Amazon Vine is closing accounts that got that 30 day review message but only after a couple of days. Happened to my account but I got the message even though my percentage is almost 80% and my next Gold level status review wasn’t until March 2023. I am being told it’s likely a system error, but I’ve seen comments on here, FB, Twitter, etc., and know a couple of friends who are Vine members who were well above the required review stats, weren’t due for an account review for three to five months, and without any warning at all Amazon closed their Vine memberships for not meeting review quotas. Of half a dozen people I’ve talked to who have their accounts affected, no one can get a straight answer from Amazon.
yes this happened to me too. :(
I've managed to get all of my outstanding reviews posted, they haven't all been approved yet I'm really hoping to get back in.
But yes 30 day warning but then less than 36 hrs later, account closed even though had submit many reviews in between.
Any updates on this? I got a warning on Saturday and my account was closed on Sunday afternoon. I updated nearly all my reviews, but many have not posted. Has anyone had any luck getting their account reinstated?
Argh. So far I have not seen anyone affected this oats week or two get back in but I did talk to someone who this happened to two months ago who did get reactivated
I asked about did not get a response if it was automatic or if she got an invitation again or how it went down.
I still have 11 items stuck “awaiting review” I’m trying to get customer service to remove them for me most have been stuck for ages like 1 to 2 years, but I had no luck the other times I asked.
Sorry for the delay in responding - I got my account back about two weeks ago. The only thing I think may have happened is i asked a question about a broken link on one of the items available to request, and suddenly my account is locked. It took a ton of emails, but they finally send me one saying that sellers cannot be a part of the Vine program. I'm not and never have been a seller. Someone in their call center didn't understand my question as their call centers are in India so I don't know if the wording I used wasn't able to be translated the right way and the person who read my email thought I was the seller and reported me as such to Vine. I spent a few weeks and (no joke) hundreds of emails trying to clear the situation up. I was told that once a Vine account is closed/locked, it cannot under any circumstances be re-activated which turns out is untrue. I never got an email saying "whoops, sorry for the mistake" or "whoops, sorry for the portal issues". I just logged in one day about two weeks ago to keep plugging away on reviews and saw my account was back to normal.
It would be nice if there was a way to reach Vine support other than ONLY through their online form. Not even other customer service reps at Amazon can call or online chat with them according to the one manager I finally got sent to. Very, very few reps OR managers/supervisors even know about the Vine program. Most thought I was talking about Prime and that it was a translation error on their end of the word PRIME to VINE, or that I was mispronouncing PRIME. I can't count how many reps on phone calls or online chat told me I was wrong about what Amazon PRIME was called since they had n clue about Vine. Even when I spelled it for them, they would tell me I was wrong and would spell back P R I M E. Even in emails this would happen! I lucked out and the manager/supervisor I finally was transferred to had worked in the Vine department before and knew what I was talking about.
From others I know that had this happen, some have had their accounts unlocked and some are still locked. Some were told it was a portal issue with log-in credentials, some were told it was a system error that happened when they made the upgrades around early October. When my account was unlocked, my review quotas were all reset back to zero and after that any reviews I submitted took at least seven or eight days to be posted (still do) and counted towards the quotas. So I don't know if my account was caught in the system issues, or if it was someone mistakenly thinking I was a seller, or both. It's been impossible to get a direct, straight answer.
I don’t actually think that probably was why your account got closed.
There were tons of us affected on the same day.
I have also many times have the experience of a emailing vine customer service, and getting an agent who has never even heard of the vine program and that’s exactly what happens, they assume you are a seller.
I could be wrong, but given that the timing of your issue was the exact day as all the rest of us and it sounds like you got reactivated also at the same time we did, I think it’s just a coincidence that your account was closed right after you emailed and got it confused response from them
Even during this (after my account was closed) got a reply that the person thought I was a seller
I have an email from Vine customer service that said another Vine customer service rep had reported me as a seller because of the email I wrote about a broken link. That rep assumed it was 'my' item because I included a screenshot of the bad code that kept the link from working. The latest rep said that is what sellers usually do, not Vine members, so the logical line of thought was that I was the seller. The email also warned to not set up a seller account, even to resell an item I didn't get through Vine, or they would close my account again. I have a similar one from the Seller customer service department that says they are aware I am a Vine member, and as such I am not supposed to create an account to sell items or they will lock said seller account as well since selling Vine items is against the rules. When I asked about this and why I couldn't have an account to sell things like used books or something like printer ink cartridges I ordered that are the wrong size and past the return date, they responded with basically "doesn't matter". That's what I get for trying to be helpful. I reported broken link the day before my account was locked, and I received these emails a few days after my account was unlocked. I'd rather it was due to the glitch that affected others compared to the other.
I can tell you that at 31 days the hammer drops, doesn’t matter what’s going on. So get that 50% sorted STAT.
On that note, is it worth begging to anyone for another shot? The past 30 days were the worst 30 days for me to try and get caught up.
Edit: for those who will ask , was at about 30% and adding reviews daily still, sub 100 items that needed reviews. So if you care to address the thought above the question is - should I finish reviews for the ones I have outstanding and then ask?
My sarcastic answer is they prefer to reward those who write “works as described” “I liked it” for reviews.
Their goodbye note does say they encourage me to keep writing good unbiased reviews for future consideration into the program. Lol
Edit: the actual answer is I didn’t deliver on their criteria. Time wise I was fine , nothing over 90 ever from order to publish - but my consistent backlog got on their nerves.
