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Comment by SheinhardtWigCo | Hacker News Reader

> He believes Amazon is becoming less accountable as it grows in power and treats customers worse.

He's right. I have recent first-hand experience of them deleting reviews of counterfeit products. The emails say:

"We investigated your concerns about product authenticity, and the information we have indicates that the product you received was authentic."

I've tried posting a review a further 4 times, each time only mentioning the quality issues and nothing about product authenticity. Every time, it's deleted within 24 hours, and I get the same email.

Amazon CS said: "As I further checked it here on my end, actually to tell you honestly, our partner seller is the one who manipulates the reviews on their product."

Who is the "partner seller" in this case? Amazon.com Services LLC.

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Yep. I got a counterfeit product, reviewed it with photos showing it alongside the authentic version and the very obvious differences (like lack of branding). Rejected as "the information we have indicates that the product you received was authentic." This along with receiving so many low quality products that have glowing 4-5 star reviews has destroyed a lot of my trust in Amazon. I now order direct from manufacturers when possible and am deliberate about the items I trust to order from Amazon.

This is going to be a huge problem in the medical/health vertical. It's one thing to get a BommyTahama pair of sunglasses, it's quite another to get counterfeit supplements that could cause injury.

The US government has long had zero interest in verifying supplements (and vitamins) are what they claim they are. The best you can do is look for a USP logo.

Well, I wasn't going to say so here, but I will because it's important context and might lead Google searchers to this thread: the product I was talking about is Preparation H, a medicated wipe made by GSK Consumer Healthcare for people with hemorrhoids.

(Yes, I have filed detailed reports with the FDA and FTC)

How did you know it was a fake?

I've got counterfeit electrical goods on Amazon (solid state relay that was rated at something like 40A, but on opening it up after realizing it was counterfeit, found the electronics were only rated to something like 10A).

I complained in a review, that review never got published, despite the only SKU having only one seller - the purveyor of the counterfeit items. I did notice they blurred the logo of the real brand in some pictures later, though.

Supplements are a battle you automatically lose. The politics around them are such that they are unregulated.

Best avoided imo.

My rule for Amazon is absolutely nothing life/health/safety related, and nothing that goes on or in your body.

They simply cannot be trusted for these kinds of things.

This already IS a huge problem in the medical/health vertical. You should NEVER order supplements, makeup, or medicines/chemicals from Amazon for this reason.

I think there have been a few different noteworthy events where issues have popped up. I'll link to a couple of articles I've found on the topics.

https://themedicinemaker.com/business-regulation/amazons-fda...

https://www.sitejabber.com/resources/counterfeit-cosmetics-t...

Someone who works in the supply chain made a revealing comment on Reddit that has tainted my trust in Amazon.

When you go to a listing (SKU) on Amazon, it shows you a bunch of "sellers" with various prices. These sellers usually fulfill with Amazon (hence, Prime shipping). Each seller sends its merchandise to Amazon's warehouse for fulfillment (shipping to you). Amazon commingles the inventory; all of that SKU goes into one bin, no matter who provided it.

Suppose the sellers are Creator, Honest Retailer #1, Honest Retailer #2, and Sketchy Knockoff. You care about quality, so you pay extra to order from one of the three trustworthy sellers. You still have a 1/4 chance of getting one of the Sketchy Knockoff's counterfeits, because they're all picked from the same bucket.

This also explains why you might see a review stating that someone received a counterfeit, even though they ordered from the creator.

Holy ** - this explains a lot of the counterfeits I've received over the years.

Oof. That is hilarious and maddening.

It’s a disturbing trend on any site we rely on or use for services. There is no recourse, once a decision has been made. Last week, I was banned from Facebook Marketplace because… I don’t actually know.

I’m cleaning out an old shed and want to sell a bunch of stuff. So, I logged into Facebook for the first time in 2 years, posted a Shop Vac for sale for $50 USD, and an hour later was locked out of Marketplace.

There is an option to “request a review”, which I did. An automated reply a few days later said they would not restore my account at this time. And that’s it.

No warning, no communication, no justification.

I can't wait for some regulation that forces these megacorps to explain why they decided to ban you.

Well a lot of times, they do, but it's often insufficient or falsely veiled in corporate speak that doesn't represent the situation, and indicates a misunderstanding or outright bias against the account holder.

I'd like to see regulation around warnings issues before bans, so that account holders may respond and change behavior or clarify the situation with support teams in good faith before the megacorp takes a harsh sweeping action.

Folks violate TOS all the time. Sometimes, users have to do it just to use the service. An explanation in these cases is essentially worthless.

You think Amazon is going to let government pass a law that hurts them? Half the time, it's big businesses _writing_ the laws. And when it's not, the big businesses can afford to break the law (i.e. pay lawyers to hold off for a cost-effective settlement) while small businesses get f-d.

Stop buying products and services that can be deactivated at a whim -- or do, if you think it's cost-effective. But government will not save you.

This is why I'm happy to live in the EU.

The TOS ma offer arbitration? You could try that route

I also agreed. Our Kindle Direct Publishing account was banned at a random point for a questionable reason. They didn’t pay out the last month.

Time for small claims court?

Go to real court and take depositions.

I have a 15 year Prime account. I purchased fake Colgate toothpaste on Amazon and left a review to alert others. Amazon then deleted all reviews I’ve ever left and permanently banned me from leaving any new ones. I appealed twice with no reply. Buyer beware.

My mom had been throwing out dozens of electronic candles because "they would break after only a few hours use" (normally they last weeks).

Turns out what was actually happening was the energizer batteries she was getting from amazon were counterfeits. Of course amazon takes no responsibility...

Lately I've been feeling lucky if I so much as obtain a new/functioning product when I resort to buying anything on Amazon, such as the protein powder I attempted to buy from (apparently) the only place online that would ship to my location. I mean, typically you don't really want "used" protein powder anyway, but when it shows up on your doorstep "new" with the bag partly open and powder exploded all over the box plus some hastily applied Amazon-branded tape somewhat covering the hole in the bag, I'm left with an ominous feeling about the entire operation's quality control. The clerk who assisted with my return told me she's seen people send used sex toys back... Are they now up someone else's ass?? I can only imagine.

It's amazing that if you had a site where 3rd parties uploaded copyright materials for download you would be held responsible.

But Amazon can freely and in great measure host counterfeit trade mark infringing goods for sale and profit from it.

>if you had a site where 3rd parties uploaded copyright materials for download you would be held responsible

Only if you had knowledge of the infringing material, or if your site overtly encouraged its upload. Otherwise, as long as you comply with the DMCA you would be eligible for safe harbor. (I think.)

I think one of the biggest tragedies of the development of the web is that third-party comment systems/annotation never took off (e.g. https://www.w3.org/2001/Annotea/Overview.html). I'd love to have Hacker News quality discussion as a side-panel to many articles/topics.

My guess is that's just the shell to make people more likely to buy the product.

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