Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#81

Post by annadane » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 6:34 AM UTC

paulpauper wrote: post #26

civilized wrote: post #3

I don't understand what Amazon thinks it's doing with its legions of data scientists, analysts, product managers and engineers that they consider so much more important than solving this problem, which will destroy their reputation long-term and create space for a competitor. At this rate, Amazon will be on its way to becoming Yelp -- untrusted, irrelevant, ultimately deserted.

Same for YouTube. they allow blatant crypto scam videos to run (such as videos impersonating famous people like Michael Saylor) yet none of their hundreds of highly paid engineers are able to do anything even though it is such a blatant fraud and people are losing a lot of money. It's like "who cares if users are being ripped off. sucks for them. not our responsibility." Unless a law is passed holding these companies…

And now that they removed the dislikes, good luck finding the scam videos (as a user)

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#82

Post by fma » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 6:34 AM UTC

I was in the market for a wood filing cabinet. The picture was something I wanted and it had good reviews. When you read the reviews in detail they start talking about using it as a kitchen island. Hmm ...OK. then you look at customer pictures and it's a metal rack.

Anyways. I buy online from Walmart or Target first if I can. Walmart seems to automatically price match Amazon, and 0 chance of fakes due to comingling or expired products due to comingling (sellers buy soon to expire products on the cheap, send it to Amazon and it gets mixed with everything else)

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#83

Post by estaseuropano » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 6:36 AM UTC

managerclass wrote: post #37

It's been a while since I've used sort by average customer review. Only useful sorts are "featured" or possibly price if you put in some filter parameters on the side. Anything else is just asking for hot garbage. There are few things that I buy from amazon now that aren't shipped and sold by amazon. I just don't trust third party sellers unless it's a 'direct' seller aka the company making the product. Almost would…

Amazon does not separate the inventory so you will never know whether what you get is amazon or third party inventory.

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#84

Post by x0x0 » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 6:37 AM UTC

iratewizard wrote: post #72

jstummbillig wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazon has no interest in fixing this problem, because they know that well over half their "inventory" is now from knockoffs, IP theft and/or bait-and-switch scams. That sounds very much like they'd have an interest in fixing the problem. Short-sightedness does not appear to be one of Amazons issues.

Amazon chose to get deep into bed with China. This is part and parcel of favoring the Chinese vendors that sell on your platform. Just be glad there haven't been any reports of toys painted with lead (yet).

Amazon has been selling lead toys for years

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/23/amazon-pr...

And school supplies for kids with lead

https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-amazon...

Theoretically they now require tests, although it's a see no evil approach as the vendor supplies the test result.

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#85

Post by estaseuropano » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 6:39 AM UTC

asd33313131 wrote: post #7

Solution? Allow filtering reviews in last 7, 30, 60, 90 days (reviews in last 7 days might show 2.5 of 5 stars, e.g.)

Only option is yo sort by newest review. It means bad reviews haven't been purged yet and is unaffected by fake votes.

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#86

Post by Espressosaurus » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 6:42 AM UTC

Spivak wrote: post #75

noduerme wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the problem is Mom-and-pop shops just can't survive on the customers who are willing to spend extra to make sure they get a quality product. It's not just that there aren't enough people in this country who're willing to pay extra... it's that you can't even get those quality products anymore . Stuff made ten years ago in every category from mattresses to washing machines is more durable and will last longer th…

What mom and pop shops are you going to? Seriously, if you peruse Aliexpress for a bit you will see that every “local” store has all the same junk. It’s not like John Mitchell from Wilmington Wisconsin is doing anything other than sourcing from the same wholesalers.

That's their point; it's no longer possible to source reliable products for the mom-and-pop stores.

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#87

Post by noduerme » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 6:44 AM UTC

Spivak wrote: post #75

noduerme wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the problem is Mom-and-pop shops just can't survive on the customers who are willing to spend extra to make sure they get a quality product. It's not just that there aren't enough people in this country who're willing to pay extra... it's that you can't even get those quality products anymore . Stuff made ten years ago in every category from mattresses to washing machines is more durable and will last longer th…

What mom and pop shops are you going to? Seriously, if you peruse Aliexpress for a bit you will see that every “local” store has all the same junk. It’s not like John Mitchell from Wilmington Wisconsin is doing anything other than sourcing from the same wholesalers.

