I have decided two things. One I will eventually get some good stories out of my Amazon Nightmare.
Two I will blog, post and share my experience in order to help others and to vent:)
Before I start bitching I want to say that one of my Audio Books, The Truth of Fiction, narrated by the fabulous Miranda Reading- Spring is almost available for purchase. I will probably be giving away a few copies as well- so stay tuned!
If you want to buy the book, please do so on Smashwords, as Amazon is banning me from selling. They are selling my books, but won’t pay me because they, mistakenly believe I was manipulating reviews. What happened is that I have been trapped in an algorithm. It’s been very upsetting, but I have recovered my equilibrium and am now doing my Goliath battle.
This is the most current letter to Amazon:
Dear Customer Service:
On Feb. 3rd I received a letter stating that I couldn’t sell on KDP because you thought I was using third- parties to manipulate my reviews.
In reviewing posts from other users who have had issues, it seems that if the same person reviews more than one of your books you might get “caught” by an algorithm that “thinks ” you are manipulating reviews.
I am lucky enough to have a few people, about four, who really believe in and love my books.
They have tried to promote them and of course, when they are available they review them.
This is not manipulation.
These people are not relatives. (Though by your logic, if your mom reviews your book you will be banned from selling on KDP, rather draconian I think. My parents are both dead, however, so I don’t have that problem.)
Because I have been unable to reach anyone who will actually look at these emails I am contacting everyone I can who has reviewed more than one of my books and am asking them to remove their reviews-
This is wrong. The reviewers have requested that Amazon contact them. They love my work and they want to be able to review it. It’s not manipulation.
But, I can’t find anyone in your vast organization who will help me or listen to me or my fans.
Eventually, maybe I will be able to contact anyone who has ever given me a review and get them removed. Then perhaps I will be able to sell again – This is wrong.
I am going to write a version of this letter and send it to Jeff Bezos. I will also post it on Facebook and my blog.
When I mentioned that to one of the myriad “customer service reps they laughed. But perhaps, if I continue to blog, post on Facebook and write letters, first to Jeff Bezos and then to other financial officers someone will review this completely unwarranted, and unjust persecution.
Then I will have to let my fans know they can repost their reviews. Then I will get banned. This algorithm needs to be rewritten. It’s fine to stop people from manipulation, it’s not fine to persecute them unjustly,
Sincerely,
Elizabeth King
PS I’m posting a few, a very few, of the volume of email I receive from your bots as well as one of your completely incompetent “Leads,” Barbara DR.
“Hello,
We have continued to detect fraudulent reviews of your books. As a result, you currently may not publish on Amazon.com.
To publish on Amazon.com, please reply to this message with the following information:
— A detailed description of all methods you used to post or obtain customer reviews that are prohibited by Amazon policies, or otherwise manipulate reviews. Include the dates when you used these methods and details on any third parties you used.
— Contact information (name, email address, website, etc.) for any third parties you engaged to obtain prohibited reviews or manipulate reviews.
— Identifying information for any customer accounts you or a third party used to post prohibited reviews.
— Documentation (e.g., emails, receipts) from any such third party confirming you used their service.
— List of any prohibited reviews remaining on the Amazon site.
— Description of steps you have taken to prevent product review manipulation within your organization and how this will prevent future violations.
Once we receive your plan, we will review it and decide whether you may publish on Amazon.com again. If you do not send an acceptable plan within 17 days, we may permanently remove your selling privileges. Any funds in your account may be held up to 90 days, but funds could be held longer.
Any violations of the KDP Terms and Conditions may result in your account being terminated (https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=APILE934L348N).
For additional questions, please send an email to review-author-appeals@amazon.com.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Amazon.com
Hello,
The email you received on 02/07/2018 14:24 PST was sent to you in error. We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.
Please see the message below for updated information regarding your account suspension.
— Contact information (name, email address, website, etc.) for any third parties you engaged to obtain prohibited reviews or manipulate reviews.
ME: Because I did not use third parties, I can’t give you contact info for the third parties I didn’t use.
— Identifying information for any customer accounts you or a third party used to post prohibited reviews.
ME: I cannot give you customer info. for third parties or me because neither I nor a third part posted reviews.
— Description of steps you have taken to prevent product review manipulation within your organization and how this will prevent future violations.
ME: I don’t have an organization. I cannot do anything to prevent product review manipulation within a nonexistent organization.
Once we receive your plan, we will review it and decide whether you may publish on Amazon.com again.
At this time, we provide support for questions about customer review manipulation by email only.
That’s great – I recommend The Trial by Kafka – he didn’t manipulate me to recommend it either because he’s dead.
E.E. King
Good morning Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for contacting us back.
As promised to you, I’m contacting you back with the response from our community escalation department. No additional information was provided to me and I really would like to apologize. I really would like to go in deep but for security reasons, I’m not able to.
You need to directly contact them at review-author-appeals@amazon.com in order to request additional information and have a possible solution to your concern.
In advance I really appreciate all your comprehension.
Regards,
Barbara DR Amazon
Your Account Amazon.com
Message From Customer Service
Hello,
We received your information, but your plan is not complete. Our review of your account found that your account is closely related to accounts who have written Amazon customer reviews for “Pandora’s Card Game” that you have a financial interest in. This includes books that you or your competitors have published.
Our policies state that relatives, close friends, business associates, or employees of authors OR AUTHORS THEMSELVES on Amazon may not write reviews for an author’s books.
Authors are not allowed to manipulate ratings, feedback, or Customer Reviews.
To publish on Amazon.com, please reply to this message with the following information:
— A detailed description of all methods you used to post or obtain customer reviews that are prohibited by Amazon policies, or otherwise manipulate reviews. Include the dates when you used these methods and details on any third parties you used.
— Contact information (name, email address, website, etc.) for any third parties you engaged to obtain prohibited reviews or manipulate reviews.
— Identifying information for any customer accounts you or a third party used to post prohibited reviews.
— Documentation (e.g., emails, receipts) from any such third party confirming you used their service.
— List of any prohibited reviews remaining on the Amazon site.
— Description of steps you have taken to prevent product review manipulation within your organization and how this will prevent future violations.
Once we receive your plan, we will review it and decide whether you may publish on Amazon.com again.
We look forward to hearing from you.