So, your Amazon account is temporarily on hold. Where do you go from here? How did you even get here? There are many reasons why your Amazon account could be on hold — and we explain every single one below.
Why Is My Amazon Account on Hold?
Your Amazon account could be on hold because of various security issues. Duplicate accounts, unauthorized access to your account, inaccurate personal information, unverifiable credit cards, and unconfirmed account information could all possibly lead to your account being put on hold.
1. Duplicate Accounts
Do you have more than one Amazon account? Amazon doesn’t particularly like this! As a result, Amazon will often put your accounts on hold, as they see this as a security issue. Luckily, you can quickly solve this issue by getting in contact with Amazon to fix this.
To keep this from happening, you really should only have one Amazon account registered to your name and your email.
2. Unauthorized Access to Your Account
Your Amazon account could also be put on hold if there is a lot of unauthorized access to your account. This is another security issue, and Amazon will likely flag your account and put it on hold as a result.
Unauthorized access often means that a lot of people are seemingly logging into your account from various different IP addresses or locations. Amazon could believe that your account has been hacked, so they’ll quickly put your entire account on hold.
You can get full control of your account back by getting in touch with Amazon’s Support Team and confirming that you’ve had full access to your account — and nobody else has.
3. Inaccurate Personal Information
Inaccurate personal information may also cause your account to be on hold. Often, this occurs if you put in the wrong billing addresses or credit card information.
Your billing address is very important, as this allows Amazon to prevent credit card fraud from occurring. So, if your billing address isn’t correct, your account will be flagged and you’ll have to fix this before regaining full control of your account.
4. Unverifiable Credit Cards
If you’re trying to use unverifiable credit cards, your account could eventually be put on hold, mainly because Amazon cannot confirm this information in any way. It’s highly recommended that you only use the payment methods that Amazon offers.
To change this, you’re going to have to use one of the verified payment methods that Amazon offers. There are many options there to choose from, so you should be able to find a method that works for you.
5. Unconfirmed Account Information
Finally, unconfirmed account information could also end up with your account on hold. This means that any information you’ve supplied but not confirmed could be problematic.
Commonly, this mainly means your email. Amazon always sends an email to the email address that you’ve provided after you create an account, seeking for you to confirm that you’ve supplied the correct email address.
You should click this email link in order to confirm your email address. If you go a long time without confirming it, then Amazon could end up putting your account on hold. You’ll have to chat with Customer Service to get this changed.
How Long Will My Amazon Account Be On Hold?
This depends. If your account has been put on hold, you should definitely seek to get in contact with Amazon to learn what has happened, as well as understand what you should do, if anything.
Sometimes, just by getting in contact with Amazon’s Customer Service, you can work to quickly fix your account and get full control of it again.
On average, your account could be put on hold for one to two weeks. If the weeks continue on and you still don’t have access to your Amazon account, try getting in contact with Amazon again to see if there’s anything else you can do.
How to Get Your Amazon Account off Hold
As we’ve mentioned above, the best way to get your Amazon account off hold is by getting in contact with Amazon’s Support Team. You can easily do this by starting a Live Chat with a Customer Service agent over on Amazon’s website.
Explain that your account is on hold — and that you have no idea why. This support agent should be able to explain why your account is on hold, as well as if you need to do anything to help fix this.
You might have to do something small, such as verify your email or update your billing address. Once this is all done, everything is out of your hands. Amazon will take over.
They might take a bit longer after this to do some more investigation. However, if you’ve done everything they’ve asked you to, then you should be able to gain full control of your Amazon account again in no time.
Read our full guide here: How to Unhold an Amazon Account in 2022 [Full Guide]
Beware of the Amazon Account on Hold Email Scam
While your Amazon account being put on hold can always be worrisome, you should always be aware of potential email scams that might try to say your account is on hold — only it isn’t.
These scams have become more commonplace. Don’t fall for them!
These email scammers will send you an email stating that your Amazon account is locked or on hold. They’ll say that you need to click this link to get things fixed. If you click the link, you’ll be directed to a new page where you will be asked to update all of your information.
While it’s always concerning to think about your Amazon account being put on hold, always survey any emails that you get saying that this has happened. Check where the email is from. Don’t click any shady emails!
Conclusion
Your Amazon account could be put on hold for a variety of reasons. These reasons include inaccurate personal information, duplicate accounts, unverifiable credit cards, unauthorized access to your accounts, and unconfirmed account information. You can work to get your account back by contacting Amazon.
If your Amazon account has suddenly gotten “on hold”, you may want to know if you will still get the stuff you ordered. Read more about that here: If My Amazon Account Is on Hold, Will I Still Get My Stuff?