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I know of many ex amazon employee anecdotes where people were “taken in the night” (didn’t have a job in the morning), and had their credentials and their teams

I know of many ex amazon employee anecdotes where people were “taken in the night” (didn’t have a job in the morning), and had their credentials and their teams credentials rotated due to a customer or seller data access overstep. As with most conspiracies the facts don’t add up super well in this case for Amazon - their whole company is based on trust. The cost of losing it would be huge, so they’d be super driven to stamp it out.

concernedctzn 6y ago
well, they already lost everyone's trust for allowing the sale of low quality knock offs so who's to say we won't find out about some major privacy violations in the coming years?
- whyenot 6y ago
  Really? Search online for "trust amazon poll" and look at the results. People appear to have an overwhelmingly favorable opinion of Amazon. For example, look at The Verge Tech Survey 2020. 91% of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of the company, and 70% felt they had a positive impact on society. Most of the other polls have similar results.
  - hevelvarik 6y ago
    Trust is too general a term to be very useful. I trust that amazon will get me my order swiftly, and that if it gets lost in transit or stolen from my front door, I will be made whole without any fuss. That is huge for them as a retailer. At the same time there are entire categories of products that I simply wont ever buy from them because I do not trust that the product is legit.
  - Lio 6y ago
    I trust Amazon to send me a branded SD card or Apple charing cable on time. I don’t trust Amazon to ship genuine to specification SD cards or original Apple power cables due to the commingling stock issue.
  - ashtonkem 6y ago
    That’s consumer trust, which is certainly high. I’d be interested in how much companies trust amazon, that number might be very different. Both groups can have wildly different experiences with the same company, and there are a lot more consumers than there are companies ready to sell on amazon. The original question here was not “does amazon provide a bad service to consumers”, but rather “does amazon abuse their data to compete unfairly”. Only companies would know that, end consumers won’t know why the amazon basics product exits, only if it arrives on time.
    - Nasrudith 6y ago
      Company trust doesn't mean all that much given conflict of interest. Technically you can translate any antitrust claim regardless of merit as "Competitors say 'main rival's success unfair, should be punished'". Realpolitik of sorts often matters far more than any trust at the company level - does going on your own or letting someone else take a cut pay off better? Would they get massively punished if they failed to carry through and burned your company?
- ctvo 6y ago
  It certainly feels that way if your opinion was mostly from the comments section of HN. In the real world? Not so much.
- ars 6y ago
  People forgive them for that because it's so easy to return, and they are so quick to give a refund/make things right. Also, I don't think as a percentage of purchases that they are as common as people think - the stories get lots of attention, but the regular shopping is ignored.
- nindalf 6y ago
  > they already lost everyone's trust Love the completely unfounded assertion. Based on what? "Top voted comments on HN say they've lost trust in Amazon, so everyone in the world must be the same"? Let's look at actual data shall we? Turns out surveys indicate that "Amazon is the second most trusted institution in the United States, behind the military" (https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/25/18022956/amazon-trust-survey-american-institutions-ranked-georgetown https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/25/18022956/amazon-tru...). Many other surveys indicate something similar. If you have data that indicates otherwise, please do share.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
paulryanrogers 6y ago
Co-mingling inventory does not inspire trust
- didibus 6y ago
  What's important to know is that the seller chooses if they want their inventory comingled or not. And that comingling allows for faster delivery. That said, I would really like it if it could be a choice given to the buyer as well. Or at least make it clear when you're buying and getting something comingled.
run414 6y ago
When I worked at Amazon, I personally knew someone who put in their two-weeks notice, and the next day they found out they were fired when their badge didn't work. From anecdotes I've heard, this happens if Amazon suspects a person is leaving to join a competitor. Amazon is very serious about protecting their data.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- jsizzle 6y ago
  This is not atypical though, and it happens in non high tech industries. Why is this an issue?
  - run414 6y ago
    Sorry. I didn't mean to imply a moral judgement on the issue. I was just trying to provide an example that furthers the parent's point on Amazon being very protective of their data.
- User23 6y ago
  I personally know someone who gave a two week notice at Amazon and had his manager ask him to stay out the quarter. It's all about relationships and reputation. People with a proven track record of quality work and strong ethics are valued there.
  - Talanes 6y ago
    What leads you to believe the difference is in the quality of the employee and not the quality of the manager?
    - User23 6y ago
      Nothing. Relationships are by definition bidirectional. Being able to have a good relationship with a manager implies that that manager is at least not awful, and most likely also good. The person I refer to would never have delayed starting his new job as long as he did if he didn't have professional respect for his manager.
alasdair_ 6y ago
“ their whole company is based on trust. The cost of losing it would be huge, so they’d be super driven to stamp it out.” This was the exact argument put forth by defenders of Goldman Sachs when it was alleged they were screwing over their own customers in the financial crisis.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  On the other hand, now people don't trust them and their stock is below where it was in 2007, compared to the market index which is at more than double that.
  - francisofascii 6y ago
    All bank stocks are down right now. When comparing Goldman, it would be better to use a bank index ETF fund like XLF rather than the overall market.
    - AnthonyMouse 6y ago
      You could argue that it's because Goldman destroyed the public trust in the entire industry. How many people who used to just blindly give their money to investment banks are now paying enough attention to their performance relative to index ETFs to find them lacking?
cryptica 6y ago
This is a poor argument. Just because they get punished sometimes, doesn't mean it's the norm. Even if Jeff Bezos was a perfectly decent, well-meaning guy, intention is not enough. If a person keeps stealing from other people, do we just slap them with a fine each time they get caught and let them continue operating in society? No! They go to jail! We make sure they can't continue the crime! Because otherwise, the crime can become highly profitable; allowing any entity to profit from crime is simply incompatible with being a participant in a civilized society - If you let one entity get away with it repeatedly, soon enough, it becomes a viable business model and everyone will be doing it and society will implode. If he and his shareholders are unwilling or unable to personally take responsibility for every single transgression committed by Amazon, then this company is unfit to exist within our society. I think that corporate personhood is the biggest problem of our time and is a misnomer because not only do corporations have all the rights that people have, they actually have more rights! I don't have the right to influence politicians in Washington! I don't have the right to consistently get away with crimes with only a fine! I don't have the right to evade taxes by claiming that I live in a different country than where I actually live!
watwut 6y ago
I mean, if you know many amazon employees who overstepped seller data access, then amazon really should do something to prevent seller data access.

