Effective immediately I am suspending all actions against Amazon as shown below. However, I will modify Mission Statement as appropriate and keep it on file just in case it becomes necessary to reinstate actions and continue the campaign. As of this date [September 22, 2024] it appears that all my property has been returned to me, or been made available to me to download, and all access to my accounts has been restored. It was necessary to order a new Kindle device as my old one has become inoperable and cannot be reregistered. The fact that it was working just fine before all this nightmare began some 530 days ago leads me to think that Amazon’s actions in remotely deactivating my Kindle device and wiping all my books from it had something to do with the device’s malfunction. However, since the Kindle device is more than 10 years old I have decided to upgrade to a newer and more advanced device. Hopefully there will be no issues with activating it and registering it with Amazon.
Now that I have full access to my KDP account I can see that all funds due me have been paid, assuming the records are accurate and assuming that Amazon has been honest with me concerning book sales.
It remains to be seen if I can now continue to upload new books to my list of published books to Amazon/KDP for listing and available for sale on that platform. I am guardedly optimistic. It should be noted that I will continue to consider my options for printing and distribution of my books in the coming days. After enduring the nightmare of the past 530 days my trust in Amazon/KDP will have to be earned!
The Origin Of My Mission
On or about April 10th 2023 Amazon/KDP, Inc. DID, without warning, notice, or justification, unlawfully and unethically move to deprive me of my lawful property and deny me access to my personal buying account, deny me access to my KDP account, deny me access to my purchased eBooks stored on my online Kindle Library Page, deny me access to my book sales reports, deny me monetary proceeds from the sales of my books listed on Amazon.com, and denied me access to the KDP facility/utility thus, denying me the ability to add new books to my public listings on Amazon/Kindle, or remove my copyrighted books from Amazon listings on Amazon.com.
Furthermore, on or about the above stated date Amazon DID criminally and unethically trespass on my privacy and my lawful property, namely my Kindle device, which I own outright as a result of purchasing and paying for said device, located within my own home [private property], and DID unlawfully remove [electronically] a number of purchased eBooks [also my property] stored in the device.
I first learned of these violations of my rights and privacy when I logged on to my Kindle device and found that it had been deactivated and contained none of the books I had purchased and downloaded. I cannot say how many books I had on the device, but I am certain that it had to have been several dozens. These are books that I had purchased and paid for and, therefore, legally belong to me. That is to say, my personal property. I was also unable to access the internet on the device. That feature of the device was also deactivated. A service that is intrinsic to the device. When purchasing the device one also purchases the internet feature. It is included in the purchase. The purchase of the device and included features constitutes a contract between me and Amazon. The device also belongs to me, as it was bought and paid for by me. Thus, personal property. The deactivation of the Kindle device and the included features, e.g. internet access, wifi capacity, etc., was done without warning or justification, thus, illegal, and a breach of contract by Amazon.
Furthermore, at that point I had no idea what was going on. I was confused and frustrated. I didn’t understand how or why this was happening. I thought that perhaps my Kindle had malfunctioned in some way. There was no communication to me from Amazon. No letters, no emails, no phone calls, no explanation, nothing! To add to my confusion I received a letter in the mail from Synchrony Bank, the bank that handles Amazon Credit. Apparently I had, at some point, signed up for a credit account with them for Amazon. I do know I never used it. I suppose for that reason I forgot about having it. Or else I did not sign up for it and someone else did using my name and information. If this is the case I can say that I am certainly not responsible for what identity thieves do.
The letter I received was a bill for over $1100.00 for two items that I most definitely did not purchase, and did not receive. The bank demanded payment for this amount. For one thing, the items were two battery operated drills for over $500.00 each. The very idea that I would spend that much money for a drill is absurd! I would never do that! And the notion that I would buy TWO of them is equally absurd! I immediately called the bank.
I explained to the bank representative that I did not make these purchases and I most certainly was not paying for them. The bank representative assured me that they would handle the matter and inform Amazon of the situation. It is clear to me now that the bank never informed Amazon of my denial of the claim and the bank’s decision in my favor. Amazon denies receiving any such communication from the bank. At this point I am not convinced that they did not get it. It is my view that Amazon simply chose to disregard it. Why, I do not know. At any rate I gave it no more thought as I presumed that the matter was closed. Little did I realize at the time that the matter was far from closed and the extent to which Amazon would go to terrorize and punish me for being a victim.
During the ensuing days, weeks and months after this initial encounter with the bank and my efforts to communicate with Amazon, to no avail, I have had to endure the loss of my many purchased books, the loss of the use of my Kindle, the loss of my ability to upload new books to KDP/Amazon, the loss of the ability to remove any books listed on my book seller’s account if I so desired to do so, the loss of my ability to control my accounts and professional business affairs regarding my books, not to mention the physical and mental toll all of this has taken on me over the past 17 months. The cost to my health and well-being may very well be immeasurable. Be assured I have every intention of recovering all of my property and securing all of my Amazon/KDP accounts. At this point I am also determined to recoup any and all losses and costs to me that have occurred, or may occur, until this matter is resolved to my complete satisfaction. It is my position that any resolution should include damages for physical and mental suffering as well as civil and criminal accountability for Amazon’s unlawful and unethical actions. Amazon has tested my resolve many times over the past 17 month, but I want to be clear. I will never surrender my Rights or submit to unlawful and unethical tactics practiced by Amazon in this case.
