What should I do if I get a warning?Complete explanation of Amazon account health conditions and official assistance methods, save your life!
August 29, 2022
If there is a problem with my Amazon account, how can I know in advance what the problem is?
Seller Bob
Seller Carol
What violations could result in my products being removed or my account suspended?
I received a warning, what should I do?
Seller David
When doing business on Amazon, sellers are often most concerned about product removal or account suspension due to account conditions.
Compliance has always been the cornerstone of how sellers do business on Amazon, and account health is also one of the indicators of compliance that sellers are most concerned about. Xiaobian recommends that you always keep an eye on account status, be aware of account performance issues in a timely manner, and conduct an “account health check” to avoid problems such as product removal or account suspension due to irregularities.
Today Xiaobian will introduce you to the artifact of Amazon Seller Central - the “Account Status” function!
This feature shows how well you are following performance goals and policies when selling. Here, Amazon regularly reviews each seller's performance and informs sellers about items that fall short of standards. It's important for sellers to make improvements before performance affects sales to avoid being taken down or closed as a result.
🔍 You can check the “Account Status” page by clicking on this link to log in to Seller Central.
🔍 You can also reach this page by going to “Seller Central” > “Performance” > “Account Status”.
① Customer service performance:
The main component of customer service performance is the Order Defect Rate (ODR), and sellers need to maintain a target value of less than 1% to maintain account health.
② Product policy compliance:
The policy compliance section includes various types of policy violations, such as: intellectual property complaints, product condition buyer complaints, restricted product policy violations, etc. (see the list of policy compliance sections on the account status page for details). Sellers are advised to maintain a healthy state of zero violations.
③ Delivery performance:
Available to self-shipping sellers only. Sellers need to keep their accounts healthy by keeping their Late Shipment Rate (LSR) below 4%, Pre-Shipment Cancellation Rate (CR) below 2.5%, and Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) above 95%.
‼ Note:
Generally, violations such as “linked account” and “account review” are not displayed on the account status page. If you encounter such account issues, you need to click “Performance” > “Performance Notice” to view the details of the notification and take action.
You can click here 👉 Account Review” for details.
A healthy account status means that the three sectors mentioned above are performing well: maintaining healthy target values, and not showing any warning signs of violations.
Conversely, when your customer service performance and delivery performance exceed or fall below target values, or when a warning mark appears in the policy compliance section, it indicates that your account is in an unhealthy state. Any one goal or policy that does not meet Amazon's stated goals or policies will be considered an unhealthy account condition.
✔ Examples of healthy account conditions:
❌ Examples of unhealthy account conditions:
① When a red exclamation mark appears in the policy compliance section:
A red exclamation mark on policy compliance (as shown in the image below) indicates that one of your listed products (ASIN) has been flagged as a result of a violation. Since different policy violations require different handling methods, you must follow the “Next steps” instructions next to the flagged ASIN. Sellers are requested to pay attention to and promptly address unhealthy target values and violation warnings. Every ASIN-level violation must be addressed, and if an ASIN-level appeal is not passed or promptly addressed, the issue may be elevated to the account level, where your account is at risk of being suspended or suspended.
② When a yellow warning appears on the “Account Status” page:
This indicates that your account is in a very unhealthy state, there may be multiple or serious violations, and there is a risk of being suspended. Be sure to promptly resolve all issues related to violations on the Account Status page.
③ When a red warning appears on the “Account Status” page:
If your account issue has escalated to an account level, a red warning will appear on your account status page. At this point, you must not only appeal the ASIN, but also file an account-level appeal. Account-level appeals must be submitted by clicking the appeal button on the banner on the account status page.
① Follow the “Account Status” page every day:
Performance metrics to focus on on the “Account Status” page include: Order Defect Rate (ODR), Valid Tracking Rate (VTR), Late Shipment Rate (LSR), Cancellation Rate (CR), and Invoice Defect Rate (IDR). Any performance indicator is substandard, or is trending, and sellers need to review and resolve issues immediately to ensure account health.
② Comply with all policies in the Policy Compliance section:
Sellers can read the relevant policies in the Policy Compliance section in advance, including other policies such as intellectual property policies, product authenticity and quality policies, categories, product and product restrictions, ASIN creation policies, product detail page rules, restricted products policies, and customer product review policies. This will help sellers avoid illegal actions when operating their stores.
If it is marked as a policy warning, it is recommended that you first check which policies have been violated, read the relevant policy content, check the corresponding performance notice, understand the appeal channels, and decide whether to acknowledge the violation (complaint) or not acknowledge the violation (dispute).
You can check the relevant details by logging into Seller Central and going to the Product Policy Compliance page (as shown in the image below):
🔍 Reason:
On the Product Policy Compliance page, the Reason column will indicate the policy you are violating. Click on the displayed policy to view the relevant policy content.
Q: How can I find more relevant Amazon policies?
Using the search bar in the upper right corner of Seller Central, enter a keyword or policy name, click Search next to it, and a help page menu bar with relevant policies will appear on the right side of Seller Central. Or click “Program Policies” in the bottom left corner of the main page to be redirected to the Program Policies page, where sellers can find all of Amazon's policies.