concernedctzn 6y ago

well, they already lost everyone's trust for allowing the sale of low quality knock offs so who's to say we won't find out about some major privacy violations in the coming years?

whyenot 6y ago
Really? Search online for "trust amazon poll" and look at the results. People appear to have an overwhelmingly favorable opinion of Amazon. For example, look at The Verge Tech Survey 2020. 91% of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of the company, and 70% felt they had a positive impact on society. Most of the other polls have similar results.
- hevelvarik 6y ago
  Trust is too general a term to be very useful. I trust that amazon will get me my order swiftly, and that if it gets lost in transit or stolen from my front door, I will be made whole without any fuss. That is huge for them as a retailer. At the same time there are entire categories of products that I simply wont ever buy from them because I do not trust that the product is legit.
- Lio 6y ago
  I trust Amazon to send me a branded SD card or Apple charing cable on time. I don’t trust Amazon to ship genuine to specification SD cards or original Apple power cables due to the commingling stock issue.
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  That’s consumer trust, which is certainly high. I’d be interested in how much companies trust amazon, that number might be very different. Both groups can have wildly different experiences with the same company, and there are a lot more consumers than there are companies ready to sell on amazon. The original question here was not “does amazon provide a bad service to consumers”, but rather “does amazon abuse their data to compete unfairly”. Only companies would know that, end consumers won’t know why the amazon basics product exits, only if it arrives on time.
  - Nasrudith 6y ago
    Company trust doesn't mean all that much given conflict of interest. Technically you can translate any antitrust claim regardless of merit as "Competitors say 'main rival's success unfair, should be punished'". Realpolitik of sorts often matters far more than any trust at the company level - does going on your own or letting someone else take a cut pay off better? Would they get massively punished if they failed to carry through and burned your company?
ctvo 6y ago
It certainly feels that way if your opinion was mostly from the comments section of HN. In the real world? Not so much.
ars 6y ago
People forgive them for that because it's so easy to return, and they are so quick to give a refund/make things right. Also, I don't think as a percentage of purchases that they are as common as people think - the stories get lots of attention, but the regular shopping is ignored.
nindalf 6y ago
> they already lost everyone's trust Love the completely unfounded assertion. Based on what? "Top voted comments on HN say they've lost trust in Amazon, so everyone in the world must be the same"? Let's look at actual data shall we? Turns out surveys indicate that "Amazon is the second most trusted institution in the United States, behind the military" (https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/25/18022956/amazon-trust-survey-american-institutions-ranked-georgetown https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/25/18022956/amazon-tru...). Many other surveys indicate something similar. If you have data that indicates otherwise, please do share.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

