Amazon Staff Bribed to Delete Negative Product Reviews

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I'm guessing if they had the authority to alter the databases, they probably weren't bottom of the line employees.

This is an important distinction, I think. Things could be different in China, but I can't imagine a) temp workers being paid a "pittance" having this level of access, or b) a chat-type website connecting sellers with those high turnover pittance employees even if they did.

So in my mind, this is just typical corruption -- plain and simple. The poor-indentured-slaves-being-forced-to-accept-bribes-to-put-bread-on-the-table angle doesn't really hold water in my opinion.

[vrf]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Or, you know, pay them a living wage and improve their horrendous working conditions so they aren't as susceptible to bribes.

Do you really think anyone with the power to delete content on Amazon.com is working in those scary distribution centers?

EDIT: Oops, others making the same point. Should have read the whole thread.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

This is an important distinction, I think. Things could be different in China, but I can't imagine a) temp workers being paid a "pittance" having this level of access, or b) a chat-type website connecting sellers with those high turnover pittance employees even if they did.

So in my mind, this is just typical corruption -- plain and simple. The poor-indentured-slaves-being-forced-to-accept-bribes-to-put-bread-on-the-table angle doesn't really hold water in my opinion.

Originally Posted by vrf

Do you really think anyone with the power to delete content on Amazon.com is working in those scary distribution centers?

EDIT: Oops, others making the same point. Should have read the whole thread.

I think that the bots who write the trumped up reviews would have the power to delete if they made a mistake, so it is actually possible that it is low-wage workers. Even if it's not, Amazon's corporate culture at all levels is absolutely nightmarish. From a Marketplace report:

“Team members are ranked against each other," she says. "It’s a very competitive atmosphere,” and this can create an uncomfortable working environment because “at Amazon, it’s particularly direct. Because, for example, you can send secret negative feedback about your peers to your peers’ bosses. The bosses see who it’s from but other workers don’t necessarily see it.”

One of Kantor’s more surprising findings was about Amazon’s evaluation system. “The evaluations system is fairly relentless … we found a real pattern of people who had life crises when they were at Amazon; they had cancer, their parents died, they had really bad pregnancy loss. And that they said is that the company did not give them time to recover, and they felt the company was so relentless that they couldn’t pause and get back on their feet,” she explains.

I have no problems believing that a higher paid employee who had been bitten badly in one way or another would be willing to be a little fast and loose with his account access if it meant stealing a buck from the man.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by vrf

Do you really think anyone with the power to delete content on Amazon.com is working in those scary distribution centers?

Most of the people with the power to access to Amazon's databases probably don't even work for Amazon. They do their deeds from internet cafes in Russia, China, Romania...

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Even if it's not, Amazon's corporate culture at all levels is absolutely nightmarish.

Sorry. We're clearly not going to see eye to eye on this. None of what you've quoted (nor any of the other tales I've heard about Amazon's corporate practices, or the conditions in their various US warehouses) comes even close to what I would consider "nightmarish." Even if they're 100% accurate. They just sound like every place I've ever worked (blue and white collar) all of my life.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

If they are doing something criminal, they should be prosecuted and they likely should lose their jobs.

Amazon probably has to fire the bribe-takers, and they should decline to do further business with bribe-payers.

Whether the miscreants should be turned in depends on factors like how big the bribes were, whether there was some organized conspiracy, and the fairness of the local justice system.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Sorry. We're clearly not going to see eye to eye on this.

That's fair. I come at it from having done HR lawsuits. But saying that, I'm sure that I'd never be able to change many minds on their perception of lawyers either

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

That's fair. I come at it from having done HR lawsuits. But saying that, I'm sure that I'd never be able to change many minds on their perception of lawyers either

Now that's funny.

I'm sure there's plenty we could find to agree on in other areas. No need to go to war over this one.

[kcladyz]

best buy does it. there was a lot of bad battery reviews on the oasis then one day poof they were all gone.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

best buy does it. there was a lot of bad battery reviews on the oasis then one day poof they were all gone.

That doesn't mean bribery. It could be like an TV advertisement where they interview actual customers and pick out the most impressively positive comments.

I realize it feels different because of the technique of allowing a certain number of negative reviews in order to give the positive ones more plausibility. But how different is it than saying 4 out of 5 dentists recommend XYZ, and, thus, 1 out of 5 do not?

If a vendor did delete most bad reviews as a corporate policy, it would be only borderline bad IMHO. What's totally bad is the amazon.cn policy of not selling mainstream non-fiction books that are even mildly critical of the government. I just did a search there on author Jung Chang and confirmed they are still censoring (self-censoring?) their China web site book selection.

[WillAdams]

An interesting metric to measure the fairness of a wage is "payslope" --- the multiple of the lowest paid employee to the highest paid employee --- this keeps increasing, to the detriment of society.

Excellent article on it here:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle15472738/

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

An interesting metric to measure the fairness of a wage is "payslope" --- the multiple of the lowest paid employee to the highest paid employee --- this keeps increasing, to the detriment of society.

Excellent article on it here:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle15472738/

Unfortunately there are very few companies like Lee Valley Tools. The norm now, especially in the United States, is for corporations to lay off hundreds/thousands of workers ("to cut costs") and then pay the CEO a bonus big enough to have kept the workers hired for the year.

[rem736]

it seems to me that this argument continues because everyone (or most everyone) is saying that only one thing could be the reason behind the dishonest act. as some have pointed out, some do it because they do not get paid well enough, and some who are very well paid also act dishonestly. but everyone who acts dishonestly is likely to have more than one reason and/or personal characteristics that contribute. everyone's purpose and reason(s) are different. to try to distill down to a single reason is pointless.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I realize it feels different because of the technique of allowing a certain number of negative reviews in order to give the positive ones more plausibility. But how different is it than saying 4 out of 5 dentists recommend XYZ, and, thus, 1 out of 5 do not?

From one book I once read on the advertising industry, it was unbelievable the number of dentists they interviewed to find 8 that would recommend the product being advertised. Once you have them, keep those 8 names on file along with 2 of the others and you are able to face the truth in advertising police with no qualms.

[ZGottlieb]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Or, you know, pay them a living wage and improve their horrendous working conditions so they aren't as susceptible to bribes.

Money has nothing to do with it. Everyone has their price, even rich people are susceptible to bribes. Its more how you are raised.