Well, it finally happened to me. I am or was a seller on amazon.com. I just wanted a little extra cash to pay for pet food and the like. I got paid via gift certificates which was a nifty way of saving a few pennies as you can use them to buy just about anything on their website. I admit I was totally dependent on them and always looked forward to payday. I was a seller for about a year. No complaints. I had a five star rating and everything seemed to be going well.
Then it finally happened. I got swindled by a buyer. I received the order on a Thursday and usually shipped two days after the purchase.in this case I shipped and then four days later the buyer emailed me to cancel. I got a little I want to cancel thank you for your time. That's it! I emailed her and told her I had already shipped it out. She never responded to any of my emails. But as an amazon seller they hold you to an impossible standard, so instead of risking a complaint or negative feedback, I refunded her the full amount plus shipping.
My bad, cause amazon later emailed me and said I shouldn't refund until I had the item in my possession! Yeah, that's how it goes. Sellers are supposed to treat their customers like kings and queens and the sellers have no such guarantee! I emailed the customer demanding in a nice way that she return the item, again no answer. I did however, receive amazon's cursory cold replies that they were concerned yada yada, and that they would email her and all that.
I have since to hear from her or them! Then looking forward to my 100$ payday minus the refund, I get a nasty email stating that my gift certificate funds wouldn't be disbursed cause it didn't meet eligibility requirements. Meaning that I made too much... If you make more than 200$ in a 28 day period they want to put it in your bank account. Yeah, that would be fine except to do that you have to have a driver's license, which I don't, which explains my preference for gift certificates.
So I emailed them and had to refund two orders to get the amount down below the amount I guess they say I went over. I have yet to hear from them. All of a sudden they pull this? I can't understand why they would demand my bank account now. I'm not giving them the number and they couldn't use it anyway! Now, I have no money and my merchandise is lost to some goon who is probably laughing at me over her free copy of Supernatural.
I emailed them and told them off, but I'll probably get one of those cold and indifferent emails. I realize now they have two standards one for the buyer who is good as gold and one for the seller who is nothing but dog crap! Buyers can get away with anything! Sellers are held to an impossible standard and are terrified of pissing off a customer because your rating determines how your customers choose to buy from you. Now I don't know if I'll ever see that money that is rightfully mine and in any case, amazon sure doesn't shy from taking a big chunk of your earnings for their "fee". I made close to 200$ this month but they took most of that. I don't think it's worth it in the long run.
I got almost no feedback which I wanted desperately, got an email demanding to know where it was when it was on its way, got no respect or courtesy from anyone I sold to and most of all, I got ripped off and hurt by amazon who's supposed to have your back. They didn't have mine. They took my money and ran for the hills. I guess they're laughing with that witch who stole my merchandise.
Warning to all would-be sellers: don't do it! Amazon takes a HUGE bite out of your earnings in commission fees, and lets buyers get away with anything! I'm canceling my account with them just as soon as I get my money!
0 comments