Amazon Canceled Hundreds of Prime Accounts & People Are Furious
Furious Amazon customers are flocking to social media, saying that the online retailer has inexplicably locked them out of their accounts.
News of the canceled Prime memberships started popping up on social media starting last week, according to Business Insider. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people have been blocked from their Prime memberships, including accessing previously purchased ebooks and video, as well as barred from signing into devices like Kindle and Fire TV.
In a statement to Business Insider, a spokesperson for Amazon said, “Customer trust is one of Amazon’s top priorities. To protect that trust, we take a number of actions, including closing accounts that have violated our policies. If a customer has a question about their account, we recommend they contact customer service so we can investigate and take appropriate action.”
But that has proved far from easy, and customer service has been of little help explaining why the cancellations have happened. Several people have taken to Twitter and Facebook to complain of multiple hour calls, many transfers, and a variety of reasons that range from glitches to violating terms of service.
I am getting SO many different responses.. some say my account is closed… some say on hold.. some say there IS a glitch.. some say I violated terms on a second account that I DON’T HAVE. @amazon #amazonclosed @audible_com @AmazonHelp @FoxNews @FOX5Atlanta @channel1atlanta HELP! pic.twitter.com/RHtMJsbN03
— Mary Kirkland (@MDubKirk) April 2, 2018
Here is are few more screen shots of what we’re dealing with. I was ‘transferred’ 5 times, without giving a smidge of information to any of these CSR’s @VaHeffley @maido64307455 @channel1atlanta @FoxNews @AmazonHelp @amazon @JeffBezos @socialnws #amazonclosed pic.twitter.com/dFTXK2iHqb
— Mary Kirkland (@MDubKirk) April 2, 2018
Over 2,800 people have joined a Facebook group about the closures, and another is threatening a class action lawsuit with over 700 members.
And while some people have been able to gain access through connected services like Audible or public wish lists, the problem appears to be persisting, even when it’s supposed to be resolved.
#amazonclosed received a email saying my account had been reopened but its not once again I called and once again a report will be filed and they will contact me in 2-3 business days…Y’ALL need to get ur crap straight @AmazonHelp @amazon This is really getting old
— AnnetteC (@Annette1157) April 5, 2018
An anonymous Amazon employee told Business Insider she believed these “are not normal closures.”
“I have worked for Amazon for over a year in multiple departments and I have never seen anything like this,” the customer-service representative added. Based on conversations with other workers, she said she believed the issue to be “widespread.” But lacking a clear explanation, she says most customer-service representatives are simply confused.
Update 1:34 pm: Amazon provided a revised statement via email: “Amazon has taken action against bad actors and those who have violated our community rules. If any customers believe their account has been closed in error, we encourage them to contact us directly so we can review their account and take appropriate action.”
h/t Fortune