Why You Should Beware of Amazon's 4 & 5 Star Reviews

[dordale]

Originally Posted by Barty

I don't understand. How do they "scoop up positive reviews from other products" and put them on their own? Surely sellers don't have write access to reviews? The most they can do is hire people to open accounts and enter fake reviews.

I ran into this problem recently when I was trying to find a combination charger/earphone jack adapter for my iPhone 7.

There are a lot of these listed on Amazon--and a lot with really good reviews--but with one quick look at the reviews (and the pictures posted by reviewers) it's obvious that the reviews are for completely different products--

Here's an example:

https://www.amazon.com/Headphone-Spl...s%2C205&sr=8-7

The above link (at least at the time of my posting here) shows an adapter that has a four star rating on 657 reviews. The first review I see when I look at them starts off with "This is a great stroller. There wasn't much in the product details, but the general look appealed to me. I was buying it for a 4 foot tall 6 year old... "


Also note--that this is item is "fullfilled by Amazon"--again at least at the time of this posting.

[MGlitch]

So a no name company selling something that you can find from plenty of other companies is using a fraudulent method to boost their reviews meanwhile even glancing at the reviews shows its not for the product being sold.

Like okay sure they shouldn’t be able to do this. But at the same time if someone is shopping by star rating alone without bothering to look at any of the reviews well “caveat emptor”.

[John F]

Interesting how the reviews don't get rejected by Amazon's review process. I wrote a review once because of shipping problems, and Amazon rejected the review saying the review wasn't about the product. Yet reviews of the wrong product are allowed.

[rkomar]

I think all of the reviews were written for the correct products, but the vendor is copying them from there and adding them to different products. That's the loophole that was originally mentioned. It's the vendor, not the reviewer, that is doing something dodgy.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I think all of the reviews were written for the correct products, but the vendor is copying them from there and adding them to different products. That's the loophole that was originally mentioned. It's the vendor, not the reviewer, that is doing something dodgy.

Exactly...I have no idea how the process works to become an Amazon seller, but it seems really odd to me that a seller has the ability to manipulate reviews like this.

And just wanted to add--that in addition to the reviews being for the totally wrong product(s) in the link I posted above, the "questions" and "answers" are also for other products.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Yes, it is just middle-class eBay.
I wish there was a reliable way to filter searches to only ever show Fulfilled by Amazon items, the rest might as well not exist for me.

Originally Posted by dordale

Exactly...I have no idea how the process works to become an Amazon seller, but it seems really odd to me that a seller has the ability to manipulate reviews like this.

And just wanted to add--that in addition to the reviews being for the totally wrong product(s) in the link I posted above, the "questions" and "answers" are also for other products.

Did you report it to Amazon?

Shari

[dordale]

Originally Posted by shalym

Did you report it to Amazon?

Shari

No...not yet. For some reason I didn't think of doing that...

I'll go do it now!

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I typically don't "shop" at Amazon.com. I buy there. I tend to shop using "top rated <widget> 2019" or "Top 10 <widget> 2019"

That works, if and only if the products are used/tested by whoever created the article. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the reviews are paid for, with the product that paid the most, being given the top spot.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

That works, if and only if the products are used/tested by whoever created the article. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the reviews are paid for, with the product that paid the most, being given the top spot.

Well, it's not like I settle on one article and bet the farm on it. I DO know enough to look for actual reviews by actual people. And I use multiple consumer reviews to make my decisions.

Nobody's going to do my research for me, but I don't mind having to do the extra legwork involved ("legwork" in this case translates to lounging in a recliner poking at a tablet, btw). I'm never in an online-buying hurry to begin with. Growing up in the age of "Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery" means that a week's worth of research and decision-making--plus 1-3 days for shipping after I finally pull the trigger--still feels like a modern miracle to me.

Just because they want us to be idiots doesn't mean we have to oblige them. It's not like the game's not pretty easily winnable with a modicum of thought/care.