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[1/n] A story of how my @Amazon account got blocked 4 times in a row for buying a computer display with no help from support over 3 weeks.
[2/n] I recently moved to the UK and tried to order this ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084KX3HQ8) Dell monitor to write the code more efficiently.
[3/n] Because I just moved, I had no UK credit cards and used my Russian credit card instead. I am not someone from the Russian government and thought it should be fine then :)
[4/n] Nope. Instead, my account got blocked, and Amazon requested me to upload bank statements for the said credit card. Apparently, they decided someone is trying to use a stolen credit card.
![[4/n] Nope. Instead, my account got blocked, and Amazon requested me to upload bank statements for the said credit card. Apparently, they decided someone is trying to use a stolen credit card.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZb068WAAA3Zyj.jpg "[4/n] Nope. Instead, my account got blocked, and Amazon requested me to upload bank statements for the said credit card. Apparently, they decided someone is trying to use a stolen credit card.")
[5/n] Well, I guess someone who was making orders in the US only over the last 7 years but is trying now to use a Russian credit card in the UK might be a bit suspicious.
[6/n] I uploaded my credit card statement, and it took Amazon roughly a day to unblock my account. Hoping that someone has cleared the "this is a crook" flag on my account, I tried to make an order once again with the same credit card.
[7/n] Nope.
![[7/n] Nope.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZb_fjX0AAvHNi.jpg "[7/n] Nope.")
[8/n] "Well, this does not look pretty," I thought. After this, I decided that maybe I should just get a UK card and make an order using it.
[9/n] Nice try.
![[9/n] Nice try.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZcFYJXcAU5Gcl.jpg "[9/n] Nice try.")
[10/n] Actually... hang on for a second, what was that? So, Amazon charged my card and then blocked my account? Noice.
![[10/n] Actually... hang on for a second, what was that? So, Amazon charged my card and then blocked my account? Noice.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZcIr9XYAQ7qm6.png "[10/n] Actually... hang on for a second, what was that? So, Amazon charged my card and then blocked my account? Noice.")
[11/n] At this moment, I gave up and decided to talk with the Amazon support folks. I can't load the support chat transcript at the moment to take screenshots (ahem), but luckily saved the history in a text file :)
![[11/n] At this moment, I gave up and decided to talk with the Amazon support folks. I can't load the support chat transcript at the moment to take screenshots (ahem), but luckily saved the history in a text file :)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZeUYNWoAAs9Ll.jpg "[11/n] At this moment, I gave up and decided to talk with the Amazon support folks. I can't load the support chat transcript at the moment to take screenshots (ahem), but luckily saved the history in a text file :)")
[12/n] If you're too lazy to read the whole transcript, the first support person said that someone would be in touch in 72 hours.
![[12/n] If you're too lazy to read the whole transcript, the first support person said that someone would be in touch in 72 hours.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZcPCJXgAEbcm9.jpg "[12/n] If you're too lazy to read the whole transcript, the first support person said that someone would be in touch in 72 hours.")
[13/n] So, do you think anyone has reached out to me in 72 hours? Nope, and I think I waited roughly a week before deciding I should talk with the support again.
[14/n] This time, it was even worse. The support person claimed that I couldn't make an order because there was no payment card attached to my account. Well, of course — every time Amazon was blocking my account, it was detaching every card I had.
![[14/n] This time, it was even worse. The support person claimed that I couldn't make an order because there was no payment card attached to my account. Well, of course — every time Amazon was blocking my account, it was detaching every card I had.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZcTGRXcAE8Rph.jpg "[14/n] This time, it was even worse. The support person claimed that I couldn't make an order because there was no payment card attached to my account. Well, of course — every time Amazon was blocking my account, it was detaching every card I had.")
[15/n] After a bit of wrangling, the support person, however, agreed to ask someone to look into the issue again and reach out to me.
[16/n] This time, someone did reach out and said that my bank declined the transaction (I believe they talked about my Russian bank, not about my new UK bank) and that I should repeat the order with another card.
![[16/n] This time, someone did reach out and said that my bank declined the transaction (I believe they talked about my Russian bank, not about my new UK bank) and that I should repeat the order with another card.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZcXwpWoAM-h7j.jpg "[16/n] This time, someone did reach out and said that my bank declined the transaction (I believe they talked about my Russian bank, not about my new UK bank) and that I should repeat the order with another card.")
[17/n] I tried to respond to this email saying that Amazon successfully charged my card, but nope — they don't accept incoming emails.
![[17/n] I tried to respond to this email saying that Amazon successfully charged my card, but nope — they don't accept incoming emails.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZc1xzXgAETL-A.jpg "[17/n] I tried to respond to this email saying that Amazon successfully charged my card, but nope — they don't accept incoming emails.")
[18/n] Thinking that maybe I was doing something stupid before, I also reattached my card and made an order once again, which was what the email support has advised.
[19/n] My card was successfully charged...
![[19/n] My card was successfully charged...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZc8B3WAAUTlIM.png "[19/n] My card was successfully charged...")
[20/n] But instead of a new computer display, I got another account suspension :)
![[20/n] But instead of a new computer display, I got another account suspension :)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZdAs6XgAA63vY.jpg "[20/n] But instead of a new computer display, I got another account suspension :)")
[21/n] Another support person assured me that someone would email me in 48 hours. Needless to say that no one has reached out to me in 4 or 5 days.
![[21/n] Another support person assured me that someone would email me in 48 hours. Needless to say that no one has reached out to me in 4 or 5 days.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkZdDqPXcAEFvHA.jpg "[21/n] Another support person assured me that someone would email me in 48 hours. Needless to say that no one has reached out to me in 4 or 5 days.")
[22/n] Today, I tried to talk with another support person, and they promised me that someone would look into the issue.
[23/n] But you know what? I just don't buy that. Maybe @AmazonHelp will eventually help, but I start to think that I am forever doomed to ask my friends for a favor every time :)
[24/n] I still have not received back some of the money I paid to Amazon. Even if I never will, it is a great story of how automated systems, and in general, software and organizational complexity can get out of control.
[n/n] Fun fact: a few months ago, I actually interviewed for a software engineer role at Amazon but didn't accept their offer.
