Amazon: we got burned by products with great reviews, twice

[DougR]

I'm very selective on what I'll buy on Amazon. I'll buy name brand PC parts, eBooks., blue jeans, and sometimes a tool if it is a trusted brand. I recently returned one item, a SanDisk Ultra USB, because the quality had declined significantly since I bought them several years ago.

 

[97prizm]

My wife recently purchased two items a bit cheaper with lots (100s-1000s) of great reviews. We get the product and have issues go back to our order and find they have 10-20 reviews that one star and issues what we experienced instead of hundred of great reviews. What happened to amazing reviews?

It gets returned.

What is happening?

This is one of the reasons that I DON'T shop on Amazon. My sister works for Amex and says she has come across pay companies that will remove bad reviews (not sure how). I'm sure that either the seller had friends/ etc or bots leave a great review that makes it look like alot of reviews. Rob Pitts on YouTube of "Rabbits used cars" was banned from ebay? I think. Apparently he said selling cheap little items had the same weight as selling big items like cars. Good video to watch. My hunch is Amazon is similar.

 

[4WD]

Amazon is well known for fake reviews. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-spot-fake-reviews-amazon/#:~:text=How Amazon Sellers Get Fake,for fake reviews is thriving.

Also, always search by "most recent" reviews, because popular products get cheapened - bait and switch.

About like fake checks - I mean fact checks

 

[dubber09]

My wife recently purchased two items a bit cheaper with lots (100s-1000s) of great reviews. We get the product and have issues go back to our order and find they have 10-20 reviews that one star and issues what we experienced instead of hundred of great reviews. What happened to amazing reviews?

It gets returned.

What is happening?

The way I see it - good reviews don't matter much, bad reviews may be deceiving too, always read bad reviews first and see if they apply and are legit.
Example of bad (bad) review: Color isn't exactly like on the picture.... - pictures rarely represent exact color while can be very close.
Example of good (bad) review: Very well made, looks great, we didn't install or used it yet... - how is it a valid review?

 

[Vil_Riker]

Just check the return policy before buying and you will be OK. Life's too short to be upset about small things like this. It's online shopping, without examining the product yourself, there is always a risk. Hence the ability to return.

 

[dlundblad]

I have found reviews are somewhat worthless assuming the item functions as it should, has decent build quality, and assembles correctly (if applicable.) A review is hardly done after the item has been used for a while.

~A cheap ratchet that the buyer just opened. “Looks great. It functions.”

~An off brand oven element that was just installed. “It plugged into the standard sized spade terminals and made the oven hot.”

 

[alarmguy]

I'm very selective on what I'll buy on Amazon. I'll buy name brand PC parts, eBooks., blue jeans, and sometimes a tool if it is a trusted brand. I recently returned one item, a SanDisk Ultra USB, because the quality had declined significantly since I bought them several years ago.

I love Amazon returns for me personally and my wife is a return queen

There is never anything to lose, what are the product if you don’t like it send it back no cost.
Same thing with Walmart and the best part is you have a minimum of 30 days to return stuff. So I’d rather buy from those two companies than a place. Let’s say like Best Buy.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Seems like almost any review can be misleading. I find it amusing reading reviews on Harbor Freight's site. I've seen ones that have nothing but positive things to say in the review, but they have 1 star. Then there are ones that are 5 star, and in the description you'll see things like "I haven't used it yet, but it seems well made". Still others will describe something like "the electric start is great" on a generator that doesn't even have electric start! For reals?!

 

[paulo57509]

You need to watch out for the way Amazon sorts reviews. When you open the reviews, it defaults to "Top Reviews". I sort reviews by, "Most Recent". I figure it gives a better snapshot of the product's quality trend.

Just remember that Amazon is a sell site, not a review site. Yes, check the return policy before buying.

 

[Pablo]

 

[chainblu]

Online reviews are a struggle. Half say the product is the best thing since sliced bread and the other half say it's the biggest POS they've ever seen. Who do you believe? Then you have people that give 'one stars' simply because the delivery company broke something or it arrived late.

 

[zzyzzx]

What I really hate about online reviews is people who give negative reviews of the product because they had a shipping issue.

 

[Blagoje]

I purchased one product off of Amazon recently and the company selling it sent me a mailer offering me a $30 gift card if I left a five-star review on Amazon for the product. Between stuff like this and the fact that AI generation is taking over the internet (anticipated 95+% by the end of 2025) at this point I'm starting to believe that there is more fake than real online.

 

[Urshurak776]

I purchased one product off of Amazon recently and the company selling it sent me a mailer offering me a $30 gift card if I left a five-star review on Amazon for the product. Between stuff like this and the fact that AI generation is taking over the internet (anticipated 95+% by the end of 2025) at this point I'm starting to believe that there is more fake than real online.

I don't think you're real. Are you a bot?

What is one plus seven?

 

[Pablo]

I purchased one product off of Amazon recently and the company selling it sent me a mailer offering me a $30 gift card if I left a five-star review on Amazon for the product. Between stuff like this and the fact that AI generation is taking over the internet (anticipated 95+% by the end of 2025) at this point I'm starting to believe that there is more fake than real online.

Bribery v. fake reviews

Hmm. I’ll take bribes for $500 Alex

 

[vavavroom]

Amazon reviews are as trustworthy as ashtrays on motorcycles.

 

[JustinH]

They had some mushroom coffee on lightning deal, I ordered it based on reviews. Made in china. Right after I got it I went to send it back and was told it was "non returnable". Threw it out.

Nope I don't need food products that are made in china.

 

[Pew]

I don't think you're real. Are you a bot?

What is one plus seven?

Oh oh, it's a phone!

 

[Blagoje]

Nope I don't need food products that are made in china.

Slightly off topic but you will be throwing away a lot more than coffee if you don't want to consume things made in China. This is to include pharmaceuticals, over the counter medications, anything with ascorbic acid ( most products claiming to be vitamin c sold in North America), as well as a myriad of food ingredients that are regularly used in common food products that are not required to be listed as being produced in China. Good luck!

 

[Carmudgeon]

I purchased one product off of Amazon recently and the company selling it sent me a mailer offering me a $30 gift card if I left a five-star review on Amazon for the product. Between stuff like this and the fact that AI generation is taking over the internet (anticipated 95+% by the end of 2025) at this point I'm starting to believe that there is more fake than real online.

As I alluded to earlier, review buying still occurs, just not out in the open, or plainly declared in the reviews themselves (except when self-sanctioned as Vine reviews).

Slightly off topic but you will be throwing away a lot more than coffee if you don't want to consume things made in China. This is to include pharmaceuticals, over the counter medications, anything with ascorbic acid ( most products claiming to be vitamin c sold in North America), as well as a myriad of food ingredients that are regularly used in common food products that are not required to be listed as being produced in China. Good luck!

Too bad we don't see such hard line stances applied to technology as well. Might save a lot of bandwidth.