Amazon Product Reviews/ratings.. misleading, possibly a scam

Options
245

Comments

  • teddysmum
    teddysmum Posts: 9,474 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Options
    Some Amazon reviews are unfair on the seller, as reviews are listed by product and not separated according to retailer.


    I contacted a seller direct as I was unsure whether their product was branded or just compatible , as a reviewer , not naming their vendor, said that the product was a fake.


    It was confirmed, as I suspected, that the product was genuine, because the seller had a compatible accessory advertised at a much lower price, but someone not noticing this could have rejected the seller, based on the crit.
  • nkkingston
    nkkingston Posts: 488 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Options
    A lot of companies send out free versions of their products in advance to get reviews before it launches to the general public. Think about film previews, or review copies of books. The reason its taken off for general consumer goods is because Amazon's algorithms skew towards products that have more reviews - no reviews, no visibility, no sales.

    There are rules about this sort of thing, including that the review does have to be unbiased - the company can't demand positive reviews, or remove ones they don't like. It also has to be declared that it was a review version of the product. Of course, some people are so gushingly grateful for their free thing they review positively, and companies do seek out people they think are more likely to give a positive review, so it's not perfect.

    What Amazon doesn't allow, and you do see a lot of, is paid for reviews. Keep an eye out for reviewers who've only been on the site a short time and left hundreds of 5* reviews, usually with either a single sentence or the product description copied for content. Those you can report to Amazon and if they think there's something dodgy going on they'll remove them.
    Mortgage
    June 2016: £93,295
    September 2021: £66,490
  • burnleymik
    burnleymik Posts: 1,391 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Options
    nkkingston wrote: »

    There are rules about this sort of thing, including that the review does have to be unbiased - the company can't demand positive reviews, or remove ones they don't like. It also has to be declared that it was a review version of the product. Of course, some people are so gushingly grateful for their free thing they review positively, and companies do seek out people they think are more likely to give a positive review, so it's not perfect.

    Although I think your sentiment is correct, I have many doubts that it actually works like that.

    If you send a product to someone or a group and they give it a bad review, would you send them anything else?

    This means all you are ever going to get are mainly gushing/silly reviews and star ratings, in return they can get more free, or very cheap, items. It is a vicious and very flawed cycle.
    A smile costs nothing, but gives a lot.
    It enriches those who receive it without making poorer those who give it.
    A smile takes only a moment, but the memory of it can last forever.
  • London50
    London50 Posts: 1,850 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Options
    Over the years I have been one of the "lucky ones" that have been supplied free items to test and give a review on and I have always been honest with my feelings on the items. While I agree that people may give a glowing report on an item they have been given I for one would never base a review on the hope of getting more items from a company.
    Perhaps it's because of my age but I have been caught myself in the past believing in the reviews and found the product to be rubbish so I do put myself in the place of anyone reading my review and I hope that they will except there are still a few who give truthful and honest reports be it a free item or one that has cost cold hard earned cash.
  • azana_2
    azana_2 Posts: 174 Forumite
    Options
    I thought it might be of interest to know that amazon.com have wised up to this issue and banned all reviews for free items, other than Vine. Amazon.co.uk often follow suit so it may be a ban on these reviews in the UK is also imminent......


    http://techcrunch.com/2016/10/03/amazon-bans-incentivized-reviews-tied-to-free-or-discounted-products/
  • pineapple
    pineapple Posts: 6,931 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Options
    I take no notice of single word 'reviews' which say something like 'Great' or 'Excellent'. At best I wouldn't trust their judgement. At worst they are false.
  • fleshandbone
    fleshandbone Posts: 570 Forumite
    Options
    As I have said before on this very forum, this review scam is going to blow up big time in Amazons face and they are going to be punished.

    It is a sad world we live where the only way to make a pound is by lying and deceiving the public.
  • The-Truth
    The-Truth Posts: 483 Forumite
    Options
    pineapple wrote: »
    I take no notice of single word 'reviews' which say something like 'Great' or 'Excellent'. At best I wouldn't trust their judgement. At worst they are false.

    No the false ones will be much more detailed. The single word ones probably are genuine.
  • fleshandbone
    fleshandbone Posts: 570 Forumite
    Options
    It appears Amazon are listening to us as they have just announced this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37551069
  • ScorpiondeRooftrouser
    ScorpiondeRooftrouser Posts: 2,851 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Options
    The-Truth wrote: »
    No the false ones will be much more detailed. The single word ones probably are genuine.

    I'd agree, if I could be bothered to leave a review for a product that did what I expected it to, all I am going to say is "Fine". There's no benefit in it for me using my time to do anything else.

    Anyone who feels moved to spend half an hour writing a paean of praise about something is probably being paid for it.
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.9K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608.6K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.2K Life & Family
  • 248.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards