If you want to read more about how shady sellers abuse the system, and why it's so hard to deal with it, I recommend this well written medium article:
https://medium.com/swlh/unaccountable-chinese-retailers-thre...
Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
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Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
#12It's possible they rejected it simply because it didn't review the product.
A review that expresses an opinion about the product and also mentions that other reviewers are being paid might be accepted.
Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
#13I wonder if the review would have been allowed if it was focused on the actual product and then mentioned that the company pays for reviews. What if the product is great and people are giving it 5 star reviews because it's great, and not just the $10?
Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
#14Seems similar to how hackernews doesn't allow calling people "paid shills". The review doesn't have any evidence or proof attached. Perhaps reporting the seller to Amazon is a better approach.
I got the same kind of card ordering a laptop charger earlier this year. Tried to report it to Amazon. Got back a canned response telling me to report individual reviews. Amazon doesn't care.
Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
#15For certain types of products Amazon is degenerating into a virtual big-box warehouse store, one of those places where you basically have this giant pile of crap to sift through.
Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
#16I purchased the same webcam for my high school sophomore in September 2020, as school restarted (all online for him). The box contained a $20 "gift card" if I emailed proof of my 5-star review. It looks identical to the one I received (including the email address). Only the reward is different.
I didn't try to write a review, I notified customer service in an attempt to report the seller.
I documented everything including photos, my exchange with Amazon customer service, and the confirmation from the seller that they would pay me $20 for a 5-star review. I did not take the money offered ... I was appalled at the situation and more than a little angry that I had been tricked by bogus reviews.
Here's what happened when I reported the seller:
Me: Hi. The box for this product contained a card that says “Amazon $20 gift card” and looks like a gift card, but the back says I have to give a 5 star review and send my order information to an outlook email address. Is this legitimate? Is it really a $20 Amazon gift card?
Amazon: Thank you so much for your information on this, I will certainly pass it along here so that we can check this promotion or offer directly with the seller. Because I am not seeing that advertised on the item at all And would not be capable of confirming if that is a legit Amazon gift card because, I do not see that offer on the item
Me: So what should I do?
Amazon: My best suggestion would be to contact the seller directly for this through this link [redacted] So that you can confirm directly with them if this is legit or not Certainly giving away gift cards for good reviews is not professional And I have to report the seller for that
Me: I thought this type of offer was forbidden by Amazon’s own policies for sellers. But I will contact them using the link you sent to ask them if that’s what you recommend.
Even though the CSR reported the seller, and I confirmed with the seller through Amazon's own communication system that they were paying $20 per 5 star review, nothing happened to the seller. The item (a webcam) is still for sale on Amazon, with thousands of additional 5-star reviews - more than 12,000 now, compared to 3,266 when I let Amazon know how they were gaming the reviews in September.
Once again, the good guys (in the case, customers and honest sellers) lose out while the bad guys win, with no repercussions.
Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
#17This is an entirely reasonable stance. A given product could have n(bignum) sellers. A review telling me that a seller is doing shady things tells me nothing about the product. Amazon told him to go review the seller in the appropriate section. What's the problem?
> A review telling me that a seller is doing shady things tells me nothing about the product
It's not telling you anything about the product, but it also making you aware that those other review you thought were telling you something about the product, actually are not.
In essence you are saying that it is a reasonable stance to remove off-topic bad reviews, but keep off-topic good reviews.
Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
#18Too little data for such a bold claim...
Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
#19Product reviews are only for reviewing the product, not the shipping, or the seller's practices. There are other ways to report this to Amazon, and you can report it to the FTC
Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews
#20This is an entirely reasonable stance. A given product could have n(bignum) sellers. A review telling me that a seller is doing shady things tells me nothing about the product. Amazon told him to go review the seller in the appropriate section. What's the problem?
The review tells you that the _product's_ rating is compromised by paid reviews. From that perspective it doesn't really matter which seller is the one at fault. Buying from that shady seller won't get you a worse product, or even necessarily worse service. It's just that the product overall is likely of worse quality than what the other reviews might indicate, regardless of which seller you buy it from.