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Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

arstechnica.com

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Re: Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

#241

Post by coffeefirst »

ethbr0 wrote: post #139
coldpie wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've completely stopped ordering from Amazon, for three reasons: they have too much market power, they have serious ethics problems, and their 3rd party seller program has made the buying experience garbage. Welcome to the club.

I've come full circle and only order books (usually used) or things I don't care if they're Chinese bargain-version off Amazon anymore. Target, or occasionally Walmart, gets what used to be Amazon's business from me.

Bookshop.org and Better World Books are great alternatives to Amazon for new and used respectively.

Re: Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

#242

Post by throwaway201103 »

capitainenemo wrote: post #108
javert wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I go to Walmart or the grocery store if I need stuff from Amazon that may be counterfeit. Batteries, for example. Amazon is throwing away money.

Completely agree. Unless I'm familiar with the seller on Amazon (a known brand like Anker) I try to stick to Walmart, Target, Staples. Bonus, often times the identical item can be found at a lower price. Downside is the shipping may take a few days more. For something like an SD card or a battery your chance of getting a counterfeit or unreliable product is pretty high. I prefer not to think too much about how that m…

I would absolutely never order food, supplements, OTC meds, etc. from Amazon.

Re: Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

#244

Post by bombcar »

fuball63 wrote: post #117
bombcar wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amusingly enough if you trace the history of brand names ... this is why they started! And this is the strength that the major retailers have against Amazon - if Amazon won't police (and they have problems with commingling counterfeit brands, too) then Walmart and Target will jump ahead.

I was of a similar mind this year, but when I went to Walmart's website, they had 3rd party sellers on there too. It is really annoying, especially with the pandemic, trying to sift through all the trash online. I ended up buying we webcam from BestBuy.com, because a webcam I got from Amazon was pay-for-review and was utter garbage. Just more evidence, to me, that the era of internet business models being "get everyt…

I avoid marketplace sellers like the plague - usually you can do a "ships and sold" or "pickup today" to weed them out.

Re: Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

#245

Post by steelframe »

dan-robertson wrote: post #152
coldpie wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even books aren't safe. Support your local booksellers! https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/amazo...

Even for non-counterfeit books, I’ve often got shit quality print-on-demand versions with plates that look like an inkjet printer running low on ink and with the letters having fuzzy boundaries.

For books I've gone from buying on a Kindle to Kobo+OverDrive which I use to check out e-books from the library. But I'm one of those freaks who actually prefers e-ink devices over dead tree books.

Re: Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

#246

Post by perl4ever »

CapmCrackaWaka wrote: post #111
TravisLS wrote: post #18

There's a somewhat pervasive idea that advertising and brand recognition are coercive tools that will ultimately die out, replaced by better objective information about products. I'm kind of partial to this idea myself. But increasingly we seem a long way from achieving this. Amazon reviews have become such garbage, I've fallen back to pretty much relying on name brands as my placeholder for product quality. There's…

I know my comment will be lost in a sea of voices, but I need to share my experience _somewhere_ else other than amazon reviews. I got my fiancé two Christmas presents this year - both bought off Amazon. One was an electronic keyboard that was dead on arrival, the other was a snuggie type blanket that started falling apart yesterday. Both items had thousands of 5 star reviews. I usually go somewhere (anywhere) else b…

I can relate to this experience, but the thing is, similar things have happened to me with other retailers, that I think have especially high markups and used to be in my mind decent brands.

I got a shirt from Macy's with sewn in stripes that started to unravel before long, this was many years ago, but I never bought clothes from there again.

And more recently, I got pillow cases from bed bath & beyond, that were very expensive, but otherwise exactly what I wanted, and the seams started coming undone.

Amazon is not a reliable brand, but on the other hand, one can justify trying it again and again, because it is not a single (tainted) brand.

I've said before and will say it again, I read the reviews starting with the worst, as if all the five star reviews were always all fake. I don't know what they might have been for your products, but usually I see no connection between the best reviews and the useful information in the worst.

Re: Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

#247

Post by kongolongo »

a_wild_dandan wrote: post #175
CC38 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fakespot can help reveal which products have misleading reviews https://www.fakespot.com/ Obviously it isn't perfect but it does help.

I use Fakespot, and I wonder about its accuracy. Seeing a 5-star product given a `D` rating is shocking. If Fakespot is reasonably accurate, then Amazon is inexcusably bad at removing fake reviews. Amazon has orders of magnitude more developer talent and user information than Fakespot to tackle accurate ratings. But I suppose that's the reality of differing incentives...

I also question them. It seems a lot easier to accuse Amazon ratings of being poor especially if it feeds into an already existing confirmation bias against Amazon. For all we know Fakespot could just be making all of it up right? How are Fakespots ratings verified? Do I need a Fakespot for Fakespot too? Maybe rating systemes like these are fundamentally flawed.

Re: Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

#248

Post by SamBam »

CapmCrackaWaka wrote: post #111
TravisLS wrote: post #18

There's a somewhat pervasive idea that advertising and brand recognition are coercive tools that will ultimately die out, replaced by better objective information about products. I'm kind of partial to this idea myself. But increasingly we seem a long way from achieving this. Amazon reviews have become such garbage, I've fallen back to pretty much relying on name brands as my placeholder for product quality. There's…

I know my comment will be lost in a sea of voices, but I need to share my experience _somewhere_ else other than amazon reviews. I got my fiancé two Christmas presents this year - both bought off Amazon. One was an electronic keyboard that was dead on arrival, the other was a snuggie type blanket that started falling apart yesterday. Both items had thousands of 5 star reviews. I usually go somewhere (anywhere) else b…

If you're still every looking for instruments, Sweetwater has excellent stuff, and really stellar customer service.

They answered questions by phone before we purchased. I received a keyboard for my daughter, then we had a change of heart and decided we had gotten the wrong one, they handled everything for shipping it back and sending a new one, and called a week later to see if we were happy.

Re: Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

#249

Post by dasudasu »

monksy wrote: post #226
ethbr0 wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've come full circle and only order books (usually used) or things I don't care if they're Chinese bargain-version off Amazon anymore. Target, or occasionally Walmart, gets what used to be Amazon's business from me.

Don't give them money if you don't support them doing crappy things. Still using them is giving them money. Also if you're looking for Chinese knockoffs.. go directly to the source and go with Aliexpress.

Ebay isn't that bad either for cheap Chinese products. Lots of direct Chinese sellers.

Re: Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews

#250

Post by mdoms »

PaulKeeble wrote: post #213
mdoms wrote: post #164

Presumably you've all stopped using Amazon because of this issue, so they're motivated to fix it..?

Right now it doesn't seem to have a competitor. I think the market is now primed for an ethical competitor to come along and steal its business however, a lot of people are getting irritated with Amazon and would happily chose an alternative.

Amazon's competitor is every other store on Earth. Amazon doesn't even exist in my country but somehow I have made it this far.
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