The Dangers of Writing About the Dangers of Leaving Seller Feedback on Amazon

Last December I wrote what I thought was going to be pretty much a throw-away post about my experience with an Amazon-affiliated seller. I thought I was just going to say my peace about that retailer's unusual request for me to delete my neutral rating of their service and that would be it. But, apparently, a slew of disgruntled Amazon retailers have come out of the e-woodwork to pretty much crucify and vilify me for having an opinion. You can check out the original post along with the comments here.

I would like to address a couple of quick things here about that. There sure are a lot of people casting stones that shouldn't. If they've ever had an unpleasant or even disappointing experience with a retailer, online or in the real world, they have no business continuing their gripes against me. Because, if they've had a problem with a store, on average, that person will tell 10 people, and those 10 people will also tell another 10 people and so on. It's a domino effect. So that opinion is out in the wild, hurting the business's credibility and reputation, and ultimately, their bottom line (business might be lost as a result of just one single bad comment). I know this because, when I'm not writing silly shit on the internet, I actually go to work for a multi-billion dollar company that knows pretty much all it can know about customer satisfaction and the length that one upset customer will take to let everyone know about their experience.

Simply put, if people are dissatisfied, they complain. Which is what I did. I was dissatisfied with the service, more specifically, the price I had to pay for an item. Which is also something that anyone in their right mind would do. Has anyone ever complained about the cost of concessions at a movie theater? But you still buy them. Or how much they gouge you when you attend a sporting event. Ten dollar cup of domestic beer? What the hell. So I complained about having to pay twice as much as I would have had to pay if the item had been available somewhere else. But the way I complained was by leaving a neutral feedback of this seller's operation, clearly stating that: sure they delivered the product, but they charged me twice as much as Amazon or Target would have for the same item.

Now, I have Amazon sellers calling me trash and wishing to spit on my face and hoping I end up on the streets without a single dollar to my name. Someone even compared me to an AIG executive, which was a bit of a stretch . . . but it was an opinion. Something they are entitled to and it's even protected by the Constitution of the United States of America. It's right there in the Bill of Rights. Freedom of Speech. Right? I didn't just wake up in an alternate dimension where that has gone the way of the Dodo bird. So, why am I not entitled to the same thing. I don't edit or ask the people that write mean things about me to change their opinion but they sure ask me to delete my feedback with pretty much every comment they leave. Some in nicer ways than others. And even if I wanted to, I couldn't because a lot of these comments come from spineless (remember, opinion) jackasses hiding behind the "anonymous" moniker.

I didn't mean any ill-will towards the seller when I left my neutral feedback of their service. I was just relating my experience as honestly as I could. At that time, I hadn't the slightest idea how Amazon really operates (a point that the anonymous people keep making sure I know over and over again, they're like broken records those guys/girls). I didn't know it affects something called "star-rating". And frankly, now that I know, I don't care. A seller going by the name of "Buy-4-Less Shop" shouldn't be selling things that one can find somewhere else (if it's in stock) for twice as much. If they can't sell it for less, then why sell it in the first place. That's almost false advertising.

I'm done with this. Comment as you see fit.