Are Amazon reviews trustworthy?

Finally, something that’s not related to Wuflu.

Google the phrase “are amazon reviews trustworthy” and stand back. Seriously, you’re going to get an avalanche, and most of it is going to be about the poor quality of the reviews. To me, the question has always been “How can Amazon improve the quality of their reviews?”

It’s not going to be like this:

Now, I’ve looked at the Amazon Community Guidelines and I fail to see how I’m in violation. I’ve requested a clarification from them, which I honestly doubt I’ll receive. Even if I do receive one, it will make no difference. By their guidelines I’m not allowed to submit another review that would confirm to the guidelines.

See what they’re doing there? Yeah.

I have to grant that the sort of thing I’m complaining about is a hazard of online buying and isn’t restricted to Amazon. It happens. You pay your money and you take your chances. But when you solicit reviews from your customers, and then apparently eliminate the ones that aren’t good, you undermine the validity of the system. Which is why there are services like FakeSpot and ReviewMeta.

I don’t know if this is isolated or not. I’ve had reviews where I gave a poor review posted in the past. I have also had them rejected. The reason this one struck me at this point in time is that I’ve had a rash of issues with products purchased online that were counterfeits, and I’ve ran up a nice little bill in returning the junk (when possible or if it made financial sense).

With a single exception (a $300 single exception) I’ve always had good service from Amazon. However, I’m starting to grow a list of items or classes of items that I won’t buy from them any longer because the risk has exceeded the reward. Easier to hit up a local store for them, even if the purchase price is more expensive. Because the long-term price may not be.