Amazon banned me

[Mac'nCheese]

1. i was banned by amazon, not for shopping of course they still want my money, but from writing review or even asking a question about any products. They said they reviewed my account and said I was in violation of their terms of what makes a good community member. They wouldn’t discuss what they think I actually did but some examples would be if you took a gift from a seller and wrote a good review or if you work for the company you reviewed. Has this happened to anyone else here?

 

[dk001]

Nope. Have written a good number of reviews (since 2006). I have also not written a review on a promoted or seller gift.
Hope you can get them to review your ban.

 

[Apple_Robert]

With so many fake and seller-provided based reviews, Amazon has had a real problem with complaints in this area. They are taking a hard stand. And if they think someone has been getting too many gifts for reviews or has been compensated in other ways, they will ban said person. And from my understanding, once a person has been banned, there is no real recourse.

Many people have been gaming the system for years, while a smaller percentage got caught in the Amazon fray, and are friendly fire casualties.

 

[Huntn]

I recently had a review denied, for a keyfob I bought at Amazon. I praised the item but included some basic info about how to get it programmed, along with the warning to stay away from the dealer. Even though it was no dealer in particular, I was told the review did not meet their standards.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Can’t trust good reviews: they are frequently shills. Can’t trust bad reviews: they are often customers with unrealistic expectations or an axe to grind.

Three star reviews can occasionally be informative, but, frankly, most people seem incapable of writing a useful reviews.

Amazon seems to have recognized their problem re reviews. I applaud your previous efforts, but, unfortunately, they are probably sweeping up a lot of false positives in their quest to clean things up.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I don't review many items on Amazon. I do look at the reviews, however, many are complete crap.

 

[dk001]

I don't review many items on Amazon. I do look at the reviews, however, many are complete crap.

Many are.
Sadly.

 

[haxrnick]

I don't review many items on Amazon. I do look at the reviews, however, many are complete crap.

Yup, that’s why I use fakespot now with pretty much all non-name brand stuff.

 

[Strider64]

I only had one review taken down and that was because I criticized Amazon in letting a 3rd Party Seller price gouge on a LEGO set. The company was selling almost 40 percent over the retail cost and the funny thing is you could still buy that exact set directly from LEGO.com store for retail cost. I did give the set itself a very good review and LEGO sets are expensive as it is. Customers don't need to be taken for more money when they don't have to. It's obvious that Amazon cares more in pleasing the companies that do business with them than potential customers.

Just did a double check on the set and they did lower the price $100 or so, but it's still $100 or little more over the retail price. That's another thing I learned from doing business with Amazon and that is you have to be careful of the price of the item especially if it's being sold by a 3rd party.

 

[Plutonius]

1. i was banned by amazon, not for shopping of course they still want my money, but from writing review or even asking a question about any products. They said they reviewed my account and said I was in violation of their terms of what makes a good community member. They wouldn’t discuss what they think I actually did but some examples would be if you took a gift from a seller and wrote a good review or if you work for the company you reviewed. Has this happened to anyone else here?

It's never happened to me but I could see it happening. In the end, Amazon is just another business.
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That's another thing I learned from doing business with Amazon and that is you have to be careful of the price of the item especially if it's being sold by a 3rd party.

I found that Amazon no longer has the lowest prices in most cases. I think they are relying on the Amazon Prime customers who will order something without checking the prices elsewhere.

 

[dk001]

...

I found that Amazon no longer has the lowest prices in most cases. I think they are relying on the Amazon Prime customers who will order something without checking the prices elsewhere.

When shopping on AMazon it is now a requirement to see if it is Amazon or a third party.
You are right though and something I have done for years: price shop. Amazon is just another retailer.

 

[Plutonius]

When shopping on AMazon it is now a requirement to see if it is Amazon or a third party.
You are right though and something I have done for years: price shop. Amazon is just another retailer.

If you show people they are paying more by buying something on Amazon, they generally don't care. They are willing to pay more for the convenience and Amazon Prime members feel they have to justify the Amazon Prime cost by purchasing on Amazon.

 

[dk001]

If you show people they are paying more by buying something on Amazon, they generally don't care. They are willing to pay more for the convenience and Amazon Prime members feel they have to justify the Amazon Prime cost by purchasing on Amazon.

Since when? Been a Prime since inception and I have saved a lot, especially in shipping. I am sure there are some that fit into your frame however with the recent price hikes for membership I suspect the percentage is not the majority. More are really looking at the financial benefits. I do suspect the new “returns” guidelines, or lack of them, will come back to bite them in the ass.

