Not upheld: account restriction and fund withholding complaint against Amazon Payments UK Limited

Decision detail

Summary

H, an Amazon seller, complained that APUK wrongly restricted access to funds in its seller account. APUK withheld the funds based on information from AEU that H had not provided satisfactory evidence of UK establishment for VAT purposes. The ombudsman found that APUK's actions were in line with the Selling on Amazon User Agreement, which grants APUK discretion to restrict accounts when disputes are pending. The ombudsman declined to consider the fairness of AEU's VAT requirements or the proportionality of the amount withheld, as AEU is outside the ombudsman's jurisdiction. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

APUK is a payment services provider subject to the terms of the Selling on Amazon User Agreement. Section 2.7 of that agreement grants APUK broad discretion to restrict transactions when financial risk exists or disputes are pending. Given the unresolved VAT and UK establishment matters between H and AEU, APUK's withholding of funds is in line with the contractual provisions. AEU's actions and decisions regarding VAT requirements and proportionality are outside the ombudsman's jurisdiction, as AEU is not the respondent and is not regulated by the FOS.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website