Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.mathership.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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Customer Bans

Customer bans let vendors block specific customers from ordering or connecting through Mathership. Use customer bans when a customer should no longer be allowed to follow your vendor company, access your products, or place orders with you.

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What is a customer ban?

A customer ban is a block between your vendor company and a customer company. When a customer is banned:

• The customer cannot follow your vendor through the vendor catalog
• The customer can be hidden from active customer lists
• The customer cannot place new orders with your vendor company
• Your products can be excluded from that customer’s available product list

A ban does not delete the customer, the relationship, or historical orders.

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When to ban a customer

Use a customer ban when:

• You no longer want to accept orders from a customer
• The customer should not be able to follow your vendor company
• The customer relationship is no longer valid
• There is a payment, contractual, or operational issue
• The customer should be temporarily blocked from ordering

Examples:

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What happens when you ban a customer?

When you ban a customer, Mathership creates a customer ban record for your vendor company. After the ban:

• The customer is blocked from ordering from you
• The customer may no longer see your vendor in the public catalog
• The customer cannot follow your vendor again while banned
• Your products are excluded from that customer’s available vendor products
• Existing order history remains available

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Banning a customer

To ban a customer:

1. Go to Customers
2. Open the customer you want to block
3. Click Ban Customer
4. Optionally enter a reason
5. Confirm the ban

The customer is then blocked from active ordering.

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Ban reason

You can optionally save a reason for the ban. Examples:

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Already banned customers

If a customer is already banned, Mathership does not create a duplicate ban. The system can return that the customer is already banned. If a previous ban was removed, banning the customer again can reactivate the existing ban record.

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Unbanning a customer

You can remove a customer ban when the customer should be allowed to order again. To unban a customer:

1. Go to Customers
2. Open the banned customer
3. Click Unban Customer
4. Confirm the action

After unbanning:

• The ban is removed from active use
• The customer can be allowed to order again
• The customer may be able to follow your vendor again
• The relationship can continue if it still exists

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What happens when you unban a customer?

Unbanning removes the active block. This means:

• The customer is no longer blocked by the ban
• The customer can appear in customer management again
• The customer may be able to access your products again
• The customer may be able to place orders again, depending on the relationship and product availability

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Ban vs. inactive relationship

A customer ban is different from an inactive relationship. Use a ban when you specifically want to prevent access. Use an inactive relationship when the customer should simply not be part of the active customer list.

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Customer visibility

Banned customers can be excluded from customer lists. Depending on your view, you may have an option to include banned customers. This is useful when you want to:

• Review blocked customers
• Check why a customer was banned
• Unban a customer
• Audit customer access

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Effect on the vendor catalog

If your vendor company is public, customers can normally find you in the vendor catalog. A banned customer may not see your vendor in the catalog. If they try to follow your vendor while banned, Mathership prevents the connection.

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Effect on orders

Banned customers cannot place new orders with your vendor company. Existing orders are not deleted. This means:

• Old orders remain in order history
• Reports can still include historical data
• The customer cannot create new orders while banned
• Unbanning can allow future ordering again

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Example: Ban a customer

You no longer want to accept orders from a customer because the business relationship has ended.

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Example: Temporary block

A customer should be blocked until an open issue is resolved.

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Example: Unban a customer

A previous issue has been resolved and the customer should be allowed to order again.

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Best practices

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Use bans carefully

Only ban customers when you really want to block access. For normal cleanup, use customer management or relationship settings instead.

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Add a clear reason

A short reason helps your team understand why the customer was blocked. Good examples:

• Contract ended
• Payment issue
• Duplicate customer
• Delivery area not supported

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Review banned customers regularly

Check banned customers from time to time. Some bans may only be temporary and can be removed later.

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Keep historical orders

Do not use bans to remove order history. Order history should remain available for reporting, documentation, and customer service.

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Common problems

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Customer cannot follow my vendor

Check whether the customer is banned. A banned customer cannot follow your vendor through the catalog.

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Customer cannot place an order

Possible reasons:

• The customer is banned
• The customer relationship is inactive
• Products are unavailable
• The customer is using the wrong company account

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Customer still appears in history

This is expected. Banning a customer does not remove historical orders or past relationships.

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I cannot ban a customer

Check that:

• You are logged in as a vendor
• You are using the correct vendor company
• The customer exists
• You have permission to manage customer access

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I cannot unban a customer

Check that:

• The customer is currently banned
• You are using the correct vendor company
• The ban record exists
• You have permission to manage customer access

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Related pages