 

[Plutonius]

Since when? Been a Prime since inception and I have saved a lot, especially in shipping. I am sure there are some that fit into your frame however with the recent price hikes for membership I suspect the percentage is not the majority. More are really looking at the financial benefits. I do suspect the new “returns” guidelines, or lack of them, will come back to bite them in the ass.

I always price shop and I have only been buying 20-25 % from Amazon lately (usual because they have what I want and not the price). Two years ago I was buying everything from Amazon.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Well I just got an email that said amazon thinks someone hacked into my account and I should change my password. They reinstated my posting review/questions privileges.

 

[C DM]

I always price shop and I have only been buying 20-25 % from Amazon lately (usual because they have what I want and not the price). Two years ago I was buying everything from Amazon.

A bit off topic, but out of curiosity, what sort of online megastores similar to Amazon have better pricing overall?

 

[dk001]

I always price shop and I have only been buying 20-25 % from Amazon lately (usual because they have what I want and not the price). Two years ago I was buying everything from Amazon.

Not bad. Personally I was never that high. I probably do 10%-20%. It is a great method to gift shop and have these dropped shipped to long distance relatives and friends.

 

[dk001]

Was wondering a bit and ran into this ...

This is 2017 data and not quite the list I expected.

SOURCE

 

[Plutonius]

A bit off topic, but out of curiosity, what sort of online megastores similar to Amazon have better pricing overall?

I don't think there are any online megastores that compare to Amazon but I also don't believe limiting my shopping to a single store. As far as pricing, I believe you can get better deals than Amazon in most cases if you shop around (don't limit yourself to a single source).

As an example, I just got a Roku Express Plus for streaming to an older TV.
Amazon wanted $38.88 with free shipping (Note: Even if you don't have Amazon Prime, it ships free standard shipping).
The best deal was BrandsMart USA ($24.88 + $4.99 (7 day shipping)).
I ended up getting it at Walmart for $35.00 and free 2 day shipping. Since I live near a Walmart, I just stopped there while passing by and picked it up (i.e. no waiting on shipping at all).
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Was wondering a bit and ran into this ...

Even though I'll pay more, I generally do my Christmas shopping at Amazon (local stores / traffic is crazy around Christmas). The rest of the year, I generally shop elsewhere.

If most of your Amazon shipping is limited to a couple months a year, a monthly Amazon Prim subscription just for those months might make more sense.

 

[kdarling]

If you show people they are paying more by buying something on Amazon, they generally don't care. They are willing to pay more for the convenience ...

One could substitute "Apple" for "Amazon" in that paragraph, and it would also be true.

Convenience does count

There are indeed times that I pay more on Amazon for an item, but it's usually because I need/want it that day or the next. Living some distance from malls is a major factor.

 

[Plutonius]

One could substitute "Apple" for "Amazon" in that paragraph, and it would also be true.

Convenience does count

There are indeed times that I pay more on Amazon for an item, but it's usually because I need/want it that day or the next. Living some distance from malls is a major factor.

I agree that convenience is a big draw.

I would hope though that people price compare.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Well I just got an email that said amazon thinks someone hacked into my account and I should change my password. They reinstated my posting review/questions privileges.

That is good to hear.

 

[adrianlondon]

It does seem Amazon are taking more care over the reviews.

I live in Switzerland and usually use Amazon.de to have stuff shipped here. Reviews I submitted up until about a year ago have all been published, but since then they've all been rejected. I write the reviews in English on the .de site which is in German. I guess they are now using some local language scaninng software which rejects all mine, or they simply reject ones not in the "correct" language. I can understand that. I certainly wasn't the only person writing English (or occasionally French or Italian) reviews on the German site but they've all now stopped.

Sure, I could go to the .co.uk site, find the item and review it there but (a) I can't be bothered, (b) not all products are the same or priced the same and (c) it would also not show as a "verified purchase". But it's mainly (a).

While I'm here, don't you just love the way some people think that the product questions are emailed only to them?

Q: Does the clock come with batteries?
A: I don't know, I've not opened it yet

 

[steve62388]

I’ve had a review rejected because I criticised Amazon’s warehouse for picking the wrong item. Probably fair.

 

[adrianlondon]

I’ve had a review rejected because I criticised Amazon’s warehouse for picking the wrong item. Probably fair.

Yeah I'd say it's fair as Amazon reviews are meant to be about the product not the seller or delivery company. It's kind of annoying, as that's where most of the problems are likely to be, but it's not right to mark a product down because of it.

Having said that, Amazon leave up positive reviews. I've seen quite a few "5 stars! Not used the product yet but it came the next day!!!".