Up to tenth of Amazon shoppers in GB 'bribed' by sellers to offer good review • Hacker News Board

Re: Up to tenth of Amazon shoppers in GB 'bribed' by sellers to offer good review

#51

Post by Incipient » Sat, Oct 07, 2023, 2:26 PM UTC

jehb wrote: post #23

LeoPanthera wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Reason being those are supposed to be reviews of the product. I understand that, so I only leave reviews on the product if it's a single seller, selling their own product. I think "this product comes with a scam offer" is a valid review of the product . I also leave seller reviews, of the seller, on the seller's page. (Many people don't realize you can do this.) These are deleted too.

Once you realize the full scope of reviews that Amazon deletes, it's hard to take anything left behind as credible whatsoever. I went down a long odyssey recently of trying to get a refund for a food item that was four months expired the day it was delivered. Amazon refused. I escalated it. Amazon refused again. I tried to leave a bad review. Amazon deleted it. I reviewed the seller itself. Deleted again. Kept trying…

Genuine question. Are you still buying from Amazon? If so, they made the correct call to treat you like garbage and protect their platform image.

If you did stop buying from them, I hope more people follow your lead!

Re: Up to tenth of Amazon shoppers in GB 'bribed' by sellers to offer good review

#52

Post by Incipient » Sat, Oct 07, 2023, 2:28 PM UTC

grogenaut wrote: post #36

LeoPanthera wrote: post #6

This happens to me (here in California) regularly. When this happens I leave a review saying so, either on the product itself or on the seller's page. Amazon always deletes these reviews. So, Amazon knows about the practice, and approves of it. Not much you can do at that point.

You can send a photo of the bribe to amazon CS and they'll do strikes against the seller.

Yeah, naa. Not really a thing. Especially for the junk non-brands. The Chinese sellers run rings around Amazon rules. They're completely ineffective for what they're meant to do. And honestly, Amazon wouldn't care. Why would they? It has been going on for a solid decade and hasn't hurt their platform reputation in the slightest.

Amazon doesn't give a toss about anyone or anything outside of their platform image (and subsequent bottom line).

Re: Up to tenth of Amazon shoppers in GB 'bribed' by sellers to offer good review

#53

Post by kstrauser » Sat, Oct 07, 2023, 3:25 PM UTC

wil421 wrote: post #10

malfist wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consumer reports is still pretty good

Consumer reports is ok but I’ve found it’s better for the I’m lookin for “any” car in x segment type person. If you research your purchases deeper than the average person it’s not worth it IMHO. I agree for average buyers it’s better than anything else. Especially for the uniformed.

I’ve gotten a lot of value from reading their rating rationale. Sometimes they bring up good points I wouldn’t have thought about. Other times I’ve gotten good values from suggestions like “this electric toothbrush is $40 cheaper than the high-end model from the same manufacturer, but its timer only vibrates and doesn’t make beeping sounds, so you can save $40 if you can live without a beeper”.

Re: Up to tenth of Amazon shoppers in GB 'bribed' by sellers to offer good review

#54

Post by DigitallyFidget » Sun, Oct 08, 2023, 1:44 AM UTC

I just shop at AliExpress instead of Amazon. All the same exact stuff, but typically half to a tenth of the cost. I just have to settle with longer shipping times, which is fine, if I need something now-now, I can just go buy it locally.

Re: Up to tenth of Amazon shoppers in GB 'bribed' by sellers to offer good review

#55

Post by alexa101 » Sun, Oct 08, 2023, 6:46 PM UTC

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Re: Up to tenth of Amazon shoppers in GB 'bribed' by sellers to offer good review

#56

Post by jehb » Tue, Oct 10, 2023, 3:38 PM UTC

Incipient wrote: post #51

jehb wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once you realize the full scope of reviews that Amazon deletes, it's hard to take anything left behind as credible whatsoever. I went down a long odyssey recently of trying to get a refund for a food item that was four months expired the day it was delivered. Amazon refused. I escalated it. Amazon refused again. I tried to leave a bad review. Amazon deleted it. I reviewed the seller itself. Deleted again. Kept trying…

Genuine question. Are you still buying from Amazon? If so, they made the correct call to treat you like garbage and protect their platform image. If you did stop buying from them, I hope more people follow your lead!

I have stopped using them for goods with an expiration date, and have severely curtailed my other purchases. It's a crap platform.

I hope for a future where their monopoly position is litigated away so that there is a fair marketplace with other options for next day delivery for common household items. I prefer to shop in brick and mortar stores, but there's definitely a legitimate use case for next-day delivery of household supplies. I have a family member currently experiencing severe mobility issues who lives several hours away from me in a rural area, and unfortunately Amazon is the only way I can get things like household medical supplies to her door on short notice.