Amazon Tactic to Reduce Bad Product Reviews

[kwselke]

Was the purchase price refunded prior to the bribe offer for review deletion? I state the facts in my reviews. If a bribe is tossed on the table, I'd save the email of the offer and edit the review to reflect the facts.

 

[oink]

I think a refund was along with the free stuff bribe. I didn't get anything because I wouldn't agree to give them a good review. The bad review stood as did the update describing the bribe. I assume the review is still there but I wouldn't even know where to look for it now.

I still read Amazon reviews but I take into consideration that they aren't 100% valid with some being outright dishonest. I also take into account that there are some idiots that just can't figure out how to use stuff correctly. If there is enough reviews on a product I think you can get a pretty good idea of review "truth" by looking at the larger picture. I usually zoom to the bad reviews. I think you can pretty easily screen out those that are bad because the reviewer is an idiot. If an imported product (Chinese) you can get a clue on some of the good reviews (being false) if a larger portion seem to be written by someone whose native language obviously isn't English. I don't let a few DOA or soon after arrival reviews bother me as with many products that's just the nature of the beast.

 

[TX-Dennis]

I've only been burned once on amazon when dealing with a non amazon seller. Amazon refunded my money, but it took them awhile.

A funny story - I once ordered an out of print book written by a former next-door neighbor from a non amazon seller. When I received the book I discovered that it was shipped to me from across town - a local used book shop. Guess I should have looked there first.

 

[allthumbs]

Well I have to be fair, I can't complain about Amazon now. I posted in this thread about leaving a review and contacting the seller and no review showed up and no seller response. I then went through the channels at amazon and was refunded my full purchase price plus shipping. I also noticed that they quit selling the plants I bought, guessing they had many complaints about them. I did spend 8 hours labor planting them, just to see them die but I won't complain I needed the exercise.

 

[Rastoff]

I have now received two emails from the company VP for After Sales Support asking that I remove my bad reviews.

Were these emails from Amazon or the vendor of the product? I'd be very surprised if they were from Amazon.

Further, if they are not from Amazon, you need to write Amazon and tell them what's going on. I'm sure that violates some policy that Amazon has set up with their vendors.

 

[BigBoy99]

Were these emails from Amazon or the vendor of the product? I'd be very surprised if they were from Amazon.

Further, if they are not from Amazon, you need to write Amazon and tell them what's going on. I'm sure that violates some policy that Amazon has set up with their vendors.

The emails were not from Amazon. The return email address was "outlook.com". I'm assuming that is related to the person or company. Forwarding the email to Amazon is not a bad idea.

 

[rwsmith]

The trend......

A literal string of faults were ours and not theirs We were even advised not to through corporate channels. There were probably right. It would just cause more trouble.

 

[BigBoy99]

Well, I guess my stalling on their monetary offer has worked! I received an email this AM and the offer is now up to $60 if I withdraw my bad review.

I've called Amazon and reported the seller and they are looking into it. They said I should get an email back from the investigations dept. in 4 or 5 days. We'll see what they say.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

I have never had a problem with Amazon as I never buy stuff from
Bezos company or their ilk. So, if you follow my lead, problem solved.

 

[gdnagle]

Nothing new from me here that hasn't already been stated. I have been a prime member since 2008. We purchase many items from them because of convenience as stores selling certain items aren't close. We purchase a wide array of items from different categories. I have had very good luck purchasing from them as I check reviews for items and as someone mentioned fakespot for reviews. I have only had to leave a handful of bad reviews out of the over more than $30,000 worth of purchases. Went to leave a review one day and they said my privileges had been revoked because I was affiliated with a seller and not negotiable to get them reinstated and all my previous reviews had been removed. Whenever I contacted CS for a order problem I always mentioned this fact and the answer was always the same, that was a different department and they would look into it, I told them it didn't bother me not being able to leave honest reviews. Next day I always got the same email, "I was affiliated with a seller and my privileges were revoked with no recourse to be reinstated". Whenever I received a request for a review I always told the seller that I couldn't in a letter stating why and told them they could use it however they felt. Some stated they would contact Amazon about this, don't know if they did or not. Went this way for over a year and one day all my reviews showed back up. All in all we have been happy with Amazon Prime as we buy a lot and the few items we send back we have never had a problem doing so. I don't know how they filter the reviews but it probably has something to do with the sellers complaints. Amazon is there for the sellers just like the internet auctions and cater to them more then the buyer.

Like I said you need to watch the reviews and check Fakespot. We mostly check the one star reviews and throw out those dealing with shipping and defects within the first 30 days, Amazon will replace those items paying shipping for prime members, and those where the purchaser didn't read the description and complained the item was not what they wanted.

 

[Kiwi cop]

I will buy items like DVD box sets and books from Amazon that I cannot get locally. I seldom leave reviews as I figure there are more than enough "local" purchasers to do that. But wherever possible I purchase from Amazon directly and not another outlet.

I tend to be cynical of reviews. There are too many self identified "social influencersl who review based on free stuff given to them rather than based on the facts.

When planning our US holiday last year reviews on Trip Adviser for accomodation were the last thing we looked at. We noticed many cases of a large number of positive reviews and a few negative ones, usually about picky, unimportant things. When travelling we had very little to complain about at all. Every morning I would receive a request for a review which I filled in honestly.

One issue that arose was the "back office" occasionally charging the credit card we used to book once we had checked in and paid cash. This happened twice. Both times it was fixed quickly at reception. When mentioned in the review one place contacted me directly to request more details. When I explained I was offered an accomodation discount anywhere in the chain in the US, valid for 12 months. I had to explain we had been on holiday from the bottom of the world and so could not take them up on their offer. But it was appreciated.

 

[Rastoff]

Bravo for reporting them to Amazon. This is shady practices if you ask me. I doubt Amazon will put up with it.

That said...

I have a policy whenever I buy something and it's not as stated or is not working; I call/email the vendor and give them a chance to make it right. Stuff happens and we all have bad days.

I hate to return things, but it just has to be done sometimes. Once I ordered a 7" windshield for my motorcycle. What I received was 6" so, I contacted them. They said they were sorry and offered a $10 rebate (It was only $26 to start with) and I accepted. To me this is good service and I stated as much on my review.

 

[cmore]

If you don't like the response, get Amazon customer service involved.


At this point I contacted Amazon directly. This takes some looking on Amazon's, site, but they do have customer service people.


If you can't get satisfaction from the seller, seek Amazon's customer support. If the first Amazon customer support person can't help, ask, politely, for hizzer supervisor. (I went through three levels of customer support.) Be polite, be patient, and be persistent.


I think Amazon is great.

Could you post a link so we all can find the Amazon Cust. service?
Haven't needed it yet, but it pays to be prepared.
thanks

 

[Onomea]

Here's a link. (Use the lower of the two links shown.):

[ame="https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=help_search_1-1?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201945430&qid=1557122290&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com Help: Support Options & Contact Us[/ame]

 

[sipowicz]

Check also to make sure they are verified purchases when you see a ton of 5 star reviews. You could usually spot fake reviews from China when they read, "goody product. Will buy many times again. Much joy with product."