I recently sat down with Aleksejs Leal , host of the Amazon seller podcast Ecom
By Chris McCabe · February 10, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
I recently sat down with Aleksejs Leal, host of the Amazon seller podcast Ecom Talk, to discuss a hard truth: Most Amazon appeals fail because sellers are using 2020 strategies to solve 2026 problems.
If you are currently suspended or fighting a violation, you need to stop "guessing." If you make avoidable mistakes, you set yourself back.
I'll be discussing the three biggest ways I see sellers destroying their own chances of listing or account reinstatement, this week in NYC, too.
If you can't make it there, and only read about it here, avoid these traps.
1. The "Plan of Action" (POA) is (Mostly) Dead Stop defaulting to a POA. Amazon almost never asks for them anymore. In the current enforcement landscape, Amazon has shifted to a dispute-only model.
If you send a POA for a violation you didn't commit, you are admitting guilt to a crime you didn't do. If the notification doesn't explicitly say "Send a Plan of Action," do not send one.
This is yesterday's news. Stay up to date and don't give them ammunition to deny you.
2. ChatGPT is a trap. Sellers pumping suspension notices into ChatGPT and pasting the result into Seller Central. The reality is that Amazon knows. Their internal teams can spot AI-generated appeals instantly, reps often comment on calls, "This looks like AI" to a denied seller.
Worse, AI scrapes the internet for old information. It will give you a template based on how Amazon worked three years ago. That is a one-way ticket to a generic rejection.
3. The "Jeff" Email is Over Writing an escalation email to "Jeff" is a tactic from five years ago. Jeff left in 2021, remember?
It signals to Amazon that you are out of the loop and relying on outdated tricks. Executive Seller Relations (ESR) has been impacted by layoffs and restructuring. If you don't have a specific, evidence-based strategy for why your case was mishandled, emailing executives will get you nowhere.
Don't forget, Amazonians reading appeals have to read a lot of them, and make a lot of decisions. This is no "rubber stamp of approval" game.
The Bottom Line: You do not have unlimited attempts. Most sellers contact me after they have already burned through three or four appeals with "trial and error". By then, the hole is often too deep.
If you are facing a suspension, stop guessing. Get a strategy before you click "Submit."
Watch the full discussion with Aleksejs Leal here: https://lnkd.in/g5MzbE7t