When Amazon says: "If you believe this violation was made in error, submit a dis
By Chris McCabe · October 7, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
When Amazon says: "If you believe this violation was made in error, submit a dispute."
What do most sellers do?
They write back: "This was an error on our part because we didn't do it intentionally. We made a mistake and we won't do it again."
That is not a dispute. A dispute provides evidence the enforcement is wrong, challenging the finding as they said at Amazon Accelerate.
Amazon updated their appeal language and dispute requirements because they got tired of wading through specious arguments and AI-generated fluff.
When Amazon asks if a complaint was in error, they mean things like:
- If you got hit with a policy violation, was the reporting party filing in bad faith? Did they have any actual evidence, or was it rubber-stamped?
- Is your team making test buys of a competitors inventory, then leaving bad reviews?
- Did your brand violate listing policies or misrepresent a product, intentionally or not?
They look for sellers sending in Plans of Action, then switch to disputes.
Don't start acknowledging offenses that didn't happen or cant be substantiated, then try to backtrack it later, either. It makes you look like you're guessing and didn't know what happened.
Also, it makes your appeals less credible, generally speaking. Before you fire off a generic POA or a scattered, unhelpful Seller Support ticket, look at what the form is actually asking for.
It is ten times harder to undo the damage of a botched dispute than it is to build a legitimate, evidence-based appeal the first time around.