# Mass Soft blocked



## laflexer (May 10, 2018)

Work out of UCA3 Santa Monica... woke up to many of the old timers, 1.5+ years getting zero offers/soft block... Most got some sort of the 3rd party email last week. We are talking dozens of drivers who have never had issues in the past.


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## Side Hustle (Mar 2, 2017)

laflexer said:


> Work out of UCA3 Santa Monica... woke up to many of the old timers, 1.5+ years getting zero offers/soft block... Most got some sort of the 3rd party email last week. We are talking dozens of drivers who have never had issues in the past.


Seems like it hit here in Fort Worth in late March. It got so that I didn't recognize any of the drivers (all new siceOctober 2017) then not long after that I didn't see any more offers for a while. Then offers only saturday afternoon and evening. I've moved on like the others but still like to check the blog to see what you guys are up to.


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## Bygosh (Oct 9, 2016)

Same at my station. This is Amazon's way of getting people to leave the program so they don't get sued. Anyone who was not using automated methods and got soft blocked I would take them to arbitration.


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## oicu812 (Aug 29, 2016)

Forget arbitration. Class action.


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## Bygosh (Oct 9, 2016)

oicu812 said:


> Forget arbitration. Class action.


Can't unless you opted out of arbitration. You could wait until this Summer to see how the Supreme Court rules if arbitration agreements like Flex are legal. Court is 5-4 conservative though so likely they side with corporations.


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## Frœsty (Aug 14, 2016)

laflexer said:


> Work out of UCA3 Santa Monica... woke up to many of the old timers, 1.5+ years getting zero offers/soft block... Most got some sort of the 3rd party email last week. We are talking dozens of drivers who have never had issues in the past.


What 3rd party email? The 3rd party autoclicker/automation email or something else?


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## oicu812 (Aug 29, 2016)

Frœsty said:


> What 3rd party email? The 3rd party autoclicker/automation email or something else?


I think the person meant the second part.

I think most should know by now that their detection methods is as faulty as the people running the program.


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## soupergloo (Jul 24, 2015)

i'll never understand why the eff Amazon cares so much about automation. who cares if other drivers complain - they mostly likely won't be returning after their reserves run out regardless! and guess what, life isn't fair. not in the world of Amazon or anywhere else.

limiting us to 40 hours a week doesn't make us less of "employees," and it's not like they have to pay us OT for anything worked over 40. classifying someone as an employee isn't just specific to the number of hours worked 

not to mention, they had the cap off almost all year in 2017 at UCA1 and it didn't get put back on until the holidays rolled around (if that isn't ass backwards, idk what is); some people were working 56 hours a week.

i'm not soft blocked, but it's annoying have to worry about it every week.



Bygosh said:


> Anyone who was not using automated methods and got soft blocked I would take them to arbitration.


I actually agree with this. it will only cost a driver up to $200 to request arbitration and will cost Amazon a lot more. maybe all of the bs will stop with them if more drivers stood up and actually fought when Amazon was in the wrong.


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## rozz (Sep 7, 2016)

soupergloo said:


> i'm not soft blocked, but it's annoying have to worry about it every week.


Many people here were given a warning yesterday and Saturday. No one's been blocked that I know of but the blocking did previously happen already.

I have been observing the warehouse and there's a definite shift away from the software users to new drivers and tappers (50/50). All the software users deleted their apps or did not show up to work today so maybe it did have the intention Flex intended.

I have a feeling they didn't want to warn/block everyone at the same time because it would create massive trouble. The initial blocking of half the warehouse for no reason was to see if it could handle the volume with half the workforce. It clearly didn't but this time around they have a lot more new drivers. People around here are very cautious now but it will probably return to "normal" soon.


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## soupergloo (Jul 24, 2015)

rozz said:


> I have a feeling they didn't want to warn/block everyone at the same time because it would create massive trouble. The initial blocking of half the warehouse for no reason was to see if it could handle the volume with half the workforce. It clearly didn't but this time around they have a lot more new drivers. People around here are very cautious now but it will probably return to "normal" soon.


they certiantly threaten/deactivate/soft block enough drivers to make it seem like we're all replacable, but in reality, they hurt when they take action against a mass amount of drivers.

automation will *never *end now unless Amazon actually takes action and deactivates for it (which they have yet to do in California). there is so much information on the internet for newbies to catch on and that's only if they're not paying attention to all of the drivers running their mouth about it. the entire Flex system is broken, and they only have themselves to blame.

I kind of think it's funny they're wasting money, resources, energy, time on staff to pretend like they care about the automation problem.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

soupergloo said:


> i'll never understand why the eff Amazon cares so much about automation. who cares if other drivers complain - they mostly likely won't be returning after their reserves run out regardless! and guess what, life isn't fair. not in the world of Amazon or anywhere else.
> 
> limiting us to 40 hours a week doesn't make us less of "employees," and it's not like they have to pay us OT for anything worked over 40. classifying someone as an employee isn't just specific to the number of hours worked
> 
> ...


