44 thoughts on “Email Jail, KDP and Me”

  1. OMG, how ghastly and frustrating. I too had issues when I published with KDP and couldn’t get a live person to speak to. They make so much money from doing almost nothing that one wonders what could possibly justify this ridiculous situation. Congratulations for hanging in there Yvonne.

  2. Wow, Yvonne, that was a very sad tale. Glad it had a happy ending (for now).

    I just went through my very first interaction with KDP and it was much smoother than I had expected. But, then again, this is only the second day that my item (a short story single) has been online.

    Thank you for the tips on how to get through issues with KDP.

    1. Thank you. When it works as they should it’s quite easy. But when there are issues it’s hard to get the help you need. Really though, Pablo was great, once I got to speak to him.

  3. What an awful experience! I’m so glad you finally got it all worked out. I suppose I’ve been luck (knock on wood), because so far, I haven’t had any major issues.

  4. Yikes! I haven’t dealt with KDP yet, nor do I want to. At least not without help from someone who can deal with them for me. My publisher handles that stuff–hooray! With my phone aversion problem, it would never get resolved.

  5. I hope they take your suggestion Yvonne. I have been down that same twilight zone road. It was slightly different, but I understand about biting the tongue. Lets keep our fingers crossed. They still insist I’m two different people (they don’t get the pen name bit ha!)

  6. Persistence is key with the ‘Zon. Sorry you had to go through that, but happy it all turned out, Yvonne. Holding your tongue had to be a mean feat 🙂

  7. This is absolutely a horrible thing to go through. I’m glad that you kept your cool and focused on the issue and worked diligently to resolve the issue. Good for you! as one in customer service it does no good to curse and yell and scream at the rep. I realize how frustrating it is but working together beats against each other. Congrats on finding a gem of a rep in Pablo! congrats on getting your KDP back too~

  8. What a horrible mess. If it were me, I’d have probably given up. Why can’t everyone be more like the customer service people of Createspace. They have a button to click to have them call you and its immediate. You get to talk to a live person if you have problems. And Amazon owns Createspace, I don’t understand how the two entities can be so vastly different in how they deal with their customers. Thank goodness you got it straightened out.

    1. So true. The difference is night and day. I do hope they take my suggestion seriously as it makes economic sense for them as well. Issues will be resolved more quickly. Time is money.

  9. Congrats for living through this episode with your brain and most of your hair intact, Yvonne. 🙂 You’re absolutely right, though — KDP ought to open a ticket when someone e-mails in with a problem and assign that ticket to a single individual, start to finish. That’s what the IT department at my day job does, so it can’t be that difficult to manage.

  10. It all sounds horrendous, Yvonne. I’ve not – yet – had a problem with KDP but I don’t have an ITIN. I filled a form in which I dowloaded but then I saw somewhere they won’t accept anything but an original form. I’ve been paralysed into inactivity since but feel I ought to do something to resolve it before other problems kick in.

    1. You need to ask KDP or Amazon to send you the form in the mail. They used to let you download it but that’s changed. Once you get the ITIN there is a form on KDP on-line where you can fill it in. Voila! Do get it done before they block your account. Good luck. (Oh and the IRS requires an official copy of your passport, too)

  11. What a nightmare! Thanks for sharing your cautionary tale, Yvonne. I imagine your blood pressure must have rose re-living it for the article!

  12. You’re nicer than I am. After I left my former publisher, she decided to play around with the dates to release my work so I could republish it. I was so scared I would lose reviews. I called Amazon customer service only to be told they weren’t KDP and that I had to email them. My reply was, “Tough. You have me on the phone and YOU are dealing with me or I promise to never purchase another item through Amazon and will shout it to the rooftops about your laziness. Now, check my purchase history to see all the money I’ve spent with you – I’ll hold – and then get back on the phone and tell me what I need to know.”
    It worked. LOL!
    I hope KDP changes their procedures. Good for you for sticking it out without actual jail time!

  13. Good for you for sticking to your guns, Yvonne, I know exactly what you went through. By the way, it too me fourteen months to get my ITIN number from the IRS.

    1. Thanks, TD. The ITIN took so long because they kept changing the rules – and never told me why I was being rejected. All it would take is a box on the form letter saying which item didn’t meet their requirements. Once I got to talk to Peter, though, he really went to bat for me.

  14. Your experience was horrific, Yvonne, and I’m amazed you managed to keep your cool the whole way through. A painful victory, but a victory nonetheless. I hope this incident does make Amazon re-think its procedures in the future.

    1. Thanks, Glynis. Bottom line is I hope they take my suggestion of ‘one ticket – one person’ seriously.
      It’s hard to bite my tongue but I’ve ;earned I get farther if I do. People stop listening when you yell and curse. It was a tough lesson. lol

  15. Wow, what a mess. I’ve been fortunate thus far with KDP, my only issues being relatively minor and quickly resolved. I hope you never have to deal with anything so crazy again. Well done getting it through it, though!

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