# Idiot "answers" on Amazon **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220 "2015-05-30T21:10:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/1 "2015-05-30T21:10:10Z")
One of the nicer features Amazon has implemented in recent years is the Question/Answer section. Instead of having to browse reviews for small nuggets of info from smart reviewers - like the actual length of a cord, weight of an item or attachment bolt size, among other things - you can just ask and get answers. I’ve recently been buying workshop-repair-upgrade kind of things, and sometimes the exact width or weight or something is important. So far, I haven’t had to ask any questions because someone before me has asked and gotten exactly the answer I need. And then… there are the “answers,” legions of them, that boil down to “I don’t know.” Sometimes these are even from owner/user/buyers who legitimately don’t know, say, the total current draw or whether a tool will do a certain odd job or whatever. But many, too many, are from passing morons who see the question, have NO idea what the answer might be, and have to advertise both their ignorance and their uselessness: “I don’t know. I bought another model.” “Can’t tell you, pal. Mine only has two mounting holes.” “I should be able to tell you, but I haven’t ordered mine yet.” - and these are the kinda-sorta-semi intelligent answers of the type. What on earth are these dimwits thinking, that they waste time answering in the useless absence of a negative? ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/2 "2015-05-30T21:13:32Z")
These are the same folks who always answer OTHER on a YES or NO poll. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/3 "2015-05-30T21:17:36Z")
I’m sorry, I’ve never had this happen so I have nothing to contribute. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/4 "2015-05-30T22:02:54Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > What on earth are these dimwits thinking, that they waste time answering in the useless absence of a negative? They think that every question on the internet is directed at them specifically. It’s a weird psychological phenomenon. You even see it on this board sometimes. There’s probably some academic study to be written about it, if someone can be arsed to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/5 "2015-05-30T23:25:44Z")
I think it may be provoked by a quirk of the Amazon system; I’ve had it email me asking me to answer questions on something I bought, but I have also had similar emails for items where my order was cancelled due to stock issues and (if memory serves) items I left in my basket for a long time, but never actually purchased. I ignored the requests, but not everyone will. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/6 "2015-05-30T23:46:58Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think it may be provoked by a quirk of the Amazon system; I’ve had it email me asking me to answer questions on something I bought, but I have also had similar emails for items where my order was cancelled due to stock issues and (if memory serves) items I left in my basket for a long time, but never actually purchased. > > I ignored the requests, but not everyone will. This. I’ve received email from Amazon to answer a question for a product I looked at but never purchased. Someone else might think an answer is required. I ignore the questions myself. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/7 "2015-05-30T23:50:37Z")
I get questions about products, but only for items I’ve actually bought. Sometimes I answer that I don’t know, but that answer doesn’t take me to their website. ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/8 "2015-05-31T00:35:31Z")
I thought you should know that I don’t have anything useful to add to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/9 "2015-05-31T04:05:28Z")
My nieghbor’s son’s girlfriends made $4000 last week working form home lol. Find out how at \ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/10 "2015-05-31T14:58:12Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think it may be provoked by a quirk of the Amazon system; I’ve had it email me asking me to answer questions on something I bought, but I have also had similar emails for items where my order was cancelled due to stock issues and (if memory serves) items I left in my basket for a long time, but never actually purchased. > > I ignored the requests, but not everyone will. That’s interesting. Well meaning people could be answering what they think is a simple question from Amazon, and the next thing they know the answer is plastered on the product page like god’s own truth. And they’ll never know how stupid Amazon makes them look. I’ve had a similar thing at work - a buyer asks me a technical question, and I give a small aside about the part in question, or its history, or a bit of detail only important internally\*, and the next thing I know the entire email is going out to the customer. \*not any more I don’t! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/11 "2015-05-31T15:07:30Z")