List of Applicable Unlawful And Unethical Charges
Amazon has engaged in the following unlawful and unethical actions:
- Theft of personal property. A felony.
- Malicious conspiracy. A felony.
- Complicity in identity theft. A felony.
- Negligence. Failure to protect my identity/personal information from thieves.
- Criminal trespass and invasion of privacy.
- Breach of contract. A civil violation.
- Cyber crimes. A felony.
- Theft of intellectual property. A felony.
- Copyright infringement.
- Embezzlement. A felony.
- Aggravated harm.
- Failure to notify me of illegal activities involving my accounts.
- Failure to provide information in regards to identity theft.
- Refusal to provide contractual sales reports and deliver monetary funds belonging to me.
- Failure/refusal to negotiate in good faith.
- Failure to respond to multiple attempts by me to regain access to and possession of my legal property and contractual accounts.
- Malicious infliction of physical and emotional damages, and a reckless disregard for my personal well-being.
- Unlawful and unethical deprivation of my personal property including monetary funds belonging to me.
- Depraved indifference to the damage done to my person, reputation, and financial security.
- Unlawful and/or unethical actions resulting in immeasurable harm to me, my person, and my ability to enjoy the use of my property, engage in my business affairs, secure my financial investments, as pertains to this matter, as well as irreparable damage to my health and general well-being.
- Extortion. A felony.
The above stated infractions, unlawful actions and unethical practices engaged in by Amazon demand attention and resolution, and are factual, accurate, and indisputable. It is not unreasonable to expect legal actions be taken to hold Amazon accountable. It is well within reason to demand damages from Amazon, both civil and criminal. I cannot calculate the actual amount of such damages at this time, but I can surmise that the total amount would be in the thousands, if not millions. I will not speculate, nor rule out, actual prison time for those responsible, considering the charges I have presented herein. Amazon’s unwillingness to cooperate or even make the slightest genuine effort to communicate with me on this matter tells me that they are willfully engaging in the unlawful and unethical tactics I have described above and have no intentions of resolving the issues I have related herein. Therefore, I will begin immediately to involve all federal and state agencies, departments, and consumer advocacies at my disposal. Those shall include, but not limited to, the following:
- The Federal Trade Commission
- The Better Business Bureau
- U.S. Department of Justice
- U.S. Attorney General’s Office
- Attorney General of West Virginia
- Attorney General of the State of Washington
- My Congressional Representatives [WV]
- Various Mainstream Media outlets
- Various Social Media platforms
- Consumer Advocacy Organizations/Groups
- Various legal organizations
- And the office of Jeff Bezos
This is a mission in progress and further updates will be posted as soon as they are properly prepared…
Stay tuned
Notice to others who have been victimized by Amazon/KDP
If you have a story to tell about being victimized or mistreated by Amazon/KDP, please feel free to drop me a note. I would be glad to include your story in this endeavor. Thank You.
Also, please share this story with your friends and post it wherever you can. Thanks again, De McClung.
Let’s look at the charges one by one
1. The fact that Amazon stole my property is indisputable. Over the years I purchased many books from Amazon/Kindle. Since Amazon is blocking my access to the online records of those books I cannot confirm the exact number of books [eBooks] that I have, in fact, purchased. If I were to estimate the number I would say it’s in the hundreds. Since I never imagined it would be a problem I didn’t keep any records of purchased books on my computer or office files. It also never occurred to me that my Kindle device was not secure and that the books I have downloaded to it or had sent directly to it were at risk of being stolen by Amazon or anyone else. After all they were locked in to a device that I had purchased and for all intents and purposes those books belonged to me, legally my personal property, and were secure [I thought] on MY Kindle device, also my personal property. Even if my Kindle device was to malfunction or, for some reason, fail I was confident that my books were secure online on my online [purchased] book library. I was wrong. I have hundreds of dollars invested in those books and I have no intention of letting Amazon rob me of those books, my personal property. It is clear and irrefutable that Amazon DID, in fact, steal my property.
Therefore: As to the charge of felony theft I find the defendant, Amazon, Inc., guilty as charged.
2. As to the charge of “malicious conspiracy” it is obvious that Amazon has and is conspiring against me and intentionally and maliciously conspiring to deprive me of my property and access to my accounts. Amazon has provided me with absolutely NO justification for their actions, for which there is none, and Amazon has consistently refused to respond in any meaningful way to my repeated attempts to get my property returned to me and my access to my lawful accounts reinstated. As of this date, September 14, 2024, Amazon has refused to respond to any of my many emails since December of 2023. The last email I received from Amazon was more of the same counter-productive bullocks that I had received previously. This is not only malicious intent, it is blatantly insulting and recklessly irresponsible. Amazon’s actions, or inactions, leaves me no choice but to bring my case to the attention of government authorities and the public at large.
Therefore: As to the charge of malicious conspiracy I find Amazon, Inc. guilty as charged!
3. Complicity in Identity Theft.