7 ms·

This is another big one. Amazon is filled with garbage products. It can be very hard to tell what's quality, anymore, and the reviews aren't trustworthy the way

This is another big one. Amazon is filled with garbage products. It can be very hard to tell what's quality, anymore, and the reviews aren't trustworthy the way they used to be. I used to read reviews on Amazon religiously even if I was buying somewhere else. That habit has kinda faded, though it's still one of the better sources of real world product knowledge.

Fej 9y ago
The bad reviews are useful. The positive ones are almost universally worthless (excluding Benson's).
- barking 9y ago
  Except that bad reviews are sometimes put there by competitors
- Sleeep 9y ago
  Bad reviews are AstroTurfed just like positive ones.
neverminder 9y ago
> and the reviews aren't trustworthy the way they used to be You can say that again. I recently bought a kitchen knife with Amazon Prime that had ~100 reviews, an average of 5 stars. It cost £33, so wasn't particularly cheap. Just after I bought it the seller sent me one of those nagging emails asking for a review which I ignored. A week after they sent me another email, a copy of the first one. By the time I've already used the knife and found out it wasn't very sharp (my >5 year old knife of a different brand was still sharper), so I thought "be careful what you ask for, 'cause you may get it" and gave them an honest 3 star review. Not even 2 hours later I get an email from their rep apologizing for a "faulty item" and offering either send me another one or issue a refund and I can keep the knife in both cases. I realized what was the catch, but opted for a refund and removed my review when they asked me on the next email (obviously). So now this knife is still sold on Amazon, with 100 reviews and counting, only one 4 star review and the rest of them 5 stars.
- nothrabannosir 9y ago
  Why didn't you leave the review?
  - barking 9y ago
    Probably the best thing would be to edit or replace it and then in addition to the criticisms, mention how they were very proactive about replacing/refunding for the item
- ikurei 9y ago
  So you just helped continue the fraud? Things aren't gonna improve by complaining on HN.
  - neverminder 9y ago
    There's no point in debating the moral issues when our world is anything but. It's like condemning engineers for enabling governments and corporations to spy on us and constantly erode our privacy. In this particular situation the interaction was between me and the seller. Reviews are written, edited, removed by a person that owes nothing to other potential customers.
    - provost 9y ago
      > by a person that owes nothing to other potential customers Yet you feel jaded by the other reviewers. You don't owe me anything, but I would encourage you to go back and leave a negative review if the product isn't worth the price. I'm in the market for a cooking knife and would appreciate good reviews. Thanks.
      - Super_Jambo 9y ago
        Just buy a thin bladed one from ikea along with a ceramic roller sharpener. Don't use it on frozen stuff. If money is no object get a global along with the global specific ceramic roller sharpener. Yes there are better things out there but for the cost Ikea is very good.
jacobolus 9y ago
I’ve mostly stopped buying new books directly from Amazon because they sometimes seem to send crappy quality printed-on-demand copies, and I have no easy way of predicting if I’ll get one of those beforehand. (Sadly much of the book industry is moving this direction even if you buy directly. For example, the past few years of Springer math books are all terrible printing quality.) I’m mad that they now hide book reviews that aren’t from “verified purchasers” unless you spend several clicks hunting for them. It’s really unfortunate that there’s no independent page for book reviews with a big enough community to be remotely comprehensive.

Fej 9y ago

The bad reviews are useful. The positive ones are almost universally worthless (excluding Benson's).

barking 9y ago
Except that bad reviews are sometimes put there by competitors
Sleeep 9y ago
Bad reviews are AstroTurfed just like positive ones.

neverminder 9y ago

> and the reviews aren't trustworthy the way they used to be You can say that again. I recently bought a kitchen knife with Amazon Prime that had ~100 reviews, an average of 5 stars. It cost £33, so wasn't particularly cheap. Just after I bought it the seller sent me one of those nagging emails asking for a review which I ignored. A week after they sent me another email, a copy of the first one. By the time I've already used the knife and found out it wasn't very sharp (my >5 year old knife of a different brand was still sharper), so I thought "be careful what you ask for, 'cause you may get it" and gave them an honest 3 star review. Not even 2 hours later I get an email from their rep apologizing for a "faulty item" and offering either send me another one or issue a refund and I can keep the knife in both cases. I realized what was the catch, but opted for a refund and removed my review when they asked me on the next email (obviously). So now this knife is still sold on Amazon, with 100 reviews and counting, only one 4 star review and the rest of them 5 stars.

nothrabannosir 9y ago
Why didn't you leave the review?
- barking 9y ago
  Probably the best thing would be to edit or replace it and then in addition to the criticisms, mention how they were very proactive about replacing/refunding for the item
ikurei 9y ago
So you just helped continue the fraud? Things aren't gonna improve by complaining on HN.
- neverminder 9y ago
  There's no point in debating the moral issues when our world is anything but. It's like condemning engineers for enabling governments and corporations to spy on us and constantly erode our privacy. In this particular situation the interaction was between me and the seller. Reviews are written, edited, removed by a person that owes nothing to other potential customers.
  - provost 9y ago
    > by a person that owes nothing to other potential customers Yet you feel jaded by the other reviewers. You don't owe me anything, but I would encourage you to go back and leave a negative review if the product isn't worth the price. I'm in the market for a cooking knife and would appreciate good reviews. Thanks.
    - Super_Jambo 9y ago
      Just buy a thin bladed one from ikea along with a ceramic roller sharpener. Don't use it on frozen stuff. If money is no object get a global along with the global specific ceramic roller sharpener. Yes there are better things out there but for the cost Ikea is very good.

jacobolus 9y ago

I’ve mostly stopped buying new books directly from Amazon because they sometimes seem to send crappy quality printed-on-demand copies, and I have no easy way of predicting if I’ll get one of those beforehand. (Sadly much of the book industry is moving this direction even if you buy directly. For example, the past few years of Springer math books are all terrible printing quality.) I’m mad that they now hide book reviews that aren’t from “verified purchasers” unless you spend several clicks hunting for them. It’s really unfortunate that there’s no independent page for book reviews with a big enough community to be remotely comprehensive.