Yes, that’s interesting - I wasn’t aware Amazon solicited for answers. All of that explains a lot of why there are these useless-to-counterproductive postings. Probably not all of them, but certainly the prevalence. As a heavy Amazon buyer of stuff in many, many categories, I don’t think I’ve ever been sent a question. I wonder if it was only done to jump-start the Q&A feature. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/12 "2015-05-31T16:21:52Z")
I think it’s Amazon’s standard practice to send out emails asking people to answer questions. I asked a question the other day and was able to quickly make a purchase because I received four or five answers that same day. That wouldn’t have happened if I would have had to wait for someone to stumble across the question on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/13 "2015-05-31T17:20:29Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I think it’s Amazon’s standard practice to send out emails asking people to answer questions. I asked a question the other day and was able to quickly make a purchase because I received four or five answers that same day. That wouldn’t have happened if I would have had to wait for someone to stumble across the question on their own. I’d assume - ass/u/me - that they only send such emails to actual buyers of the product. That doesn’t explain the “sorry, mine is a different brand” answers. Maybe they send it to people who just browsed the item… which would be _stupid_. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/14 "2015-05-31T17:45:45Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’d assume - ass/u/me - that they only send such emails to actual buyers of the product. That doesn’t explain the “sorry, mine is a different brand” answers. Maybe they send it to people who just browsed the item… which would be _stupid_. I think maybe it does that now. From years-ago experience though, I think perhaps there was some bug in their system and it was mixed up with the ‘people who looked at this also looked at that’ index and the thing was soliciting answers from non buyers. I havent had a request to answer questions for ages though, so not sure if it’s still going on (the information in the OP makes me suspect maybe it is) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/15 "2015-05-31T17:52:31Z")
Another funny thing they do is ask for reviews of seemingly inconsequential purchased items. No matter how basic. I get asked to review, not just cameras, printers, or even whole bean coffee, which I don’t mind., but I get asked to review #2 pencils, AA batteries, and shoe laces. My pencil review was 800+ words. I was just being silly. About three weeks ago, I got asked a question about a mounting bracket for a motion controlled outdoor lamp I purchased 10 years ago. I got it for one of the 50 or so jobs I did that year as a handyman. I’m pretty sure I just mounted it with what in the package, so I ignored it. Was sent another notice of that same Q just a few days ago. . ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/16 "2015-05-31T21:53:51Z")
How about the Q&A section AND the reviews for something called [“milk.”](http://www.amazon.com/Tuscan-Whole-Milk-Gallon-128/dp/B00032G1S0/?tag=oddee-20) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/17 "2015-06-01T20:40:58Z")
These are the same people that have to fill out every blank on a form, whether it applies to them or not. For “Organization” they will put none, self, --, and a dozen other things. It’s a flaw of human nature, I call them Completionist OCD. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/18 "2015-06-01T22:17:52Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > How about the Q&A section AND the reviews for something called [“milk.”](http://www.amazon.com/Tuscan-Whole-Milk-Gallon-128/dp/B00032G1S0/?tag=oddee-20) That entry is so out of hand, the “Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed” section is like an all-time weirdest amazon product top ten list. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/19 "2015-06-01T22:18:51Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > These are the same people that have to fill out every blank on a form, whether it applies to them or not. For “Organization” they will put none, self, --, and a dozen other things. > > It’s a flaw of human nature, I call them Completionist OCD. Those people once cost me a major award. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Qwakkeddup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Qwakkeddup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwakkeddup)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220/20 "2015-06-02T13:07:58Z")
There is waaayyy more… Most Helpful Customer Reviews 21,978 of 22,330 people found the following review helpful Make this your only stock and store By Edgar on July 8, 2008 Once upon a mid-day sunny, while I savored Nuts 'N Honey, With my Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 gal, 128 fl. oz., I swore As I went on with my lapping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at the icebox door. ‘Bad condensor, that,’ I muttered, ‘vibrating the icebox door - Only this, and nothing more.’ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-answers-on-amazon/721220.md?page=2)