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.

The Dangers of Leaving Seller Feedback on Amazon

I did a large chunk of my Christmas 2008 shopping on Amazon.com. For the most part, it was convenient, speedy, and affordable. When I was buying things directly from the company. But one item, the i-Dance Walle, was sold out through Amazon, and I had to purchase it from one of their partner retailers for double what it would have cost if I had bought it directly from the online retailer.

And I was fine with it, because I knew the gift would be loved by the recipient. So, when I got an e-mail from Amazon asking me to rate the transaction, even though I had felt robbed a little, I went ahead and gave this retailer, "Buy 4 Less Shop" a 3 out 5 stars. A neutral review. Which, in retrospect, I'm feeling I was extremely generous with.

Fast forward to today. I open my e-mail, and I get this in my inbox:

Greetings!

Recently I've noticed that you left us neutral feedback for this
order, stating that "The item arrived on time. Not sure why the seller goes by "Buy 4 less" as I had to pay just about double for what this item cost. But whatever, no one else had it." Please understand, that in order for us to be able to provide our customers with great service and convenience of online shopping some items we sell are sold at over retail price. It might look like we making out as bandits on this sale, but please trust me, we do not. Let me explain - Amazon.com charges us 15% of each sale amount, including shipping charges, so all
we received from Amazon.com after fees was $33.90. Actual shipping expense was $5.29, that leaves us with $28.61. Our purchase price was $21, so that leaves $7.61 BEFORE any of our internal expenses and taxes that we have to pay, so that leaves us with nowhere near a double profit.

If we would set our price any less than it was we would be selling at a loss and no business can operate like that. We did everything we promised, delivering your purchase promptly (your purchase was made on 11/29 and delivered on 12/04) and in the condition described.

We really would like to ask you to reconsider your decision and remove the feedback you left for us as it is damaging to our business. We would greatly appreciate if you did. You can do it in one easy step by following this link :

https://www.amazon.com/gp/css/summary/edit

You will find a feedback section two-thirds of the way down the page. To remove feedback, please click on the "Remove" link

Looking forward to hear from you,

XXXXX
Buy 4 Less Shop

You can see my original review in the body of their e-mail. I italicized it for better viewing. This store is pretty much telling me to go back and delete the feedback, because they explained to me why they overcharged me and because the item arrived on time. Everything in the transaction went through fine. That's why I gave them the 3 out of 5 stars. I just wasn't happy with the price that I had to pay, but I'm still entitled to letting people know that even though everything went according to plan, I was a little dissatisfied with the actual price I had to pay. Here's my e-mail response to them:

Thank you for explaining your business practices to me. The review/seller feedback will still stand. It is, after all, my opinion, and I am entitled to it. Furthermore, a neutral review is not a negative review, so please don't make me re-evaluate my opinion again. But it is by your store's own admission that you overcharged me for this product. I understand that "Buy 4 Less" does not like what I said, which is why I'm getting this e-mail, but they have to understand that we live in a free country where anyone can say anything they want so long as it's the truth. And the truth is, you overcharged me to cover your business expenses.

Looking forward to not hearing anything else about this,

Jaime
Neutral Consumer

From now on, I'm only buying shit online from Amazon directly. At least when you give them a review, they don't send you a pussified e-mail asking you to go back and silence yourself because they don't like your opinion of their services. I have no ill-will or bad feelings towards "Buy 4 Less Shop", but because of this e-mail, it's going to further cement my resolution to not buy anything from them ever again.

One last thing before I go. Amazon.com (which has a partnership with Target) had it for $19.99, so you can see, from their excuse: "we would be selling at a loss and no business can operate like that" doesn't really hold any water. Apparently, Amazon.com and Target can operate like this and they're still in business.