LEGO Bans - Open Discussion

[TheBrickClique]

As for operating with a single account to stay within the vendor’s technically-enforced limits, I believe this is the current state of things.
 

Cliff notes: you’ll be fine as long as you don’t go on a spending spree at Target.com, and try not to bring attention to your buying patterns by dealing with online customer service for small gripes that can be dealt with in store instead.

Target - the easiest place to get banned based simply on purchase volume online and the most aggressive against resellers in store — employees trained to identify resellers loading up carts for example.  Can still use red card in store after online ban, but using with a new email account will result in repeat ban — start receiving auto cancellations and email about possible issues including payment purchase method.  Some people have bans lifted after a period in timeout. Others indefinitely. The amount of purchases that may identify you as a reseller and get a ban? One data point: I have been unable to purchase online going on 18 months now after two months of $5k purchases on the red card. Same red card still works fine in store.
 

LEGO shop at home — with the purchase limits mechanics implemented a few years ago, it is much more difficult to get the SAH ban hammer. If you exceed a limit on any item based on past purchases of the same item, they will cancel your entire order. Be warned that if they cancel an order with a VIP Rewards purchase, the reward is not automatically credited back to your account. Also, if they cancel an item due to inventory issues, the system still tracks it as qty purchased. Qty purchased in brick and mortar stores that are purchased with VIP accounts are not counted towards SAH limits and and limits in store are done at the individual store’s discretion. If you do have to call customer service to resolve an issue, they do have easy visibility to all of your previous orders and will make comments about you “really liking LEGOs”.  No indication that that is how the ban process starts, but unless you really have an issue that needs CS, might be best to just let the small things go. 
 

Amazon — shop away. Their limits are tracked to the second on a 168-hour FIFO.  Limits apply and are tracked in that window only to items sold and shipped by Amazon.com. Buy as many third party items as you wish. Anecdotal stories of bans for excessive returns, but no clear information on the metrics used. Generally, probably best to save the returns for the really bad boxes.  Creating multiple accounts will get noticed and is the quickest way to get the warning shot emails. 
 

Barnes and Noble — similar to LEGO, has a five qty per item lifetime limit online. Exceed that amount and just that item will be cancelled from the order. No reports of bans. In store purchases do not appear to be tied to online memberships as far as adding to your 5-count quantity.  
 

Walmart — most LEGO are limited to two per order, but they won’t say how often that limit is reset.  Doing a couple of multiple limit orders in the same day has worked.  Doing dozens has resulted in order cancellations of those specific items but no bans that I am aware of. Generally, I have found one limit order per day has never resulted in a cancellation. 
 

ShopDisney — some items have limits but they are selectively enforced. If you put in multiple limit orders at the same time, they might cancel those items. If you space them out, they will be fine. I ordered a dozen castles (limit one per customer) last year and they all went through. Sometimes two in two consecutive days. 
 

Costco — has item limits on some items, but I haven’t seen any on LEGOs. Even with items with limits, possible to space them out without issue.  In store limits are usually “per day”. 
 

Best Buy — unsure on LEGO as I’ve never pushed the limits on them. In the past, I would make 50 purchases at a time of 2-dollar items that had limits and they would all go through.  I have tried to make multiple purchases of Xbox consoles and those were cancelled.  So YMMV. But no reports of bans.

Anyways, those are my observations.

[Guest TabbyBoy]

Sorry LEGO... I think all your sets are fantastic, the RRP is perfectly pitched and offers tremendous value. So much so that I'm going to add every Star Wars, Friends & Nexo set to my collection. Oh... the cheque is in the post, your hair looks nice, you're arse doesn't look too big in that and Audi drivers are always careful and considerate.

[Ed Mack]

A high profile member has been recently banned from LEGO S@H.  I asked them to inform us about the situation, but they have not do so as of yet.

[KShine]

3 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

A high profile member has been recently banned from LEGO LEGO Shop at Home.  I asked them to inform us about the situation, but they have not do so as of yet.

I just got banned as well.

[Ed Mack]

5 minutes ago, KShine said:

I just got banned as well.

Their sales must be back up....

