# The travails of a guy trying to post a negative review to Amazon.com **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616 "2006-03-30T23:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/1 "2006-03-30T23:09:48Z")
[Amazon will accept other 1-star reviews, just not his.](http://www.physics.buffalo.edu/~bapowell/amazon.html) This is a very frustrating tale, and it shows just how amazingly, totally, completely two-faced Amazon can be if it (apparently) thinks a review might damage a book’s sales. It’s a study in giving someone the brush-off while still ‘officially’ holding out hope. For maximum effect, read the linked pages in order. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/2 "2006-03-30T23:28:49Z")
Upon reading that website, I went :eek: :smack: :rolleyes: :eek: :smack: :eek: :smack: ☹ :mad: :rolleyes: This supports my belief that stupidity should HURT. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/3 "2006-03-30T23:39:22Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > This supports my belief that stupidity should HURT. I agree. Hopefully, as word of this spreads Amazon will have to address the issue. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/4 "2006-03-31T00:00:53Z")
Chill out. Amazon reviews are absolutely worthless – no one really pays any attention. ---
**Author:** ![samm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@samm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/5 "2006-03-31T00:32:38Z")
I was listening to NPR the other night and may not have caught the whole conversation, but they were saying that when you search for the term “abortion” on Amazon, the site used to ask in essence, “Do you mean adoption?” People complained about that and Amazon claimed that because the words were so close in spelling that they thought it would be helpful. But of course, when you would search for “adoption” it did NOT ask “Do you mean abortion?” I believe they said it was changed now. I haven’t checked for myself. I don’t think I will use Amazon as much in the future though. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/6 "2006-03-31T01:32:24Z")
> [@samm](#): > > I was listening to NPR the other night and may not have caught the whole conversation, but they were saying that when you search for the term “abortion” on Amazon, the site used to ask in essence, “Do you mean adoption?” People complained about that and Amazon claimed that because the words were so close in spelling that they thought it would be helpful. But of course, when you would search for “adoption” it did NOT ask “Do you mean abortion?” I believe they said it was changed now. I haven’t checked for myself. I don’t think I will use Amazon as much in the future though. Well I tried it out and I got abortion-related titles plus this: > **[Amazon.com. Spend less. Smile more.](https://www.amazon.com/)** > > Free shipping on millions of items. Get the best of Shopping and Entertainment with Prime. Enjoy low prices and great deals on the largest selection of everyday essentials and other products, including fashion, home, beauty, electronics, Alexa... “abortion”(Related Searches: if these walls could talk, pro-choice, pro-life) Seems pretty balanced to me. The review issue is awful, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/7 "2006-03-31T01:34:12Z")
> [@samm](#): > > I was listening to NPR the other night and may not have caught the whole conversation, but they were saying that when you search for the term “abortion” on Amazon, the site used to ask in essence, “Do you mean adoption?” People complained about that and Amazon claimed that because the words were so close in spelling that they thought it would be helpful. But of course, when you would search for “adoption” it did NOT ask “Do you mean abortion?” I believe they said it was changed now. I haven’t checked for myself. I don’t think I will use Amazon as much in the future though. This is almost certainly a result of the automated mechanism Amazon uses. Do a google search for “jew” and you get “Jew Watch.” This is a result of the algorithms that google uses to determine what a search is actually trying to find. Amazon’s search has similar algorithms that somehow determined that “abortion” was a misspelling. I HIGHLY doubt that there was any political motivation. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/8 "2006-03-31T03:10:12Z")
Hmmm. I actually went to that book at amazon, and there is currently one not-at-all-relevant-to-the-book 1-star review: > [@](#): > > 3 of 29 people found the following review helpful: > > Hoping for the best, February 26, 2006 > Reviewer: WHOru (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews > > Lisa Randall was on with Art Bell in Feb 2006 and I thought she was fantastic (an obviously brilliant, straightfoward, sensible female physics professor from Harvard!) … until she started gushing about Al Gore and babbling about global warming. I’m trusting the other reviewers’ outstanding reviews and taking a chance buying Randall’s book … but if it’s larded with any Gore-type nonsense, I will return it. There are 5 2-star reviews. Dunno about the guy in the OP’s link. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/9 "2006-03-31T03:42:52Z")
Just went and looked and found about 7 1-star reviews, including 2 that are titled “non-science” and appear to be copied from the OP’s link. One has a comment about Amazon’s habit of removing bad reviews. GT ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/10 "2006-03-31T05:41:12Z")
I just logged onto Amazon … the review section has REALLY been revamped. Now it’s like every item has a mini-message board. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/11 "2006-03-31T06:43:30Z")
Same thing happened with Star Jones’s book, IIRC. The day it came out, and everyone read it, the negative reviews were just piling up and up…until they suddenly disappeared. Hmmmm… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/12 "2006-03-31T13:54:29Z")
[HERE’S](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471234885/qid=1143813085/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-9607823-9818313?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) a one star rated book. Can’t see any problems… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/13 "2006-03-31T13:56:48Z")
Days ago, I submitted a one star review of a book. See the result. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471234885/qid=1143813085/sr=1-1/ref=sr\_1\_1/104-9607823-9818313?s=books&v=glance&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471234885/qid=1143813085/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-9607823-9818313?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/14 "2006-03-31T14:00:03Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Days ago, I submitted a one star review of a book. > > See the result. > > [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471234885/qid=1143813085/sr=1-1/ref=sr\_1\_1/104-9607823-9818313?s=books&v=glance&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471234885/qid=1143813085/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-9607823-9818313?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) And here is another. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785819924/ref=cm\_aya\_asin.title/104-9607823-9818313?\_encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785819924/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/104-9607823-9818313?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/15 "2006-03-31T14:06:37Z")
Anybody else have a problem with people that review items they haven’t read/watched/listened to? (Yes, I’m sure in this case he did extraneous research on to the author’s website, but still, read it _then_ tear it apart). ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/16 "2006-03-31T17:09:59Z")
Huh. I logged onto Amazon and I can find the reviews again. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/17 "2006-03-31T17:45:50Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Anybody else have a problem with people that review items they haven’t read/watched/listened to? (Yes, I’m sure in this case he did extraneous research on to the author’s website, but still, read it _then_ tear it apart). I was thinking the same thing. I’d be more inclined to feel sorry for this guy if he had actually _read the damn book._ Sorry, but reading chapter one does not count as having read the book. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/18 "2006-03-31T17:58:43Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I was thinking the same thing. I’d be more inclined to feel sorry for this guy if he had actually _read the damn book._ > > Sorry, but reading chapter one does not count as having read the book. I wonder if fans (possibly the Author) were reporting his reviews as bad reviews since the reviewer clearly says he hadn’t read the whole book. There does seem to be a plethora of new 1 star reviews. If that is dopers, please stop it (at least right now) as it looks very suspicious to anyone who looks at the reviews from Amazon if there is a compaint. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/19 "2006-03-31T18:07:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Chill out. Amazon reviews are absolutely worthless – no one really pays any attention. Aren’t they equivalent to the reports of fishing results published by the guy who rents the boats? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616/20 "2006-03-31T18:24:03Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Chill out. Amazon reviews are absolutely worthless – no one really pays any attention. Like [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0445201029/ref=sr_11_1/102-6417800-1144945?%5Fencoding=UTF8) one? 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-travails-of-a-guy-trying-to-post-a-negative-review-to-amazon-com/350616.md?page=2)