paulryanrogers 6y ago

Co-mingling inventory does not inspire trust

didibus 6y ago
What's important to know is that the seller chooses if they want their inventory comingled or not. And that comingling allows for faster delivery. That said, I would really like it if it could be a choice given to the buyer as well. Or at least make it clear when you're buying and getting something comingled.

run414 6y ago

When I worked at Amazon, I personally knew someone who put in their two-weeks notice, and the next day they found out they were fired when their badge didn't work. From anecdotes I've heard, this happens if Amazon suspects a person is leaving to join a competitor. Amazon is very serious about protecting their data.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
jsizzle 6y ago
This is not atypical though, and it happens in non high tech industries. Why is this an issue?
- run414 6y ago
  Sorry. I didn't mean to imply a moral judgement on the issue. I was just trying to provide an example that furthers the parent's point on Amazon being very protective of their data.
User23 6y ago
I personally know someone who gave a two week notice at Amazon and had his manager ask him to stay out the quarter. It's all about relationships and reputation. People with a proven track record of quality work and strong ethics are valued there.
- Talanes 6y ago
  What leads you to believe the difference is in the quality of the employee and not the quality of the manager?
  - User23 6y ago
    Nothing. Relationships are by definition bidirectional. Being able to have a good relationship with a manager implies that that manager is at least not awful, and most likely also good. The person I refer to would never have delayed starting his new job as long as he did if he didn't have professional respect for his manager.

alasdair_ 6y ago

“ their whole company is based on trust. The cost of losing it would be huge, so they’d be super driven to stamp it out.” This was the exact argument put forth by defenders of Goldman Sachs when it was alleged they were screwing over their own customers in the financial crisis.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
On the other hand, now people don't trust them and their stock is below where it was in 2007, compared to the market index which is at more than double that.
- francisofascii 6y ago
  All bank stocks are down right now. When comparing Goldman, it would be better to use a bank index ETF fund like XLF rather than the overall market.
  - AnthonyMouse 6y ago
    You could argue that it's because Goldman destroyed the public trust in the entire industry. How many people who used to just blindly give their money to investment banks are now paying enough attention to their performance relative to index ETFs to find them lacking?

cryptica 6y ago

This is a poor argument. Just because they get punished sometimes, doesn't mean it's the norm. Even if Jeff Bezos was a perfectly decent, well-meaning guy, intention is not enough. If a person keeps stealing from other people, do we just slap them with a fine each time they get caught and let them continue operating in society? No! They go to jail! We make sure they can't continue the crime! Because otherwise, the crime can become highly profitable; allowing any entity to profit from crime is simply incompatible with being a participant in a civilized society - If you let one entity get away with it repeatedly, soon enough, it becomes a viable business model and everyone will be doing it and society will implode. If he and his shareholders are unwilling or unable to personally take responsibility for every single transgression committed by Amazon, then this company is unfit to exist within our society. I think that corporate personhood is the biggest problem of our time and is a misnomer because not only do corporations have all the rights that people have, they actually have more rights! I don't have the right to influence politicians in Washington! I don't have the right to consistently get away with crimes with only a fine! I don't have the right to evade taxes by claiming that I live in a different country than where I actually live!

watwut 6y ago

I mean, if you know many amazon employees who overstepped seller data access, then amazon really should do something to prevent seller data access.