Amazon’s Product Safety Policy:
“The Product Safety Team at Amazon works to protect Amazon customers from risks of injury associated with products offered on Amazon by looking into and taking action on reported safety complaints and incidents.”
Amazon’s product safety team ensures the safety of its products by “looking into” and “taking action” on any reported customer complaints. However, as suspended Amazon Sellers are aware, “looking into” and “taking action” usually means an automatic listing or account suspension.
Often, these product safety complaints are the result of a damaged product, or alleged used product. Suspended Amazon Sellers find themselves frustrated as the cause of these issues can be a result of using Amazon’s commingled inventory, or Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) packaging returns.
Even where the suspended Amazon Seller did nothing wrong, the suspended Amazon seller must provide Amazon with a Plan of Action and follow Amazon’s appeal process for suspended sellers account or listing reinstatement. As suspended Amazon Sellers are aware, a persuasive Plan of Action is vital for quick reinstatement of your suspended selling privileges.
Successfully Appealing a Listing Suspension Following a Safety Complaint:
A suspended Amazon Seller recently requested our help when his listing was suspended do to a safety complaint. The customer complained that the product they received appeared to be used. The troublesome issue was that the Amazon Seller’s use of Amazon’s FBA “repackaging return” feature was the cause of the improperly packaged product. Regardless, his listing was suspended, and the Amazon Seller faced difficulty seeking reinstatement.
While the fault was certainly on Amazon’s repacking return feature, it was still important to cooperate with Amazon Seller Performance. Suspended sellers need reinstatement, not to prove they are not at fault. Suspended Amazon Sellers like this one needed to provide a persuasive Plan of Action. The Plan of Action we provided to this suspended Amazon Seller provided Amazon with specific preventative measures taken to assure another safety complaint would not occur.
While this issue happened to be the result of an Amazon controlled selling feature, our Plan of Action persuaded Amazon that the suspended Amazon Seller would perform better and more thorough inspections of his inventory. Our Plan of Action for this suspended Amazon Seller persuaded Amazon that he would be a better seller: that customers would enjoy better buying experiences. Our Plan of Action was successful and shortly after seeking our help, his account listing was reinstated.
Takeaway for Amazon Sellers:
When drafting a Plan of Action, a suspended Amazon Seller should be thorough and honest in identifying the root cause of the safety issue of the product.
If the root cause is in any way related to the suspended Amazon Seller, the Plan of Action should focus, in detail, on the actions taken to correct and prevent future problems. It always seems helpful if the suspended Amazon seller refunded any of Amazon’s customers who received a product posing any safety issue. Lastly, a suspended Amazon Seller should ensure Seller Performance that in addition to concisely describing the actions taken, a suspended Amazon seller should continue to review all of Amazon’s policies.
November 2018 Update: Many complaints have to do with products containing multiple ingredients. Requirements can vary from country to country, and state to state. Sellers should be sure to get letters from manufacturers guaranteeing that the FDA paperwork showing ingredients falls under local requirements. Paralegal Chitagam Saluja, adds, “be sure that all descriptions and labels are in order; product listings should be accurate. Ingredients should be properly listed on the packaging, especially for items like cologne.”
If any suspended Amazon Seller is having difficulty reinstating their listing or sellers account after a Safety Complaint, feel free to contact Rosenbaum Famularo, P.C., the intellectual property law firm behind AmazonSellersLawyer.com.
