6 ms·

The customer paid not only for the product but also for the service of having that product delivered to them. Asking them to restrict their review to only one

The customer paid not only for the product but also for the service of having that product delivered to them. Asking them to restrict their review to only one aspect of what they paid for does not seem reasonable.

maxk42 6y ago
Depends. Oftentimes the shipping problem is the carrier's fault (e.g. UPS or FedEx) and not in control of the shipper at all. Other times they packaged it poorly and it predictably broke, leaked, or melted and it's entirely the carrier's fault. But I do see a plethora of comments that seem to be blaming things like shipping delays on the seller.
- MereInterest 6y ago
  And in that case, the company's response is pretty important. There's a world of difference between (a) "it was fine on our end, take it up with the shipper", (b) "we are sorry this happened and are shipping a replacement", and (c) "thank you, and we are looking into other shipping options as a result of the frequent complaints". Some combination of (b) and (c) is acceptable. (a) is not acceptable.
dfxm12 6y ago
It's about giving proper weight to each aspect. Giving a 1 star review to an otherwise 4 star experience is dishonest if you only have some issue with the shipping (or marketing tactics), just as an example.
- dolmen 6y ago
  Right. Issues about shipping are not what product rating are for. Of course it is a problem that Amazon does not provide a way to separately report packaging and transport problems.
- bigbubba 6y ago
  "Proper weight" is subjective. Disagreeing with dfxm12 doesn't constitute dishonesty.
jnsie 6y ago
It does if they are on a product page reviewing a product and not, say, reviewing Amazon’s service.
rubyn00bie 6y ago
I think the comment is more directed at folks who, and I noticed this weird behavior the other day myself, post tirades about the cardboard box being slightly damaged (while the goods and packaging inside are completely fine). These in particular are more akin to saying: "hey this protective outer barrier did it's job, had a scratch on the shipping label, and successfully protected the contents. The contents were IN PERFECT CONDITION, 1 star review!!! CONSUMER RIGHTS!11!11!!1 REFUND NOW DAMAGED BOX" The real weird part though; is how the outer packaging regardless of the quality of what is inside the box (their actual goods purchased) dominates their reviews. It's like a whole subculture, or something, I can't even begin to understand. The internet never ceases to to amaze me for the sheer breadth of absurdity one can find.
- lovemenot 6y ago
  The behaviour you describe would be considered normal in Japan. There it's not a sub-culture. Pretty much any Japanese buyer would consider the packaging as part-and-parcel. And they'd complain in case of defective packaging, regardless of its functional impact.
  - exclusiv 6y ago
    That's so ridiculous to me. But the Japanese are also big on robot and virtual girlfriends. To each their own.
    - justatdotin 6y ago
      meanwhile you americans are into fleshlights,
      - 2Gkashmiri 6y ago
        and indians into cows..... ow
      - skinnymuch 6y ago
        Flesh lights sucks. Japan make quality ones as far as I’ve heard. Far better than basic flesh lights. Kudos to Japan for that.
SifJar 6y ago
Issue here is that any given product on Amazon may be sold by numerous different sellers (and the set of sellers could of course change over time etc.). There is no indication which seller a reviewer purchased from (unless they explicitly state, but I've never seen that), so it's completely possible that they ordered from the one seller that packages the product terribly for shipping & the rest are all fine.

maxk42 6y ago

Depends. Oftentimes the shipping problem is the carrier's fault (e.g. UPS or FedEx) and not in control of the shipper at all. Other times they packaged it poorly and it predictably broke, leaked, or melted and it's entirely the carrier's fault. But I do see a plethora of comments that seem to be blaming things like shipping delays on the seller.

MereInterest 6y ago
And in that case, the company's response is pretty important. There's a world of difference between (a) "it was fine on our end, take it up with the shipper", (b) "we are sorry this happened and are shipping a replacement", and (c) "thank you, and we are looking into other shipping options as a result of the frequent complaints". Some combination of (b) and (c) is acceptable. (a) is not acceptable.

dfxm12 6y ago

It's about giving proper weight to each aspect. Giving a 1 star review to an otherwise 4 star experience is dishonest if you only have some issue with the shipping (or marketing tactics), just as an example.

dolmen 6y ago
Right. Issues about shipping are not what product rating are for. Of course it is a problem that Amazon does not provide a way to separately report packaging and transport problems.
bigbubba 6y ago
"Proper weight" is subjective. Disagreeing with dfxm12 doesn't constitute dishonesty.

jnsie 6y ago

It does if they are on a product page reviewing a product and not, say, reviewing Amazon’s service.

rubyn00bie 6y ago

I think the comment is more directed at folks who, and I noticed this weird behavior the other day myself, post tirades about the cardboard box being slightly damaged (while the goods and packaging inside are completely fine). These in particular are more akin to saying: "hey this protective outer barrier did it's job, had a scratch on the shipping label, and successfully protected the contents. The contents were IN PERFECT CONDITION, 1 star review!!! CONSUMER RIGHTS!11!11!!1 REFUND NOW DAMAGED BOX" The real weird part though; is how the outer packaging regardless of the quality of what is inside the box (their actual goods purchased) dominates their reviews. It's like a whole subculture, or something, I can't even begin to understand. The internet never ceases to to amaze me for the sheer breadth of absurdity one can find.

lovemenot 6y ago
The behaviour you describe would be considered normal in Japan. There it's not a sub-culture. Pretty much any Japanese buyer would consider the packaging as part-and-parcel. And they'd complain in case of defective packaging, regardless of its functional impact.
- exclusiv 6y ago
  That's so ridiculous to me. But the Japanese are also big on robot and virtual girlfriends. To each their own.
  - justatdotin 6y ago
    meanwhile you americans are into fleshlights,
    - 2Gkashmiri 6y ago
      and indians into cows..... ow
    - skinnymuch 6y ago
      Flesh lights sucks. Japan make quality ones as far as I’ve heard. Far better than basic flesh lights. Kudos to Japan for that.

SifJar 6y ago

Issue here is that any given product on Amazon may be sold by numerous different sellers (and the set of sellers could of course change over time etc.). There is no indication which seller a reviewer purchased from (unless they explicitly state, but I've never seen that), so it's completely possible that they ordered from the one seller that packages the product terribly for shipping & the rest are all fine.