Amazon Reviews - are they truthful?

[Richard Crowe]

I was asked to write a review on an order for Vanilla ears.  I had been quite disappointed with these ears and so indicated that in the feedback.  However, Amazon bounced back the feedback with the following statements...

Thank you for submitting feedback on your Amazon Marketplace order. We regret to inform you that your recent feedback has been removed. We highly value customer input, however we occasionally remove feedback that does not meet our feedback guidelines. Please take a moment to review the details of the removal below. You may then choose to revise and resubmit your feedback.

We appreciate your understanding.

Your feedback comment: These ears were smaller and thinner than any ears I have previously purchased on the four occasions when I ordered ears from Amazon. I did not return the ears because I needed them and could not wait for a replacement.

Reason for removal: Feedback submitted was a product review and not related to seller. I would think that the seller and the product are linked.  Perhaps, I should resubmit the feedback to read... "I enjoyed doing business with these people so little, that I will never order from them again..." I had problems with Amazon previously when I went on a rampage against them selling books that promoted dog fighting.  They countered by saying the books did not "promote" dog fighting. I wondered about a book on the "How To" of dog fighting not promoting that vicious activity... In fact, Amazon had purchased a forum on which I was a contributor and when I placed negative comments about the dog fighting books they were selling (in response to queries on the forum about the integrity of Amazon), I was bounced off the forum. I joined twice more under different email address and continued to shine a spotlight on the dog fighting books.  I am happy to see that I APPARENTLY WON and that Amazon removed the books on the "how to" of dog fighting and the only books remaining on that subject are historical.

[Richard Crowe]

If I went to McDonald's and they served a Big Mac full of sawdust, should that not be mentioned in a review of the seller.  IMO, the seller and the seller's product are intertwined.  You cannot have a good review for the seller when the product that is being sold lacks in quality.

Or, am I missing the point of a review?

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I think the reviews on Trip Advisor used to be reliable but are not trustworthy now. You have to read through several pages to discover some balance so it doesn't surprise me about Amazon reviews.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I often leave reviews and read them. But  take all the reviews I read with more than a grain of alt. I agree with Adina that perhaps it was because your review was inadvertently in the wrong place. I have seen many very negative reviews, as well as very positive reviews, for most products I look at on Amazon. I do buy a lot from them.

[Doris]

I don't understand why your review could not remain on the website unless what they were looking for was a review of how the SELLER did  - was your order complete, on time, etc.

I did a review of a children's book and got slammed by some other readers.  (If you want to see it, the book is David's Christmas, by David Shannon.  I am "Mrs. S".)  My copy of the book has two pages GLUED together!!

[Adina P]

I've never left a review for anything, but I wonder if perhaps you were entering your review of the product in the wrong spot. In poking around just now I see that sellers have ratings just like products. Perhaps you were merely putting in the product review in the seller review section?