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I bought a $25 product recently on Amazon. In the box there was a “coupon” that I’d get $20 back if I left a 5-star review for the product on Amazon. Instead I

by wincy 7y ago

I bought a $25 product recently on Amazon. In the box there was a “coupon” that I’d get $20 back if I left a 5-star review for the product on Amazon. Instead I left a 1-star review saying that they were trying to game the system, and my review got REMOVED! I give up.

cm2012 7y ago
Would it have upset you if they were asking for any review at all, instead of requiring a 5 star one?
- TheRealDunkirk 7y ago
  "Asking for a friend," right?
- AnthonyMouse 7y ago
  > Would it have upset you if they were asking for any review at all, instead of requiring a 5 star one? That has largely the same result. Most satisfied customers don't bother to leave a review, so real reviews tend to skew towards people who have had issues. If you bribe satisfied customers into leaving a review then your reviews are no longer from the same sampling population as your competitors' reviews and you end up looking better than you really are by comparison. Plus, if the incentive isn't offered to everyone then people who get it (and then are disproportionately likely to leave a review) will tend to like the seller more because they liked receiving the incentive. It would only be fair if the same incentive was provided to all buyers for leaving reviews of all sellers.
brownbat 7y ago
I've had people refund entire purchases and let me keep the item after I complain about a real defect, all just to avoid a low review. The most surreal instance was when I just asked a completely innocuous question and was offered a refund--clearly misunderstand my curiosity as a complaint. I love imagining the surreal consequences of a world where reputation is far more valuable than the products themselves... but that must be unsustainable.
- ProZsolt 7y ago
  If you sell a $1 product for $10 you can refund 8 of them and still double your money. Yes, for cheap Chinese made stuff the reputation is far more valuable than the products themselves
getlawgdon 7y ago
This exact same thing happened to me.
wruza 7y ago
Don’t give up. Leave a 5-star review, get an out-of-band refund (if they do that). Then change your review to 1 and demand an in-band refund. Tell your friends.

by wincy 7y ago

cm2012 7y ago

Would it have upset you if they were asking for any review at all, instead of requiring a 5 star one?

TheRealDunkirk 7y ago
"Asking for a friend," right?
AnthonyMouse 7y ago
> Would it have upset you if they were asking for any review at all, instead of requiring a 5 star one? That has largely the same result. Most satisfied customers don't bother to leave a review, so real reviews tend to skew towards people who have had issues. If you bribe satisfied customers into leaving a review then your reviews are no longer from the same sampling population as your competitors' reviews and you end up looking better than you really are by comparison. Plus, if the incentive isn't offered to everyone then people who get it (and then are disproportionately likely to leave a review) will tend to like the seller more because they liked receiving the incentive. It would only be fair if the same incentive was provided to all buyers for leaving reviews of all sellers.

brownbat 7y ago

I've had people refund entire purchases and let me keep the item after I complain about a real defect, all just to avoid a low review. The most surreal instance was when I just asked a completely innocuous question and was offered a refund--clearly misunderstand my curiosity as a complaint. I love imagining the surreal consequences of a world where reputation is far more valuable than the products themselves... but that must be unsustainable.

ProZsolt 7y ago
If you sell a $1 product for $10 you can refund 8 of them and still double your money. Yes, for cheap Chinese made stuff the reputation is far more valuable than the products themselves

getlawgdon 7y ago

This exact same thing happened to me.

wruza 7y ago

Don’t give up. Leave a 5-star review, get an out-of-band refund (if they do that). Then change your review to 1 and demand an in-band refund. Tell your friends.