You're right that the 8/day 40/week cap doesn't mean anything about whether one is an employee or not. The reason they probably do it is to make it almost impossible to sue them over it. The unpaid overtime issue is the meat and potatoes of all these class action lawsuits. Without any possible unpaid overtime to recover, there's almost no monetary exposure or likelihood that any legal firm would take the case.


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## soupergloo (Jul 24, 2015)

grams777 said:


> You're right that the 8/day 40/week cap doesn't mean anything about whether one is an employee or not. The reason they probably do it is to make it almost impossible to sue them over it. The unpaid overtime issue is the meat and potatoes of all these class action lawsuits. Without any possible unpaid overtime to recover, there's almost no monetary exposure or likelihood that any legal firm would take the case.


if that's the case, I have almost an entire year of hours worked in addition to the weekly 40 that I could claim as unpaid overtime hours. when I first started, they were handing out 10 hour reserves!


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## rozz (Sep 7, 2016)

grams777 said:


> You're right that the 8/day 40/week cap doesn't mean anything about whether one is an employee or not. The reason they probably do it is to make it almost impossible to sue them over it. The unpaid overtime issue is the meat and potatoes of all these class action lawsuits. Without any possible unpaid overtime to recover, there's almost no monetary exposure or likelihood that any legal firm would take the case.


Ding ding ding ding ding. I was told exactly this by a Flex program associate. He said the system was specifically designed so that there's no loophole or grey area. Obviously there were holes in the beginning but they've plugged them up. The refinement of blocks (length and nonoverlapping) has been obvious. Next they will make it so that you have little gaps for "lunch." Already happening actually. I was also told "there's no way in hell" they will ever release the 40 hour cap ever again.


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## uberstuper (Jan 2, 2016)

It makes absolutely no sense with Auto tappers scripts or not why Amazon doesn't want to retain drivers with experience and with good ratings (however they established that) it's literally insane to hire a bunch of new drivers and go through the whole learning curve with newbies having to babysit them. Not to mention all the packages returned . Playing these childish games week after week. Who gives a shit if someone's running script or Auto tappers I have to think at this point at my station at least 75% of the people do . So have the masses terminated? Recycle? In the end this really is gig work! Ride the wave and enjoy it while it lasts. Because believe me it will not last forever.


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## Frœsty (Aug 14, 2016)

rozz said:


> ...I was also told "there's no way in hell" they will ever release the 40 hour cap ever again.


heh


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## cvflexer (Apr 27, 2017)

uberstuper said:


> Who gives a shit if someone's running script or Auto tappers I have to think at this point at my station at least 75% of the people do . So have the masses terminated? Recycle? In the end this really is gig work! Ride the wave and enjoy it while it lasts. Because believe me it will not last forever.


I have been doing it for 2 years without any help from scripts or manual tappers. I love that Amazon appreciates me by deactivating aholes that cheat.

Sometimes it takes a while, but eventually just like in life, all cheaters are kicked out.


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## soupergloo (Jul 24, 2015)

cvflexer said:


> I love that Amazon appreciates me


lololol


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## rozz (Sep 7, 2016)

soupergloo said:


> lololol


Allow me to translate for soupergloo: people who do a shitty job and don't adapt will be terminated regardless of software usage.



cvflexer said:


> I have been doing it for 2 years without any help from scripts or manual tappers. I love that Amazon appreciates me by deactivating aholes that cheat.


I actually like it too. Blocks are easier to get when there's an "orange scare" going on.


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## Frœsty (Aug 14, 2016)

soupergloo said:


> they certiantly threaten/deactivate/soft block enough drivers to make it seem like we're all replacable, but in reality, they hurt when they take action against a mass amount of drivers.
> 
> automation will *never *end now unless Amazon actually takes action and deactivates for it (which they have yet to do in California). there is so much information on the internet for newbies to catch on and that's only if they're not paying attention to all of the drivers running their mouth about it. the entire Flex system is broken, and they only have themselves to blame.
> 
> I kind of think it's funny they're wasting money, resources, energy, time on staff to pretend like they care about the automation problem.





soupergloo said:


> lololol


Why so hystrionic, suddenly? You're usually a rock here.


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## krazo (Nov 10, 2015)

Important message from flex support - Thank you for delivering for Amazon Flex for the last two years. You are now softblocked because you have delivered for Amazon Flex for the last two years . Thanks for delivering smiles.


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## Prg909 (Nov 4, 2016)

I know of drivers who were soft blocked including myself who were not cheating
With all the app problems do you really think they have a method to detect cheaters and only block them


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## laflexer (May 10, 2018)

Most who are running a script are still working this week... if you were running FREP the most old school "cheat" than they got you this week... Im talking 40-50 drivers who drive everyday for the last year.



cvflexer said:


> I have been doing it for 2 years without any help from scripts or manual tappers. I love that Amazon appreciates me by deactivating aholes that cheat.
> 
> Sometimes it takes a while, but eventually just like in life, all cheaters are kicked out.


fantastic story... smh



rozz said:


> Ding ding ding ding ding. I was told exactly this by a Flex program associate. He said the system was specifically designed so that there's no loophole or grey area. Obviously there were holes in the beginning but they've plugged them up. The refinement of blocks (length and nonoverlapping) has been obvious. Next they will make it so that you have little gaps for "lunch." Already happening actually. I was also told "there's no way in hell" they will ever release the 40 hour cap ever again.


