Amazon Seller protection and deception?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Okay. You're right. I don't order a lot from China but the very worst scenario is I'm out $8. I'm guessing that was probably the reason for a lot of the complaints (that have now been deleted). I also realize that "expected" delivery time is not the same as "guaranteed" delivery time.

It's not the seller who irritates me here. It's the way the seller profile feedback was "whitewashed." I can see some sour grape complaints being deleted as unfair, but all complaints suddenly disappearing? That just doesn't pass the smell test.

Could it be that some of the complaints were due to the item not arriving in the expected time and then later one arriving so the complaints were taken down because they were no longer valid?

You could go post a poor rating for not yet getting the case, but tomorrow you get it and want the rating taken down so you can post a positive rating.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by maddz

I’ve generally had good experiences with Chinese sellers on Amazon UK. If I’m unsure of anything I contact the seller and don’t buy if I get a bad response.

I've also had good experience with buying things that are shipping from China. I don't order any electrical items that way. But what I have ordered has arrived and been good to go.

The only time I've had a problem by a seller was when an iron (for ironing close), was a week late. I contacted the seller and the seller said it was probably lost in transit and instead of asking if I wanted another, I was refunded my money.

The worst experience was from a seller on eBay saying something I ordered was like new and it wasn't. After contacting the seller and getting nowhere, I contacted PayPal and they gave me my money back and I didn't have to return the item.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Could it be that some of the complaints were due to the item not arriving in the expected time and then later one arriving so the complaints were taken down because they were no longer valid?

An order arriving well past the due date is one of the reasons not to buy from a seller. That's exactly my point. I should have all the information when deciding on whether I want to buy from a particular vendor. Then I can judge whether I'm willing to (maybe) wait an extra couple weeks or go somewhere else. I do that all the time on eBay. Read through the complaints and and compliments and get a general idea of the seller's credibility.

[maddz]

I wonder if some of the issues are because Amazon may be attaching a review to a specific item and not to a specific seller (like Ebay). So if the item comes to an end on Amazon, the seller removes it, and the reviews disappear and don't reappear should the seller restock the item because it's a new item.

[John F]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've also had good experience with buying things that are shipping from China. I don't order any electrical items that way. But what I have ordered has arrived and been good to go.

The only time I've had a problem by a seller was when an iron (for ironing close), was a week late. I contacted the seller and the seller said it was probably lost in transit and instead of asking if I wanted another, I was refunded my money.

...

Just curious, was it some sort of antique? Did you have to heat it in the oven?

[Ripplinger]

I rarely leave reviews anymore unless something is absolutely outstanding or really terrible. Today I tried to leave a 2 star review and instead got this message when hitting submit:

"This product currently has limitations on submitting reviews. There can be a number of reasons for this, including unusual reviewing activity."

If you're not accepting reviews, get rid of the button to submit a review. This product has only 4 reviews, naturally all 5 star. This incident and what's reported in this thread now is making me very doubtful of how reliable Amazon's review system is.

[rem736]

i once ordered a fountain pen on amazon that was shipping from china and never got it.
i took the loss because the seller profile indicated that it is no longer on amazon. so from that point on, if i suspect that it's from china and it's not fulfilled by amazon, i'm staying away from it, no matter how attractive the pricing is.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I rarely leave reviews anymore unless something is absolutely outstanding or really terrible. Today I tried to leave a 2 star review and instead got this message when hitting submit:

"This product currently has limitations on submitting reviews. There can be a number of reasons for this, including unusual reviewing activity."

If you're not accepting reviews, get rid of the button to submit a review. This product has only 4 reviews, naturally all 5 star. This incident and what's reported in this thread now is making me very doubtful of how reliable Amazon's review system is.

I've gotten to the point where I will only pay attention to the review or ratings if the number of reviewers is over a certain threshold. There have been stories about reviews and ratings being manipulated on Amazon for a while now.

[Calenorn]

P.S. My Clara cover did finally arrive. It looks like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...D03XU24Q&psc=1

Different vendor, though.

Nice cover. Front flap closes with a magnet, though I don't know if that puts Clara to sleep.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Nice cover. Front flap closes with a magnet, though I don't know if that puts Clara to sleep.

The cover you linked to does say it's a sleep cover, FWIW

[haertig]

I ignore five star reviews. And one star reviews. These are typically highly biased or agenda-driven, thus totally useless. Of the two-to-four star reviews, I only care about the ones that provide some detail/specifics and appear to be written by someone of intelligence. Unfortunately this means that out of, say, 500 reviews, only half a dozen are worth reading (if that). Usually it's not even worth the time to go digging for those elusive half dozen, depending on the cost of the product. I have had stellar success with items that were not reviewed well, and I have had total crap from other products that looked super in the reviews.

So while I do look at reviews, I discount much of what is written. I always seek out the reviewer who tells me objectively why something is good or bad, and does not appear to be an imbecile. These reviewers are out there, but are getting harder and harder to find.

[BookCat]

I always look at the one star reviews first but only take notice of them if they're saying similar things. The reviews I take most notice of are the three stars.

For things from China, I prefer ebay.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by BookCat

I always look at the one star reviews first but only take notice of them if they're saying similar things. The reviews I take most notice of are the three stars.

For things from China, I prefer ebay.

Me too, especially now.

BTW, the refund was made. No issue there. But I still don't have a Tolino Page cover. I think it'll be eBay and Germany next time.