* Sellers frequently farm good reviews by including cards in their packages that state “give us a 5 star review and get a full/partial refund!”
Sellers update their listings with good reviews with different pictures, descriptions, etc. which effectively creates a different listing while carrying over a large review count.
* Amazon doesn’t allow reviews after 30 days (?) from purchase, so items poor durability will not have that reflected in their reviews
It’s a damn shame, but between this broken review system and their incredibly low quality items and quality control, they’re not worth the money or headache to use. Especially since most of their products are no name Chinese garbage that are exclusively available on Amazon. They’re basically Wish, Tubi, or Alibaba.
Edit: Amazon must’ve updated their review policy since I’ve last used them, 2+ years ago. They explicitly ban monetary rewards for good reviews, and I don’t see a mention of review deadlines either. The only references I found about their review deadlines is a few Reddit posts from a year ago. So my bad!
If nothing’s changed though, they still sell hot garbage.
Sellers frequently farm good reviews by including cards in their packages that state “give us a 5 star review and get a full/partial refund!”
I order A LOT off Amazon and I have never gotten one of these, I’d know because I would absolutely do this. I’ve seen “Please leave a review” card but never with a promise of a refund
Sellers update their listings with good reviews with different pictures, descriptions, etc. which effectively creates a different listing while carrying over a large review count.
Can confirm, I’ve seen this, but I thought it was Amazon themselves for some reason lmao
Amazon doesn’t allow reviews after 30 days (?) from purchase, so items poor durability will not have that reflected in their reviews
I don’t think that’s true, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen reviews from people months after they ordered it
I’ve gotten cards that offer a free product for a good review, and cards that offer a gift card, but not an actual refund. I’ve been offered refunds to take down my bad reviews.
Honestly, at this point, you can barely trust reviews anywhere. They’ve all been corrupted to some degree, and LLMs are going to make them exponentially worse.
Yeah I agree you can’t immediately trust the star rating, and you really need to read through the reviews to find the authentic ones. Even the bad reviews can’t always be trusted (I see a lot where folks complain about a product and go on to explain how their own idiocy or lack of knowledge led to the failure). I’ve actually noticed several lately that explicitly point out they were paid reviews so at least some folks are being honest about it. Usually when I read reviews I’m looking for more specific information, like when checking for a log cart recently I saw complaints that a small wheel size led to tipping. It would be nice if ebay had a more extensive and visible review system in place, but I’ll take what info I can find.
Yeah, I’ve bought a few products that I had reservations on based on some bad reviews, and then when I got and used the item it was immediately obvious the reviewer didn’t read the instructions or try to troubleshoot in any way.
It’s such a shame. In it’s heyday there was a time where a five star review and more than a hundred reviewers consistently meant something was just awesome. I would sometimes buy stuff I didn’t need if a came across this combination jist because I knew I would end up with something cool. Not anymore ; now I’m skeptical of every single review.
I got hit by the updated pictures and product problem you described recently. Used the “buy again” for a silicone set of wipers for my car (those last for years instead of the 2 seasons you get out of the rubber garbage the companies push). Rain x had updated the product to the latter one to make more money with the reviews of the older long lasting one on the inferior product. Had to return and buy from elsewhere. I can’t trust the “order again” functionality and at this point, Amazon and the companies there any longer (since they used the process to mislead customers).
You can’t trust Amazon reviews either though.
* Sellers frequently farm good reviews by including cards in their packages that state “give us a 5 star review and get a full/partial refund!”* Amazon doesn’t allow reviews after 30 days (?) from purchase, so items poor durability will not have that reflected in their reviewsIt’s a damn shame, but between this broken review system and their incredibly low quality items and quality control, they’re not worth the money or headache to use. Especially since most of their products are no name Chinese garbage that are exclusively available on Amazon. They’re basically Wish, Tubi, or Alibaba.
Edit: Amazon must’ve updated their review policy since I’ve last used them, 2+ years ago. They explicitly ban monetary rewards for good reviews, and I don’t see a mention of review deadlines either. The only references I found about their review deadlines is a few Reddit posts from a year ago. So my bad!
If nothing’s changed though, they still sell hot garbage.
I order A LOT off Amazon and I have never gotten one of these, I’d know because I would absolutely do this. I’ve seen “Please leave a review” card but never with a promise of a refund
Can confirm, I’ve seen this, but I thought it was Amazon themselves for some reason lmao
I don’t think that’s true, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen reviews from people months after they ordered it
I’ve gotten cards that offer a free product for a good review, and cards that offer a gift card, but not an actual refund. I’ve been offered refunds to take down my bad reviews.
I’ve had the exact same experiences, never thought to report it though.
Anecdotal, but I’ve gotten one of these cards in an order.
Me too, for several purchases. I’ve never followed through with it though. I’d report them if I felt it did something.
Honestly, at this point, you can barely trust reviews anywhere. They’ve all been corrupted to some degree, and LLMs are going to make them exponentially worse.
I haven’t had a problem reviewing after 30 days.
Yeah I agree you can’t immediately trust the star rating, and you really need to read through the reviews to find the authentic ones. Even the bad reviews can’t always be trusted (I see a lot where folks complain about a product and go on to explain how their own idiocy or lack of knowledge led to the failure). I’ve actually noticed several lately that explicitly point out they were paid reviews so at least some folks are being honest about it. Usually when I read reviews I’m looking for more specific information, like when checking for a log cart recently I saw complaints that a small wheel size led to tipping. It would be nice if ebay had a more extensive and visible review system in place, but I’ll take what info I can find.
Yeah, I’ve bought a few products that I had reservations on based on some bad reviews, and then when I got and used the item it was immediately obvious the reviewer didn’t read the instructions or try to troubleshoot in any way.
It’s such a shame. In it’s heyday there was a time where a five star review and more than a hundred reviewers consistently meant something was just awesome. I would sometimes buy stuff I didn’t need if a came across this combination jist because I knew I would end up with something cool. Not anymore ; now I’m skeptical of every single review.
I got hit by the updated pictures and product problem you described recently. Used the “buy again” for a silicone set of wipers for my car (those last for years instead of the 2 seasons you get out of the rubber garbage the companies push). Rain x had updated the product to the latter one to make more money with the reviews of the older long lasting one on the inferior product. Had to return and buy from elsewhere. I can’t trust the “order again” functionality and at this point, Amazon and the companies there any longer (since they used the process to mislead customers).
To avoid the second one always sort the reviews by newest and keep an eye on the date