[asharerin]

I was really hoping they were done with the bans and would start coming back to resellers, bricklinkers and the AFOL community. I was banned many years ago and have since moved onto other retailers with far cheaper prices but getting that set once in a while from LEGO Shop at Home with some points and a free promo set was very cool and made the product feel "special". Now it is just another brand that gets stuffed into a brown box and shipped off to Amazon. For myself getting banned def changed my attitude about the company and its products and I no longer spend for my own collection anymore.

[Lordoflego]

with the deals other retailers offer, soon, even snowglobes and gingerbread houses won't justify shopping at Lego anyway. Can you tell us more though? I'm curious what got you banned? Others could learn too and maybe avoid it.

[exciter1]

OK, I guess I need to ask. Order cancellations or some other sign of a ban?

[LegoBro]

Is there an Amazon Ban - Open Discussion thread?  It'd be good find out what gets one banned and see if there is some sort of consensus as to the amount of quantities ordered, returns, exchanges, etc...that get one banned on there.

[mezzaluna]

2 minutes ago, LegoBro said:

Is there an Amazon Ban - Open Discussion thread?  It'd be good find out what gets one banned and see if there is some sort of consensus as to the amount of quantities ordered, returns, exchanges, etc...that get one banned on there.

You can use the search bar to search for any thread you want

[KShine]

30 minutes ago, Lordoflego said:

 Can you tell us more though? I'm curious what got you banned? Others could learn too and maybe avoid it.

 

11 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

OK, I guess I need to ask. Order cancellations or some other sign of a ban?

I received the "LEGO Shop sells and ships products to end-user consumers only E10" email.

There was no good reason, or any out of the ordinary behavior on my part - if anything I have been purchasing much much less than I ever have before.

[exciter1]

3 minutes ago, KShine said:

 

I received the "LEGO Shop sells and ships products to end-user consumers only E10" email.

There was no good reason, or any out of the ordinary behavior on my part - if anything I have been purchasing much much less than I ever have before.

Ugh, ok, we haven't heard of anyone getting "the letter" for over a year or longer.  I'm still on my one and only account.

[asharerin]

8 minutes ago, LegoBro said:

Is there an Amazon Ban - Open Discussion thread?  It'd be good find out what gets one banned and see if there is some sort of consensus as to the amount of quantities ordered, returns, exchanges, etc...that get one banned on there.

For Amazon 10 returns gets your account flagged. After that any returns will get your account manually reviewed and they will tally up your activity and if you are a net money loser you will get one warning. Any return or concession asked for after that warning and you and everyone in your household / shipping addresses/ same IP are banned for life. If you are a net profit maker then you stay on until the next manual review. They limit purchases per household per week so you won't get banned ordering those limits. If you create multiple accounts to skirt the limits you will get one warning. Again if you keep skirting after the warning it is banned for life time. 

You really don't want to get banned from Amazon as they are almost impossible to find a workaround and in the future they are most likely to be supplying a significant chunk of your consumables. Lego ban is easy to get around but not really worth the hassle as their prices are awful. Lego just stings because alot of bricklinkers and LUGs got banned so they really hurt the brand and goodwill.

[thecrapweasel]

4 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

Ugh, ok, we haven't heard of anyone getting "the letter" for over a year or longer.  I'm still on my one and only account.

I just got re-banned a few weeks ago.  I originally got banned over a year and a half ago.  I created a new account and was going good with that until I placed an order and used PayPal, now that they accept it.  I'm 99% sure it was my PayPal email address that picked up the red flag, since that email was originally associated with my original account.

[LegoBro]

2 minutes ago, asharerin said:

For Amazon 10 returns gets your account flagged. After that any returns will get your account manually reviewed and they will tally up your activity and if you are a net money loser you will get one warning. Any return or concession asked for after that warning and you and everyone in your household / shipping addresses/ same IP are banned for life. If you are a net profit maker then you stay on until the next manual review. They limit purchases per household per week so you won't get banned ordering those limits. If you create multiple accounts to skirt the limits you will get one warning. Again if you keep skirting after the warning it is banned for life time. 

You really don't want to get banned from Amazon as they are almost impossible to find a workaround and in the future they are most likely to be supplying a significant chunk of your consumables. Lego ban is easy to get around but not really worth the hassle as their prices are awful. Lego just stings because alot of bricklinkers and LUGs got banned so they really hurt the brand and goodwill.

I appreciate this.  Thanks!

[Lordoflego]

8 minutes ago, KShine said:

 

I received the "LEGO Shop sells and ships products to end-user consumers only E10" email.

