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

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burnleymik
burnleymik Posts: 1,391 Forumite
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in Praise, vent & warnings
I am really getting annoyed now. I was recently searching for a Smartwatch, nothing fancy, between the price range of £50-£100.

I usually use Amazon for things like this, where I am not too fussed about branded products and I use their star ratings to filter out the better ones and then read the reviews to narrow down to a couple I really like.

That said, I started reading a lot of the reviews and somewhere in the wall of text there was a small comment that read something along the lines of "I have reviewed this product in return for a discount" or "The supplier kindly sent me a review sample for evaluation, with a request for an honest and impartial review".

These types of reviews were on almost every item I looked at.

I just wanted an honest, untainted review of a product, not a gushing report because someone had received it for free or for a deep discount. Almost every review like this was 5 stars, with the odd 4 stars.

I started digging a bit deeper and it seems Amazon are deliberately allowing their customers to be mislead. These are not just individuals, but companies and Facebook groups that are running these reviews for products exercises.

there is a good article here:

http://thehustle.co/a-surprisingly-large-number-of-amazon-reviews-are-scams-the-hustle-investigates

These groups will kick/remove any reviewer who posts a review of 3 stars or less because the suppliers will stop sending them the products if they allow them to be posted to Amazon.

i.e.:

amazon_scam_comments-1024x553.png

I was always under the impression the reviews were left by previous customers.

There are even now websites (like fakespot) out there where you can input the product URL into their site and they will use a formula to help you gauge how trustworthy the product reviews are.

You cannot even filter out the verified purchases, but they are getting around that too now. It's a real mess.

Amazon used to be a really good company, with great customer service, but now they are allowing themselves to be exploited, whilst allowing their customers to be mislead (at best) and scammed (at worst) into purchasing products that are not nearly as good as they think they are.
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.
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Comments

  • CharlieBilly
    CharlieBilly Posts: 2,319 Forumite
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    I often leave unbiased reviews myself but I have seen such reviews and personally I dont think amazon should allow it even when they reviewer said he was sent it and put a disclaimer
  • burnleymik
    burnleymik Posts: 1,391 Forumite
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    CharlieBilly wrote: »
    I often leave unbiased reviews myself but I have seen such reviews and personally I dont think amazon should allow it even when they reviewer said he was sent it and put a disclaimer

    Yeah it seems that is the loophole. As long as somewhere in the review, they include that disclaimer, then it's not a problem, even if it's not a verified purchase.

    Problem is that it still skews the star rating.

    Amazon should simply remove that from their T+C's to stop all this.
    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.
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
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    I use Amazon reviews even when not buying from Amazon . But that is a case of reading the reviews and ignoring the idiots and those sorts of reviewers you post .I take zero notice of any numerical points/ stars systems .
  • Alice_Walker
    Alice_Walker Posts: 574 Forumite
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    This annoys me too, to the point I've stopped using retailers that do it - Green Keratin being the most recent. They don't realise they are devaluing their products by doing this, they say they want buyers to leave honest reviews, but in reality no one is going to because they know they won't be offered anything the next time. Plus who wants to spend £20 on something that others have received for free?
  • pineapple
    pineapple Posts: 6,931 Forumite
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    Well I saw a couple of official but negative reviews recently so there are some genuine ones.
    One thing I was looking for yesterday was beaded door curtains. It pays to read behind the star ratings. At least two numpties had given a poor rating because it didn't fit their door space. Yet the measurements were spelt out clearly in the product description. ;)
    I also immediately discount the one or two word reviews. Like 'Brilliant', 'Fits well', 'Good buy', 'Excellent' etc etc...Yeah right....:rotfl:
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
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    Probably a few posts on the forum on how to review products to earn money .
  • burnleymik
    burnleymik Posts: 1,391 Forumite
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    JJ_Egan wrote: »
    Probably a few posts on the forum on how to review products to earn money .

    I don't think you can receive money. I think it's only for very big discounts or free products.
    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.
  • Alice_Walker
    Alice_Walker Posts: 574 Forumite
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    pineapple wrote: »
    Well I saw a couple of official but negative reviews recently so there are some genuine ones.
    One thing I was looking for yesterday was beaded door curtains. It pays to read behind the star ratings. At least two numpties had given a poor rating because it didn't fit their door space. Yet the measurements were spelt out clearly in the product description. ;)
    I also immediately discount the one or two word reviews. Like 'Brilliant', 'Fits well', 'Good buy', 'Excellent' etc etc...Yeah right....:rotfl:

    These are not official/ Vine reviews. These are apparently normal consumers reviewing third party seller goods in exchange for freebies. I have no problem with Vine reviews, where you can see by the heading what they are.
  • LadyDee
    LadyDee Posts: 4,293 Forumite
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    Looking at something the other day, and every one of the 5/4 star 'reviews' was for an unbiased opinion in exchange for a free product! I asked a customer question as to whether any genuine buyer had actually bought one of these - it was removed by Amazon!

    If Amazon doesn't get to grips with this shenanigans they are in danger of attracting the same sort of criticism and bad opinions as ebay.

    I did not buy the product, and I am certain that I am not the only prospective customer they have lost in exchange for dishing out all these freebies.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,323 Forumite
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    edited 14 August 2016 at 5:05AM
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    I registered with Review Trader.., a site that lists products you can get a code for to use on Amazon on the understanding that you will get the product free or at a discount in return for writing a review. I did it once successfully lol, the codes often didn't work and to be honest, could see that it wasn't quite the sort of system I agreed with.

    Recently I tried to look at various certified apple iphone cables and saw review after review for various models saying they'd been supplied a cable for a discount.

    I didn't buy from any of those companies. Stupid system that I doubt will last forever.

    Again as others have said, I don't mind the Vine system, the reviewers are supplied goods because they do thorough reviews. The other type of reviews just another money making bandwagon that some websites have jumped on. Ignore them if you wish. Choice is yours.
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