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I once wrote a 1-star review on amazon for a top-selling product that had almost only positive reviews. The review was published but they quietly changed its c

I once wrote a 1-star review on amazon for a top-selling product that had almost only positive reviews. The review was published but they quietly changed its contents. They replaced some words (I guess it was too strong language like "crap" or something) but even worse they removed at least one whole sentence and after that the review didn't make much sense anymore and it looked like I wrote it like that. Then I watched the statistics about how many people found this helpful. At that time this was in two numbers: people who think its helpful and people who don't. Over months that ratio kept the same. Started with 1 helpful, 3 not helpful. Then 10 helpful, 30 not helpful. Then 30 helpful, 90 not helpful. I found that highly suspicious. Since then, amazon reviews are dead to me.

simias 8y ago
Wait amazon edits your reviews? That's shaddy as hell, I can understand removing a review for "strong language" but changing its content without asking the author is borderline scammy. I couldn't find similar stories online (although admittedly that's pretty hard to search for). I'd think it would be a big deal if Amazon was caught doing that, wouldn't it be?
- mikeash 8y ago
  I don’t think there’s anything borderline about it. Sounds like outright fraud to me.
  - taylorlunt 8y ago
    Yes, this should be criminal behavior and carry a prison sentence. I don't know if this is legally fraud, but it definitely should be.
- jackewiehose 8y ago
  I don't know if they do that regulary but in my case they did. It was my first (and last) attempt to write a review. Maybe the amazon employee just had the best intentions and didn't want to disencourage me because it was my first review... they achieved the opposite.
- closetohome 8y ago
  Obviously a retailer like Amazon wouldn't outright edit user reviews because it would be incredibly easy to catch, and would be a massive scandal if true. The guy you're replying to probably just forgot what he wrote.
  - alpha_squared 8y ago
    > Obviously a retailer like Amazon wouldn't outright edit user reviews because it would be incredibly easy to catch... To be fair, you're also giving them the benefit of doubt on this, for which the dark patterns don't seem to justify. It could just be a scandal that hasn't broken, yet.
  - jackewiehose 8y ago
    > The guy you're replying to probably just forgot what he wrote. No, definitely not. But this was almost 10 years ago and I never saved my original writing so I can't tell the exact differences. I guess for the censor at work they where just minor changes but I remember how upset I was because some things I wrote became out of context.
test1235 8y ago
I find that hard to believe. Any chance of a link to the review? Otherwise this comment could easily be written by an Amazon competitor looking to sway opinion.
- aardshark 8y ago
  Who are these Amazon competitors that have shills working for them to damage Amazon's reputation?
  - true_religion 8y ago
    Yes, apparently its too shocking to believe that Amazon will lie in its reviews, but its perfectly reasonable that Walmart PR staff would troll HN and lie in comments.
    - frockington 8y ago
      Lets take the next logical leap and blame Russia for creating bots that will divide America between Walmart and Amazon
  - conception 8y ago
    Jet.com and/or Walmart.com? I have no idea of that's true but certainly there are competitors. And Walmart is certainly know for shady tactics.
- cglace 8y ago
  Anychance you can prove you dont work for amazon? Otherwise you could just be an employee trying to sway opinion.
joemi 8y ago
I'm really surprised by this. When it comes to Customer Feedback (as opposed to Product Reviews), Amazon institutes an all-or-nothing policy. If any part of a Customer Feedback is out of policy, the entire feedback will be removed (if a seller reports it, that is). So it's quite surprising to me that they'd treat Product Reviews differently and actually edit the reviews.

simias 8y ago

Wait amazon edits your reviews? That's shaddy as hell, I can understand removing a review for "strong language" but changing its content without asking the author is borderline scammy. I couldn't find similar stories online (although admittedly that's pretty hard to search for). I'd think it would be a big deal if Amazon was caught doing that, wouldn't it be?

mikeash 8y ago
I don’t think there’s anything borderline about it. Sounds like outright fraud to me.
- taylorlunt 8y ago
  Yes, this should be criminal behavior and carry a prison sentence. I don't know if this is legally fraud, but it definitely should be.
jackewiehose 8y ago
I don't know if they do that regulary but in my case they did. It was my first (and last) attempt to write a review. Maybe the amazon employee just had the best intentions and didn't want to disencourage me because it was my first review... they achieved the opposite.
closetohome 8y ago
Obviously a retailer like Amazon wouldn't outright edit user reviews because it would be incredibly easy to catch, and would be a massive scandal if true. The guy you're replying to probably just forgot what he wrote.
- alpha_squared 8y ago
  > Obviously a retailer like Amazon wouldn't outright edit user reviews because it would be incredibly easy to catch... To be fair, you're also giving them the benefit of doubt on this, for which the dark patterns don't seem to justify. It could just be a scandal that hasn't broken, yet.
- jackewiehose 8y ago
  > The guy you're replying to probably just forgot what he wrote. No, definitely not. But this was almost 10 years ago and I never saved my original writing so I can't tell the exact differences. I guess for the censor at work they where just minor changes but I remember how upset I was because some things I wrote became out of context.

test1235 8y ago

I find that hard to believe. Any chance of a link to the review? Otherwise this comment could easily be written by an Amazon competitor looking to sway opinion.

aardshark 8y ago
Who are these Amazon competitors that have shills working for them to damage Amazon's reputation?
- true_religion 8y ago
  Yes, apparently its too shocking to believe that Amazon will lie in its reviews, but its perfectly reasonable that Walmart PR staff would troll HN and lie in comments.
  - frockington 8y ago
    Lets take the next logical leap and blame Russia for creating bots that will divide America between Walmart and Amazon
- conception 8y ago
  Jet.com and/or Walmart.com? I have no idea of that's true but certainly there are competitors. And Walmart is certainly know for shady tactics.
cglace 8y ago
Anychance you can prove you dont work for amazon? Otherwise you could just be an employee trying to sway opinion.

joemi 8y ago

I'm really surprised by this. When it comes to Customer Feedback (as opposed to Product Reviews), Amazon institutes an all-or-nothing policy. If any part of a Customer Feedback is out of policy, the entire feedback will be removed (if a seller reports it, that is). So it's quite surprising to me that they'd treat Product Reviews differently and actually edit the reviews.