There was no good reason, or any out of the ordinary behavior on my part - if anything I have been purchasing much much less than I ever have before.

How long you've been buying from Lego?

 

6 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

Ugh, ok, we haven't heard of anyone getting "the letter" for over a year or longer.  I'm still on my one and only account.

Me too, and looking at my entire history, not hard to figure out what I do lol, I either resell or live in a brick house  

[Robb]

How could anyone that uses Amazon be "a net money loser"? If Amazon is losing money on you, you are very likely trying to scam them.

[ravenb99]

Kind of odd to see some online bans now.  If anything in store is completely the opposite.  Even hard stance limit stores have eased way up and welcome you with arms wide open these days.   

Makes me feel like I'm buying from this guy...

 

Edited December 10, 2016 by ravenb99

[kahuka]

24 minutes ago, asharerin said:

For Amazon 10 returns gets your account flagged.

10 returns...ever? I must be certainly over this with just household item returns--let alone damaged product returns. Would all those count?

I got a damaged MF this week and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. Item is currently OOS, so I'm going to hold tight for a bit either way.

[asharerin]

22 minutes ago, Robb said:

How could anyone that uses Amazon be "a net money loser"? If Amazon is losing money on you, you are very likely trying to scam them.

Amazon works on the thinnest of margins for their retail operations. Do alot of returns and you would easily cost them money. Show a pattern of regular returns then you are not the customer they are looking for and you will receive a warning email.

 

18 minutes ago, kahuka said:

10 returns...ever? I must be certainly over this with just household item returns--let alone damaged product returns. Would all those count?

I got a damaged MF this week and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. Item is currently OOS, so I'm going to hold tight for a bit either way.

Every return or concession (such as asking for partial refunds) counts. My advice don't mess around with Amazon if you think you will be buying/selling with them in the future.

[MinifigW]

Does Kmart have a policy like this? Every week or so they send me a completely pancaked set or two and I have to call their CS to get it fixed. If its a minor ding I just eat the loss and move on but I get really pissed when its as flat as a notebook. Its not like I'm just plain returning stuff for kicks, its all on their shipping department. Has anyone here heard of someone being banned or been banned yourself?

[KShine]

1 hour ago, Lordoflego said:

How long you've been buying from Lego?

Me too, and looking at my entire history, not hard to figure out what I do lol, I either resell or live in a brick house  

Many, many years - I have been a full timer for over 6.

Years ago (when everyone was getting banned), I myself have have said/wondered why I hadn't been banned (as it was obvious). But now that I don't even buy from them very often - I get the ban hammer.

Something obviously put me on their radar. As Ed mentioned, another established member also got hit - so something must be up. 

Edited December 10, 2016 by KShine

[MinifigW]

9 minutes ago, KShine said:

Many, many years - I have been a full timer for over 6.

Years ago (when everyone was getting banned), I myself have have said/wondered why I hadn't been banned (as it was obvious). But now that I don't even buy from them very often - I get the ban hammer.

Something obviously put me on their radar. As Ed mentioned, another established member also got hit - so something must be up. 

Maybe we have a leak ??

[BrickLegacy]

10 returns...ever? I must be certainly over this with just household item returns--let alone damaged product returns. Would all those count?
I got a damaged MF this week and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. Item is currently OOS, so I'm going to hold tight for a bit either way.

10 lifetime returns doesn't seem reasonable at all to me. But if there is one retailer I don't want to be banned from its Amazon. I appreciate the info.

[Voltron]

Not to alert people or make them paranoid, but I would stop posting pictures of lots of promos or openly stating you are buying above lego limits, if you want to superced them that's fine, I don't think it's wise to post stuff on Internet where it can be quite easy to track people and link accounts etc 

?️

[newbie77]

this is what i believe and have posted and shared long time ago.

in my opinion, TRU shares buyers information with TLG. [ btw, TLG asks for all lego buyer information from all retailers/sellers]. some provide them and some don't. some provide only the retail not the bulk buyers information.

Toys R Us is the only retailer, i know of which actually shares all information with TLG. i am not sure how often or automated that review process is but

if one's purchase at TRU has increased significantly, then assume within 6(six) months certain action from TLG. 

if TRU ban-hammer been struck then definitely expect some action from TLG.