Overview

Amazon is providing temporary relief to sellers on its German marketplace after a bout of heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures disrupted shipments and warehouse operations. The e‑commerce giant says its automated performance alerts may have been triggered unfairly and will evaluate each case individually, a move that could prevent unnecessary account suspensions for affected merchants.

Key Points

• Severe weather stalls deliveries — Snow accumulation in several German regions forced carriers to suspend routes, causing seller‑fulfilled orders to miss promised delivery windows.
• Automated alerts still fire — The platform’s monitoring system continues to send warnings for late‑shipment and defect rates, even when the root cause is weather‑related.
• Case‑by‑case appeal option — Sellers can submit a detailed appeal explaining how the storm impacted their fulfillment, and Amazon will review the request manually.
• Listing pause recommended — Amazon advises merchants to deactivate or pause listings that cannot be shipped on time, reducing the risk of additional performance penalties.
• Evidence is essential — Documentation such as carrier service notices, screenshots of weather alerts, and internal logs will be required to substantiate an appeal.
• Timeline for review not fixed — Amazon has not disclosed a specific processing window, so sellers should file appeals promptly once normal operations resume.
• Cross‑border relevance — Similar relief measures have been offered in other European markets during floods or storms, indicating a broader policy for extraordinary events.

How Weather‑Related Appeal Works

1. Identify the restriction — Check the Account Health dashboard for any performance warnings or listing suspensions that appeared after the snowfall; for example, a “Late Shipment Rate” alert dated January 12.
2. Gather supporting records — Collect carrier emails announcing route cancellations, screenshots of regional weather warnings, and internal fulfillment logs that show orders could not be processed.