A Mississauga woman who makes her weekly personal purchases on Amazon was shocked when she was advised she was banned from ordering over what she calls a “technical glitch.”
“I buy from Amazon. I have health issues. I have fibromyalgia, my energy is limited, I have a lot of pain, and I depend on them to have stuff delivered to my door. It’s so convenient,” said Sharon Jamison.
While she has returned items in the past, Jamison said she always followed the return policy carefully.
However, it was this past summer that she was blocked from making future orders and banned from Amazon.
It happened after she decided to go through the purchase of a portable air conditioner—an order that she previously cancelled.
She told CTV News she was immediately blocked from making future orders and was banned from the website.
“They started cancelling my orders and sending me emails saying my account had restrictions due to policy violations, and they didn’t give me an explanation,” Jamison said.
When she tried to get answers from Amazon, Jamison said she was caught in an endless loop of chatbots and AI responses.
She believes she got caught in a system glitch.
“If you purchase a product and order it right away, it triggers something in their fraud system, and I believe that’s what happened to me,” said Jamison.
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According to tech analyst Carmi Levy, as companies get rid of human employees and use AI, it creates customer service nightmares.
“Accounts are being banned, suspended, and cut off arbitrarily, and no one understands why accounts are being compromised,” said Levy.
With no one to speak with, consumers can get stuck in a frustrating AI loop.
“Amazon is a company of one. They are the world’s largest digital retailer in the world, and if their analytics determine that you’re not worth their while, no amount of complaining is going to get you back on that platform,” Levy said.
Amazon responds
CTV News reached out to Amazon on Jamison’s behalf, and a company spokesperson said in a statement, “After reviewing this case, we have fully restored this customer’s access and are in contact with them directly to apologize and make things right. We are also reviewing our processes to help prevent any errors of this kind from happening again.”
In the end, Jamison’s account was reinstated, and she was given a $200 gift card for her trouble, which she said was great news for her.
“This is a relief that I can start ordering from Amazon again. My account has been reinstated, and if it wasn’t for you, I would have been locked out of my account forever,” Jamison said.
