Fuck Amazon Vine
thingamagig.com
thingamagig.com
Vine might have been a bad choice for you, but I am not sure I dislike it from an Amazon-customer perspective, and your post does not make me want to try your product (will you share my musical preferences if I do?).
1) people within the "Amazon reviewing community" know her (by her online identity, and maybe also her offline identity)
2) friends/family recognize her profile, maybe because she has sent links to articles she reviewed, or because she shared an Amazon wishlist ...
3) it is possible to get her personal identity from information disclosed in her almost 600 reviews (maybe including pictures?).
Of course you did not share super critical information, and of course you did not write the billing address next to it. But it worries me that you choose to disclose any personal information at all for no good reason. Feels like a violation of trust.
On the first, am I supposed to improve based on something the user's kids said without trying the product?
On the second, what exactly did she complain about aside from "hardware improvements"? I'll make the changes. But what are they, exactly?
What do you want to know about the product? This is the best primer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9haR4CCeh9o
Seems like you got some valuable feedback--you may not agree with it, but then take it with a grain of salt.
The 2nd reviewer self identifies as being your target customer, and provides her feedback, which is discounted because she's asking for more physical inputs, and an improved Alexa app.
As a creator, you let yourself be vulnerable releasing something for others to use and criticize. It's not easy to hear that criticism, but it's part of the process.
What the hell are you talking about, that review was everything but lazy, she wrote 3 entire paragraphs of genuine, constructive feedback.
She couldn't figure out how to use the product -> Listen -> Make the product easier to use.
Up until that point I assumed it was some sort of educational toy based on the first reviewer giving it to her kids, and the childish product name.
Also helps to put the rest of your rant in context. I know nothing about guitars, so I immediately think someone's kid who knows how to play is more qualified than I am to say your product sucks. Why not?
(The case doesn't seem very clearly made—despite the highlighted policy—for why it should be inappropriate for someone to write about their observations of someone else's experience with the product, only why it would be inappropriate to write "I hear lots of people don't like this" or similar. Also, the complaint about reviewers leaping to judgements is surely accurate, but more a problem with (at least non-expert) reviewing in general than with this particular program.)
"I know my product is flawless, so the problem for any reviews that are less than 5 stars must be with the reviewer."
How are people supposed to review children toys then?!
Which is weird bc we all fret about "namespace pollution" but see no problem with calling something Vine after the last thing called Vine is still in the zeigeist enough that people say "I miss Vine" from time to time.
Well, who's going to do anything about it if we do have a problem? No one's in a position to rein Amazon in on its clearly abusive behavior in important domains; who both wants to and is able to regulate what it calls its services?
Screenshot taken less than a minute ago:
I would advise a more customer centric approach and attitude. The hostility and defensiveness is poison in the well. If you alienate the customers who are supposed to be the lifeblood of your company, you can risk quickly gaining a bad reputation that becomes terminal. Then your company dies.
This is a common failure mode for companies.
Actual market reception is positive: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R14HJYCSIBF2R8
The whole point of my post is that Vine is pushing units onto the wrong people and for the wrong reasons and that others in my shoes should avoid it. I.e. I'm admitting an error using Vine at all.
On the second point, no. I don't think it's possible to give free items to people and get honest reviews. The free-ness will often induce either charity or laziness in reviewers. The only way to get an accurate review on a product at its price point is to sell the item at its price point in the wild.