7 ms·

That pretty much means that most Amazon ratings are bullshit.

by olegk 17y ago

Qz 17y ago
It means that all Amazon ratings are potentially bullshit. There's no way to generalize from one user/seller experience to all of them, but the fact that we don't really have evidence to the contrary definitely does sour the whole experience. I generally avoid the third party sellers just because I like to use super-saver shipping to save money, but I'll go for the third party if the item is hard to find or the deal is amazing.
- spxdcz 17y ago
  Precisely. I'm sure this isn't wide-spread, but it still very strange behaviour from such an established company. They take down the negative reviews at the drop of a hat, but it takes a mountain of effort to get them re-instated (in fact, they haven't even been yet). And the worrying bit seems to be that they don't even know their own published policies on the matter: if you don't follow/know your own policies, what's the point in having them? Is it all hot air?
  - robryan 17y ago
    It's also a bit of a worry from the sellers perspective that they can't afford to get even one bad review. I guess this has come about because all the sellers are trying to hard to prevent negative reviews that even one puts you back compared to others.
- sh1mmer 17y ago
  It's important to point out that this is reviews of the seller, not the product. E.g. if you buy an item from a 3rd party seller on Amazon you can leave a product and a seller review. If you only buy from Amazon on Amazon then this issue shouldn't affect you (although others might).
  - Qz 17y ago
    Er, I was pretty clearly talking about buying from third party sellers, so I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
dwwoelfel 17y ago
"That pretty much means that most Amazon ratings are bullshit." That is an insane overreaction. Amazon has a long-standing reputation of excellent customer service over millions of transactions. A singular error on their part should be examined in that context. You'll find that their response invalidates your claim: http://www.makingstrange.net/2010/03/update-are-amazon-seller-ratings.html http://www.makingstrange.net/2010/03/update-are-amazon-selle...

That pretty much means that most Amazon ratings are bullshit.

by olegk 17y ago

That pretty much means that most Amazon ratings are bullshit.

Qz 17y ago

It means that all Amazon ratings are potentially bullshit. There's no way to generalize from one user/seller experience to all of them, but the fact that we don't really have evidence to the contrary definitely does sour the whole experience. I generally avoid the third party sellers just because I like to use super-saver shipping to save money, but I'll go for the third party if the item is hard to find or the deal is amazing.

spxdcz 17y ago
Precisely. I'm sure this isn't wide-spread, but it still very strange behaviour from such an established company. They take down the negative reviews at the drop of a hat, but it takes a mountain of effort to get them re-instated (in fact, they haven't even been yet). And the worrying bit seems to be that they don't even know their own published policies on the matter: if you don't follow/know your own policies, what's the point in having them? Is it all hot air?
- robryan 17y ago
  It's also a bit of a worry from the sellers perspective that they can't afford to get even one bad review. I guess this has come about because all the sellers are trying to hard to prevent negative reviews that even one puts you back compared to others.
sh1mmer 17y ago
It's important to point out that this is reviews of the seller, not the product. E.g. if you buy an item from a 3rd party seller on Amazon you can leave a product and a seller review. If you only buy from Amazon on Amazon then this issue shouldn't affect you (although others might).
- Qz 17y ago
  Er, I was pretty clearly talking about buying from third party sellers, so I'm not sure what you're trying to say.

dwwoelfel 17y ago

"That pretty much means that most Amazon ratings are bullshit." That is an insane overreaction. Amazon has a long-standing reputation of excellent customer service over millions of transactions. A singular error on their part should be examined in that context. You'll find that their response invalidates your claim: http://www.makingstrange.net/2010/03/update-are-amazon-seller-ratings.html http://www.makingstrange.net/2010/03/update-are-amazon-selle...