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Amazon third-party sellers reportedly hound customers who leave bad reviews

gizmodo.com

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Re: Amazon third-party sellers reportedly hound customers who leave bad reviews

#61

Post by ceejayoz »

decremental wrote: post #8
blibble wrote: post #5

I had this... a third-party seller started harassing me via email to submit feedback so I did... I gave them a two star review with something along the lines of "kept pestering me to leave feedback" then they started emailing me demanding that I remove it, which I ignored then they started phoning the number for the delivery, which happened to be an elderly relative (as they were the order recipient) contacted Amazon…

The third party sellers shouldn't get access to your contact information. On DoorDash, calls go through DoorDash's system. Same with text messages. No one gets the other person's real number. I've had one restaurant that always calls me right after I place the order to ask me for my phone number to put into their system for future orders. I always tell them no, I prefer to go through DoorDash instead. A similar syste…

If they’re shipping direct to you instead of Amazon fulfillment, they need your name and address. That’s plenty in a lot of cases.

Re: Amazon third-party sellers reportedly hound customers who leave bad reviews

#63

Post by thedougd »

tylerrobinson wrote: post #2

The situation with Amazon reviews has become unbelievable. I recently purchased a $20 item with around 30,000 reviews, overwhelmingly positive. $20 was a reasonable market price for this item from any retailer. There was a card inside the box from the seller saying they’d send me a $15 gift card for posting a 5-star review and then forwarding them proof I had posted it to some gmail account. I followed the instructio…

The review count has become a red flag for me. I regularly see extremely niche items that might sell 20000 units over 5 years with 20000 reviews.

Re: Amazon third-party sellers reportedly hound customers who leave bad reviews

#65

Post by kadoban »

ceejayoz wrote: post #61
decremental wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The third party sellers shouldn't get access to your contact information. On DoorDash, calls go through DoorDash's system. Same with text messages. No one gets the other person's real number. I've had one restaurant that always calls me right after I place the order to ask me for my phone number to put into their system for future orders. I always tell them no, I prefer to go through DoorDash instead. A similar syste…

If they’re shipping direct to you instead of Amazon fulfillment, they need your name and address. That’s plenty in a lot of cases.

They don't need your email or phone number though, even if so, and both of those are a lot easier/cheaper to spam.

Re: Amazon third-party sellers reportedly hound customers who leave bad reviews

#66

Post by kadoban »

Fuzzeh wrote: post #50
neolog wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's against Amazon TOS to contact Amazon's customers outside the Amazon messaging system Is there some reason the seller needs to have the buyer's contact info?

If the item isn't full-filled by Amazon (ie my stock isn't in an amazon warehouse) then I need their address details and phone number (for the courier) to ship the item. Dealing with Amazon, as a seller, can be a terrible experience. Using their full-fillment service more so. They don't check returns so the next customer night get only part of a product, or in lots of cases a bogus product when a buyer fills the box…

Do you actually need a phone number to ship? I've literally never had a shipping company call or text me, can't imagine they require phone numbers.

Re: Amazon third-party sellers reportedly hound customers who leave bad reviews

#67

Post by cheese_van »

Animats wrote: post #36

I rarely order from Amazon any more. It's become as bad as eBay. You're just buying from somebody selling from their garage.

Yeah, me as well - buying direct, if possible, or from another vendor. Amazon is not trustworthy. Sure, it merely provides a common marketplace, but one expects a certain beneficial gatekeeping, which seems absent.

It is commonplace to see ordinary items priced many, many times over value: say a pvc elbow for hundreds of dollars. I've wondered, "What happens when some mope accidentally buys one of these?"

Re: Amazon third-party sellers reportedly hound customers who leave bad reviews

#69

Post by OJFord »

kadoban wrote: post #65
ceejayoz wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they’re shipping direct to you instead of Amazon fulfillment, they need your name and address. That’s plenty in a lot of cases.

They don't need your email or phone number though, even if so, and both of those are a lot easier/cheaper to spam.

I'm sure the line is that they need it in case of problems during delivery. Couriers always want it for that, or trying to ensure there aren't problems (for them) like missed deliveries by texting you to say they're delivering today or whatever.

I don't really have a problem with that in general, but yeah I don't want to deal with random third party sellers.

Also in my experience when there's a problem with the item and you need a return/refund, it never gets sorted until you escalate to Amazon. Assuming you're not happy with a 20p partial refund and a complimentary bizarre plastic children's toy (when what you ordered was nothing of the kind).

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