So, one of my last blog posts (link will open new tab) recounted how the correct cover photos that I had uploaded when I had created some entries for CDs that I wanted to sell, and that had been duly posted at the time, had suddenly disappeared from public view (although the submission remained present on my offer). One case in point was Anthony Davis’ opera “The Life and Times of Malcolm X” on Grammavision, but I’ve found many other cases – and not just on pages I had created, all over the place, there must be hundreds, if not thousands of them, apparently there’s been a Stalinist purge of photos at Amazon!
In my April 11 post I recounted my first attempt to notify Amazon and have them reinstate the correct images, and the gibberish I had received in response:
“We cannot modify the category tree node (noeud d’arborescence de catégorie) suggested for the product identifier: B000009JE4. It seems that this product is out-of-stock in your inventory”.
Well, I decided this would be my Sisyphus moment: roll that boulder up the hill, and when it rolls down on you, do it again, and again, “and yet persist”, until you get over the hill. Against bureaucracies, dogged persistence is your weapon. In the long run, sea and rain are stronger than stone….
Okay, so: step one: since they’re not going to act because “this product is out-of-stock” in my inventory (true: I’ve sold it. But then what kind of an excuse is that? What difference does it make to the integrity of the entry, that serves all sellers and buyers? That’s really the typical bureaucratic excuse for NOT acting when you should act), I marked the item as back in my inventory, at a sale price that ensured that nobody would buy it (and wouldn’t you know: a few days later I received a notification that they were de-activating my offer because there was an anomaly in the pricing. WHAT? By what right or rule does Amazon pronounce on the price set by a marketplace seller? I’ve seen CDs go on eBay at much steeper prices… if there’s a demand, no price is “anomalous”! For all my efforts, I was not able to reactivate the offer… Anyway THIS side-episode had no impact on the main thread of this story…)
Then, on May 4, I opened a new case (in, I confess, a moment of temporary discouragement, I had let the previous one lapse…), asking them again to reinstate my cover photos, for a product that they now could not claim was “not in my inventory” to dismiss the demand.
May 4, immediate response (at least, they are quick to find excuses not to act – translating from the French) : “we noted that you are the proprietor of the trademark recorded for this ASIN. You can solve the problem faster by directly modifying the detailed product page through the page “Inventory management” to change the ASIN. Once you’ve made the changes, allow for a maximum delay of 24 hours for this change to appear on the detailed page”.
WTF????
May 4, 15 minutes later, my response: “Excuse me, your response is incomprehensible, to put it politely. I am not ‘the proprietor’ of who knows what ‘trademark recorded for this ASIN’. I am a marketplace seller and I’ve created, back then, this page so that I could sell my CD. I have provided all the product information useful to the buyer, including back and cover photos, and these remain available in my offer, although Amazon has inexplicably suppressed them from the public page. WHY? What I’m requesting is very simple: I don’t want to modify the ASIN. Thank you for reinstating the two appropriate photos, front and back of the CD, in the public page. It doesn’t seem difficult, either to understand, or to do. Thanks in advance.”
May 5, a few hours later: “Hello. I understand that you wish to update the images of ASIN B000009JE4. In order to fulfill your request, we need you to provide to us one of the following valid documents:
– A link to the manufacturer’s website clearly presenting the suggested changes, accompanied by a visible product identifier (UPC, EAN, ISBN, etc.), if available.
– The manufacturer’s catalog (product manual), either as scan of the physcal catalog, or a PDF version, indicating the suggested modifications, accompanied by a visible product indentifier (UPC, EAN, ISBN, etc.), if available.
– High resolution product images clearly indicating the suggested modifications, together with a visible product identifier (UPC, EAN, ISBN, etc.).
– A high-resolution photo of the article in its original packaging, showing a product identifier code (UPC, EAN, ISBN, etc.) and the attribute or attributes that you wish to change.
Thank you for your understanding on this issue.
Thank you for selling on Amazon.”
The two last sentences in particular leave me breathless. My UNDERSTANDING on this issue ??? Close to nil, buddy! Selling on Amazon? Yeah, you may thank me, because guys you make it SO unwelcoming that I don’t even know why I’m doing it.
So, okay: persist.
May 5, a few hours later, my response: “Your demands are inoperative, in the case of used CDs, whose original publisher (Grammavision, USA) doesn’t exist anymore, and who even if it did would not have maintained this particular CD in its catalog. That’s not how the sale of CDs functions, and I am surprised that Amazon – after all the first online platform in this business -seems not to know. Your demands, if applied, would make impossible all activity of marketplace sellers of CDs, and I don’t think this is Amazon’s objective.
I’ve provided with my offer the front and back cover photos of the CD, on which appear VERY CLEARLY the requested information, in particular the barcode, which duly corresponds to the page’s barcode. Should it really be necessary, the CD is currently on sale on eBay, with back and front cover photos [link to eBay offer provided], and you can see that these photos are the same as those I have myself provided.
Thank you then for publicly displaying the product photos on the page”.
May 5, some hours later: “Thank you for your patience while we are examining your request.
Is this HAL 9000 losing his marbles or am I caught in an eternal time-warp?
Sisyphus. Boulder. Up hill.
May 7, couple of hours later: “!!!!! You’ve ALREADY given me this answer, and I’ve ALREADY responded that it was inoperative, in the case of used CDs whose publisher doesn’t exist any more. If the Amazon staff could spend less time doing all it can to NOT solve the problems, and spend just of fraction of that time solving these problems, it would be less irksome. The correct product images are with my offer; they were duly displayed until, for an unknown reason, Amazon decided to come and botch perfectly correct pages. REINSTATE THE PHOTOS PLEASE”.
May 8, 10 hours later. “Hello.
I am returning to you regarding the images.
We have duly updated the attribute so that they will correspond to the requested changes.
Note that the change may not occur immediately, but the process should be completed within 24 hours.
Do not hesitate to come back to us if you need more information. Thank you for sharing your experience. Are you satisfied with the support provided?”
I’ve checked this morning.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000009JE4
The cover photos have been reinstated.
Mission accomplished. Boulder up hill. Sisyphus beats implacable fate (and asinine bureaucracy).
That’s only ONE entry out of dozens, hundreds or thousands.
Since the Reagan-Thatcher era, we’ve been Pavlov-trained to believe that public bureaucracies are monstrosities of inefficiency. Friends, the bureaucracies of private, “free-entreprise” companies are FAR. WORSE.
I have two conflicting theories about this:
1. Incompetence. Those staffers – and who knows in what corner of the world they are located? – don’t know what the hell it’s about, they give stock responses to specific demands, because they don’t have the faintest idea how sales of used CDs function. So you really have to insist to drill through what your specific case is about and what measures it calls for.
2. Laziness. In fact they know perfectly well what it’s all about, only they simply don’t wanna bother, they’d rather sit snugly in their armchairs sipping those beers. So they’ve passed on the world among themselves, to make it a rite of passage of sorts: “hey, one of the boogers – you know, the damned ‘customers’ – pestering us with a new demand? Erect obstacles! Provide non-responses! Fend ’em off! Drive ’em crazy! Try and discourage them away! See how the rat overcomes the obstacles! (that should be fun). And if really they get through five of these hurdles, pronounce them the winner and give them their nibble of cheese as a reward!”
And all that for a CD that I’m not even selling anymore.
I can’t believe you finally succeeded. I think it is both incompetence and laziness. When I look at my Amazon app, I see my reviews, but not the comments. They didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about. On my laptop only, I still have access to my comments. Of course Amazon, so far as I know, no longer notifies reviews when someone has commented on their review. I don’t understand Amazon and understand them less and less.