Some workers on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing platform recently had their payments accounts suspended without explanation, causing them to be unable to participate in projects that provide them with income. The issue was due to a technical problem in the system that prevented workers from accessing the service. While some workers reported having their accounts restored over the weekend, others said their accounts were still down as of Tuesday, showing a slow recovery process. Amazon spokesperson Montana MacLachlan stated that the company has largely resolved the isolated system issue that caused the problem.
Turkers, as they are commonly called, have been discussing the issue on Reddit and contacting news outlets such as GeekWire for information. Some workers believe that the outage of Amazon.com’s checkout system on Friday and the suspension of payments accounts on Mechanical Turk are related, although it has not been confirmed. This incident is just one of several issues that have occurred with Amazon’s payment platforms, including delayed payouts to Amazon Flex drivers last month. Workers who contacted Mechanical Turk support were directed to Amazon Payments, which then sent them back to Mechanical Turk, demonstrating confusion within the company regarding the problem.
Amazon Payments support informed some affected workers that their accounts were suspended because the company could not verify their email addresses. In some cases, workers were advised to create new accounts under different email addresses to resolve the issue. However, workers were concerned that doing so may violate the terms of service and potentially lead to permanent bans. The situation highlights the challenges faced by workers who rely on these platforms for income and the potential impact that technical problems can have on their livelihoods.
The suspension of payments accounts on Mechanical Turk reflects a larger pattern of issues with Amazon’s payment platforms, raising questions about the company’s reliability and communication with workers. The resolution process for workers affected by the suspension has been slow, with some still unable to access their accounts days after the problem first arose. This incident has also sparked speculation among workers about the connection between different technical problems faced by Amazon, and whether they are all part of a larger issue within the company.
Despite the challenges faced by workers on Mechanical Turk, many are still trying to navigate the situation and find solutions to the payment account suspension. The lack of clear communication from Amazon regarding the problem has made it difficult for workers to understand the cause of the issue and how to resolve it. Additionally, the conflicting information provided by Amazon Payments support further complicates the situation for workers seeking assistance. It remains to be seen how Amazon will address the payment account suspension and prevent similar issues from arising in the future.
