Ever wonder how cheap, no-name products are able to build multiple stars on Amazon that have only a handful of negative reviews?
Here's one way: Some sellers are reaching out to unhappy buyers to delete or revise their negative reviews in exchange for refunds or gift cards. With fewer disgruntled shoppers rising, the overall average star rating increases.
Sellers who ship products via Amazon aren't supposed to reach out to customers outside of Amazon's retail channel - in fact, it is a violation of the terms they agree to on the official platforms.
In March, New Yorker Katherine Scott picked out an oil spray bottle for cooking, based on almost 1,000 glowing Amazon reviews of the product and a 4.5 - star rating average. When the $10 sprayer arrived, she found out that the item didn't function as advertised: Instead of a mist, it produced a stream of oil, she said. It was like a Super Soaker Gun instead of spray paint can, which defeats the purpose of the product, she said. A week later, Ms. Scott received an email from someone claiming to be from the customer-service team of the oil sprayer's brand, Auxtun correspondence which I have reviewed.
Can you refund in full? We hope you can reconsider deleting comments at your convenience okay?
Sellers who fulfil orders themselves may receive customer names and mailing addresses. But for orders, sellers and brands are supposed to shield customer data from Amazon themselves.
Sellers are allowed to communicate with buyers using Amazon's built-in messaging platform which hides the customer's email addresses. Amazon's terms of service also prohibit sellers from requesting that a customer remove a negative review or post one positive.
Meanwhile, brands, which can be unsatisfying from sellers, may reach out to non-satisfied customers via Amazon's messaging service, but they also aren't allowed to ask customers to remove negative reviews.
Scott wanted a refund but didn't want to delete her review. Another representative reached out the next day and declined to issue a refund. A bad review is a fatal blow to us, read the email. If you can, I want to return $20 to you to express my gratitude. A few hours later, she received a return email from the same address.
It was creepy. This time they emailed me directly about it over and over again, Ms. Scott said.
Ms. Scott has contacted Amazon twice about the matter. I reviewed Amazon's conversation transcripts and emails.
In an April 16 customer service chat, an Amazon agent told Ms. Scott I am forwarding to the team who will call you soon and we will get back in 48 hours. The seller will make sure the seller will be no longer associated with Amazon. She said no one got back to her.
When she received more unwanted emails in July, Ms. Scott called Amazon support hotline. A rep told her via email that the case would be investigated, but Amazon wouldn't be able to release the outcome of the investigation.
The listing - and its positive reviews - were live after Mrs. Scott's complaints. In Auxtun, what I asked Amazon to comment on the situation for this column disappeared, and both the brand HoHousstore and the seller, Amazon, no longer appear to be there. The issue you're highlighting was taken by our internal processes and the appropriate enforcement actions were detected, Amazon spokesman said. Neither Auxtun nor HoHousstore responded to requests for comment.
It wasn't an isolated incident. In this kitchenware niche, at least a dozen other customers wrote in reviews that they were pressured to revise their initial low ratings.
In Amazon's oil spray category, most Top Results currently Show the Same Designs, sold under different brands and sellers. One product with more than 4,600 reviews has telling reviews. Product doesn't work and company will bother you until you change review, a customer wrote. Seller offered $20 - $30 to delete negative reviews, said another. Both l gave spray one star. Neither the seller nor the brand responded to inquiries for comment via Amazon's internal message system.
Sometimes, Amazon offers sellers and brands a way to reach customers away from their watchful gaze. Ms. Scott thinks that a negative review for a thermometer in the oil spray's packaging - which sent her to enter her email address and order ID - was how the brand was able to link the free review with her address. Amazon spokesman said the insert is a violation of company policy.
The seller might have been able to look up her name and mailing address in Amazon sales records, and use this information to find her email address. In April, Amazon stopped including names and mailing addresses in stores of most Amazon-filled purchases after Ms. Scott purchased oil spray bottle. Sellers now typically only see a buyer's city, state and ZIP code.
Ben Hendin of Tulsa, Okla. - who was featured in my report on the fake Amazon review economy - said he heard four times from a customer after posting a negative review of an unsatisfactory $17 finger splint. The seller increased the amount of money it was willing to pay for him to delete the review, eventually reaching $40.
When Boss asked how this seller found his contact info, the representative replied: Mr. Hendin found it through social software search for names. The people who reached out to Mr. Hendin didn't respond to my requests for comment.
James Thomson, a former Amazon employee who is now a partner in the brand consultancy Buy Box Experts, said some third-party tools ask customers' shipping information and match it to known email addresses. He emphasized that the practice violates Amazon's rules and that he wouldn't recommend sellers or brands use these tools.
One company, called Matic Chain, offers an email extraction service for Amazon sellers. A company representative told me via email that it uses Google and social media to match buyers' names with contact information. When I asked if the company knew this was a violation of Amazon policy, the rep didn't respond.
Another business, called ZonBoost, says it provides email addresses from reviews for up to $60 a piece. ZonBoost did not respond to requests for comment.
Amazon provides a great deal of help content, proactive coaching, warnings and other assistance to sellers to ensure they remain compliant with our clearly stated policies. We have clear policies for both reviewers and our selling partners that prohibit abuse of our community features, and we suspend, ban and take legal action against those who violate these policies, the Amazon spokesman said. Bad actors that attempt to abuse our system make up a tiny fraction of activity on our website and we use sophisticated tools to combat them and they make it increasingly difficult for them to hide.
The spokesman also said that in 2020, more than 200 million proactive reviews were stopped before they were ever seen by a customer and more than 99% of reviews enforcement was driven by our suspected false detection.
AMAZON NOW HAS 'KEYS' TO THOUSANDS OF BUSINESS BUILDINGS IN THE U.S.
The Wall Street Journal reports cases where Amazon employees were accused of accepting bribes in exchange for information that benefited third-party sellers. Amazon said at the time that it disciplined any employee in violation of the company's policies, and installed systems to audit and restrict what employees can access to.
Whatever the method a seller or brand could use to obtain information about customers, the result is the same. It's easier to trust the authenticity of reviews and you might be less inclined to leave your own negative review of a product, out of fear of seller retaliation. Don't use your name in Amazon reviews. I encourage people to leave as many Amazon reviews as possible. But if you do, leave your real name out of the write-up to prevent the seller or brand from contacting you offline.
You can change your public name. Click Edit your private profile, then Edit privacy settings to control what appears on the page. Can I hide my activity?
If you receive any potentially abusive email or messages, download or make screenshots of them so that you can forward them to Amazon customer service.
Report abuse to Amazon.com. An Amazon spokesman said customers can report abuse by emailing community-help amazon.com. Provide as much detail and as many screenshots as possible. Next to reviews, there is a Report Abuse link.
By replying to the seller or brand, you can be confirming your email address belongs to a legitimate customer and it might continue to send you messages through different accounts. Message is sent in Outlook and must be made as a message. In the menu bar, go to Message Junk Mail Blocker sender.