Suspended for a "related account": reinstated in 9 days with inventory unfrozen
A four-year-old kitchenware account was deactivated for a related-account violation the seller did not know existed. Two self-written appeals had been rejected. We found the link, documented it, and the account was back in nine days.
Published June 18, 2026
Account status
Reinstated
Inventory on hold
$38,000
released day 10
Appeals before us
2 rejected
Disbursements
Resumed
day 14
Day 0
Account deactivated
Section 3 notice: related to a previously enforced account. Funds and FBA inventory on hold.
Day 0–2
Two self-written appeals rejected
Both said the seller had no other account. Same template reply within hours.
Day 3
Root cause found
A former VA's shared device and network linked the account to another client's enforced store.
Day 5
Plan of action filed
Root cause, corrective action and preventive measures with evidence: contract end, access removal, new 2FA.
Day 7
Account Health Specialist call
Same facts, same evidence, escalation requested.
Day 9
Reinstated
Selling privileges restored; inventory released the next day.
The challenge
The deactivation notice cited Section 3: an account "related to" one that had been previously enforced. The seller had never operated another store. Their first two appeals said exactly that, and both were rejected within hours with the same template.
Meanwhile $38,000 of FBA inventory was frozen in the middle of Q4, and disbursements were on hold.
What we did
We started with the link itself, not the appeal. A review of the account's history showed a former virtual assistant had logged in from the same device and network they used for another client, and that client's account had been enforced two years earlier.
- Documented the relationship with dates, the VA's contract end, device and access removal, and new 2FA on every login.
- Wrote a plan of action in Amazon's three-part structure (root cause, corrective action, preventive measures) with evidence attached, not assertions.
- Escalated through the Account Health Specialist call after the written appeal, with the same facts.
The results
The account was reinstated on day nine. Inventory was released the following day and disbursements resumed within the week. The seller kept the December sales window with a two-week loss instead of a lost quarter.
Access controls we set up remain in place: named logins, 2FA, and a rule that no contractor ever shares a device with another client.
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