📆 Date:
On the Product Policy Compliance page, the date column shows the warning date of the violation. You can find the corresponding violation notice and review the appeal requirements/steps in the “Performance Notice” under “Performance” based on the date shown.
📋 Next steps:
On the Product Policy Compliance page, the buttons shown in the Next Steps column will be the actions you need to take for the next step.
① Complaints:
If you need to submit an appeal, you need to sort out the root cause, solution, and preventive measures of the problem, write the details, and then click the appeal button under the next steps to submit it. At that time, please also submit the documents mentioned in the performance notice (different irregularities may have different document requirements, and follow-up actions are required according to the content in the performance notice).
Here, Xiaobian has summarized the information on targeted interpretations and appeal suggestions for different policy violations in previous tweets. You can also click on the corresponding text to view it:
Infringement related issues 👈 Product authenticity and quality issues 👈
● Issues related to product review policy violations 👈 How to write an action plan POA to file a complaint 👈
② Disputes:
If you need to submit a dispute, you need to prepare relevant documents for submission, which may include but is not limited to invoices, sales licenses, etc. (Click here to view 👉 Invoice Strategy)
Give an example:
If you encounter a copyright infringement as shown in the image above and decide to dispute it, click the button below to find a channel to submit your dispute and submit your information relating to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is limited to the US market).
① Account issues - please contact the Amazon Account Status Support Team
The Account Health Support Team is a support team that helps sellers maintain account health indicators. It mainly assists sellers in resolving violations on the Account Health page or providing assistance after account suspension.
Account Health Specialists can help sellers resolve account status issues during an emergency and answer questions relating to the seller's “Account Status” page policies and performance metrics. In addition to resolving questions, the Account Status Support Team can also provide professional support in writing an action plan. Sellers can directly contact the Account Condition Officer themselves, use Amazon's official personnel to help identify non-compliance issues, and resolve them under their professional guidance. Currently, all Professional sellers can use “Contact Me Now” to contact the Account Status Support Team.
● Working hours
9 a.m. to 17 p.m. Beijing time, Monday to Sunday
● Language
The current account status team supports 16 languages including Chinese (Mandarin)
● Contact
Seller Central > Performance > Account Status > Contact Me Now
You can log in to Seller Central, click the image below, enter the relevant information on the corresponding page, and click the “Contact Me Now” button to contact the Amazon Account Status Specialist.
Also, in order to ensure the security of the seller's account information, the Account Status Support Department will need to perform a security certification with you.
● Authentication method
Spell your seller login email address or 6-digit verification code (例如您的亚马逊登录邮箱为example@amazon.com, 该邮箱拼读即为example@amazon.com) in English letters. Please note that you need to spell out your full email address including @的部分. You can also request a reverse security verification if you are unable to confirm your professional identity, which is also promoted by Amazon to ensure the security of your account.
You can also answer active calls from the Account Status Support team to get help.
If your selling account exceeds the target value due to a violation of Amazon policies or due to performance, shipping, etc., in some cases, the Amazon Account Status Support Team will use the form of an active call to contact you through the emergency contact number you provided to provide you with personalized guidance and support to mitigate account suspension.
Before Amazon contacts you by phone, you will receive a performance notification with the title “URGENT: Your Amazon Seller Account is Under Review”, and you will receive a call from the Account Status Support Team within the next 24 hours, so be sure to keep your phone connected. Note that although Amazon provides Chinese support, phone numbers may also be from overseas or from different regions within the country.
The scope of assistance of the Account Status Support Team is as follows:
② Issues not covered by Account Support - please contact Seller Support
● First step
Log in to Seller Central and click “Help” in the upper right corner;
● Second step
At the bottom of the “Help” page, click “Get Support”;
● Step 3
Click “I want to open a store”;
● Step 4
describe your problem;
● Step 5
You can also directly click “or browse to find your problem in the menu” in the previous step and select the corresponding problem you want to solve in the menu.
Example: In the menu above, click “Your Account” > “Restore Your Account”, and the seller can contact the Seller Support team using email, phone, and chat.
❓ Q1: What information or content do I need to prepare in advance before seeking help from the account status support team?
In order to make calls more efficient, sellers are advised to first understand the details of the policies that have been violated and the acts that led to the violation before contacting the account status support team, and conduct a detailed investigation within the company. In this way, when communicating with a seller account status support specialist, the specialist can better understand the seller's actual situation and help them.
❓ Q2: What is the usual form of account status support team help?
In some cases, sellers receive active phone calls from the Account Status Support Team. If the seller submits a case log, the Account Status Support team will assist with the issue, which may include email response support.
❓ Q3: What should I do if I miss or never received a “Contact Me Now” call from the Account Status Support Team?
If the Account Status Specialist mentions a callback service, the seller needs to keep the phone open and wait for the call within the specified time provided by the specialist. If the seller doesn't receive or misses a return call, they can contact the Account Status Support Team by clicking the “Contact Me Now” button again.
❓ Q4: Why is the “Contact Me Now” callback phone not working or has no sound?What should I do in this situation?
Sellers need to keep the internet stable when using the “Contact me now” button. If they can't connect, the seller can try again at intervals of time (1-2 hours). Amazon Account Status Support works every Monday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 17 p.m. China Standard Time.