Customer complaints about Amazon products are being pursued by third-party merchants in an unusual incident. A specific area of Amazon is dedicated to customer reviews, in which consumers may rate the goods they have purchased and leave a positive or negative comment about them.
However, it seems that some vendors are not pleased with the reviews that are being written about them and are harassing them, according to reports, by sneaking into their email account.
Amazon sellers targets users on negative reviews
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, sellers or vendors are reaching out to customers, or rather harassing them, to modify their bad ratings or completely remove their negative reviews regarding the goods they are offering for sale.
The vendors are not asking consumers to do this for free; instead, they are offering them the choice of replacing the product or receiving a refund for the product they have purchased. Notably, vendors are not permitted to obtain the email addresses or phone numbers of consumers, much alone communicate with them through these channels. In the meanwhile, some of them have gained access to the personal information of the buyer, which is shared with Amazon. It is a breach of the users’ right to privacy.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Katherine Scott described how she posted a bad comment on Amazon about a kitchen appliance she had purchased from the e-commerce site back in March. She was dissatisfied with the item since it did not seem to be the same as the one that had been shown on the platform.
A person claiming to be an Amazon employee approached her a few days after she had written a bad review of the product and offered her a refund in return for removing her review.
“We are ready to provide a complete refund. After receiving no answer, we will presume that you did not get the email and will continue to send it. Okay, we hope you will reconsider removing comments at your earliest convenience.” The representative read the letter in the mail.
When she declined to have the review removed, another salesperson offered her twice the money she had paid for the goods. She accepted the offer.
The vendors emailed her many times over the course of several weeks. “It was really scary. According to the outlet, they repeatedly contacted her directly about the situation.
The company will continue to pursue the client until he alters his rating, according to another customer who was also harassed by the vendors.
Amazon, on the other hand, has said that it does not share consumer email addresses with third-party merchants. It is stated on the company’s privacy website that Amazon distributes personal information linked to a customer’s transaction with third parties.
The company states that third-party service providers have access to personal information that is necessary for them to fulfill their duties, but they are not permitted to use it for any other reason.