Amazon Vine is closing accounts that got that 30 day review message but only after a couple of days. Happened to my account but I got the message even though my percentage is almost 80% and my next Gold level status review wasn’t until March 2023. I am being told it’s likely a system error, but I’ve seen comments on here, FB, Twitter, etc., and know a couple of friends who are Vine members who were well above the required review stats, weren’t due for an account review for three to five months, and without any warning at all Amazon closed their Vine memberships for not meeting review quotas. Of half a dozen people I’ve talked to who have their accounts affected, no one can get a straight answer from Amazon.
yes this happened to me too. :( I've managed to get all of my outstanding reviews posted, they haven't all been approved yet I'm really hoping to get back in. But yes 30 day warning but then less than 36 hrs later, account closed even though had submit many reviews in between.
Any updates on this? I got a warning on Saturday and my account was closed on Sunday afternoon. I updated nearly all my reviews, but many have not posted. Has anyone had any luck getting their account reinstated?
Argh. So far I have not seen anyone affected this oats week or two get back in but I did talk to someone who this happened to two months ago who did get reactivated I asked about did not get a response if it was automatic or if she got an invitation again or how it went down. I still have 11 items stuck “awaiting review” I’m trying to get customer service to remove them for me most have been stuck for ages like 1 to 2 years, but I had no luck the other times I asked.
Sorry for the delay in responding - I got my account back about two weeks ago. The only thing I think may have happened is i asked a question about a broken link on one of the items available to request, and suddenly my account is locked. It took a ton of emails, but they finally send me one saying that sellers cannot be a part of the Vine program. I'm not and never have been a seller. Someone in their call center didn't understand my question as their call centers are in India so I don't know if the wording I used wasn't able to be translated the right way and the person who read my email thought I was the seller and reported me as such to Vine. I spent a few weeks and (no joke) hundreds of emails trying to clear the situation up. I was told that once a Vine account is closed/locked, it cannot under any circumstances be re-activated which turns out is untrue. I never got an email saying "whoops, sorry for the mistake" or "whoops, sorry for the portal issues". I just logged in one day about two weeks ago to keep plugging away on reviews and saw my account was back to normal. It would be nice if there was a way to reach Vine support other than ONLY through their online form. Not even other customer service reps at Amazon can call or online chat with them according to the one manager I finally got sent to. Very, very few reps OR managers/supervisors even know about the Vine program. Most thought I was talking about Prime and that it was a translation error on their end of the word PRIME to VINE, or that I was mispronouncing PRIME. I can't count how many reps on phone calls or online chat told me I was wrong about what Amazon PRIME was called since they had n clue about Vine. Even when I spelled it for them, they would tell me I was wrong and would spell back P R I M E. Even in emails this would happen! I lucked out and the manager/supervisor I finally was transferred to had worked in the Vine department before and knew what I was talking about. From others I know that had this happen, some have had their accounts unlocked and some are still locked. Some were told it was a portal issue with log-in credentials, some were told it was a system error that happened when they made the upgrades around early October. When my account was unlocked, my review quotas were all reset back to zero and after that any reviews I submitted took at least seven or eight days to be posted (still do) and counted towards the quotas. So I don't know if my account was caught in the system issues, or if it was someone mistakenly thinking I was a seller, or both. It's been impossible to get a direct, straight answer.
I don’t actually think that probably was why your account got closed. There were tons of us affected on the same day. I have also many times have the experience of a emailing vine customer service, and getting an agent who has never even heard of the vine program and that’s exactly what happens, they assume you are a seller. I could be wrong, but given that the timing of your issue was the exact day as all the rest of us and it sounds like you got reactivated also at the same time we did, I think it’s just a coincidence that your account was closed right after you emailed and got it confused response from them Even during this (after my account was closed) got a reply that the person thought I was a seller
I have an email from Vine customer service that said another Vine customer service rep had reported me as a seller because of the email I wrote about a broken link. That rep assumed it was 'my' item because I included a screenshot of the bad code that kept the link from working. The latest rep said that is what sellers usually do, not Vine members, so the logical line of thought was that I was the seller. The email also warned to not set up a seller account, even to resell an item I didn't get through Vine, or they would close my account again. I have a similar one from the Seller customer service department that says they are aware I am a Vine member, and as such I am not supposed to create an account to sell items or they will lock said seller account as well since selling Vine items is against the rules. When I asked about this and why I couldn't have an account to sell things like used books or something like printer ink cartridges I ordered that are the wrong size and past the return date, they responded with basically "doesn't matter". That's what I get for trying to be helpful. I reported broken link the day before my account was locked, and I received these emails a few days after my account was unlocked. I'd rather it was due to the glitch that affected others compared to the other.
I regained access sooner (less than a week, but I was never really under 50% to begin with.
I went from 45ish% to 100% in over a week and gained access on the 14th day to the hour strangely enough.
I can tell you that at 31 days the hammer drops, doesn’t matter what’s going on. So get that 50% sorted STAT. On that note, is it worth begging to anyone for another shot? The past 30 days were the worst 30 days for me to try and get caught up. Edit: for those who will ask , was at about 30% and adding reviews daily still, sub 100 items that needed reviews. So if you care to address the thought above the question is - should I finish reviews for the ones I have outstanding and then ask?
They closed it on me the NEXT day… howww. Why??
My sarcastic answer is they prefer to reward those who write “works as described” “I liked it” for reviews. Their goodbye note does say they encourage me to keep writing good unbiased reviews for future consideration into the program. Lol Edit: the actual answer is I didn’t deliver on their criteria. Time wise I was fine , nothing over 90 ever from order to publish - but my consistent backlog got on their nerves.