I mean, that's kind of what I'm saying. It's hard for local stores to find consumer goods that aren't junk quality. Portland, Oregon where I live does have one of the better local economies for well sourced / locally produced stuff, e.g. we still have glass manufacturers, make a lot of shoes, and anything made out of wood, pretty much all your furnishings and most of your food you can buy from local makers and growers. And there are small shops that are still sort of affordable where you can get quality stuff. But if you want to buy a can opener, yeah, you can either go spend $100 at William Sonoma for one made out of titanium, or go buy one at Kroger that'll break in a day. Shit outta luck.

[Edit] I feel like here's a good place to sing the praises of my made-in-America, wool and cotton non-offgassing mattress. https://joybeds.com ...I think I was order #700 or something, and I feel like they're not getting the love they deserve. I'm in no way associated with this company but talking about finding quality goods and buying locally, it was really hard to even find this company, and felt like I was taking a big risk buying it online from a manufacturer with so few sales. We need more of this.

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#88

Post by noduerme » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 7:08 AM UTC

chaostheory wrote: post #78

winternett wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scamazon, Wak-Mart, and Turget likely facilitate the sale of shoddy goods because consumers need to repurchase them when they break and overall that makes them higher profits. I've had to buy room fans almost every year because that's really the only local option I have now at big box stores near me, The smaller shops are all closed now. This is why we can't allow the concept of mom-and-pop shops to die off... Qualit…

I shop at Target online regularly. I don’t see very many products being sold by 3rd party sellers. If I did start seeing them, I would slowly move on to another online merchant like I did with Amazon.

This is a reason I invested heavily in Target. They seem to have a much better formula for vetting and regulating third party sellers, and they've invested a lot in building up a marketplace that's somewhat more trustworthy.

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#89

Post by jjav » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 7:09 AM UTC

noduerme wrote: post #56

I wish I could say I stopped buying things off Amazon for ethical reasons, but the truth is, I stopped buying because if you look closely at the reviews, you realize that almost everything for sale there is now a scam or a knock-off. This was a slow creep for awhile, but now the problem has grown exponentially. Amazon is what Canal Street was in the 90s - somewhere to buy fakes, stolen goods, and electronics that mig…

Last summer I bought a new Nikon DSLR from Amazon. Not the type of item where I thought they'd substitute scam items!

But when the box arrived, it was an opened box with an old used and abused Nikon DSLR, parts even missing! Wow.

At least the return was painless so I guess there's that.

I try hard to avoid Amazon now. I prioritize a locally owned store if possible, second option is a reputable specialty web store that specializes in the kind of item I want. Third option is the local big box chain stores, at least I can see what I'm getting.

Mostly I use Amazon only for books these days since I figure it'll be difficult to substitute a scam item for those. I hope.

Re: Amazon still isn't doing enough to stop bait-and-switch reviews

#90

Post by jstummbillig » Fri, Dec 17, 2021, 7:16 AM UTC

andreareina wrote: post #77

jstummbillig wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazon has no interest in fixing this problem, because they know that well over half their "inventory" is now from knockoffs, IP theft and/or bait-and-switch scams. That sounds very much like they'd have an interest in fixing the problem. Short-sightedness does not appear to be one of Amazons issues.

By their actions, not so much: - commingling of inventory means you're not necessarily getting the stuff from the merchant you're ostensibly buying from - which doesn't really matter anyway because merchant reviews are hard to find (couldn't find them at all on mobile) - being able to change the product being sold while keeping the rating and review history. WAT

Any company that is sufficiently large can (and should) be scrutinized, but at Amazon scale, arguments can easily be cherry picked to make whatever outcome you decided to be the truth look like the truth.

I could for example bring forth the times some merchant attempted to talk me out of filing a complaint, because, apparently those have very real implications very quickly, with fines and restrictions being imposed by Amazon, which makes a lot of sense to me, considering Amazon is basically letting those vendors play with their "credit score" of trust.

But alas, pretending that I know this to be more than anecdotal evidence, I will not.