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Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

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Re: Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

#141

Post by asciimov »

I have been on a tear lately returning numerous Amazon orders. Often due to incorrect descriptions or being sent broken items.

A recent "favorite" of mine was while trying to order a keyboard wrist rest, the first one arrived folded(!) up into a small plastic sack. The next had a very harsh smell, and the last, before I gave up, was uncomfortable to use.

I've started to miss malls and the variety of electronics stores we used to have, just so I can pick up and see the physical item before I buy it. It's kinda sad that in the late-90's the small city I grew up in had more electronics stores than the metro I live in today.

Re: Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

#142

Post by owenmarshall »

throwawaysleep wrote: post #122
mabbo wrote: post #106

There is a famous story about Customer Obsession and returns that I used to tell during training sessions for new Amazon employees- Customer Obsession 101, which I was a teacher for. Jeff is in a call center for a day shadowing a customer support agent. A customer calls about a specific item and the CS agent is like "They're going to say it's broken in this particular manner" before the call even starts. Jeff later i…

I am intrigued that such a button is superior to having someone read the tickets.

Andon is a manufacturing concept. It’s a button that, when triggered, stops the manufacturing line. You push it when things are systemically broken, and it has massive consequences because it costs companies meaningful cash.

I can’t see how disabling sales of a single product is equivalent either.

Re: Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

#143

Post by master-lincoln »

dgs_sgd wrote: post #127
londons_explore wrote: post #116

I just hate the amazon empire, so whenever I have no option but to buy something I give an opposite review. If the product is decent, it gets 1 star and a scathing review. If it's shit, I give a glowing 5 star review.

how is that helpful in any way?

It makes Amazon an even worse place, which I assume is wanted by OP so Amazon dies.

Re: Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

#144

Post by barbazoo »

codersfocus wrote: post #131
barbazoo wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's kinda exciting when you get a delivery you totally forgot about.

That means you shouldn't have ordered it in the first place? I gave up on needless consumerism when I got an amazon package, didn't bother opening it, forgot what it was, and it just sat in my closet.

Most likely yeah :)

What I mean though is when you want to fix something and you order a part off AliExpress or you have an idea for a project so you order a bunch of parts, things that aren't time sensitive so you order them, forget about it and get them at some point. Not everything has to be same day or next day delivery is all I'm saying.

Re: Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

#145

Post by hedora »

Cyykratahk wrote: post #42
sofixa wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it trivial to solve? They either need to prevent sellers from modifying product pages (which would be a disaster because any mistakes could no longer be fixed without losing all reviews) or gate it behind human intervention(slow) /algorithm (complex). There's nothing trivial about the issue.

Even if it's not trivial to solve perfectly, there are easy wins to be had. For example: prevent changing the top-level category of a product. E.g. Shoes should not be allowed to become camera gear.

As always, the internet has already generated a counter example to your rule:

https://www.spycamerasmall.com/mobile-spy-camera/bodyware-sp...

Re: Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

#146

Post by pc86 »

srmarm wrote: post #9

I don't get they don't crack down on the product switcheroo scam [0] - it seems like a trivial problem to solve. I've reported items to them before and they don't care. [0] this product for example, loads of the reviews are for something totally different - https://www.amazon.co.uk/WERPOWER-Windscreen-Invisible-Winds...

My understanding is that the biggest issue is that they're commingling inventory. So Sony is selling A1000s on Amazon and ships in 10k units. Your FBA store buys 1k wholesale A1000s and sends them to Amazon. My FBA store buys 1k and sends them in.

Amazon just has a pile of 12k A1000s and sends them out whenever orders come in. Once it's processed there's no differentiation between your stock, mine, or Sony's, it's just Amazon's A1000 stock.

Even if this is the only thing preventing the solution you're referring to it'd still be a logistical hurdle to solve.

Re: Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

#147

Post by blarghyblarg »

rwalle wrote: post #125
bogwog wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure Amazon can commit more resources to solving this problem than some random individual on HN can commit to a ~3 sentence long comment. If they wanted to solve this problem, they would have already. Clearly, they don't care. People buy products with good reviews, and Amazon makes money when people buy products. I wonder if they've been sued over this? I'm not a lawyer, but this sounds like false advertising to…

Yeah, so many people are wasting their time on those useless arguments. What matters here is not how to solve the problem -- customers should not worry about that at all -- but whether Amazon is commited to address this problem, and the answer is a clear no.

It's armchair quarterbacking, for sure. Nobody at Amazon is going to read some random news article, even if they are here slacking at work, and say "That's the ticket! Lets do that!"

They either fix it, or they don't.

Re: Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

#149

Post by marcosdumay »

javawizard wrote: post #85
haunter wrote: post #51

The craziest scam I saw on Amazon was ordering an expensive GPU > people change the card's backplate and return a cheaper/broken one. Unsuspecting regular Joe will order the returned GPU ("open box deal!") and they get a fake one. And now you have to fight against the Amazon customer service too. It's incredible. Amazon is basically a "premium" Wish/Aliexpress nowadays. Might as well I order from China becuase I at l…

> Amazon is basically a "premium" Wish/Aliexpress nowadays That's an interesting point, and it got me thinking: why do I continue buying from Amazon over AliExpress etc.? Pretty simple answer, really: logistics. I can order an adapter from Amazon and have it here by 6 PM tonight. The same thing off AliExpress will take a week or more to get here. If Wish or AliExpress can figure out near-same day delivery, they could…

Oh, if I have this much concern about getting some item quickly, I go into a store and walk out with it.

I remember doing exactly that once last year.

Re: Amazon starts flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy

#150

Post by praisewhitey »

tylerrobinson wrote: post #138
mabbo wrote: post #106

There is a famous story about Customer Obsession and returns that I used to tell during training sessions for new Amazon employees- Customer Obsession 101, which I was a teacher for. Jeff is in a call center for a day shadowing a customer support agent. A customer calls about a specific item and the CS agent is like "They're going to say it's broken in this particular manner" before the call even starts. Jeff later i…

> So Amazon introduced an 'Andon button' Maybe my brain is just having trouble parsing it, but what does “Andon” mean?

probably typo for Abandon
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