I know for a fact some areas are currently NOT subjected to a 40hr cap... none in the state of CA though.


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## Frœsty (Aug 14, 2016)

laflexer said:


> ...I know for a fact some areas are currently NOT subjected to a 40hr cap... none in the state of CA though


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

uberstuper said:


> It makes absolutely no sense with Auto tappers scripts or not why Amazon doesn't want to retain drivers with experience and with good ratings (however they established that) it's literally insane to hire a bunch of new drivers and go through the whole learning curve with newbies having to babysit them. Not to mention all the packages returned . Playing these childish games week after week. Who gives a shit if someone's running script or Auto tappers I have to think at this point at my station at least 75% of the people do . So have the masses terminated? Recycle? In the end this really is gig work! Ride the wave and enjoy it while it lasts. Because believe me it will not last forever.


Most companies do this anyway. They don't want experienced, knowledgeable workers that have stayed at a company forever.

Good, knowledgeable employees will eventually start to ask questions and upset the company apple cart.


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## uberstuper (Jan 2, 2016)

cvflexer said:


> I have been doing it for 2 years without any help from scripts or manual tappers. I love that Amazon appreciates me by deactivating aholes that cheat.
> 
> Sometimes it takes a while, but eventually just like in life, all cheaters are kicked out.


Well...Very proud of you! Your a real boy scout! Btw though... after 2 years you have more of chance being terminated, than someone with a auto tapper doing flex after 1 year. You're a real hero and very appreciated by amazonflex. God bless you. 
PS let me know how you make out with that carpal tunnel surgery 
Peace and love


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## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

observer said:


> Most companies do this anyway. They don't want experienced, knowledgeable workers that have stayed at a company forever.
> 
> Good, knowledgeable employees will eventually start to ask questions and upset the company apple cart.


Equals = No Pensions to pay out.


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## uberstuper (Jan 2, 2016)

observer said:


> Most companies do this anyway. They don't want experienced, knowledgeable workers that have stayed at a company forever.
> 
> Good, knowledgeable employees will eventually start to ask questions and upset the company apple cart.


Maybe so in the corporate world. But you're overthinking this, we're just delivering packages lol. We don't even have a chance to speak for ourselves lol so impossible to disrupt the apple cart


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

uberstuper said:


> Maybe so in the corporate world. But you're overthinking this, we're just delivering packages lol. We don't even have a chance to speak for ourselves lol so impossible to disrupt the apple cart


Uber drivers in Seattle are just delivering passengers too.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ge...ove-forward-federal-judge-tosses-lawsuit/amp/


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## Cynergie (Apr 10, 2017)

Bygosh said:


> Same at my station. This is Amazon's way of getting people to leave the program so they don't get sued. Anyone who was not using automated methods and got soft blocked I would take them to arbitration.


I've never used any automated methods and had no problem getting blocks to date. I also have an extremely high reliability rate with negligible concessions. So that might be a driving factor.

But it sounds like Amzn is forcibly retiring vet drivers the way LyfUber has been increasingly putting their 4.9 star plus drivers out to pasture....


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## Bygosh (Oct 9, 2016)

I am now blocked from seeing Prime Now offers but not Fresh/.Com. Started today. 0 3rd party emails, worked 0 hours today and only 20 this week. I can literally see the prime now drops on my friends phone but not mine, even tried to drop one to me and nothing. No idea what the idiots at the Flex Dev team are up to now.


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## Cynergie (Apr 10, 2017)

Is your friend using scripts?



uberstuper said:


> Maybe so in the corporate world. But you're overthinking this, we're just delivering packages lol. We don't even have a chance to speak for ourselves lol so impossible to disrupt the apple cart


This. As independent contractors, we're not even allowed INSIDE the building. So it's not physically possible to get within any proximity of the apple cart.....


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## Bygosh (Oct 9, 2016)

[QUOTE="Cynergie, post: 3954645, member: 101571"]Is your friend using scripts?

[/QUOTE]

No just fingers. I've been doing this for 2+ years I know when they drop and how to get them.


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## konoplya (Apr 16, 2016)

what automation do these people use? physical tappers? i got one from someone and it doesn't even catch blocks. i got the kenz box. tried all the different settings and the shit sucks, misses blocks every single time. meanwhile, i see people at prime now location not even tapping and just grabbing blocks all day every day without any consequence... do they have a service or something or what?


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## dkcs (Aug 27, 2014)

You need a fast server and script.


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## konoplya (Apr 16, 2016)

dkcs said:


> You need a fast server and script.


i thought amazon detected scripts.. i've seen some emails people post, even though they claim they supposedly don't use anything.


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## dkcs (Aug 27, 2014)

They do, there are still methods to get around it to minimize the effects of being detected.


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## konoplya (Apr 16, 2016)

dkcs said:


> They do, there are still methods to get around it to minimize the effects of being detected.


do you mind sharing which methods would minimize that? i couldn't find anything about it anywhere


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## dkcs (Aug 27, 2014)

PM


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