but I'm a good guy and didn't deserve this at all -- and no, I'm not going to bash Amazon here -- instead, I'm just going to tell y'all I'm going to make every call and write every (professional) email I can to get this situation resolved.

But please let this be a lesson to all of us - when you buy a Kindle, you are really buying a service-

-and that service can be turned off at a whim.

Not cool at all.

Amazon, do you have any people who monitor these forums? As I've stated, I'm a loyal customer and would like to believe this is an error or some inadvertent mistake.

Will you make it right? Please help.

-Ian
Click to expand...

In the end Amazon ended up reinstating his account, but this is going into some questionable territory. Its one thing to block an account if he abuses a policy, its another to render a $350 product basically useless by blocking that account.

I know this topic has been discussed before, and yes there are some serial returners out there who Amazon no doubt has the right to deny sales to, but what do you think about this recent event?
 
That's why closed source/DRM is bad for everybody. I wouldn't buy a piece of hardware that was tied into 1 source of media.

As to the question, Amazon's stance is complete bullshit. The customer in question followed the rules, and Amazon should also. Returning defective/unsuitable merchandise is part of the business.
 
Originally posted by: lxskllr
That's why closed source/DRM is bad for everybody. I wouldn't buy a piece of hardware that was tied into 1 source of media.

As to the question, Amazon's stance of dominance is complete bullshit. The customer in question followed the rules, and Amazon should also. Returning defective/unsuitable merchandise is part of the business.
Click to expand...

 
He's probably being less than honest about what happened. I'm sure he's a big Amazon spender like myself and thoroughly enjoys their service but even I fall into the trap of returning things I simply "don't like" because of how easy they make it, so his claim of just returning items there were "defective" is most likely BS if it got him banned.

The kindle thing is troubling though and Amazon will most likely address it as they are very good with CS,
 
I believe this is the same guy that posted this over at TivoCommunity. Amazon reported and unusually high ratio of returns on high dollar items, and he admitted he has bought and returned numerous high dollar cameras and a TV.

*edit* - yes it is, unless another person named Ian also happened to post a similar complaint the same day.
 
I love when people fuck around, get caught and then write the biggest sob story of their life and try and get as much sympathy and views on it as possible. But he got his account reinstated, so I'm sure he is happy.
 
Sounds like he returned a LOT of shit.

"There was no warning; in fact, when I asked a question about the lightness of my Kindle's e-ink"

I can just imagine him saying this in the whiniest, most annoying voice ever.

My e-ink is sooooo light! Please take it back, I complain about everything....wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
 
I am all for unloading those that abuse warranty service, Costco had a good thing until many of you tools abused it for free upgrades every 6 months or more.

:thumbsdown:
 
Originally posted by: lxskllr
That's why closed source/DRM is bad for everybody. I wouldn't buy a piece of hardware that was tied into 1 source of media.
Click to expand...

At some point though, if you want to enjoy certain things you have to take the risk. Who's smarter, the person who buys a kindle and might possibly lose it's functionality, or the person who really wants to read books digitally but is to stubborn/afraid to buy a kindle?


Anyways, whats up with chronic returners? What's the point?
 
If they want to ban him from purchasing products, that's their choice. But it is a concern that they can incapacitate his Kindle even though I'm sure it is covered in their Terms and Conditions.

Don't know what Amazon considers a "high" rate of returns, but I bet it is based on dollar value more than % of purchases. I imagine someone who returns $5,000 of purchases is going to be scrutinized regardless of whether he bought $10,000 or $100,000 of merchandise.
 
Originally posted by: TallBill

At some point though, if you want to enjoy certain things you have to take the risk. Who's smarter, the person who buys a kindle and might possibly lose it's functionality, or the person who really wants to read books digitally but is to stubborn/afraid to buy a kindle?
Click to expand...

People can speak with their wallet though. If everybody says "No, I'm not going to buy your proprietary locked device" another company will come up with a better business model that's more consumer friendly.
 
Originally posted by: lxskllr
Originally posted by: TallBill

At some point though, if you want to enjoy certain things you have to take the risk. Who's smarter, the person who buys a kindle and might possibly lose it's functionality, or the person who really wants to read books digitally but is to stubborn/afraid to buy a kindle?
Click to expand...

People can speak with their wallet though. If everybody says "No, I'm not going to buy your proprietary locked device" another company will come up with a better business model that's more consumer friendly.
Click to expand...

But thats not going to happen, at least not with the kindle.
 
Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
I believe this is the same guy that posted this over at TivoCommunity. Amazon reported and unusually high ratio of returns on high dollar items, and he admitted he has bought and returned numerous high dollar cameras and a TV.

*edit* - yes it is, unless another person named Ian also happened to post a similar complaint the same day.
Click to expand...

Link? I had a feeling his returns weren't really defective. When he said he returned items and the replacement usually turned out to be defective as well, I figured he was one of those people who thinks "doesn't meet expectations" is the same as defective.
 
Originally posted by: TallBill

Anyways, whats up with chronic returners? What's the point?
Click to expand...

Too lazy to read reviews.

Most people never do anything that would cause Amazon to ban their account, so this story doesn't matter much. Unless Amazon starts cracking down on people who share Prime accounts with people who aren't in their family, then a lot of people are screwed.
 
Originally posted by: TallBill
Originally posted by: lxskllr
Originally posted by: TallBill

At some point though, if you want to enjoy certain things you have to take the risk. Who's smarter, the person who buys a kindle and might possibly lose it's functionality, or the person who really wants to read books digitally but is to stubborn/afraid to buy a kindle?
Click to expand...

People can speak with their wallet though. If everybody says "No, I'm not going to buy your proprietary locked device" another company will come up with a better business model that's more consumer friendly.
Click to expand...

But thats not going to happen, at least not with the kindle.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Just look at ipod/itunes for example.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Link? I had a feeling his returns weren't really defective. When he said he returned items and the replacement usually turned out to be defective as well, I figured he was one of those people who thinks "doesn't meet expectations" is the same as defective.
Click to expand...
That's sort of what crossed my mind too. Maybe he was using Amazon as a "try before you buy" type of service, and making Amazon eat the cost of taking back the items.
 
Amazon needs to add a "frozen" account state where you can still (only) use your Kindle.

This guy sounds like a weasel who earned a ban, probably did rentals by buy-and-return along with returns for finding a better deal and just buyer's remorse. It takes a lot of abuse to get Amazon to ban you.
 
Originally posted by: lxskllr
That's why closed source/DRM is bad for everybody. I wouldn't buy a piece of hardware that was tied into 1 source of media.

As to the question, Amazon's stance is complete bullshit. The customer in question followed the rules, and Amazon should also. Returning defective/unsuitable merchandise is part of the business.
Click to expand...

can't you read like any pdf file on the kindle?
 
> can't you read like any pdf file on the kindle?

Yes, using free mobipocket tools to convert to mobi format. Kindle also has built-in plain text support and you can also email files to Amazon for conversion (free if you receive the response on a PC, 5 cents to beam it to your Kindle instead).

You can buy DRM-free SF & fantasy for the Kindle from Baen.com, and get thousands of free out-of-copyright books from Project Gutenberg.
 
thats some bullshit. i have a kindle and i can download books from dozens of other sources not named amazon.
 
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